A/N: Humans fucking suck
Rhea
It's been a few days since Castien left and my wedding is rapidly approaching, meaning I'm more nervous than I ever have been in my entire life.
Not only has Castien left, but I think I'm in love with Catalan.
After all he's done for me in the past three months, it'd be hard not to.
Giving me his mother's engagement ring, promising forever to me, helping me find a way to bring down Nicasia with no hesitation, the first time he kissed me, the first time I kissed him back, the picnic he planned for me...
"Rhea!" someone shouts and I shriek as I jump and I let out a mouthful of colorful swears when my teacup shatters on the floor.
"Rhea, honey, are you okay?" Mom asks worriedly as I start to brush the glass shards together and I nod before I look at my family.
All of their brows are furrowed nervously as they look at me and I let out a shaky breath as I start to cry.
"Oh sweetheart," Aunt Taryn says softly as she hugs me.
"Were you this nervous?" I ask shakily and she gives me a sad smile as she pulls away and takes my hand.
"Even more nervous than you were, Rhea. It's perfectly normal for you to be nervous. You're marrying someone you think you know but maybe you don't. And maybe they're actually a psychopath in real life and maybe you kill him when you're newlyweds and then name your son after your dead husband-"
"Taryn," Mom snaps and I pull away as fear pulls at every muscle in my stomach.
"Rhea, stop freaking out. You and Catalan are in love, and your wedding is a celebration of that. Besides, it's a little too late now. You can't ever go back now," Dad says with a laugh and I feel bile rise in my throat as my family teases me and tries to help me refocus.
"I-I just remembered I h-have a meeting," I stammer as I rise to my shaky feet and dash from the room.
I don't stop running until I make it to my room and slam the door shut.
As I lean against it, panic rises in my chest and I think I might be having a panic attack when I see my wedding dress on a hangar in my close.
Oh my god I can't breathe.
I rifle through my drawers as I change out of my blouse and corset into a striped long sleeve and faux leather jacket before taking my hair out of it's complicated up-do before letting it hide the points of my ears.
I grab the keys to Aunt Vivi's house and run out of my room and to the stables before galloping out of Elfhame.
I need to go to the human world.
When I enter Vivi's house, Vivi is waiting in the doorway and she's frowning as I freeze with my Target bag of chips, Twizzlers, and chocolate in hand.
"How did you know I-" I start but she draws me into a hug and I start to cry as I hug her back.
When she pulls away, she's smiling.
"Your father had a sneaking suspicion after an interesting conversation you had earlier with your family about your wedding, and your mom said you looked like you were going to throw up. She texted me when she reported a raggwort steed was stolen from the stables. So what's going on, honey?" she asks as she leads me into the living room and we sit on the couch after Heather says hi to me before making up some fake excuse to give me and my aunt some time alone.
"It's just... I'm so terrified of letting everyone down and that if Catalan is actually going to betray me and that it was all an act to get me to fall in love with him. I'm afraid that if I trust him with my heart, he's going to shatter it. I just... I feel so out of control and so exposed," I blurt out and Aunt Vivi bursts into laughter.
"Rhea, that's a good thing. Besides, look at that ring. He clearly likes you. And your mom told me that it was his mother's. Based off how he talks about his mother, he wouldn't give it to someone if he didn't think it'd be serious or if he wanted it back. Besides, you're getting married. Every bride is allowed to feel freaked out of their frickin' minds before they get married."
I look at Aunt Vivi and give a one-shouldered shrug as I ask, "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
And she only gives me a knowing smile.
"I don't think it's as much about if you're doing the right thing as it is if you love him, Rhea. Do you love him?" she asks and I pause and her catlike grin appears.
"I rest my case," she says softly as she squeezes my hand, "So yes. I think if you're marrying for love now rather than an alliance, then you're not just doing the right thing, you're doing the thing you want to do. Everyone in Elfhame and your family in the mortal realm would want that for you."
I hug her and she rubs my back.
"I'm always here for you, Rhea... but," she says at the same time there's a knock at the door and the door opens as she brushes back my hair and wipes away my tears.
"You should talk with him," she says she stands up from the couch at the same time Catalan enters the room, hands in his pockets.
