CHAPTER 10
Dorian
EXCITEMENT STIRRED IN MY belly as I walked my mother’s garden. Today was the day. My peach would finally come to my home and meet my mother.
I had been exiled to the Seelie Court for over a month, and while I had made progress with my betrothed, she had yet to let me kiss her again. Just thinking about it made my blood stir with desire, and I longed to have her by my side.
I hoped that being in the UnSeelie Court helped her relax a bit. Just like her mother, she was wound so tightly that I worried she would burst from all the words she didn’t say and the feelings she barely suppresses behind her pale eyes.
It pains me to think of her cooped up in her palace. She is like a wildflower that should be free to spread her roots among the masses, not kept down in the dark.
I chuckled to myself. Who would have thought I, a notorious womanizer, would be spouting poetry like some lovesick fool?
But was I a fool? My peach had so easily claimed my heart, I didn’t even know it was happening until I had caught myself smiling just watching her care for her plants. Or even when I would catch her in the library. So engulfed by her reading that no one else in the world mattered. Even the way her face scrunched down in concentration made me hard. Reaper help me, but I was hopeless.
“I hope you are not worrying yourself too much?” my mother’s voice jerked me from my thoughts and I turned to greet her.
I wrapped my arms around her small frame, pressing my lips to her cheek. “Oh, you know me.” I gave a small smile before releasing her.
“Yes, I do. Is this child really all you claim to be?” Her eyes narrowed into a warning look that I knew too well. I hadn’t been a very well behaved child.
“Do not worry, mother.” I placed a hand on her cheek and hoped my expression was reassuring. “You will love her as much as I do. And she is hardly a child. She is almost as old as me.”
“You are not more than a toddler yourself.” My mother sniffed before turning her gaze to her garden.
The pride and joy of the UnSeelie Court was my mother’s flower wonderland. Rows of flowers of all shapes and colors lined the courtyard. A large fountain sat in the middle of a large tree with a man and two women. I had asked about the fountain before but my mother had just smiled that secret smile of hers without ever giving me a real answer. My eyes moved from the fountain to a bush near us.
“They haven’t budded yet,” my mother mused, “they probably won’t be ready until you are wed.”
“That’s all right,” I replied walking over to the bush, “It can be a wedding gift then.”
As soon as I got home from the Seelie Court, I had asked my mother to help me plant a rose bush. White roses for my bride to be. I wanted her to feel welcome in what would soon be our home, and I thought that if she had a plant that was just her own it would help her transition without feeling like an intruder.
“Not that I’m complaining,” my mother started making me roll my eyes, “But why is it that she is moving here and not the other way around?”
I actually didn’t know the answer to that one. When I had asked my peach about it, she had pursed her lips and said, “That is how my mother wants it.”
It made me dislike the Seelie Queen even more. If she cared so little for her daughter’s wellbeing, I could only imagine how much she cared for her own people.
Before I could come up with an answer for my mother, a crash sounded in the distance followed by a high-pitched scream. A horde of opalaughts came charging through the garden.
Mother and I jumped to the side so as not to get run over by the small rabbit-like creatures, matching frowns marred our faces. One opalaught brought up the rear of the group. It was smaller than the rest with ears so long they trailed behind it. When it came upon us, its eyes widened. So interested in my mother and I that it tripped over one of its ears, causing it to fall face first onto the ground.
Reaching down, I scooped the creature up in my arms. It wasn’t very heavy, not much more than a few pounds, but its fur was the softest thing I had ever felt. Its body shook in my hands, obviously terrified.
“Do not worry, little one,” I murmured rubbing a finger between its ears. “I will not hurt you.”
It stared up at me for a few more moments before seeming to decide I was safe enough. It pushed its face into my hand trying to get me to pet it more.
Once I was sure I had its trust, I asked, “Can you tell me, little one, what has caused you to run?”
“Trip runs because of the mean girl, Trip does,” his tiny voice explained, his beady eyes looking toward where he had come from.
“What mean girl?” my mother asked stepping closer to me.
The creature called Trip glanced to my mother, his mouth spreading out to smile. Everyone seemed to love my mother and why wouldn’t they? She was far better than the other option.
“The human,” Trip whispered as if it was a big secret.
My mother made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. “I told you that child was going to be nothing but a pain. I better go see what she has done now.”
She pushed by me toward where the opalaughts had fled from, her skirts brushing angrily against the stone path. I patted the creature on the head and sat him on the ground.
“Off you go. Let us take care of this.”
Trip’s little cotton tail wiggled behind him. “Of course, of course! Trip will leave it to your Highnesses, he will!”
What a peculiar little creature. I shook my head as it scampered off. I then turned on my heel to follow after my mother who had disappeared behind one of the many large green hedges.
“You must be more careful,” my mother’s voice rang out as I came into range.
“But I can’t help it. They’re so cute!” a bell-like voice replied.
Coming around the next corner, my eyes landed on the human girl the opalaughts had been so frightened of. She was a tiny thing dressed in a robin egg blue tea dress. She wore little white gloves on her hands and stockings on her legs. Her curly blonde hair bounced around her as she enthusiastically spoke to my mother.
“Hello, I do not believe we have met.” I approached them with caution in my step. The child lifted her head. When her eyes landed on me they widened a fraction and then she was up on her feet and barreling into me.
Startled by the sudden contact, I placed a hand on top of the curly head to keep us both from going down. Her large eyes peered up at me with an innocent grin.
“I am the UnSeelie Prince, and who might you be?”
If possible, her grin expanded even further across her face as she clung to me tighter. “I’m Alice. Alice Liddell.”