I awake suddenly, confused and groggy. My eyes slowly blink open as I hear the faint sound of Marisa's voice through the door along with knocking. "Your Highness." It almost sounds like she's singing.
My eyes shoot open and I instantly sit upright startled by my sudden awakening.
It's morning?
My face contorts into a confused expression as I try to recall last nights events. A hot flash runs through my body as I remember soft lips colliding with mine, then it ending abruptly. Then there was some anger and I got into bed.... As did Legion!
Startled I whip my head around scared to see what I'll find. Much to my horror, my eyes are met with the large figure belonging to Legion.
All color drains from my face as I realize that he has slept next to me in the bed, currently with one of his arms wrapped around behind me.
How did I not notice that until now!?
"I'm coming in!" Marisa continues as I fail to respond.
At this my head peaks up again. "No no no wait!" I say loudly and Legion stirs awake besides me.
"Oh hush I'm entering."
By the time I register Marisas words, the door creaks open and I know it's to late. At the same time Legion sits up casually not seeming bothered.
Marisa stops dead in her tracks upon seeing us in bed together and gasps as her eyes flicker between us.
"You rule breaking little rascals." Her lips form a huge smile with the usual teasing glints in her eyes.
"It's not what it looks like!" I stress as I hold up a hand to stop her from venturing further into her assumptions.
Legion sighs and gets out of bed in a shift motion then he corrects his somewhat disheveled clothes. "Don't mind Marisa she simply loves some good gossip." Legion tries to reassure me as he runs his hands through his unkept hair, trying to get it slicked back.
For a short moment my eyes linger on his messy hair and I feel some color return to my face along with heat, but the moment is short lived as Marisa replies.
"I mean this is hardly gossip, I caught you red handed." She sounds ecstatic and I drop my head in my hands now feeling heat rise to my cheeks for a different reason than the sight of Legions messy hair.
"Marisa, put a dimmer on your delusions please." Legion sounds assertive but as I've witnessed before it never intimidates Marisa so it's pretty much pointless, which is proven correct as she giggles.
"I won't tell, let's just hope you didn't mark her yet or she'll have to wear a scarf today." I peer through my fingers still too embarrassed to face them, unfortunately she notices it and sends a wink my way.
I groan and get out of bed, hoping that my fully dressed state might be an indication that we're telling the truth, however I doubt anything could change her mind at the moment.
Legion simply ignores Marisa as he brushes his hands over his clothes, while Marisa throws suggestive glances my way.
"Willow." Legion says, not giving Marisa any more attention, he directs his full attention to me. "I look forward to the ceremony and I hope the feeling is mutual." Though his voice is huskier than usual this early, I can still hear the slightly hopeful tone in his voice. Unfortunately my mouth is still glued shut due to Marisa wiggling her eyebrows at me which is very apparent from the corners of my eyes, making me unable to formulate any coherent sentence.
He catches on quickly as he looks at his cousin and send a nod my way, "very well. If you need anything let me know." With that he leaves the room while my eyes widen slightly at his kind offer. It feels like the first time he's said anything like it... perhaps yesterday changed something between us?
I'm quickly drawn out of my trance as Marisa steps in front of my line of view looking all giddy. "I want all the details!"
"It's your cousin." I state with a deadpan look.
Her face changes slightly into a more serious look. "Oh right sometimes I forget I'm related to that grumpy man." She flashes me a sorry smile and I exhale, feeling off the hook.
"Not so fast, you still have to tell me everything that happened at least. But... spare some details of course." She regains her devious expression.
I groan and fall back into bed.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
There wasn't much to tell Marisa. I left out the part where we kissed and just jumped straight to the part where I was worried about today and he got into bed with me to answer all my questions about the ceremony, somewhere amidst all my questions I must've fallen asleep and I suppose Legion must've too.
She didn't believe me and immediately began searching my neck for marks. This got me worried as I remembered Legions lips against my neck, thankfully she found none. This revelation made me shudder however as I realized that Legion was holding back on me last night. I began to wonder what it would feel like if he wasn't holding back at all while Marisa was questioning me, which made concentrating quite difficult.
