Once Upon A Bride (M×M)

Chapter 1: The Edict

"Permission, Your Highness."

"Granted, come in."

The doors to the chamber opened and in walked a soldier, carrying a scroll in his hand.

I folded the state document in my hand and placed it on the glass table in front of me, taking a look at the unwanted guest. 

Since there was a longsword on his hip, he must be a man from the King's Guard itself.

I raised an eyebrow inquisitively, the King's men were never a good sign.

The soldier stopped and bowed in greeting.

"His Majesty, the King has called for your presence in court this afternoon, it is a matter of utmost importance he says."

A frown inwardly surfaced as I wondered, what matter of extreme value would require me to be present during afternoon court meetings?

Wasn't it just talks of foreign relations and annual tributes? Could it be another marriage proposal?

Since my coming of age ceremony twelve moon cycles ago, there had been a never-ending stream of requests, however I had already made my stand clear, hadn't I?

Then why was father still inviting me to court? Was it something else, then?

Ah, well.

I nodded at the soldier, "Inform Royal Father of my agreement, I shall be there at noon."

"As you say, Your Highness."

I jerked my head, motioning for him to leave.

As soon as the door closed behind him, I called for my aide.

"Saltuk, come out."

Within a few seconds, the space beside me rippled and stretched, as a man, half a head shorter than me appeared.

"Yes, My Lord."

"Follow the soldier in secret, report to me exactly what Father speaks to him about." I ordered.

Immediately, his figure faded from sight, as he disappeared to fulfill my command.

There was barely an hour left before afternoon court started, no matter how fast Saltuk returned, there wasn't much I could do with the information.

But in the end, my intention was never the information, it was to send Saltuk away. After all, he was a servant gifted to me by father, and I was well aware of where his loyalty lay.

As soon as he left, I stood up and walked to my bedside table, in a neat movement, I jerked the small wooden furniture to the side.

A sharp click sounded in the silent room, and then the table slowly started to move to the left, away from the side of the bed.

It was a hidden mechanism I'd had installed several decades ago, and not even my oldest and most reliable helper knew about it, much less Saltuk.

As the table stopped moving, a square shaped opening smaller than the size of the table was visible behind it. I kneeled down, pulling out a tiny glass vial from inside the secret cabinet, there were a lot of other precious things inside, hidden away.

I quickly stashed the vial inside the folds of my robes, underneath all the fur and elaborate layers of clothing, it disappeared perfectly.

The vial contained a few drops of masking serum. For a fae, there was more than just your physically visible form, the magical traces could not be hidden simply by going out of sight.

A drop of this serum could mask all magical presence for an hour of time, just in case something were to go wrong, I might as well keep it on me.

By the time Saltuk returned, only a few minutes were left before the court session began.