Empress of the Sea|✔️

Chapter 15

Rewritten
***

"Don't speak to me," she said, turning her head from her brother in disappointment. "I don't want your idiotic claims to rub off on me. Now leave me be."

"Sister Maya," James said, the younger of the two siblings, "I haven't even said anything yet."

"That's how it should be. And don't call me that. I'm not a nun."

"Maya," he corrected, "I just wanted to ask if you'll come to visit. Ever since you got engaged, I haven't seen you much."

Slightly touched, but refusing to admit it, Maya bit her lip. "I'll come and visit. We might not be together much, but we'll still see each other from time to time. I'm getting married, not getting killed."

"You sure make it sound that way," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He went and sat next to his sister on her bed, bouncing as he got on. He grabbed her hand and held on tight. "Promise you won't do something stupid."

"I can't promise that, but I can promise to not do anything crazy."

"That's good enough."

"Look on the good side."

"Can't find it."

"We'll get to meet Sehyun. I sent a messenger owl yesterday to invite him. He'll get the invitation by next week."

"If the owl can find him. Sehyun's been off the grid for years."

"He promised he would come to my wedding before he left, so he will. He's never broken a promise."

"He promised he would buy me a toy, but later on he said he was too lazy to go to the market."

"Allow me to correct myself. Sehyun always keeps the promises that matter."

"Are you telling me my toy doesn't matter?"

"That is exactly what I am telling you."

***

The next week on the day Maya arrived in Auber, it rained. Hard.

She supposed even the universe hated to see her get married.

How could her father even ask her to marry someone she hadn't met? How could her father, King of Tereline, the country east of Auber, even think of marrying off his only daughter? She wasn't even the same age as the prince! Marrying him would go against her culture's beliefs. He was a year older than her. From what she heard, he was November-born. Even worse, if her mother's star charts and astrological studies were accurate.

Either he was desperate, or he was desperate.

She looked out the window of her guest bedroom in Auber's castle and reached her hand out to touch the rain. Looking around, she spotted another hand doing the same.

Odd, considering the sun still hadn't risen.

Slightly jealous of the graceful hand and ashamed of her own ruined hand, she pulled it back in. Rubbing the water off on her nightgown, she caught her own eye in the mirror.

Refusing to look at her uneven skin tone and her blemishes and other impurities, she focused on her features. Everyone had imperfections, but that never decreased the way one looked. Imperfections never changed the basic look of a person. They were obstacles in the way that stopped eyes from looking at the beauty behind.