Fragile Reign (Mortal Enchantment Book 2) (22 page)

Sleep was not my friend. I tossed and turned in bed all night. Even after I drank several glasses of the wine someone brought to my room, I couldn’t stop thinking about my impending marriage. This was really happening. I had no choice. I was going to marry Sebastian. Each time I closed my eyes, I could feel his touch on my skin. I could hear the vile things he whispered to me. All the things he wanted to do with me once I was his.

It was too much.

Bile raced up my throat.

I reached the toilet only a second before I vomited.

Once I cleaned myself up, I made my way to the window. The sun had just risen in the skies. Puffy clouds surrounded the castle with flecks of blue peeking through every crevice. I sat there for hours curled in my comforter. I couldn’t stop the images flashing in my head. Rowan, his face full of anguish as he turned to walk away from me. The hurt in his eyes. The anger in his enflamed fists. How would he react when he found out I was getting married today? I wished for a way to reach him. One more chance to tell him the truth without endangering my family. I burst into tears. I couldn’t be strong anymore. Sebastian had drained all of the hope out of me.

A tiny scratching noise broke me from my thoughts.

I wiped away the tears with the sleeve of my cotton nightgown as I tried to follow the sound. It only took me a second to realize it was coming from my bedroom door. When I opened it, I discovered Ariel outside with a finger over her lips. I nodded, pulling her inside. The moment the door clicked, I threw my arms around her neck. She hugged me tightly, wordlessly, letting me know she was there for me.

“I heard the news. Is it true?” She asked.

Sebastian must have made an announcement about our wedding being moved up to today. “It’s not what I want, but I have no choice. He threatened my family.”

Ariel eyes widened. “What could he possibly have to threaten you with?”

Then I realized I hadn’t told her about my power problems. I hadn’t told anyone except Sebastian. Even Rowan didn’t know I had completely lost my power. “I had confided in him about my father and the issues with my own power. Put it this way, he has enough information to cause me a lot of problems with the council.”

Her voice was so low, I had to read her lips. “Well, maybe I can help.”

Remembering Sebastian’s threats, I lowered my voice. “No one can help me. I’m out of options.”

“Maybe not.”

A sliver of hope bloomed in my chest. I leaned closer to her. “What are you talking about?”

“Marcus came to me last night.” Whispering, she said, “He had a message from Rowan. They had a feeling something bad had gone down between you and Sebastian.”

My heart warmed. Somehow Rowan saw through all of Sebastian’s lies. He didn’t doubt my feelings for him. I should’ve known. “What did he say?”

Her eyes searched the room, landing on a pad of paper on my nightstand. She picked up a pen and wrote.

He wants you to meet him at sundown at the beach. He said you would know where.

As soon as I read it, she got up and threw the paper into my lit fireplace.

I always met Rowan at the same place where he trained me when I first arrived in Avalon. It had become our solitude—our own little slice of heaven. Then reality set in when I glanced over at the ball gown from last night draped over a chair. What was left of my heart crumbled into pieces. “I’m supposed to marry Sebastian at sundown. How can I possibly get away? I’ll have a non-stop flow of elementals swarming around me all day.”

Ariel paced the room for several minutes. I watched her as she tapped her finger against her lips. Abruptly, she stopped. “You need to go along with whatever Sebastian has planned for you. I will be expected to be at your side, helping you get ready for the wedding. No matter what, you stick to the plan. Don’t give Sebastian any reason to doubt your intentions.”

I shook my head. “Are you saying you have a plan? You’re not making any sense.”

Ariel grabbed my hands. “Just let me take care of everything, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, watching her sneak out of the room and down the hallway before anyone noticed her. I closed the door, wrapping my arms around my waist. I had no idea what she had planned, but I had no other options. I had to see Rowan. Knowing he still believed in us, was fighting for us, energized my hope that there was another option. A way to get out of this marriage without hurting my family. I had to take the chance. The alternative was too much to bear. If Rowan wasn’t giving up on me, I would put all of my faith in him.

I had to find a way to fight back.

I had to find a way to save my family.

I had to find a way to save my love.

Hours passed like seconds. As I expected, the castle was buzzing. I didn’t know how Sebastian managed to do it, but everyone was on board for the wedding today. I expected my parents to resist. They both knew I had no intention of marrying him, but my father had approved all of the preparations. I wanted to speak with them, but Sebastian had done all he could to keep me isolated. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me Sebastian had threatened them too. It was the only way to explain why they were going along with all of this.

Where was Ariel?

I had not seen her since she slipped into my room this morning. She had promised she would find a way to get me out of the castle before the wedding—Rowan would be waiting for me—but I had no idea how she planned to do it. The knights were everywhere. Sebastian insisted that I needed extra protection. He said he feared another court might attack while we were busy preparing for the big event. It was a great move on his part. Now more than ever before, I felt like a caged animal.

