Chapter forty-seven
Linnea
Acelebratory ball was to be held that night, so I was whisked away from Azurill before I could even fully appreciate what had happened.
I had won.
I had actually won the Diamond Queen Competition. It felt entirely surreal, a childhood dream long lost and somehow resurrected.
I was definitely still in a daze, my mind unable to wrap around the idea that I would actually marry Azurill and become queen of Gemaria. It seemed like I would wake up at any moment and find myself sleeping on a lumpy mattress in an abandoned apartment, finding out the entire experience had been a dream.
I pinched myself on the arm to be sure, but it twinged in pain, and I remained wholly awake.
As the maids came in to help get me ready, they left my curls down, and braided some of my hair as I liked, creating a band across the top of my head that resembled a headband—or a crown. They dotted it with diamonds that twinkled in the light of my room. My makeup was done to match my features, giving me a dusting of pink across my lids, and outlining my eyes in black to make them pop.
When they pulled out the dress, I nearly gasped in shock. It was a lighter shade of blue than the kyanite shade they used for the royal family, and in fact matched the diamond tattoo on Azurill’s neck perfectly. It also matched the diamonds strewn across the dress itself. Some of the diamonds were pure silvery white, and they were used to surround the light blue diamonds. The off-the-shoulder gown had gems across the neckline, continuing down towhere the sleeves gripped my arms, with another set done like a belt around my waist, circling both my wrists where the draping sleeves narrowed in.
I hid my bracelet beneath the sleeve, but my pearl and diamond necklace was given all the attention as it draped down above my cleavage. I touched the large pink pearl dangling from it, overflowing with gratefulness that this piece of my family had found its way back to me. But there would be time later to focus on its miraculous recovery, for now, I turned my eyes downward to take in the rest of my dress.
The skirt itself had large slits in it up to my thighs, the blue fabric shimmering as I pushed my leg through to take it all in. The bottom of the dress flared dramatically around me, but the jewels on it were the real showstopper. Extra-large gems, representing every court, were all around the bottom, with some even sneaking a bit higher than the double row of gems. They were so large that the highest ones came to my calf.
It was a dress fit for the queen of Gemaria.
When the time came, Alfrikr arrived to escort me to the ball. I was led through a hall that circled around the back of the ballroom from its regular entrance, and Alfrikr explained that I would be announced before entering. I waited for my cue, knowing I would be introduced under my false name, but I could hardly wait for the confrontation with Carnelian to be over so that I could be my real self again.
I would finally be able to stop running.
“Now introducing, your future queen, Lady Jacinth Tawny!” the herald announced, and I swept into the room to the cheers of the court and its assembled guests. Azurill was waiting by the Sacred Gems, looking surreally small in comparison. He stepped forward to meet me, kissing my hand as I curtseyed before him.
He smirked up at me as his lips lingered on my skin, causing my skin to flush, remembering the last time his lips graced my skin. I was already anxious for a repeat of that night, but it would have to wait for this final task to be completed.
Azurill swept me into his arms as the music swelled, and I clasped his hand as he began to lead us.
“How are you feeling, Mini-Dite?” he asked quietly, ensuring our words were kept just between us.
“Overwhelmed, I think,” I admitted, laughing slightly. “I never thought I’d get something like this.”
“Like what?” he asked curiously, his head tilted to the side.
I lifted my hand from his shoulder to his cheek, running my thumb across it. “A future. I thought it was long lost, and my life would be nothing but surviving until it ended. But now…”
I trailed off, watching his face soften as he raised a brow, “Now?”
“Now, there’s so much at my fingertips. I never thought I’d have the chance to live a real life again. Now, there’s you, and that’s more than I could have ever expected in any life,” I told him earnestly, watching the heat spark in his eyes.
“Fuck, I really want to kiss you, but that would probably blow our entire operation,” he murmured huskily, his hand knotting into my hair and tilting my face up toward his.
“Oh, Veri.” I laughed, my voice rougher than I intended, “Maybe I was just that good at seducing you.”
“That must be it,” he whispered, before his lips met mine. We had to keep it light before we scandalized the entire court, but it was absolutely worth it. When his lips parted from mine, he pulled back to look at me, his eyes twinkling like thousands of diamonds.
“You must know I never expected anyone like you, Linnea,” he whispered so very softly, so no one would hear my true name. Just hearing it from his lips sent my heart pounding in my chest while tears formed in my eyes that I had to blink away.
“I expected to be stuck with some vapid noble who wanted a crown. I always wanted a partner, like my parents had in each other, but I thought it was a lost cause when I started this competition. And then you walked in and turned everything I expected on its head. With that haunted look in your eyes and coloring that reminded me of my greatest regret…” He shook his head, a soft smile forming on his face. “And yet, you could make me laugh. You challenged me. You enchanted me like I’d never experienced before. I can’t wait to have you ruling beside me, but even more than that, I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
I couldn’t help but kiss him again, my chest bursting with the feelings he inspired in me. I could only thank Erodite for leading me to this. I thought I’d been abandoned long ago, but perhaps this was always where I was meant to be. I may have had to go the long way around, but looking at Azurill now, I couldn’t help but think it was worth it. Every night that was spent cold andhungry. Every day that I worried about being found. If it all led to him…then it was worth it.
When the song came to an end, we had to separate to work the room and mingle. I spent some time with my friends before making my way through the other nobles. When I spied Carnelian nearby, I excused myself from Lady Zariza Nephrite of Onyx, Ophira’s mother, to head over to him.
