//miserable magic//
King Hadeth was a close imitation of the sun, if the sun were made of brass. His skin looked like gold, catching flicks of light. Bronze hair coiffed into a regal part glinted as he walked. Every feature on his face was proud: his browbone, his nose, his chin. Deeply gold eyes sat above high cheekbones and beneath bronze eyebrows. His thin mouth hosted an ear-to-ear smile. He was a statue come to life.
My hands clapped to my lips. My heart scrambled from its hole by my stomach. The King looked exactly as his personality suggested: jubilant, loud, sunny.
However, it was difficult to find anything Rune had inherited from his father. Perhaps the closest was the mouth. But as King Hadeth grinned and Prince Rune scowled, it was hard to tell.
And the King was quite handsome. Beautiful, even. With his charming personality and matching looks, it was easy to understand the loyalty given him when he first ascended the throne. It probably made the Queen's betrayal even more painful.
I glanced at Prince Rune. He was neither handsome nor charming. And after his mother's rampage, regaining the blind loyalty of Eternity's people would prove no easy feat. Without an attractive personality or good looks, he would have nothing to fall back on except acumen.
Maybe that was why my future coronation was heralded with such joy. I was fairly pretty, but I certainly could never compete with the King. But compared to my skeletal and serious partner, I probably shone as bright as King Hadeth who was, indeed, a piece of the sun.
Pity encouraged my hand toward Prince Rune. He may not have been classically handsome or possess a magnetic personality, but he was good. Selfless. His soul was beautiful. And it broke through the cracks of his mask until all I could see was his beauty. I wanted him to know that.
But Prince Rune stepped just beyond my reach. My eyebrows pulled down and my lips pursed. Something was definitely off, and it wasn't just the color of his facial diamonds.
King Hadeth outstretched his arms in a beckoning embrace. His hands had the same gold complexion. He looked between Rune and me, quite literally glowing. "My son. Belline Paris. Oh, sweet, sweet Belline."
The Prince stared. It'd been years since he'd seen his father's face. Had he forgotten it? Perhaps he was now committing the details to memory.
Meanwhile, his father pulled me into a tight embrace. He breathed a deep sigh into my hair, and I felt his shoulders and back relax. As pressure built behind my eyes, he pushed back to smile at me, then at his son. "I had accepted facelessness. I didn't mind it. But to have my face back . . . I didn't think I had missed it this much. Or that I would rejoice its return so much. And all because of you, my beautiful, stubborn daughter."
Heat flooded my face. Normally, he included "future" or "in-law" whenever he referred to me as his daughter. To be upgraded to simply his daughter was an honor, albeit an embarrassing one.
The King squeezed my biceps. "You willingly placed yourself in danger's way, prostrated yourself before Fate, for the sake of me and my son. We are humbled to have you in our lives." King Hadeth bowed a full ninety degrees.
I scrambled to return the bow. From the corner of my eye, I saw Prince Rune dip into a bow as well. When I straightened, I said, "Oh, no, don't do that. It's what you do for your loved ones."
King Hadeth's smile turned blinding. "You are certainly well-loved, Belline Paris. I hope you know that."
I grinned at the Prince, expecting his eyes to smolder in confirmation of his father's words. Instead, the flames in his eyes simply fought. Chaos burned there. Only fear met my gaze. A frown replaced my smile.
The King stepped back and threw his arms out again. "I declare a celebration to mark this occasion. One to celebrate the Earth maiden's bravery and compassion. Shall we give a few corollas to decorate and plan? Where is Mevalin? Mevalin!" Consumed with thoughts of the party—or perhaps picking up on my need to be alone with Prince Rune—King Hadeth flitted away.
Before the Prince could perform his vanishing act, I rounded on him and stepped closer. For good measure, I gripped his wrist, too. My gaze pierced into his. I asked, "Is everything okay?"
For a moment, the flames calmed ever so slightly. He struggled to cast me a gentle smile. "I'm . . . adjusting."
As he stood before me, scared and uncertain and the fire in his eyes lashing wildly, my heart cracked with a realization. He'd gone years without his magic. By now, he'd gotten used to living without it. It might've even felt wrong to have it back. Just as he had to get used to the absence of his magic, now, he had to get used to its presence.
My expression softened. My hand ghosted over the trail of jewels along his cheek. "They're gray now. Are they linked to your magic?"
He shook his head, leaning back to gain distance between us. "I believe so."
"What is your magic anyway?" I asked, lifting onto my toes in excitement.
Prince Rune caught my hands in his. His eyes misted over in flame. "Maiden, I'm not sure what the extent of my magic is. How it will manifest. I ask you to . . . please, be careful."
My eyebrows furrowed. Could his magic be dangerous?
He slid back, bowed, and pivoted. I watched until he turned a corner and disappeared from view.
I chewed the inside of my cheek.
Was he afraid of his magic? Had it been so long since it flowed through his veins that it felt foreign now? Could his magic actually be dangerous? Or perhaps this was a case of control. Since it'd been so long, maybe he'd forgotten how to control his magic and worried it would misfire.
Something stirred in my gut. Prince Rune seemed genuinely afraid. Was the return of his magic not the good thing I'd thought it to be? All those years ago, had he been relieved to lose his magic? But . . . why? And what had I done?
