"Malleus?"
Lilia slowly pushed open the door to Y/N's room, upon seeing it cracked open. He stepped over the threshold and halted before he took another step, his hand resting on the doorframe. Standing by the hearth at one end of the room was the prince of the Briar Valley. His hands were clenched tight around a piece of parchment that was ripped at the edges, one end blackened as if it had been burned.
Lilia shut the door quietly behind him and stepped into the room, slowly approaching Malleus.
"Malleus?"
"She's gone," Malleus breathed, hardly able to contain his emotions. "She left."
Lilia glanced around the room and realised how all of Y/N's personal things had been removed.
"It's my fault," Malleus continued, though Lilia hadn't requested an explanation. "It's all my fault."
"No it's not, Malleus," Lilia said, placing a gentle hand on the prince's shoulder. "It's not your fault."
"I kissed her."
Lilia sighed. That would explain why Y/N had acted this way. But he couldn't tell the prince... she would be furious if he betrayed her...
Unable to say anything, Lilia left the room, pausing to say that he would tell the professors to excuse Malleus from classes for the day.
Once Lilia had left, Malleus rose from the chair, still staring at the writing of his lost love. He didn't even know where she had disappeared to. Most likely she had fled back to their kingdom to be by her fiancé's side, and though Malleus was heartbroken at the thought of her marrying another, he couldn't help but understand. He had forced her away. He shouldn't have kissed her. He shouldn't have given into the raging passionate inferno bubbling in his heart, longing to reach out and embrace his love. He had made a mistake. A mistake that had chased away the love of his life, undoubtedly forever.
He walked out to the balcony of Y/N's room, staring out into the gloomy darkness of the dorm. Diasomnia was always dark and gloomy, but it seemed as though the charcoal clouds overhead had heard the sorrow of his heart, for they clouded overhead, dripping with melancholy as he stood beneath them. Rain streaked down his face, following the angles of his cheeks and jaw, down to his neck. He cared not. He couldn't. Not when his thoughts were otherwise preoccupied with how the world seemed to despise his happiness.
"I know you... I walked with you once upon a dream..." His voice carried across the vast expanse of brambles like a phantom. "I know you... that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam and I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream." His despairing melody swept through the twisted branches, and down to the cracked soil beneath, seeming to lead the rain as it bled into the world.
Students looked up from their papers as the voice entered their minds, curious as to who could be singing. They had never heard a voice like this, nor had they heard a song that had broken their hearts beyond repair. While the words were sweet and loving, the tone in which they were spoken shadowed them with its cloak of anguish.
Candles burned and flickered, before losing their glow, leaving nothing but a trail of smoke as the dorm slowly succumbed to the darkness. Even the fairies in the hearth seemed to lose their glow as they sat on the logs of the fireplace.
"But if I know you... I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once... upon... a... dream..."
The sensation of slumber rippled across the dorm, and one by one, the students lowered their heads to their desks, allowing their eyes to flutter shut as they listened to the haunting, yet comforting, song.
"I know you... I walked with you once upon a dream... I know you... that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam, and I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem... but if I know you... I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon... a... dream..."
As the final words slipped through Malleus' lips, he turned away from the balcony, leaving the parchment on the stone railing, and re-entered the room. He paused at the door for a moment as he glanced around, debating where he should go. But the neatly-made bed called to him and he slowly padded across the room, slipping down onto the comforting duvet, and cradling one of the pillows in his arms. He pressed it to his nose and let out a shaky sigh. He could still smell her perfume and soap clinging to the pillow, the heat of her skin pressed into the downy feathers, and the curve of her body embedded in the mattress.
And the dorm slept, unaware that the day passed by, and unaware that the moon was rising and gliding across the sky. No one awoke until the following morning, with no memory of the song, and no realisation that they had missed an entire day.
⚔⚜⚔
Across the sea and far away from the island, Y/N sat at a table with the other council members and ambassadors who had devoted their lives to serving Briar Valley and the throne upon which Malleus would soon sit.
Immediately upon her return to the kingdom, her mother ordered that Y/N take her place on the council. So now, she sat in a wooden chair, decorated with deep violet velvet cushions, listening to an elderly gentleman as they discussed the fate of their kingdom.
"The young prince is already of age," he said, stroking his long white beard. His other hand was leaning all of his weight on his cane as he struggled to stay upright. True, fae did not age as humans did and could live for centuries and aeons, looking not a day over eighteen if they chose, but this man was not a fae. He was an ancient fairie who had lived in Briar Valley and had earned his rank among the fae. He had not been born into this role. He had chosen it.
