The Aether

I awoke to the sun’s light spilling into my room as Morgan pulled the drapes open and stood beside my bed with a smile on her lips.

“Morning, your highness,” she said with a curtsy.

Blushing, I covered my face with the blanket. Prince Maxim’s arms were still wrapped around me, as mine were holding onto a down-filled pillow that was still cool against my face while his body was hot pressed into my back.

“Breakfast will be served in your chamber if you’d like. And then, we must prepare for the coronation.”

“Yes,” I said. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

She curtsied again and left the room, closing the double doors.

I rolled over and examined his sleeping face. How he slept through all of that was beyond me, but I was grateful for it. I wanted a chance to study him, unabashed. Without limit.

He was terribly handsome. Dark skin and long lashes that stuck straight out. I smiled. I even liked his the freckles on his cheekbones.

This is what humans looked like. Not much different from the fae, but equally as beautiful as the best of us. Tall, and lean, he was so different from the other princes. For a moment, I dared to think I liked him best.

I shook that idea away, ashamed. I was to love them equally. But, after the night of intimacy we’d shared, our bond was stronger for it.

I bit my bottom lip, he’d shown me such pleasure with just his mouth and fingers, I couldn’t help but imagine the joys the rest of his body could show me.

He opened his eyes, the bright green almost illuminating the dimness beneath the covers.

“Were you watching me sleep?”

Snickering, I shook my head.

“Liar,” he said, and kissed my forehead. He sat up to stretch. When he looked back at me, a curious grin came to his lips. “Well, that is quite interesting. Does your hair truly blush?”

He pointed at my hair and I paled when I pulled a handful outward to see it had gone from blonde to pink.

“Grace of the Guardians,” I said, mortified. “It hasn’t done that in ages.”

He laughed and put a hand on my shoulder and turned me to look at him. My mouth opened with wonder when his eyes went from green to gold, to purple, and then completely black. He winked at me and returned them to their original color.

“We all have our little quirks,” he said. “Yours isn’t as unique as you’d probably thought.”

I stared at him, still awestruck as he stepped from my bed and stretched his long arms over his head. His arms were corded with muscle and his back was tight and toned. Swallowing, I looked away.

“You’d better leave,” I said. “Before Kala finds out you were here.”

He glanced over his shoulder, pulling his shirt back on and buttoning the tiny buttons. “We are bound by power,” he reminded me. “We can do whatever we want.”

“But, not married yet,” I replied in turn. “We weren’t supposed to be…intimate until after the coronation.”

Bowing, his face went to one of seriousness. “As you wish, your royal highness. I will see you at sunset.”

I licked my lips, taming a beaming smile. He began to leave, but rushed back to my bed, hopped in and placed a kiss on my lips.

“Just one more,” he said. “And, I’ll let you be.”

I giggled, and watched him leave.

Once he was gone, Morgan and Talia entered the room. It was all business, and I was left to my thoughts as they fussed over me.

They tugged at my nightgown and then ushered me into the outer chamber where a hot bath was drawn, sectioned away from the rest of my apartment by antique room dividers with elaborate embroidery of roses and vines.

My ladies-in-waiting bathed me in perfumes and oils, brushed and braided my hair into the current Allandrian style for the ladies of high breeding and royalty.

This was all so new to me, the servants, the tradition, the attention from handsome men.

Being with a man was something I had been told was a possibility, but I still never truly believed I would ever be set free from the Crimson Tower.

Not alive, at least.

Morgan went over to the large wardrobe beside the bedroom door and pulled out an elegant black gown.

My jaw dropped as I looked at the rich fabric and touched it with my fingertips.

“Its amazing,” I said, in awe.

“It’s your coronation dress,” she said. “Let’s fit you.”

As she pulled the dress over my head, it all began to become real. I gawked at my reflection in the mirror. Yesterday, I was pretty. Today, I was beautiful.

Within hours, I would rule all of the magic-realm.