In addition to the extra guards, Sebastian made a point to pop in on me. He even managed to show up just as I was being fitted for my wedding dress. He forced a seamstress out of the way, insisting he would help attach the clips in the back. I could feel his knuckles against my spine. It took everything I had to not push him away. I tried to tell him it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, but he chose to stay.

After the brownies were done with the hem, they started unclipping the gown. Sebastian watched intently. Once the gown dropped to the floor, they helped me step out of it. I was fully exposed, wearing nothing more than a white strapless corset and matching panties. Sebastian didn’t have to say a word. The wild-eyed look on his face told the whole story. Every time I glanced at him I was filled with disgust. I could never marry him, never love someone like him. I prayed Rowan had found a way to cancel this wedding. As much as I feared for my family, I didn’t think I could go through with it. There was no divorce with elementals. If I married Sebastian, we would be together until one of us died. It was a commitment unlike anything in the mortal world.

I had to find a way out of it.

Ariel finally showed up an hour before sundown. She was dressed in formal yellow robes. Apparently, elementals don’t have bridesmaids. Sebastian watched her closely as she organized her make-up and hair brushes. I sat in the chair in front of her. Instead of her usual banter, Ariel kept quiet. I wasn’t sure if she was downplaying our relationship or just keeping low key. Whatever her motivation, it worked. Sebastian left the room yawning. I guess all this girlie stuff finally got to him. The moment after he was gone, I grabbed Ariel by the wrist. “Where have you been?” I asked.

“I had to meet with Marcus.” She said, while applying creamy foundation to my face. “We have a plan.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Well, spill it.”

Ariel bit her bottom lip. “It’s probably best to keep you in the dark. This way, your reaction will be believable.”

She was making no sense. “My reaction to what?”

“All you need to know is this,” Ariel leaned down, only an inch away from my ear. “When the distraction starts, head out of the castle toward the portal.”

So there would be some kind of distraction? It made total sense. In all the commotion, I could leave without anyone noticing. Perfect. “Okay.”

Ariel smiled. “It will be. I promise.”

It was time for me to head downstairs. According to Ariel, the wedding had been set up in the ballroom. I had no idea what it would look like because I hadn’t been part of the plans. I still had not seen either of my parents the entire day. I started to worry, but I had to push those feelings aside. I had a bigger problem to deal with. I only hoped whatever Marcus and Ariel had planned would actually work. It would take something serious to get Sebastian’s attention away from me and his ascension to the throne.

I took one last look in the mirror. My wedding dress had a beaded lace sweetheart neckline bodice with lace straps, featuring an empire waist and low back. The shape reminded me of a mermaid painting I saw when our high school class went on a field trip to the Baltimore Museum of Art. It wasn’t something I would have picked out, but I didn’t really care since I had zero interest in this wedding. I would have walked down the aisle in a paper bag and it wouldn’t have mattered in the least.

With armed guards I didn’t recognize surrounding me, I took my first steps into the hallway.

Ariel left just minutes ago. She had been called downstairs, leaving me to walk alone. My uncomfortable heels clicked against the marble walkway. Beyond the sound of our shoes, there was only silence. I felt like one of those sentenced prisoners taking their last walk toward the lethal injection chair. I wasn’t about to die, but it sure felt like part of me was withering away. My spirit had been broken. The only thing keeping me going was the shred of hope I had in Rowan. My fate rested in his hands.

As we entered the main foyer of the castle, I heard a commotion in front of us. A few of the knights ran ahead while the rest circled around me with swords raised. Screams rang out over the sounds of weapons scraping against one another. Somewhere in the middle of all of it, I heard a roar that shook the floor. Only one creature was powerful enough to rattle the ground: a Gabriel Hound. It had to be Marcus. This was the sign I had been warned about. I nudged a few of my guards with my elbow. “Go up there and help them!” I ordered.

They glanced at one another, seemingly not sure what to do.

“They need your help now!” When they didn’t move, I raised my voice louder, commanding.

“That’s an order from the Princess of this court!”

My final words put a jolt in their stride. Together they raced toward the action. I let out a sigh of relief. My eyes searched the massive room trying to locate Sebastian. He was nowhere in sight. If I were lucky, Marcus would find him and kill him. That was one way to get out of this mess.

I wasn’t sure how long this distraction would last, so I slowly stepped backwards. I had to keep my eyes on the crowd to make sure I wasn’t followed. When my back hit the wall, I curled around the corner and ran for it. I was slowed down by my god-awful shoes. I stopped for a minute, threw off my heels, and bolted toward the pathway at the far end of the courtyard.

I took one last glance behind me before I ran into the portal.