He had long given up trying to force Aurelia into wedding planning and thus himself planned a simple affair a month from now. The servants were busy at work beginning to decorate the ballroom and crafting what she had heard was supposedly the most beautiful wedding dress of the century. The day after they had married, he had declared, they would invade the neighboring kingdoms and take over the Continent.
As that was all their marriage was after all – a weapon for war.
Every morning she remained focused on her swordscraft, forcing Lorcan to push her to new limits and teach her new tricks as if it might prepare her for the war brimming on the horizon. Cressida and Aurelia had found a new truce in their relationship, both making silent amends to the outburst the two had shared.
Aurelia returned to the village and met with each business owner to purchase the most expensive option they had for the wedding, giving them what she called ‘creative freedom’ to design how they saw fit. It was her way of holding her side of the deal she made with Ambrose – making sure everyone she passed on the street had enough to get by the coming months, especially now with Dorian spending all of the kingdom’s money on weaponry and soldiers.
Cressida, on the other hand, no longer made snarky comments about Aurelia’s choices of what she did in her free time and soon became her greatest ally in being undisturbed for hours on end.
Every other hour was spent with Demir. If she wasn’t in the hidden tower, she was reading the lunar magic books Demir had chosen for her. The past few weeks had been more grueling than she could have envisioned as Demir trained her even more ardous than Lorcan, continuously pushing her to be better in all aspects of her magic.
Though she had practiced solar magic in length with Rehema, it paled in comparison. Solar magic had felt like a breath of fresh air, like stretching a muscle that had long been resting. Learning lunar magic felt as if Aurelia was forced to learn to write left-handed, starting from nothing. Aurelia struggled immensely – but for every step backward, Demir encouraged her to make two steps forward, no matter how long it took, no matter the progress. Some days she practically collapsed into bed at night, completely drained from using up all of her magic, both from the moon and sun.
The tower became her new home, spending all of her meals and sometimes falling asleep on the desk, yet Aurelia refused to slow down. For every success at lunar magic, Demir and Aurelia circled back to her solar magic, strengthening both threads so that whenever she shut her eyes they shone brightly at her, no longer enemies.
Without Ambrose she had felt strangely empty. It wasn’t a foreign feeling for Aurelia, who had long been used to losing people she cared about. It was what she had wrestled with at every step of her journey, of losing pieces of herself, unknowing of who she was; who she wanted to be, yet...it felt different without Ambrose. It felt wrong.
She was relieved of the business of her new mission and tight schedule Demir kept her on for as time passed, as she didn’t have the energy to miss him or to wonder where he was. All she could think about was her destiny – and how to prepare for it.
Today, however, was the day Aurelia had been dreading for a week now: the day of her and Dorian’s wedding kickoff celebration, the commencement of a month-long affair of endless dancing, drinking, and carousing, ending on the night of their wedding ceremony. There would be no time to visit the tower, to prepare for the death that was soon to come.
Aurelia groaned as she blinked the morning sun out of her eyes, dreading the day before her.
Demir had kept her up late into the night at work, practicing her defenses of ice magic over and over again until summoning the cold element felt as if it was second nature. She still did not have the ability to manipulate night as Ambrose had once done, but she could make herself invisible for short snippets of time, enough to get her places without anyone noticing.
Though progress had been a lot less than her solar magic, it was progress nonetheless. Every night as she made her way back to her bedroom, her mind wandered to the crystals that were scattered around the tower, wistful of the endless possibilities that growing her lunar magic could give her. One of those crystals, if she could unlock its power, could bring her home.
Yet today she didn’t have time to dream of such hopes. Dorian had made sure to fit in as many frivolous activities that he could to start the marital month off with a bang – today, she would be spending every waking moment beside her betrothed, watching villagers perform tricks and dances. Later on, they would bestow wedding gifts as well wishes for the charming couple, though what they could give that the castle didn’t already have, Aurelia had no idea.
Cressida bustled into Aurelia’s room shortly after she awoke, a servant in tow with a large platter of breakfast food. Aurelia stifled a groan, her muscles begging her to stay in bed. The early arrival of Cressida meant she would be ushered out of bed much sooner than she had hoped for.
Before she knew it, she was plunging into the hot water, Cressida scolding her to hurry up. She quickly scrubbed herself clean, her auburn hair gleaming in the morning light as she stepped out of the stone bath, wrapping herself in one of the long, fuzzy towels.
Immediately Cressida flocked to her side, combing her hair away from her face. Aurelia couldn't help but stare at herself in the mirror with the smallest sense of pride. She may have changed a lot from her experiences here, yes, and maybe not always for the good. But at least she could call herself brave, now. Fighting for a purpose far greater than herself.
The thought just barely brought her upwards from the dark, bottomless pit she had been drowning in and she felt the smallest spark of hope trail up her spine. Maybe, just maybe, she could feel like herself again.
Cressida and the other servants snapped her back to attention as they began zipping up the tight, silk dress up her back. It was a classic Dorian choice – elegant and extremely revealing, the white fabric luxurious and shimmering in the sunlight.