Most of the other members of the council were fae. There were a few humans and half-fae, who had been selected to give human input into kingdom matters, but most of the council was formed by fae whose families had attended the same role on the council for ages long past. Y/N could recognise most of them from her days spying on council meetings with Malleus. There was a fae sitting beside the old fairie, who seemed less than interested in being at the meeting and was leaning over as if he was about to nod off. There was a young female sprite who served as a personal assistant, in a way, for the old fairie. There was the blue fae, who was the oldest in the kingdom, and whose wisdom was always requested at meetings. There was the loyal right-hand servant of the late queen, a large and hulking mass of fae that seemed to intimidate everyone, Y/N included, but the blue fae. And there were a few others that Y/N recognised, but did not feel the need to pay attention to. And of course, there were the humans, but Y/N recognised only one of these.
Gregory. He lived in the village closest to the Umbra Manor and had for the past seventy-five years. Y/N hoped that she would have the chance to befriend him before he passed, as humans did not live much past ninety in the Briar Valley, especially ones without magic, like Gregory. He had been born a simple farmer and windmill keeper, but once the old advisor had passed, Gregory had been elected by the village to take his place.
Lilia was technically on the council, but ever since taking the prince as his personal charge, he had attended fewer and fewer council meetings in favour of remaining by the prince's side. It had been the job of one of the council members to update him on matters and give him the latest news. Now, this role fell to Y/N as the newest voice on the council.
"We must proceed with finding the prince a suitable bride," the elderly fairie continued.
Y/N frowned and sat up the slightest bit straighter. Her back was already as rigid as a wooden plank, but upon hearing these words, her attention was seized. She decided to speak. As one of the council, she was permitted to speak without being first addressed.
"Has the prince been consulted on this matter," she asked. "Or his guardian?"
The elderly fairie shook his head. "No. Lilia Vanrouge is to be informed in the next report. But this was his mother's dying wish, and so we must honour it."
A fae's dying wish was an ultimatum, no matter their rank. Fae were near immortal creatures, and few things could harm them, let alone take their life. So when a fae died, if they issued a dying wish, it would be completed. Y/N's grandfather had fallen three hundred years prior and his dying wish had been that his son, Y/N's father, would take the life of his mortal enemy, the dragon of night, who had taken his magic. Y/N's father had done it, but not without severely injuring himself.
Malleus' mother, the former queen, had been felled by an ancient blade forged in the heat of a dragon's lair and enchanted with forbidden magic. Whatever happened to the relic is unknown, but the assassin had completed his task. He had not taken another swing at the throne in nearly two-hundred years and had most likely died. Though fae was common in Briar Valley, they were extremely rare outside of the kingdom, and the chances of a fae assassin were slim. There was no need for an enchanted blade if one was fae. A fae could easily kill another. One of the few things that could kill a fae. But her dying wish was that her son would marry before he assumed the throne, and marry someone that the council deemed acceptable. The council had not been able to find someone for two-hundred years. But now, they felt as though they were getting close.
Y/N could not argue against a fae's dying wish, even though she wanted to. She wanted to say that this wasn't fair, what they were doing to the prince, but she could not argue, especially not against the dying wish of the former queen.
"We have selected three possible candidates," the elderly fairie continued. He waved his hand and three pieces of parchment fluttered onto the table. Y/N recognised all of them as young ladies who had put forth their names. Each one had written a letter to Malleus in the past month, and though she personally didn't like them because of their chance of marrying the prince, she had to admit that they would be a good match for him, and would be wonderful additions to the royal line.
"Lady Y/N of House Umbra."
Y/N looked up.
"You are the only one who we have not consulted on the matter. Do you think these three ladies are acceptable for possible brides?"
Y/N nodded, trying to still her thundering heart. No. No, she didn't think that these women were acceptable.
"Then we shall proceed. We shall not seal the dying wish until His Highness has performed his marriage vows with one of them, but for now, we shall act as though these three ladies are possible queens." He turned again to Y/N. "Y/N, will you accompany one of the observational teams to the manors of these three ladies? We must be sure that they are suitable for our prince."
"Of course." Y/N bowed her head. She loved Malleus, but she would not let her love sway her decision. If she could not wed him, she would ensure that only the best lady could.
"Good. Then two nights from now, the three teams will depart. Petrichor, Corbin, and Tein will observe Lady Yaritza. Dyrk, Theron, and Lucy will observe Lady Pavia. And Y/N, Alette, and Ozul will observe Lady Fayetta."
Y/N smiled when she realised who she would be working with. Alette and Ozul were both fae, close to her own age, though Ozul was about a hundred years her senior, and she had met them both before. Alette was a tiny fae who always had a hop in her step and a dove-like coo in her voice. Ozul was a stocky man with surprising grace, who always seemed to speak in poetry. Y/N and they were not friends, but they were acquaintances.
To finish the meeting, the elderly fairie lifted the goblet that sat before him. Everyone had a goblet in front of them and they all raised them to their lips.
"To the throne! May we serve our king or queen for the rest of our lives."
"To the throne!"
'To Malleus,' Y/N thought to herself as she drank the sweet rose nectar.