One of the handmaidens took my hand and clicked her tongue when she saw the state of my nails, and my stomach twisted as she manicured the dried blood out from my cuticles. She didn’t think anything else of it. I knew they must think there was some ulterior motive for me marrying Qian so quickly, that I might have a “surprise” on the way, but those kinds of rumors were the least of my problems.
The whole palace was a flurry of noise and activity as every person was assigned a task for the wedding. I, like the floral arrangements and the cake, was just another wedding decoration. I was carted around, handed off, and made up like a doll, passing between hands for my fitting. It was all a fog, and no matter how much oil they put on my skin, perfume they put in my hair, or gloss they put on my lips, they couldn’t disguise the monster that was waiting to come out.
The next morning,the day before my wedding, I awoke alone and chained to my bed. Birds sang outside my window, and I could hear the distant ocean waves lapping on the beach. Sunlight pooled around me, enveloping me in warm morning light. For once, I had slept well. I had no memory of nightmares, no taste of blood in my mouth, no deeply unsettling roil in my gut.
I wondered if I had changed at all, and then, in the next moment, I realized the truth.
My teeth.
I ran my tongue over them, over and over. I put my fingers in my mouth, hoping that I was wrong. But no.
I had fangs.
In a panic, I unlocked the manacles and rushed to the vanity mirror. When I opened my mouth, I saw that my canines had sharpened, elongating well past my other teeth.
A cry broke out of me, and I pinched my fangs with my fingers, trying desperately to pull them out, to break them, to do something, but there was nothing I could do.
“No…”
Panic gripped my heart like an iron fist, and I couldn’t breathe. Every time I closed my mouth, I nipped the insides of my lips, snagging them on my new teeth. I was turning into a monster. I was already halfway there.
The rest of my body looked normal. My fingers, my face—but what would change next? I paced my room, trying not to cry, butit was difficult. I was running out of time. No one could see me like this.
I went back to the mirror and practiced hiding my fangs, smiling demurely, keeping my lips closed to conceal the truth. I needed to be a queen for a little longer, just a little while longer, and this would all be over. Tears ran down my cheeks, and my lips trembled. On the outside, I looked like myself. But on the inside…
No one will ever love me.
No one can.
Shame and despair and fear clenched my throat while I looked at my face in the mirror. This was exactly what Yara had said in her diary. It was a slow transformation until it was complete.
My time was almost up.
My bedroom door opened, and attendants rushed in. One of them had my dress draped over their arms, a handful carried trays full of makeup and accessories, and another had my shoes. It was a procession of pampering and luxury. They talked excitedly with one another, giggling and laughing.
I didn’t speak as someone brushed my hair, as another took my hand to polish my nails, as another applied red lipstick. I just stared at myself in the mirror.
The arena onthe outskirts of the Market District was bigger than the ones in the human world, with tiers that stretched so high into the sky that sometimes clouds passed through the upper levels. Proper nosebleed sections. The grassy field below hadbeen painted and divided into sections where each event would take place. Large projection crystals, like the ones I’d used to call my mom, hovered above the arena, magically created by illusionists. Each would get up-close angles and instant replay for the spectators, even the ones in the highest rows. It reminded me of watching professional football games with my mom on Thanksgiving.
Hundreds of thousands of encantos were here. The air in the arena hummed with excitement. Everyone was eating fried lumpia and banana chips, drinking calamansi juice and coconut wine, singing and cheering, celebrating the day. The party was already getting started.
People had a reason to celebrate. I, on the other hand…I just wanted today to be over.
The royal box, only a little higher than the field, was the perfect spot to watch all the action.
My heart hammered wildly in my throat when I saw Qian was here, seated on a tall-backed rattan chair, speaking with one of his stewards. When he noticed me, his eyes widened a little, and he rose to his feet.
He looked so dashing in his red Tang suit jacket, and he smoothed out the front as if he was nervous.
“Your Majesty,” he gasped.
The crystals turned on me, capturing my appearance and broadcasting it for the masses, and I knew what they would see. They would see my golden gown, a brocade made of some of the finest silk in the hidden world. Rings, including the one Qian had given me, adorned every one of my fingers. Each ring matched thegolden crown that sat atop my head like beams of sunlight, holding my veil in place over my face. I was a living sunbeam.
I heard gasps and then cheers when people saw me. They called my name, but all I heard was a cacophony of noise.
With the veil, my entire world was gold. I was grateful that it would at least hide my new fangs.
“You are a vision,” Qian said, and held out his hand to me.
