Page 8

T he 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?”

Taiyo snorted, lips twisting in a pained, sardonic smile. “I doubt that.”

Then he took another step back, letting her come down the last step. He looked at her fully, taking her in in her wedding dress, eyes softening. The silks and style were completely foreign to her, enveloping her in soft dusky pinks and oranges, embroidered with gold. All of it matched his outfit. He wasn’t outright recoiling at the sight; her maids and seamstresses had at least made her into the image of something acceptable to him.

He took a deep breath and looped his arm through hers and nodded at the footmen waiting at the doors. Apparently, it was Sun Elf custom for the bride and groom to walk to the altar together.

She lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders as Taiyo took a deep breath while the doors opened and they faced their fate.

It was hard to put on a smile and pretend he was walking with her when the truth was he was dragging her.

Hellebore had only seen a couple of Chymesian weddings in her lifetime and never a Sun Elf one before.

But Phoebe and Elaine had given her a quick briefing on what to expect and what was expected of her, so she was adequately prepared.

There was quite a crowd assembled, the majority Sun Elves—nobles, she presumed. But there were a few that were quite clearly not Sun Elves, given their differences in appearance and in their favored colors. Given the rising tension between the Sun Elves and the Moon Elves, she ruled them out quickly, leaving the only other option as the Star Elves. A few of them were in the crowd, marked by the hues of purple and blue in their hair and their clothes that were adorned with silver, shining patterns of stars.

Hellebore pulled her gaze away. She needed to focus on making sure she didn't make a fool of herself.

They reached the officiant and stepped inside the circle of orange, gold, and pink petals scattered across the courtyard and beneath an arch of matching flowers. Taiyo held her arm and helped her kneel without falling over before he took his spot, kneeling across from her.

Something was… off. There was a tension in the air. All because the king was marrying a human? It wasn't that wildly far from imagination since there was a half-elf queen in the courtyard among the Star Elves.

Could it be just because she was an alchemist? Possibly.

Still, even for a monarch’s wedding, there were a lot more guards than expected. Maybe she should be flattered they thought she was enough of a threat to warrant such measures. Although, she was probably sharing that honor with the Moon Elves.

But even that didn’t quite fully account for the sense of unease she had as the officiant launched into his speech. Before she could figure it out, she had to drop it and focus on translating so she didn't get lost.

She kept her palms flat on her knees, ignoring the glare Princess Haruko gave her from the front row, sitting beside her husband, her son dozing on her lap.

There was much Hellebore needed to get to the bottom of if this was to be her fate.

After the wedding.

There were several strange things that were part of the ceremony that were not part of Chymesian weddings. The officiant sprinkling petals over their heads was one. The use of magic was another.

Right before their vows, the two Sun Elves typically both used their sun magic to create a halo matching the circle on the ground, weaving sunlight between the two of them as they rose to take each other’s hands.

It would be Taiyo's sole responsibility, unless of course, they wanted to offer her up some Sun Elf blood so she could access the magic in it. That was so far off the table, Hellebore hadn't even brought it up as a joke. She didn’t want to ruin what little good standing she had with her maids.

The time for the vows came, and Taiyo began using his magic, sunlight obeying his command.

She was riveted by it. He’d had a point. As an alchemist, all she could do was manipulate. She couldn’t create.

“In the light of the sun and before the eyes of my people as my witness, I take Princess Hellebore of Chymes to be my wife, to love, honor, and protect, for as long as we both...” Taiyo paused and the sunlight stuttered.

Hellebore's eyes widened. Was he having second thoughts?

He took another breath and the sunlight weaving through the air brightened. “For as long as we both shall live.”

Once the strands of sunlight hung in the air, wrapping around them, not quite blinding but almost, the novelty wore off as the heat began to get under her skin and aggravate her along with the pins she was certain were starting to leave pinpricks of blood on her shift beneath the dress. Taiyo held his hands out to her. She took them and let him help her to her feet.

“Princess Hellebore,” the officiant said.

“In the light of the sun and before the eyes of these people—” She ignored the sharpening of Haruko's glare, but Hellebore would not lie. None of her people were present as witnesses. “—as my witness, I take King Taiyo to be my husband to love, honor, and protect for as long as we both shall live.”

Taiyo's hands holding hers shifted, not letting go but moving his fingers enough for the sunlight to dance, reaching blinding brightness as the officiant said, “I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Thankfully no one would be able to see when Taiyo didn't—

But then his hands tugged hers closer and he leaned down. She was blinded by the light, but his lips brushed her cheek before he let it dim.

She shifted back, blinking furiously to clear her vision so she could glare at him. What had that been for?

He gave her a small smile and squeezed her hands as the crowd politely applauded before he started to lead her back down the aisle.

Hellebore looked back over her shoulder.

That was when it hit her.

Everything looked beautiful and full of life, but there was something in the air. She took a deep breath, finding the faintest foul hint, nearly buried beneath the overwhelming floral scents flooding the air. She knew it well enough from behind a mask that she would be able to recognize it anywhere.

Something was rotting.