After Aurelia was up to Cressida’s standards, she dismissed the other servants, giving Aurelia a tall pair of heels to slide on before she escorted her to Dorian’s rooms. They strolled through the private passageways until they arrived at his bedroom doors, two guards nodding to the pair of them. The door opened immediately to reveal Dorian himself fixing the collar of his dress robes, not a single servant in sight.
“Aurelia,” Dorian said pleasantly, opening the door wider for her entrance. “You look splendid.” He nodded and turned towards his dresser where two silver cuff links sat.
His room mirrored Aurelia’s in that it was made of gold and black marble, yet everything was grander – and darker. The bed was dressed in black silk and the ceiling had both the night sky and past kings depicted, the Damaris throne the focus.
` The room itself was at least twice the size of Aurelia’s, a door leading to a terrace looking out to the wide, open ocean. Whereas Aurelia had made hers more comfortable with a roaring fire and cozy blankets, Dorian had opted for the cold, elegant fashion that Aurelia despised. She shivered despite the temperature.
“Thank you,” she responded stiffly, taking only one step into the room.
Dorian finished placing his cuff links, his own black dress robes a contrast to her snow white gown. “Very well.” He said as he turned to face her, taking in her appearance once more.
“I'm sure you've heard of the enthusiasm for the celebrations we have upcoming?” He held out his arm and Aurelia begrudgingly took it, making their way down the long private passageways that would drop them into the main halls.
After a moment, Aurelia nodded.“Good,” Dorian continued. “It's always a wonderful thing to give a kingdom something to celebrate.” He gave her a pointed look. “You should be sure to understand that."
“Of course,” Aurelia said disdainfully, doing her best to hide the disgust that threatened to overwhelm her features.
They stopped in front of the doors to the ballroom and Aurelia looked to Dorian expectantly, wiping any expression off of her face that portrayed the truth of how she felt. It was her job to stay alive long enough to make it back to her grandmother – and playing the part of his loving betrothed was essential.
Dorian nodded and the guards on either side opened the doors. The crowds of people within silenced, some in expectation, some in awe. Aurelia had to admit – they were a powerful pairing, no matter anything else. The descendants of the sun and moon gods – who could stop such magical blood?
They walked gracefully into the ballroom where everyone waited with bated breath.The top of the grand staircase caught Aurelia’s gaze - for where the Damaris throne sat, there was another golden one next to it.
She kept her eyes forward, avoiding making eye contact with any of the villagers as the crowd parted and they made their way through. Dorian steered her up the beautiful staircase, the hundreds of people packed into the room all following the two with their eyes, waiting for what they were going to say.
Dorian stopped them at the top, turning to face the crowds of people below them. “Thank you, all, for joining us to celebrate our wonderful and magical union,” He paused as he leaned down to clasp her hand, making brief eye contact with Aurelia. “Of kingdom, heart...and of soul." His eyes seemed to pierce into her own.
Nausea roiled in Aurelia’s stomach as she recalled the power of marriage in this magical realm – a binding of souls for eternity. It was unbreakable, and to go through with such a union would be to sign her life away, to bind her soul to the cruelest man on the Continent.
No matter the circumstances, she couldn’t marry him.
The applause was thunderous and Aurelia flinched at the noise, keeping her face impassive as Dorian looked eagerly down upon his people. “Today we will begin by introducing my beloved bride to Damaris and their people. To showcasing Damaris culture and the best our kingdom has to offer!” Dorian exclaimed, his eyes bright with excitement as the crowd cheered in response.
The crowd continued cheering as Dorian led Aurelia over to the twin thrones and together they sat, at equal height, ruling over the people below them. Aurelia sat up straight, her hands folded in her lap as the crowd got situated and a few individuals stood, coming to the center of the ballroom to showcase a talent or magic for the royalty before them.
And so it went – as the morning faded into afternoon and more people arrived through the grand ballroom doors, villager after villager demonstrated an odd skill or talent as if it made them the greatest alive. There were singers, dancers, acrobats, all the way to those who had too many toes or could bend their elbow backwards. The crowd was lively and ate up the entertainment, cheering on anyone who was brave enough to perform with the kingdom surrounding them.
By late afternoon, Aurelia felt as if she was going to fall over in boredom.
She knew shortly Dorian would dismiss them to prepare for the night of dancing and gift-giving, but he had been too enthralled with the recent performers, ignoring Aurelia’s pointed glances. She shifted impatiently in her chair, listening in vain to the man before them depicting an old wive’s tale of the magical monsters that resided in the ocean adjacent to the castle.
She didn't even bother looking up when the castle doors opened once more, sure it was another villager eager to sing for their king. Her chin remained in her palm as she stared down at the performer at the bottom of the stairs as if watching his lips move could make him more enthralling.
However, unlike the previous arrivals, everyone quieted. Aurelia’s head snapped to the door, her heart stopping in her chest as she took in the men before her.
More particularly, one of the men.
Ambrose.
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