Chapter 1
The faint echo of a harp drifted into my room. The whistle of a flute danced through the halls accompanied by angelic strings vibrating through the stone floor. I could already hear the chatter of guests filling the ballroom and the prance of horse-drawn carriages arriving outside. I inhaled the sweet smell of hand-picked flowers and candle wax, hoping the two might calm me down as I nervously paced the floor of my bedroom. I had dispatched Jane at least an hour ago to pick up my dress while I readied my hair, but she had yet to return. I could only imagine what my mother would say upon my late arrival At least I knew the look she would give me. The way she furrowed her brows and pressed her lips to form a thin line was forever engraved in my brain.
The sound of hurried footsteps drowned out the symphony and was quickly accompanied by a small huff, and then a shaky knock. I ran to the door and was greeted by shallow breaths and a distraught look on Jane’s face.
The small, thin woman walked quickly to my bed before she carefully set the dress down on my silk sheets. “I’m so sorry! I told them I needed the dress! I told them it was for the princess but those imbeciles had spilled wine—”
“Everything is going to be fine. The dress is here now. I didn’t need to be the first one there anyway.” I kept my tone calm as I walked toward the soft, rose-colored gown.
Jane huffed out a breath, her vibrant red hair deflating. “Happy birthday, Beatrice.” She flashed a soft smile and took my hands in hers. “Where did all the time go? It seems as if just yesterday I was chasing you around the gardens. You’re all grown up now and I’m all old and wrinkly.” Tears welled in her
eyes before she pulled me into a tight embrace.
Although we were both getting older, not a single wrinkle showed on her face. I’d known her my whole life and out of all the people that helped raise me—my parents, tutors, maids—Jane was the most deserving of a few physical markers displaying the hard work she’d put in. From my birth, Jane had done almost everything but nurse me herself. She bathed me when I was a babe, played with me when I was lonely, and tucked me in every night. As I got older, she cared for me in other ways. She screamed with me through anger until I found peace, cried with me until my tears turned to laughter, and comforted me in every hopeless moment I was met with.
My parents had always wanted to be there for me the way Jane had been, but it wasn’t possible. They had duties to fulfill and events to attend, and they couldn’t simply drop everything for me every time I skinned my knee. It was why they hired Jane in the first place. She was a good friend of my mother’s since she was young, so, when I was born, they trusted Jane to live in the castle with us and take over when my parents could not be present. Eighteen years later, Jane had become my closest confidant, and my parents were forever indebted to her.
I thought she had a magic spell to preserve her beauty, her skin still as smooth as porcelain. Although, I knew that was absurd, even for me to think. For all magic on this continent had been banished long ago, every ounce of it sought out and destroyed. Now, all we had left were stories of magical beings who could grow an entire garden with their bare hands and cause tsunamis the size of mountains with a flick of their wrists.
Jane loosened her arms around me and helped me into the gown. “How was your meeting with your mother this morning?” She pooled the dress on the floor for me to step into.
“It was...interesting, to say the least.” I thought my mother would wish me a happy birthday or something motherly, but instead, she’d wanted to remind me of my deadline: I had one more year to choose my husband—or she would choose for me. I wanted to vomit just thinking about marrying someone. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to fall in love or have my heart broken. I didn’t want to marry because I didn’t want to become a decoration. Marrying meant I would hand the small amount of power I currently had over to a man who would then one day rule Sorcerica. My home country. I don’t want my sole purpose in life to become making heirs to the throne while I knew I could rule Sorcerica better than any man could.
Ever since I had been told I needed to marry, I’d been sabotaging any chance I had with my suitors. Some were easier to scare off than others, like the Prince of Saob. He was a cocky thing, always talking about his accomplishments and gazing at himself in every mirror he could find. All I had to do was point it out to him. He got so offended that he ran back home across the sea to brag about himself to someone else. Needless to say, my mother was unhappy with the way I handled that situation.
I had gone through thirteen princes, four dukes, and two earls, all presented to me by my mother. Most of the time, all I had to tell her was I didn’t think they would be able to handle the pressure of being king and she would find someone else.
