“Your pride over your own ignorance is a particularly appalling trait, but I should have expected as much from one of your kind. You do know Queen Idonea of the Star Elves will be in attendance today?”
Hellebore had heard the news of the Star Elf king getting married recently, but what it had to do with her marriage, she didn’t know. It did grate against her skin though that apparently it was something she was supposed to know and that it was relevant to Haruko but she had no idea how.
“Queen Idonea is only half-elf.” Haruko hefted her son up higher on her hip. “You don't know anything about me, my opinions, or what way I would have if I could. Your marriage to my brother will not last long.”
Even if Hellebore maintained perfect health, their marriage would only last about sixty years, giving Taiyo a little more than half of his remaining lifetime to be free from her.
“Look, Princess, stop stating obvious facts.” Hellebore turned slightly, facing Haruko fully as best she could without earning the seamstresses’ ire. “Sarcasm aside, we have a very important wedding happening in a few hours despite how much we both wish otherwise.”
Haruko’s voice was as stiff and cold as steel. “You almost killed my brother once already.”
Were they ever going to let that go?
“It was anaccident. I was sedating him.” Hellebore huffed, rolling her eyes and getting stabbed in the shoulder when she moved, tilting her head and adding, “And I saved him, by the way, too, but that doesn't fit in your neat little narrative about evil alchemists.”
“Don't hurt him again.”
Then Princess Haruko tugged the chain of her necklace out of her baby's mouth and swept away toward the door. She paused by the nightstand where Hellebore had placed the iris so it sat in the sunlight.
However, she said nothing in acknowledgment and just walked out of the room.
Hellebore lifted her chin and let the seamstresses finish sewing her into her wedding dress.
Good. The shallow fits and spurts of frustration hadn’t overtaken her. Not even her combative future sister-in-law had broken the pervasive numbness she’d shrouded herself in.
Chapter 8
The wedding was scheduled to start at high noon when the Sun Elves’ strength and energy were at their peak.
Hellebore had her skirts gathered up in her arms as she rushed down the halls, following Phoebe and Elaine the second her hair had been finished. She was pretty sure there were still a few pins holding the elaborate dress together that were absolutely going to scratch her, but they were already about to be late.
She huffed for breath as they raced down the last staircase, and her skirts slipped out of her grip, tangling her legs. She pitched forward, scrambling to grab the railing. A pair of hands wrapped around her back and she was steadied against something solid but far too warm to be a wall.
She looked up to see King Taiyo on the last step, having rushed to catch her.
“Your Majesty—” Phoebe started.
He was staring down at Hellebore and didn't break her gaze as he said, “Thank you, Phoebe, for delivering her to me. That will be all for now.”
Hellebore's hands were on his shoulders, gripping his shirt. It was a smooth, fine silk, the color and pattern matching her bodice.
She didn't like the way he was still looking at her, holding her against himself, so she said, “Don't blame me for being late. Your sister interrupted.”
His hands shifted across her back, letting her straighten up and get her balance again but not pulling away fully. “You're not too late. Not yet. There's still time.”
She also didn't like the weight to his words. She pulled her hands back and grabbed the railing as he stepped backward to the flat floor, eyes still not leaving her face.
“Then I suppose we’d better get on with it while there is still time.”
“Hellebore...” His voice lowered. “Are you certain?”
It took all of her self-control not to find one of the little sharp pins digging into her side and stab him with it. How dare he act like he was giving her some kind of say in the matter when he had no intention of ever letting her go?
She glared at him. “You are. Isn't that all that matters?”
“I'm not doing this to make you miserable.”
“I know. You're doing this because there's no other choice and you're a king and I'm a princess before I’m an alchemist and these are the things we do to serve our people.” She still didn’t know what he’d originally meant when he’d claimed he had no choice either, but she supposed seconds before the ceremony wasn’t the time to get into all of that. “You, however, are going to blink and I'll be dead, so it's not that much of a hardship, is it?”