Marisa seemed disappointed that nothing had happened yet she still didn't believe me. I of course couldn't tell her that she was right and especially not about the kiss as I was still processing that part myself.
I sigh but my sigh feels heavier than usual now that I'm surrounded by the water in my bath. Marisa had one of the women draw a bath for me, as a start to my 'special day', like she put it.
The pressure from the water feels both comforting due to the significant slowing of my heartbeat but it also feels suffocating as the weight of the water almost makes it harder to take complete breaths.
I close my eyes as I try to recall some of Legions answers.
The whole castle will be there.
An elder will ask you questions.
A crown will be placed on your head.
Elders will perform an ancient ritual.
I submerge my head under water to escape my restless mind but quickly give up as it just makes my thoughts and anxieties sound so much louder in the silent water.
I fully give up on trying to relax and exit the bathtub. The long mirror in the bathroom is fogged up but I can still see my bare silhouette in it's reflection. As I stand there looking at myself another thought appears in my head.
Am I good enough to be a queen? A Luna? Anything but myself?
I lean further into the mirror as I direct my attention to my face, a flashback of yesterday rush through my mind and I gently touch my lips where his lips once were.
Is it crazy that I want more of that?
A gentle knock sounds at the door and I quickly pull away from the mirror and wrap myself in the soft robe on the counter.
"Yes?" I respond.
Marisa peaks her head in, "oh good you're done." She fully opens the door to reveal a whole staff of women behind her.
"Yeah..." I say as I cross my arms over my chest suddenly feeling rather exposed.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
"Your hair is gorgeous Your Highness, I've never seen white hair on such a young lady, and never this shiny." The woman doing my hair gushes as she finishes putting my hair in a beautiful updo with impressive braids tangling together to create a masterpiece. "It almost looks like it's glowing."
"Thank you." I timidly say as I stare back at myself in the mirror. My hair has always been a sore subject for obvious reasons.
"And so long too... it reaches your waistline." She sounds awed as she continues and it almost seems like she's speaking to herself so I simply flash her a smile, hoping that I don't seem rude. The lady doesn't seem to mind my silence however and simply continues with the finishing touches as she places all sorts of jewelry in my hair.
"My my, it looks like you're about to faint." Marisa interrupts as she looks at me through the mirror. "Perhaps we should go for a walk and catch some air?" She suggest and I'm quick to nod.
The room seems suffocating with all these women trying to prepare me for the ceremony. Though I'm dressed properly now I still feel self conscious. Perhaps it's because I know I'm about to become their Luna and Queen.
"I'm also finished now Lady Gryphen." The woman says and I exhale in relief as I get up.
"Shall we?" I ask impatiently.
Once we're outside the room Marisa interlocks her arm with mine. "Are you alright?" She sounds concerned.
I try to look more relaxed than I am as I answer. "Of course, I'm just nervous about today is all."
"I understand today is the day we've all been waiting for afterall." Her voice is brimming with happiness now and I can't help but notice that it is a little contagious as I feel something flutter in my heart. Perhaps I'm also slightly excited? Or maybe just nervous...
Before I can reply Marisas expression drops slightly.
"Hello Ladies." I spin my head in the direction of the voice. I'm met with Caspian's overly friendly smile as he looks at me. "Your Highness." He nods his head in my direction and then in Marisas. "Lady Marisa Gryphen."
"Caspian Winterbourne." She says as she tugs on my arm ensuring that I don't make a stop to greet him.
Confused by the interaction, I take a peak over my shoulder. Caspian has stopped walking and is now peering our way. He's smirking as our eyes briefly connect and I quickly twist my head back around, praying that I wasn't too obvious.
We walk further and once I'm sure that there's enough distance between Caspian and us, I speak up. "What was that about?"
Marisa exhales as she continues our stroll through halls I've yet to see before. "Although he may be Legions cousin, believe it or not, we never got along." Marisa shrugs.