However, my mother never failed to remind me that who I married would be a very big deal. Sorcerica was the largest country in Pathanasia, making it the Sovereign Country. Am- milus, Aurienne, Comesti, and Verduena, were known as Ruling Countries. My parents, along with their daily duties as king and queen, were tasked with trade and affairs overseas. The four other countries still had their royalty and important domestic duties, but at the end of the day, they answered to Sorcerica’s king and queen. So whoever I married held the fate of the entire continent in his hands. If I decided a suitor was not fit for that kind of responsibility, my mother would have three more bachelors waiting at the castle gates for me.
“Lucky for you, there are quite a few eligible bachelors here tonight.” Jane had moved to the backside of my dress and began to quickly fasten the small buttons.
I peered at her simple, black-banded wristwatch, noting the time that marked me officially late for my own birthday party. I’m not sure anyone truly cared, though, save for my mother who would surely let me have it the second I arrived. In a poor attempt to distract myself from the thought of my mother’s scolding, I glanced down at the layers of soft fabric that grazed the stone beneath me and pictured it spinning against the ballroom floor.
“You never know, you might find someone you like. Or at least someone to tolerate.”
I let out a short breath, feeling the weight of the dress on my body. It was almost as heavy as the weight on my shoulders. “I don’t know, Jane. Not everyone gets a fairy tale ending.”
“Tell that to your parents,” she muttered under her breath.
As much as I hated it, she was right. When my father met my mother, she was a commoner living on the outskirts of Sorcerica. It was love at first sight, and they courted in secret until he proposed to her in a field of tulips. It caused quite the scandal in the kingdom because he already had someone lined up to marry him. He simply refused and said he would only to rule the kingdom with someone he loved by his side.
“I’m not sure I can wield my power the same way my father does.”
Jane chuckled. “He is quite the diva sometimes.”
I grinned. Jane was the only person who could say something like that and have it never find its way back to my father.
Jane secured the last button before she gently tapped my shoulders and then spun me to face her. “Your mother asked me to give this to you tonight.” Her voice was just above a whisper as she pulled a green velvet box from behind her. She carefully unhooked the silver hinges and opened the square box, where a crown lay. Not like the small tiaras I would normally wear for such occasions, but a real crown. Dozens of small pearls and shimmering diamonds wrapped around the golden base that glistened like sunlight. Rows of this design continued upward and surrounded the main stone: an emerald.
Emeralds were a sacred stone in Sorcerica, and only members of the royal family were allowed to wear such jewels. Others would simply wear the color to show their devotion to the monarchy. In the past, my tiaras only had specks of emeralds or similar stones, but I had never been allowed to wear such a jewel as the ones my parents wore.
Tears gathered behind my eyes as my breath halted. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the crown. Jane didn’t say anything as she carefully removed it from its box, rested it on my gloved hands, and exited my room. I felt like I was floating as I walked to the full-length mirror standing beside my dresser and carefully placed the crown above my braided bun. A small part of me was scared to meet my reflection, but the girl who stared back was not afraid. Her eyes met mine with assurance and soothing calm. The girl who stared back would never back down to anyone and would fight for her country. The girl who stared back was the girl I had always wanted to be. The true princess who would serve her country for the people and be a strong leader.
Even though I knew who I would become one day, it had never truly hit me until now. Everything I had been taught led up to this. Everything was happening so fast, like just yesterday, I was a child with no worries. Now, I was an adult who had to marry and become the girl in my reflection.
A slow tear fell down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away and stepped back from the mirror. There were other things I needed to do right now, and coming to terms with my fate was not one of them. I could do that later. Now, I had to put on a happy face and—as much as I loathed it—find a husband. I needed to shove my feelings away in a drawer where I could open them back up later. If there was anything I’d learned from my mother, it was that when I stepped into the public eye, I needed to look like everything was fine, even if the world was crumbling around me. That’s what I’d done before, and that’s what I would do tonight.
It was my duty to my kingdom, and I would not fail. I could not fail.