My heart seizes in my chest at looking at him.
"Hey, Rhea," he says softly and my heart almost does a backflip as I rise from the couch and he hugs me.
"Okay, first, you look way too much like John Travolta in Grease," Aunt Vivi interrupts and I glare at her.
"What?!" she asks incredulously, "It had to be said! And second, I'll leave you to be," she says before she leaves.
Okay but Vivi's right.
Catalan is dressed in some black tee right now, dark blue jeans, black sneakers, and a leather jacket... and it's fucking hot.
"Your father said that you fled to the mortal realm and said it would be better if I went after you myself. What's wrong?" he asks worriedly and I sigh.
"I... I'm fine now, but my family was freaking me out about our wedding and I worried I was panicking for some insane reasons," I admit and he brushes the hair that covers my ears behind the sharp points and he gives me a loving smile.
"I hope your worries didn't have to do with me," he teases and I give him a weak smile.
"I know," he says as he leans forward and kisses my forehead, "I'm nervous too. Although honestly, I should be more worried than you. I'm about to be the future king consort," he says with a laugh and I giggle with him.
"There's the Rhea I love," he says fondly before he takes my hand.
"Show me around the mortal realm," he requests and I burst into laughter as I call into the house, "Bye, Aunt Vivi! Thanks!"
"Anytime, sweetheart! See you soon!" she yells before me and Catalan leave the house hand in hand.
Catalan
The mortal realm is fascinating.
First, Rhea made me get into some metal vehicle called a car and I don't think I'd been more terrified in my entire life.
She took us into some brick maze that's apparently a city, but none that I have ever seen before, called Portland in a country called Maine.
(CINNAMON ROLL WTFFF)
I won't deny that the mortal realm is beautiful, a light sea breeze blowing through the city as we walk and she grins.
"You have to try boba tea," she says excitedly as she drags me into one of the buildings. and starts ordering something with a human.
It takes a few minutes as I watch in shock as some medieval torture device shakes our drinks before they're poured into soft and spongy glasses with a straw.
I'm almost insulted when Rhea hands it to me, hissing, "I'm a grown-ass man, I can drink without a straw-" to which she snickers as she punctures my straw through the filmy film and hands my drink to me.
"You'll thank me later," she says before she watches me with glee as I take my first sip and then some thing comes through the straw and I gasp.
"Well?" she asks excitedly as she watches me and my eyes widen.
"How have I never known about this?" I demand and she cackles as we sit down on a bench.
"I knew you'd love boba tea! Okay, next we have to go clothes shopping."
I raise an eyebrow in confusion, "You don't just get your measurements taken and then they're sewn for you?" I ask and she grins.
"Not exactly. You'll see."
"I am so confused," I exclaim a few minutes later as I look at rows and row of shirts identical to mine and Rhea practically squeals with laughter.
"It's just a shop. They're in specific sizes so you can buy them right away as they are rather than wait for a whole new wardrobe to get stiched," she says and then she's digging into the back of my shirt and I'm sputtering with confusion.
"I'm looking for the size shirt you're wearing," she says and I smirk at her as I whisper coyly, "Will this also require you having to dig into my pants to?" to which her glammored and rounded ears grow red and she shakes her head.
"Oh no, that's all you, Prince Charming," she teases as she pulls brightly colored button shirts off the racks and hands them to me.
"When you do take off your pants, tell me the number on the back of them on that tiny tag so I can get you pants," she says and I can see several other shoppers looking at us strangely as I enter a clothed closed-off room and start changing.
"What size?" she asks from the other side of the curtain and I tell her before she comes back with pants and accessories.
We shop almost all day, go back for boba, go to different shops for more clothes, Rhea introduced me to coffee, we went on a walk around the harbor, we listened to music at a music festival, and then we went to dinner.
It's sunset when we leave the building with the fancy set tables and papers with our food choices with all of our purchases from the day and Rhea is grinning from ear to ear.
I prefer to it when she had tears in her eyes when I arrived at her aunt's house.
"Today was perfect. Thank you," she whispers as she leans her head on my shoulder as we walk and I sigh as we enter the car.
