The Dark Prince’s Chosen Bride

A Family Affair

Whatever Emilia expected from the Dark Realm royal family…this wasn’t it.

When she shuffled to breakfast on Faren’s arm, she felt like she had swallowed a hornet’s nest. But that faded away the moment she walked through the door.

The room was richly furnished -that much she had predicted- but it was also light, comfortable, and homey. Massive windows let in the morning light, filling the room with brightness and warmth. A rectangular table was laid neatly, with a lace tablecloth, cups of sparkling juice, and wooden trenchers piled with delicious smelling food. Faren’s family sat on cushioned benches waiting for Emilia like children waiting for the start of a puppet show. They looked bright-eyed,excited, and almost precious.

His family was visually striking, but not in an austere or menacing way.

A pale, fanged man sat on the edge of the bench, flicking his fluffy, gray wolf’s tail in and out of the reach of the giggling toddler in his lap. The child, a honey-haired cherub, flailed her arms in a vain attempt to catch the tip of the tail. As she moved, her soft, drooping puppy ears- so much like Gallant’s- bobbed up and down from her halo of curls.

Beside them, a beautiful woman with an icy-white sheet of hair and full, pert arctic fox ears watched the pair with pure adoration from behind her tired, black eyes. Her slender frame made her round, pregnant belly hard to ignore, even beneath the draping of her modest gown. She brought a cup to her lips slowly, while one hand lingered on the swell of her bump.

At the head of the wide table was a loveseat, and there sat the King and Queen.

Swaddled in a shawl of fluffy worsted wool the color of apricots, Tanya- the Queen Consort- smoothed the tablecloth in front of her and fiddled with the tiny serving spoon in the sugar bowl at her elbow. Her dark skin, kissed with orange undertones, was warm and glowing. It reminded Emilia of the embers of a bonfire burning in the darkness. Tanya had no hair, her bald scalp shone with gleaming ebony snake scales. Her over-large eyes,slitted and amber-orange like a serpent’s, darted back and forth across the table assessing every crooked trencher and smudged spoon.

Human men had whispered about scaly serpent Fay Queen and her unfeminine ugliness.But Emilia found her beautiful and terrible, and the way she fussed over the table-scape made her think of her own dear mother.

King Algar was shorter than his wife by a few inches. His gray hair sprayed out in fluffy tufts all around his head as if he had just gotten out of bed. His sharp features -so similar to Faren’s- were drowsy and drawn.

Clearly, the King didn’t fancy early mornings. But even in his sleepy fog, he was undeniably regal. Though he was short, he seemed immense. His presence was matched by the thick, curling rams horns that started at his temples and crowned his head.

Emilia only had a moment to take in the scene before the fox-eared woman looked up and gasped “There you two are!”

“Good morning, everyone. Let me introduce you to my bride, Emilia of Lan,” Faren said,cheerful and warm.

He seemed so jolly and proud, meanwhile she was holding onto his arm like a scared child clinging to their mother in a crowded market. She held her breath and watched as five pairs of fay eyes considered her from tip to toes.

“Emilia,” the Prince said as he led her into the room towards the table, “This is my family. My father, Algar and his wife, my lovely stepmother, Tanya. My elder sister, Allegra and her husband, Lucien.” Faren walked over to his brother-in-law and clasped a warm hand on his shoulder, before scooping the child out of his lap and holding her aloft. “And this little gremlin right here, is Fennella - my niece.”

“I am not a GREMLIN! I’m a girl!” Fennella groused, her cheeks turning puffy and her puppy ears flattening against her head.

“I’m teasing…” the Dark Prince soothed her and shifted her into the cradle of his arm. “You are a girl. My very best girl.”

“Is she my new aunt?” Fennella asked, fixing her eyes on Emilia.

“She will be after the wedding.”

Fennella pensively studied Emilia’s face. She stared so long and so hard that her mother shook her dangling little foot and whispered through clenched teeth “Be polite!”

“Well,” Tanya said, breaking the tension “Emilia, welcome. We are so very happy to meet you.”

She stood and glided toward Emilia, wrapping a slender arm around her shoulders and led her to the seat nearest herself. “We seem to be missing your brother, Faren. Any idea where that son of mine could be?”

Faren smirked at his stepmother. “Probably sleeping off last night’s wine in some courtier’s bed. You know how he is… up until dawn and asleep until dusk.”

Tanya closed her eyes and sighed. “Well, his loss. Let’s go ahead and eat. You two have a very busy day ahead of you, and I’m sure Emilia has questions about…well,everything. Don’t worry, Emilia, dear. Allegra and I have cleared our schedules today so we can spend the day helping you anyway we can. Here… try these eggs.”

