Bittersweet
The Kingdom of Oakhaven smelled of ancient dust, heavy velvet, and the distinct, bitter tang of burning peat. For Crown Prince Alistair, it also smelled like a trap.
He stood by the arched window of his private chambers, his jaw clenched so tightly the muscles in his cheek ticked. Below, in the cobblestone courtyard, the gilded carriages of the Solar Realm were arriving. They brought with them silk banners, trailing ivy, and Princess Aurelia—the woman Alistair had been ordered to marry to cement a blood-alliance his kingdom desperately needed.
"She is a pretty thing, Alistair," his father, the ailing King, had told him the night before. "But fragile. Treat her like glass."
Alistair scoffed under his breath, adjusting the rigid silver collar of his doublet. He didn’t want glass. He wanted a partner who understood the brutal, calculated reality of ruling. He didn't want a soft, pampered princess whose only duty had been looking beautiful in sunlit gardens.
When the heavy oak doors of the throne room swung open later that afternoon, Aurelia walked in. She was visually stunning, undeniably so, with hair the color of spun honey and eyes a startling, luminous violet. But Alistair kept his posture rigid, his expression a mask of absolute, icy indifference. When he took her hand to offer a mandatory, ceremonial kiss, her skin felt abnormally warm—almost vibrating with a strange, hidden pulse.
He dropped her hand quickly, barely offering a nod. "Welcome to Oakhaven, Princess. I trust your journey was less tedious than this ceremony."
Aurelia’s breath hitched, a flash of profound, cutting hurt crossing her face before she quickly masked it with a polite, practiced smile. "It was pleasant, Your Highness. I look forward to learning your ways."
Alistair turned away to speak to a general, missing the way the potted ferns near the doorway suddenly sprouted tiny, vibrant white blossoms at her passing.
He didn't know that Aurelia was not entirely human. She was a high fairy of the Sunken Wilds, sent to the mortal realm to protect her people by binding her power to a human throne. And more than that, she had a secret. This wasn't her first time walking into this room.
-End Of Chapter 1