"Rhea," I start, looking at her as she starts the car, "Did you leave Elfhame because you're having regrets?" I ask and she looks over at me with sadness and takes her hand off the "steering wheel".
"Catalan, no," she breathes, "I was not having regrets about our wedding, I was stressed and nervous."
"About marrying me?" I ask and she shakes her head.
"No," she says softly, "I'm worried about me when I marry you. I have been known to be difficult, and I don't know who I'll become when I marry you or if I'll be even more difficult," she admits and I take her hand as I look over at her.
"Rhea, the past few days I've literally dreamt about us being married. Yes, you're difficult but it's one of the millions of reasons why I love you. Yes, we might fight and there might be times where we resent one another, but if our marriage is a good one and a happy one? Oh my god. I literally smile until it hurts just thinking about it. I mean, hundreds of years from now, we'll probably be in love, maybe even more than ever, and we might even have kids. I don't care when we have kids, I just want you to be happy. But when we do, I just know that I'll look back on this day with so much joy and happiness. That's why I'm not worried about us getting married. Because I know that I love you now and that I'll love you until the day I die."
Rhea's eyes are sparkling with tears and smiles as she opens her mouth and whispers, "I can't wait to marry you."
I laugh as I cup her cheek and kiss her softly before she grins.
"Let's go home," she says before we leave the city of Portland in the country of Maine.
(Gives the same vibes as the Mojo Dojo Casa House)
Castien
"WHEN DID YOU GET HOME?!" Tialha shrieks in my ear and I groan as I roll over in my bed to turn away from her too loud and too obnoxious voice.
"Last night early morning," I groan out and Aurae screams right next to my ear which makes me bolt upward in bed.
She grins like a cat as I glare at her as she sits down on my bed in a beautiful flowy sky blue and gold dress.
"Why are you home, though? The last time you wrote us, you told us you thought you were in love with Princess Rhea," Aurae asks and I look down at my sheets.
As far as royal bedrooms go, my room is subtle.
The room has the wooden ceiling and beams exposed as well as the glass doors to the balcony that overlooks the waterfalls at the edge of our beautiful city we rule over graciously, and the furniture is made out of strong dark wood with candles that give it a darker look.
I shake my head with a grim smile, "It's complicated, Aurae."
She crosses her arms and raises a daring eyebrow while saying, "I'm a royal. Try me, Castien."
"Fine. Rhea binded herself to Lord Jasce-hole in an engagement and is marrying him in a few days. As far as it looks, Rhea's in love with him."
"Holy fuck," Tialha exclaims as she collapses into a chair and I chuckle.
"Indeed."
"Wait, so that guy who blackmailed her - she's marrying him?" Tialha asks, confused, and I nod.
"Except Rhea says it wasn't really blackmail now, and now I'm not sure if when she got stabbed there was some poison that went into her brain to make her think she's in love with that dickhead, but yes, she's marrying him so I left."
"And you didn't come home sooner, why?" Aurae asks with a raised eyebrow and I glare at her.
"Because I wanted to make sure Rhea was safe-"
"It sounds like she was in more danger with you around. And she's in love with him?" Tialha asks and I shrug.
"Sure, if you can call what they have love," I say and she glares at me.
"Castien, I know you're stupid and overprotective of people, but Rhea asked you how many times to leave and then got injured again in your presence?" And if she's really in love with him, I thinks he would have preferred to get to know her fiancé rather than worry about you tanking her wedding. Elfhame wedding traditions state that they mate for life. So until one of them dies - and no, you will not murder Rhea's fiancé," she adds as I'm about to open my mouth, "There is nothing you can do about it. Now, we got an invite to see the Greenbriars in a few days so we're leaving tonight, and I'm pretty sure it's for their wedding. I'm assuming you're not coming with us."
"Who's side are you on?" I ask incredulously and they give me twin glares.
"Rhea's," they say at the same time and I roll my eyes.
"I just left," I snap and Tialha rolls her eyes back at me.
"Fine. I'll tell Mother that you're not coming. Also, Father wants you in his study," Aurae says before my sisters leave my rooms and I collapse back against my pillows.