Tanya slid an egg, perfectly round and poached in butter, onto Emilia’s plate.

That seemed to be the signal the family was waiting for to settle in and grab their own breakfast. Faren nestled beside her, with Fennella squeezed in at his side. The sounds of forks on plates and mouths busy with chewing filled the room. Emilia watched as Tanya filled the rest of her plate for her until it was brimming with roasted tomatoes, crisp bacon rashers, and a thick slice of toast smeared with a fig jam.

Emilia’s mouth was watering, her late supper in Faren’s room just a fading memory. She reached for the toast and greedily sunk her teeth into one crunchy corner before shutting her eyes and sighing in bliss at the sweet and delicious jam.

“This…” she said,“This is delicious. I’ve never had a jam taste quite like this before. What is it?”

The King looked up from his plate and a sad, slow smile spread across his face. “Fig.That was one of Gracie’s favorites,too”

“That’s right! She ate it by the jar when she was pregnant with Allegra. We could hardly keep the kitchen stocked,” Tanya said, slipping her hand under Algar’s.

“Gracie…Is that Countess Grace of Quell? The last chosen bride?”

“Yes,” the King answered. “My Gracie, Faren and Allegra’s mother.” His eyes seemed to drift away, like he was in another place,another time. “It seems like yesterday I saw her for the first time, at our own choosing ceremony.She was so cheerful, with a laugh that rang through the halls like the call of a lark. A songbird in a flock of magpies. We lost her just before her fiftieth birthday, taken by some hellish brain fever that had spread from the border.”

“Oh, majesty. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, my girl. But,no more maudlin talk. Tell us about yourself. You’re about to become my son’s wife,I’d like to know more than your name.”

The moment she opened her mouth, her life story fell out in a tumble. She hadn’t intended to be so open and candid with these royals she had just met, but it was hard to hold back surrounded by the companionable warmth that filled the room and reminded her so much of her own family.

She told them of her home, the golden summers spent helping running through abundant fields of flaxen-headed wheat and the winters delivering blankets and herbal tinctures to the ill and elderly within their duchy.

She told them of her little brother and his knack for mischief. And of her parents, who spent their lives working side by side with the people of their duchy, and raised their children with such kindness.

Of course, Emilia couldn’t talk about herself without mentioning her dog,and the moment she did, Fennella’s little eyes widened in excitement.

“You have a dog?”, she asked, restraining the eagerness in her voice.

“Yes, do you like dogs?” Emilia said, trying not to show how pleased she was the little girl was finally warming up to her.

“I have dog ears.”

“Indeed, you do. Quite lovely ones.”

“Dogs like me a lot, because I have dog ears.”

“Well then you certainly need to come see Gallant. I’m sure he would be very happy to meet you.”

“I will!” Fennella exclaimed, hopping down off of the bench. “Mama, did you hear that?I can go meet Emilia’s…”

As she skipped around the table toward her mother, her little foot caught on the hem of her dress and she fell, face first onto the stone floor. The room went still for a moment, and then was filled with a thin wail. Lucien was rising to his feet, but Emilia had turned without thinking and scooped Fennella. She cradled the crying girl in her lap.

“Shhh, sweetling. Take a little breath. There now, that’s a clever girl,” Emilia poured honey into her voice,just like she had when William was a toddler crying at her knee. “Now, are you crying because you are hurt? Or are you crying because you’re startled?”

Fennella huffed a few times, trying to breathe despite her stuffy nose. “I think…just startled.”

“Do you want to hear a story?”

Fennella nodded, and the rest of the family watched as Emilia wove together a tale from her childhood in the human realm, of a family of hardworking ants who busied themselves all the crisp days of Autumn storing grain for their long winter underground-while their neighbor the grasshopper frittered away his time playing the fiddle and dancing beneath the sun. When the cold dark of winter came, the ants were snug in their hill with bellies full, while the grasshopper shivered in his cold home with only meager scraps to sustain him.

Emilia’s voice rose and fell with the cadence of her tale,almost like a song. Fennella stopped crying and listened, wiping her tears in her sleeve.

The Dark Prince’s eyes never strayed from his bride’s face. Emilia couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he gazed at her, his face as pleasant and untelling as a painting.

But beneath his calm mask,the Prince was relieved and impressed.

Emilia had truly turned out exactly as she had seemed on the day of the choosing- intuitive, compassionate, and protective. All of the virtues Faren most valued, all of the traits that would make her his perfect match.