My eyes widen. "You? Not getting along with someone? I find that hard to believe, how can anyone but love you." I state sounding surprised.
"It's more that I don't like Caspian." She sounds more somber than usual and I decide to push a bit for information, because of how the dinner yesterday went. The unspoken tension between Legion and Caspian still has me perplexed.
"Does this have something to do with Legion?" I try to not sound so eager and instead slow my speech so it doesn't sound like I'm pushing to hard.
"Besides the fact that he seems fake towards me, yes. Caspian hasn't made it easy on Legion. When Legions father died-" my heart automatically picks up it's pace at the mention of King Octavius. "-he began questioning Legions decisions as king and even called him unfit for the title."
I raise my eyebrows, shocked that the man who just greeted us with such a huge smile is hiding that side of himself beneath his friendly facade. "That sounds horrible."
Marisa nods in agreement. "And you'd think he would've been more supportive as he himself has lost his father."
I turn my head towards Marisa with a quick jerk. "What?"
Does death follow this family or something?
"Legions uncle Kaden, the old king." Marisa replies as if it's common knowledge, and perhaps it is but back in my village my mother and I usually stuck by ourselves and I barely knew of life outside my village.
I just keep looking at her with a puzzled look and she eventually gets the message that know nothing of this.
"Ah you didn't know. Well King Kaden died when Caspian was just five in a battle, causing King Octavius to get the thrown as the second in line." Her voice has fully lost its usual spark now as she speaks of the tragedies in the kingdom.
"I see. That must've been hard on Caspian."
"Indeed so you'd think he would've been there for Legion when his father passed but instead he began questioning everything that Legion did and his integrity as the new king, saying that he was to young to rule." Marisa leads us down the stairs I originally ascended when I first came to the castle and where I first met her.
"Why do you think he did that?" I ask baffled by all the new information.
Marisa looks lost in thought for a moment taking in my question as a silence surrounds us. I scan the castle confused by the silence as I usually hear snickers and whispers but the castle is empty. I suppose everyone are getting ready for tonight as not a single soul can be found in the near vicinity no matter what halls she drags us through. I take a moment to appreciate the peace of not being starred down with every step I take, while Marisa continues to lead us. My peace is disturbed instantly though as the vacant halls only confirm the soon-to-be ceremony.
Thankfully I'm ripped out of my thoughts as Marisa finally replies. "Perhaps envy, perhaps tough love, I can't say Willow but I do know one thing and it is that no one treats my family like that." She finally stops walking and I turn my head forward. In front of us are two ginormous crimson colored doors. "And now that you're part of the family, you'll always have me." She knocks on one of the tall doors that seem never ending. I look around, I hadn't noticed that this part of the castle is so big that I can't even see any resemblance of a ceiling.
The doors open wide as two servants pull on each door and a red tinted light shines brightly in my eyes as I'm greeted with the beautiful view of what I presume to be the ceremonial room.
The room is colossal with an aisle running down the middle of the dark floors. The floor looks like dark marble, which creates a shiny look, almost as if the floor is all wet. There are countless seats on each side of the aisle, and each wall is accompanied by several statues with strength exuding from them. They all depict the Moon Goddess.
At the very end of the aisle sits a beautiful throne on top of an elevated platform. There's a balcony behind the throne which is very visible due to the huge glass windows behind the platform.
There's also a large window over the throne in the hidden ceiling shinning a bright light onto the throne, illuminating it. Not even to mention the smaller windows scattered throughout the ceiling, however they're red stain-glass windows, which is also the source of the mystical red color that fills the room.
I gasp as I take in the sight before me.
___________________________
Thank you thank you thank you for your patience. As I continue to travel my time continues to be limited I'm so sorry! :(
However the whole story is mapped out so have no fear, just have patience;) hehe
What did you think of this Chapter? Getting excited for the ceremony?
Are you liking this side of Legion and Willow?
Do you think Caspian is being too rough on Legion?
How do you think you would've handled the encounter with Marisa in the morning lol?
As always, click the star! Comment! And stay safe<3