Page 12 of Ruling the Green

My heart lurched.

It would be agonizing. A death a million times over. Because I wouldn’t just feel my own life-force and the soul of the lake itself, but every single creature whose life depended on it: the plants, flowers, fish, birds, bugs, perhaps even some of the mammals.

Without me to tend to the lake’s soul, they would all die. We would die together. Like Mr. Grimwood said… slowly… agonizingly.

I had everything to lose if I fought this. If I went along, there was hope for escape.

I wouldn’t pretend to know anything about the Unseelie Court, but I had to imagine there would be ways to leave the palace, to quickly escape into the woods.

And if the prince and king had no idea that I was of the lake and not Grimwood’s daughter, they wouldn’t know how to find me. If Grimwood and his lackeys came for me, I would know to watch for them, to tell the trees to warn me, and could make a quick escape.

That meant my only option right that moment was to do what I was told. Walk down that aisle. Stand at the altar. Endure whatever ceremonies there might be afterward. Then… then I had to escape. Before the wedding night expectations. Before I possibly got locked indoors, slowly dying.

So I sat back against the seat and stared ahead, trying to breathe through my anxiety.

Luckily (or unluckily, depending on which way you were looking at the situation), it was not the long ride I’d been anticipating.

And once we got there, I was immediately dragged by my ‘father’ to the front of a seated crowd.

It wasn’t as grand an event as I would have expected for a royal wedding.

It was outdoors with the backdrop being the palace itself—tall, gray, imposing, full of parapets, turrets, towers, and corbels.

I’d never seen a castle in person before, but had witnessed them from the memories of some of the creatures that frequented my lakes.

This was perhaps the most menacing-looking one I could imagine. It was perhaps fitting, given it was where the royal family of the Dark Court resided.

There were no flowers. No arches. Nothing soft for the occasion. Maybe that was because everyone gathered knew this was not a union of love but a simple business or political union.

When I glanced at the audience, all I saw were grim faces in their formalwear.

My heart was pounding so fast, I felt faint as the king was announced and took his seat.

This was it.

My breathing went fast and shallow, making my head feel light.

“We present His Royal Prince Jet—”

The groom didn’t wait to finish being introduced, just strode down the aisle with a long-legged, almost predatory feline grace.

Everything about him seemed frustrated, impatient, maybe even borderline angry.

I could barely focus on the words spoken by the serious man with gray hair and a thick beard in a black tunic dress-type thing.

I wasn’t asked to say anything.

But the prince—Jet—had to vow to provide for and protect me.

“I will,” he said, his deep, smooth voice sending a shiver through me.

“You may lift your bride’s veil and attach the royal tiara.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Grimwood stiffen and shift in his seat.

As for my groom, he sighed and reached toward me.

The veil shifted, further obscuring my vision before it was suddenly unobstructed.