As I knock on Father's study, I hear his booming voice telling me to come in and as I enter the study, he turns around with a frown on his face.
"If this is about not attending Princess Rhea's wedding, I already got the talk from Tialha and Aurae and I don't want to hear it," I declare and he shakes his head.
"I'm not concerned about that, Castien. But I did find something from the Old Wars."
The Old Wars? The one that Elfhame with the House of Clintendon raged on us and the continent?
"What about it? I thought there were no sources that Lord Jasce did anything since it was scrubbed from history," I say and he shakes his head as he reaches behind him to the desk and hands me an old journal.
"What is this?" I ask and he sighs.
"One of the priest's journals from the temple of Dorrenhid. Yes, most sources from the Old Wars have been burnt or destroyed because soon after Lord Jasce was killed, the King and Queen of Elfhame wanted to create a treaty with us, so we were foolish enough to decide that it was in the past and that maybe they hadn't been thinking straight."
I feel ill as I cross my arms and say coldly, "You're telling me that days before Princess Rhea marries that bastard's son, we just found something?" to which he shakes his head.
"We found something. But it says that Lord Jasce was innocent," Father clarifies and I burst into cold laughter.
"Bullshit," I spit, "That fucker knew exactly what he was doing-"
"Will you shut up and let me talk or just keep creating hypotheticals?" Father asks tiredly and I sigh.
He shakes his head. "It wasn't Lord Jasce's fault. It was the sirens of the Undersea."
"What?!" I say and he nods.
"Soon after I read the source, I did research and there's a lot of information we have about the sirens of the Undersea. There have been dozens of times where the sirens have caused mayhem, since before even Elfhame and the Greenbriars. However, the sirens may only be commanded by their king or queen."
"Wait - so you're telling me Queen Nicasia ordered the sirens to... do what exactly," I ask and his frown deepens.
"The sirens lured and sang to Jasce to kill and take over the continent. He wasn't taking over the continent because he wanted to, but because the sirens had controlled him. By the time he had recovered from the sirens call, much of the continent's other kingdoms were destroyed. Around that time, he fell in love with the Queen's sister, Lady Taryn Duarte. The sirens sang to him again, but this time to betray and kill the entire royal family. Everyone thinks that he did this by motive because of who he was, but it was truly because he was not himself. He was being mind controlled by the sirens of the Undersea."
I pale.
"And the only one who can control them is their queen," to which he nods grimly and I clarify, "It was Queen Nicasia all along?" to which he nods again.
"It seems that way. So while the Greenbriars think they killed Lord Jasce because he was a monster, he was a poor misguided soul who didn't have control over his own mind."
I shake my head and take the journal from him before saying, "This has to be sent to Princess Rhea."
"Which is why you should come with us for her wedding. I know that you don't want to watch her marry him, but it seems like the girl is in love with him, and either way, with him as the future king and her husband, he also deserves to know why his father was truly killed and what happened to make people think he was a monster. They both deserve to know," he says firmly and I shake my head as I call for my messenger.
He enters the study and bows as I command, "Have this sent to Princess Rhea Greenbriar immediately by falcon."
He takes the journal and leaves the room swiftly and my father sighs.
"I know you-"
"I can't bare to see the woman I love marry another man," I interrupt and he frowns.
"Very well. We should be back in a few days. Stay safe, my son," he says and I bow as he leaves the room to depart for Elfhame.
I sink into one of the chairs and look out at the city before I sigh.
This changes everything.
Rhea
I'm awoken by screams and yelling and the thundering of boots and I fling myself out of bed to which Catalan also wakes up immediately and we're running down the hallway.
For the past few months, Catalan sleeps next to me since I got the infection from the stab wound and he wanted to be near me in case my condition got worse.
These nights, we're up ridiculously late talking together before we fall asleep from exhaustion.
"Well she couldn't have gotten far!" Dad yells at a guard and the guard shakes his head, eyes frantic.
"I'm sorry, but we have no idea where she is!" the guard apologizes profusely and I raise the question.
"What the hell happened?" I demand and Mom's face is stony when she says.
"Nicasia's escaped. And we have no idea where she is."
Well fuck.