2024 Story Collection

The Soulmates of Ruth WinterGreen

Sullivan had arrived at the castle that morning. He was immediately taken to a room filled with people all staring at him. He wasn't unused to the attention, yet it still made him nervous.Sullivan was bathed in oils, clothed in silks and had ink applied around his eyes. It was all a blur. Everything was happening too fast.

Last week it was announced that the princesses soulmate mark had appeared on her left wrist. Two days later, palace knights were in his town, checking the wrists of every man for the light pink blooming rose.

He had tried to hide from them, but knew it was only a matter of time. He was famous in that part of the kingdom for his looks. Woman often tried to buy a night with him, or propose to him with promises of gold and land. At first, as a child, the attention flattered him, but as he grew, that's all the attention he ever got.

No one saw his hard work or talents, they only saw his looks. They only saw his body. He was tall and slender, unlike most men from that part of the kingdom. His shoulders were too broad and his waist too thin. He worked in the fields, so his skin was tanned from the long, hot days.

The looks and proposals were bad enough. What was worse was the touching and grabbing. As he went through puberty, people became more aggressive. Some older women would walk up to him and grab his groan. He would scream and run away, but they would just joke about how cute he was. That he was irresistible. He hated it all.

Young and old woman obsessed over him. They would call out to him on the street and it made him so uncomfortable that he had started to hide himself away under layers of clothing when out in the town, ignoring the heat of the southern part of the kingdom where he lived. But it was too late for that. They already knew him. They'd call for him to show himself, that he had no right to hide his body as if it was theirs to look at.

He had wished he could've been born ugly, or at the very least, average.

He had hid from the knights for a day, before he finally faced his fate. When he looked down at his left wrist where the blooming rose had suddenly appeared just a few days before, he knew they would scour the earth to find him.

So he walked right up to them, showing them his wrist and just like that, he was whisked away to become a concubine for a queen that would use him the way every other woman always had wanted.

He stands now, outside the princesses quarters, next to the two other men. They were dolled up just like him, their handsomeness accentuated but the costumes.

He didn't really know these men, yet he shared the same soulmate with them. They were all doomed to the same fate. They would be the Queen's concubines. She would play with them, but would marry a noble of choice whom would be loved and respected as her husband. While they would be seen as playthings. At least he was used to that.

He'd be a fool not to notice the similarities between the three of them, like there always were with royal's soulmates. They were all young, most likely the same age, or close as the princess. They all were tall, thin but muscular with more feminine facial features. Deep or hooded eyes, big lips, thin noses, high cheekbones and smaller waists compared to most men's square shape.

They all were most likely wanted by many women. He realized with a jolt that they had most likely shared more than just a future, but also a past. Had these two also been through all the unwanted attention I had? He suddenly felt protective of them.

"Come in." His eyes widen at the sound of her voice. His heart racing in his chest. It was as if, at the sound of her voice, everything would be alright. He looks at the two men to his right. They wear a similar expression to his own. One of shock and relief.

The guards open the doors. There she sits, on a sofa near a fireplace. obstructing their full view of her is another larger sofa that sits across from her. But what he can see of Ruth WinterGreen is her beauty.

Unlike her soulmates, she had masculine features. She didn't have the usual curves of the kingdom's woman, nor was she thin like them. Even with the light fabric around her shoulders, could he see her muscle. Her eyes were a deeper brown than his own. They were hooded and her lashes were long. Her hair was dark brown and hung loosely down to her mid-back. Her lips were thin and her jaw strong. She covered almost all her skin, just like in her portraits. Her eyebrows were thick and untamed. She had the look of a warrior that had been fighting for too long.

She was the opposite of what many in the kingdom would find beautiful, and yet, to him, she was perfect.

"Come in." Her face stays the same. No hint of emotion from seeing them. It saddens him. Had he already become so attached in this short amount of time?

They all enter and wait for her further instruction. She tells the guards to close the door and leave. They were alone now. Just the four of them in silence.

He'd only had a moment to introduce himself before they were brought to Ruth's door.

Emery, the youngest of the three, stood to Sullivan's right, and beside him was Leo.

Emery was just as tall as Sullivan, but had much more muscle. He was pale, like most of the natives in the north. He also had their hair, patches of different shades of brown, some so light they looked blond, some so dark they almost looked black. It was also very thick; he had shorn the sides to make it lighter like most native northerners did. He also had the rare bright blue eyes with brown stripes. He looked so young.

He was, they all were.

Leo was the tallest of the three. Even next to the other men, he stood a head higher. His proportions are that of the western seafaring people. Long limbs with short torsos. His hair was a black and fell around his small face in wisps. He had dark green eyes and a sharp jaw.

For the first time in Sullivan's life, he felt utterly normal next to these two. He was so used to standing out, but next to these two men, he was just a handsome face. He didn't know if he liked it.

"I reject you three as my soulmates," she says interrupting his thoughts and stands.

"What?" Emery asks. "Why?"

"You three deserve lives of your choosing. You deserve to find a woman you want to marry and live happily." She turns away from them and begins packing her things into a small set of bags. "You shouldn't have to share a soulmate that will be married to another man."

"Do you not want us?" Emery asks, distraught. "Are we not good enough?" This makes her stop and turn to them.

"That does not matter," she says. "You can't tell me that you want me, want this life. Even if the connection is as strong on your side as it is on mine," so she felt it too, "you can't want to live a life like this. You all deserve more."

She turns and walks to a desk sitting under a large window, packing a notebook and papers from the drawers.

How can she just reject them so easily? He has only known her for a few moments, but already can't imagine a life without her. And why-

"Why are you packing?" Sullivan asks, letting his curiosity get the best of him like it often did. She looks back. Their eyes meet and a chill runs up his spine, his heart pounding harder in his chest.

"I'm leaving the kingdom." She turns back and continues looking through papers.

"Where will you go?" Sullivan asks.

"It doesn't matter."

"How can you just abandon your people?" Leo asks, disgusted.

"I am relinquishing the crown to my brother." She turns to them. "I don't want to be Queen. I never have."

To be continued...

January 2, 2024