The Cursed Kingdom

TWENTY-SEVEN

~ UNTIL DEATH ~

My ears could detect the music playing from outside, so soft and gentle it felt like it was omitting from a far away dream. The deeper notes had my heart feeling as if it was lodged further into my throat with each sharp clamor, blocking my windpipe and making it hard to breathe, and the higher pitched thrums of the chords that followed were in sync with my body's nervous shaking.

It was an unusual melody, one I personally wouldn't have chosen, but after Callie told me that its music sheet was found with Henrik's mother's belongings, I couldn't find it in my heart to turn it down. It's not that it wasn't beautiful or that I didn't like it. It just sounded more fitting for a waltz than a wedding, the tune very wistful-sounding.

As I listened to the song, I thought about the rogue with the white snout tearing at the elk's corpse and how the music flowing through my ears would be the closest thing I'd ever get to truly knowing Henrik's mother. I wondered if she danced, smiled, or cried while listening to it. Or perhaps all three at the same time? No matter what the music had or hadn't meant to the past queen, I was honored to have a piece of her at her son and I's wedding, wishing I could say the same about my own mother who only left me with memories that grew fainter by the day.

My eyes swayed away from the stone flooring to trail the length of the emasculate white doors. Above their threshold were two marble sprites at each corner, their hands clasped together in prayer as they looked down on whoever entered. With a pair of feathery wings too large for their bodies, sprites were tiny, invisible beings who supposedly roamed the earth to report back to the gods what they witnessed.

A part of me wondered if there was any watching me now.

I smiled bitterly at the thought.

My hands tightened around the bouquet of flowers, whose smooth stems were tied together and covered by a lace cloth between my sweaty palms, the warm weather doing nothing to help alleviate the symptoms of my nerves. The bouquet was a lovely arrangement of white flowers with leafy vines that were covered in hair-like bristles that tickled my fingers, the vines so long they would've dragged on the floor if I lowered my hands just a few more inches.

I spared a glance down at my dress that was much simpler than what Mary, the royal dressmaker, originally planned out for me but was still more extravagant than anything I could have ever imagined. The original drawings she'd brought to our first consultation with puff sleeves and gemstones had made me unintentionally cringe, which ended with Mary being offended and Callie and Ingrid teasing me. Although I'd laughed with them, my heart ached. Tylem and Taylium would've done the same thing.

At our next meeting, Mary almost seemed disappointed when I settled for floral-patterned lace along my collarbone that trailed down my arms and also laid on top of the solid white material that made up my skirt and bodice. After seeing her face, I caved and allowed her to make two small silver hair clips that connected my matching veil and my train together that sat right above my ears, almost looking like a crown itself.

I looked behind my shoulder at the two young girls keeping my train from touching the floor. The one on the left gave me a soft smile while the other, who looked a year or two younger, was too shy to look up from the bright white material. Their names were Elodie and Ophelia and they were daughters of two lords from the North who had travelled down for the occasion. They were absolutely adorable but I hadn't had much time to interact with them other than a polite "Hello" and "Thank you."

Movement caught my eye as the guard tending the right door suddenly gave a nod to the one on the left, who mimicked his actions with furrowed, serious eyebrows.