Sorry about yesterday. My mother helped me pick these out. I hope you like them.
Violet’s hands trembled as she untied the string and opened the bag.
Pretty shells of all shapes, sizes, and colors stared back at her. Violet worried her heart would tire of beating furiously and stop entirely. Folding up the note, she stuck it inside of the bag and carefully placed them in her satchel.
She dug out a charcoal pencil and a piece of paper, scribbled her reply, and tossed it across the aisle.
I guess I won’t kill you after all.
Ms. Bonner scowled in their direction when Roman’s laughter filled the room.
Violet decided it was her favorite sound in all of Eden.
3
THIRTEEN YEARS OLD
“You look sick,” Ares, Roman’s best friend, remarked as they walked through the palace toward the prince’s rooms.
He wasn’t wrong; Romandidfeel like puking. Tomorrow, at midnight on his thirteenth birthday, the gods would whisper the name of his fated mate into his mind for only him to hear. It happened to all royal fae on their thirteenth birthday, and the thought of a random voice in his mind freaked him out.
Very few people knew when Roman’s birthday was in order to keep parents of children born on the same day as him from bombarding the capital, and he’d made a point to not know the birthdays of any girls his age. What if he met someone who shared his birthday and liked them, only for the gods to mate him with someone else?
His mother said he was too young to worry about things like that, but what did she expect? He hadn’t grown up around other children. Other than his parents and a few select warriors, guards, and palace staff, he rarely interacted with anyone else. He’d endured a ruthless training regime from the time he could walk, and when he wasn’t training, they forced him to study.
He didn’t know how to act his age.
And he hated it.
Thanks to his tutors and parents, he knew the importance of mates, and that royal faehadto marry their mate or it could mean the downfall of their kingdom. A mate bond contained the strongest magic in existence and kept the royal bloodlines strong, allowing them to protect their kingdoms in ways non-royal fae could not.
Roman thought, like many other things in their history, it was ridiculous. Ruling based on bloodlines had the potential to end horribly. What if the heir was a terrible person?
Ares jostled Roman’s shoulder, shaking him from his thoughts. “You’d be sick too if you had to meet your future wife at thirteen,” Roman told him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small shape-shifting puzzle. They were small puzzles that were a jumbled mess with all different colored pieces, and when twisted correctly, they made a certain shape.
His father once took him to a shape-shifting puzzle competition, and he’d been enamored ever since. He’d hoped his father would let him compete someday.
He twisted the pieces into place, easily seeing the connections in his mind.
Ares tapped the top of the puzzle, stopping Roman’s progress. “Viv’s birthday is tomorrow too,” he informed the prince with a sly smile.
Roman said nothing as they rounded the corner toward his rooms. He’d heard her mention it earlier that day to a group of junior warriors. This past week made him grateful his parents had insisted on keeping his birthday a secret all his life. A week ago, invitations to his thirteenth birthday ball went out. Since he’d know who his mate was tomorrow, there was no longer a reason to keep it a secret.
Barely two days after the invitations went out, three different girls he’d never met approached him, claiming their birthday was tomorrow too. The rest of the week had held more of the same.
Vivian was less conspicuous about it. Instead of telling him outright, she’d announced it to others loud enough for Roman to hear.
Vivian Maekin.She was okay, he guessed, but she annoyed him with her constant bragging and need for attention. All the junior warriors liked her, but something about her didn’t sit right with him.
That means Violet’s birthday is tomorrow too.The thought made his lips curl into a small smile.Being mated to her would be fun.
He and Violet had formed a friendship last year, but during the long break between school years, they rarely saw each other. It didn’t stop him from thinking about her, though.
This year they sat on opposite sides of the room, and their friendship had dwindled to greetings in the hallways and the occasional quick conversation.
“You’re smiling,” Ares accused smugly.
Roman’s smile dropped. “This past week proved a lot of girls share my birthday,” he reminded him. “Not just Vivian.”Or Violet.