The castle flew into a flurry of activity. At the King's behest, one of the main floor ballrooms had been swept and prepped for the upcoming party. Before, the ballroom had acted as a sort of extravagant storage room: chairs, tables, crumpled banners, rolled up rugs, random mirrors, decaying plants. But now it'd been emptied, dusted, and decorated.
Yllumin coated the pillars from floor to ceiling. New banners in shades of gold spanned the vaulted ceiling. Vines and flowers curled along the outside edge of the ballroom. They'd installed a wooden stage, and strange instruments rested upon it. One looked like an elongated, twisted stick with holes at both ends. A mess of spindly flowers with long stems and longer petals hung from a rod. What appeared to be a gnarled horn of some kind of nightmarish beast had been hallowed out, with vines stringed across it—it reminded me of a guitar.
The ballroom glowed, floors polished and walls decorated. The prospect of a party in a once-abandoned ballroom brought a buzz to the castle. The servants talked either louder or faster. Practically everyone donned a smile.
Except, of course, for the Prince. He had been absent during the decorating, despite his father's insistence. If I didn't go in search of him, then the identical twin of his mother went. We both turned up empty.
When the day of the party arrived, I worried Prince Rune would be a no-show, despite the fact that part of it celebrated the return of his magic. Although, he made it quite clear, that was not an event to celebrate.
However, as I stood beside Kit, sipping on a drink where the bubbles leapt from the glass and splashed back in, a familiar figure appeared at the ballroom entrance. Unlike the Great Bloom Festival, his attire didn't differ much from his usual. In fact, if black could be darker, he wore it. He also donned black leather gloves.
The only other difference was the color of his jewels. The trail from his left eye to the left corner of his mouth, reappearing at his neck and dipping past the collar of his shirt, boasted a murky shade of gray. It was almost identical to the day his magic had returned, except now the jewels seemed to host fog. Like the shadows of his eyes had slipped into the rhinestones.
I studied his face. His expression spoke of impassivity, stoicism. He'd erected his usual mask. Perhaps these past few days, he'd locked himself away to perfect the look of nonchalance.
Something twisted my stomach, making me wring my hands. Had I known the return of his magic would bring such misery, I would have reconsidered. Why hadn't he just been honest with me? Shared with me his fears and concerns about his magic?
Tears clogged my throat. I looked down, blinking rapidly.
I had been so consumed by my own desire to free the King and the Prince that I hadn't cared how it would affect them. And they were affected directly by it! I had merely assumed that their freedom would come with joy. The King's face had brought him happiness. But the love of my life wallowed in fear and uncertainly. And all because I was too stubborn, too righteous.
And yet, Prince Rune had said nothing. He knew my intentions, my goals. But he allowed me to pursue them anyway, because it was what I wanted. My obstinacy and his selflessness had wrought unexpected misery.
Before I could take a third step in the Prince's direction, King Hadeth took to the stage. The ballroom filled with applause, even a few wolf-whistles. It was delightfully odd to see the King up there without his cloak. Instead, he donned a suit of resplendent gold to match the rest of him. And his smile rivaled Nissa's; I was tempted to say his was brighter and wider. It fit him perfectly. When he brought his arms out as though to embrace the world, joy twinged my heart.
Freeing Prince Rune might have been a mistake. But rewarding the King with his face was one of the best decisions I'd made.
The King launched into a speech. He thanked everyone for coming. He remarked on the fact that this kingdom had celebrated twice already this bloom, something that hadn't happened in a long time. And then his gold eyes found me in the crowd, and a soft smile rested on his lips.
"And we have the sweet and beautiful Belline Paris of Earth, to thank for all of this."
At his words, every creature in that grand ballroom turned to stare at me. Heat flooded my face. My hands fidgeted at my core. Sure, they'd watched me before. But I had been dancing, performing. I had practiced and prepared for the audience. The sudden attention now threw my heart into overdrive and brought dryness to my mouth.
My eyes caught sight of Prince Rune, hidden in the shadows of a pillar. For a moment, the stoicism had slipped. The anxiety that had gripped him lately faded, replaced by a gentle affection that I had come to recognize as love.
It comforted me. Despite putting him through whatever emotional turmoil he now faced, he still loved me. The relief relaxed my stiff shoulders.
But the crowd was still watching. And King Hadeth continued his praises.
"We will forever regret calling upon the maidens of Earth, forcing you to interact with our customs," lamented King Hadeth. But his smile returned. "But we will forever be grateful and indebted unto you. For it is because of you that we are here. It is because of you that we have so much to celebrate. It is because of you that Eternity grows brighter. I speak for both my son and my kingdom when I say . . . thank you."
When the King of Eternity swept into a deep bow, the rest of the crowd followed, Prince Rune included. I stared, incredulous, at the citizens before me. My feet stumbled back a few steps. One day, I would be the queen of this place. These people would look to me for guidance and protection—and even more importantly, hope. I swallowed compulsively.
Would I be able to do it? The Sprites didn't trust me. And who could blame them? I was a complete outsider. I didn't understand Eternity the way the citizens did. And I would never understand.
But I had Prince Rune by my side. He knew Eternity. He was born and raised to be a monarch. With him to guide and teach me, with his knowledge to lean on, maybe I could do it. Not to mention the unceasing support of Eika, Kit, Jack, and even the King himself.
But when I turned to face the Prince in the crowd, he wasn't there. He was slinking from the room, vanishing from sight, and my heart sank into my stomach.
What had I done?