The Crown of Spheres

߷ C H A P T E R - E L E V E N ߷

☁︎︎ C H A P T E R   E L E V E N ☁︎︎

꧁꧂

The eve of the masquerade ball descended upon the palace like a storm.

It was organised, blissful chaos as guests from all over the three kingdoms swarmed in for the evening, donning their lands traditional colours and extravagant, beautifully made masks.

Arunian's wore fox masks, whilst Eyrthan's wore masks of deers with large antlers and Oceanic's wore an array of sea creatures, ranging from sharks to the rainbow fish that swam amongst the colourful reefs. It was an ocean of yellow, white and blue in the ball room as I peaked through the curtain to see how many people there were before Calder and I were to make our entrance.

I'd been dressed in a pale blue, strapless silk tulle gown with white floral beading across the corseted bodice. The colour of it was a tribute to being of two kingdoms by birth and by a soon-to-be marriage. A white fox mask made to mimic Whim's face and large ears covered my face, yet I still had a full face of make up underneath where kohl lined my eyes in a thin, long line and flick.

Calder wore his usual fitted king blue suit and his gold crown, and was stood to my left with my hand on his bicep as he fiddled with the sea creature mask.

I barely paid attention whilst he fussed with his servants, as my mind was on other things. I couldn't stop thinking about the Crown and the fact Atlas had offered to whisk me away from this place.

Tonight, I was to give him my answer, and I knew he was here because Nahm was. He had let it slip that he was bringing the Solarian as a plus one because the Queen hadn't been decent enough to extend an invite. He'd come back from Aruna a couple of days ago along with my parents, who had been holed away in the private suites in the guest wing.

I hadn't bothered to go and meet with them, however. Even after Nahm nearly begged me to as a measure of good will.

One of the maids adjusted my tiara and quickly added a small bouquet of blue flowers to the bun atop my head. The rest of my hair fell down my spine in soft waves, and my fringe had been left in its natural, slightly waved state and pushed over to one side. I didn't stop the maid even though I wanted to, since it reminded me of the suitors ball where my fate had been sealed before I even knew it.

I should have guessed then, and part of me wasn't sure why I hadn't.

The orchestra's music wafted out over our heads as the curtain was pulled back, revealing the high ceilinged ball room with its looming ribbed pillars lining the tall windows along the walls. The view of the ocean was directly behind, the luminescent moon turning the sea sparkling. From here, I could also see the small glow of the lanterns on ships on the water, swaying in the wind. I couldn't deny that the view was breathtaking.

"Presenting the Crown Prince, Calder Pyrane and his fiancé, Princess Nynia Altaluna."

All eyes were drawn towards us because of the dramatics. I thought I would be used to it after twenty years of said dramatics, but my cheeks still flushed from the attention.

Calder and I descended down the grand, white stone steps arm in arm as the sea of guests parted, bowing respectfully to Calder, as he was the future king, and I was meant to be the future queen.

I kept my eyes down as we walked across the ball room's pristine marble floor to take a seat beside his parents on the dais. The Queen looked exactly how I expected her to, her icy white hair pinned up into a high bun behind her crown, but the King... he looked paler than snow and sickly blue. The veins showing across his skin looked almost black, and the sight of him made my own skin ache strangely. He had white hair also, but I remembered from a long time ago that he had darker hair naturally.