Wildfire

Seventy Four

My husband had very deliberately told everyone around us not to call this celebration what it is... A ball... So that he might spare me from the shivering that insists on rocking its way down my spine at the thought of being surrounded by so many people I do not know and how closely it feels like the night that the two of us met for the very first time... When Emrys allowed himself to sweep me off of my feet and around the dancefloor against everyone else's wishes... How dreamy that night should have been compared to what it was is truly painful to us both... And I cannot help but appreciate the steps my husband has thought to take to try and ease the fear of being in the large crowd as much as he can... Not allowing our celebration to be called a ball because he knows it shall only make me panic even more than I already am... Not hosting it in the same ballroom as the other night even though it's one of the biggest... Having that garden blocked off so that no one shall ever find themselves wandering amongst the roses only to find some of them charred from the flames that had sprouted from my beast with deep burgundy stains gracing some of the path that carves its way through what was once surely a place of great calmness for many people... Ensuring that the menu itself is different than the duck that I never tasted that night... 

My husband had gone to great lengths to make me feel safe today so that I might celebrate our joining with the a small portion of the kingdom that has grown to love me so much in such a short amount of time... The kingdom I had thought would hate me for showing my face here at the palace in the first place... I never dreamed that I would one day be allowing Emrys, the man that had called out so loudly to me that I had not been able to keep myself upright with how irristable his pull had been to me, to finish tying the ties of my royal ceremonial robes so that we might find ourselves presentable for the public to coo and fawn over as close as any of them might dare to get to us.... I never thought that I would actually become Queen... I know that Mama has always had high hopes for me marrying someone important that she knows will treat me well, but I think not even she was fully able to picture me sporting the brand of our King... That such a handsome Prince would find it in himself to look at me with anything other than distaste for me due to my birth station or disdain for my strange coloring and runtish nature... 

I never thought I would find myself so in love and ready to fight for a throne I never saw myself sitting on in the first place... And yet here I am ready to stand by my husband's side and defend what will be the most happy kingdom and castle in all of history, no matter how hard our enemies might try to intercede and prevent said happiness from unfolding the way that it should. 

"Are you ready, Darling?"

...

Emrys

...

My sweet shard of starlight seems so very spooked as we help eachother ready for a very long and joyful day, but I am able to pull him back out of his head with the most gentle of coaxing, his beautiful face, already a work of art, enhanced past reasonable enchantment by his mother's painting skills, and I can't help but adore every single inch of him as he leans into me for a moment, his golden eyes fluttering shut so that he might focus on inhaling some of my scent and steadying himself before he has the will to answer me, "I-I am nervous... But I am ready for anything with you by my side, Emmy."

I know he is nervous... And I know that he cannot help his worries after having such an unfortunate experience at his very first ball.... I know that there is not very much I will be able to do to put his mind at ease other than show him that when I said I will never leave his side and never let anyone harm him ever again that I meant it, and we shall stay bound to one and other all of this afternoon as well as the rest of our lives... I shall have to make him feel as safe as possible and ensure that he knows I have learned my lesson in walking away from him and that it is the biggest regret of my life leaving him unattended that night...

"The only thing you need to be prepared for, my sweet Moon Beam... Is indulging as much as possible in the festivities today... You deserve to relax, my Love... I want you to worry not over the trials we face... Just focus on having fun." I whisper to him as I pull him a bit closer to my person so that I might give him the most reassuring of squeezes... One that I find myself also drawing comfort from, my sweet shard of starlight so very enchanting in the way I find it impossible to not cherish every single moment I spend with him, especially when I get to hold him during said moments... 

"Only if you promise to relax with me, sweet husband..." I get the most tender of kisses pressed to the base of my neck, one that sends the most delightful of shivers up my spine, and I find myself pulling him closer than even before with all of his perfection, so that I might draw his lips up out of where they are hidden in the crook of my neck so that he might find my own lips instead of just the sensitive skin he loves to tease so very often.