47. Elianna

Chapter forty-seven

Elianna

In the main bathing chambers of the Cadoria Estate, Avery aided me in readying for mine and Jace’s wedding day—a day I never thought would become a reality.

While turning toward the floor-length mirror, my sister’s voice had me halting instantly.

“I told you not to look yet!” she scolded me as she rushed back into the room, balancing the rest of the beauty enhancers Lynelle provided us.

I huffed out a breath at her as I tightened the strings of my robe. “Avery, I need to see if I like it!”

“And you will do just that once I am finished ,” she stated as she pointed to the chair in the corner of the room where I was told to remain.

“Fine,” I huffed as I sat back down, the force of my dramatic landing on its cushion making my body bounce.

“Excellent,” Avery cooed as she spread all the items out on a small table.

Closing my eyes, I felt everything she did, from lining my lashes, dusting my cheeks, and painting my lips.

“How did you learn to do all of this, anyway?” I asked as my eyes remained closed .

“You learn quite a bit when things are forced upon you daily. Now hold still before I get this rouge on your teeth,” she demanded.

I stifled a giggle at her bossiness while she finished her self-proclaimed masterpiece on my face.

“Open your eyes,” she ordered. “How does it feel?”

I smirked. “As if I have paint on my face.”

“Well, you essentially do,” she said with a laugh. “Zaela, it’s time for the dress!”

A figure appeared in the doorway a moment later, but it wasn’t Zaela.

“Lynelle,” I breathed, and she watched me with eyes that seemed to already be filling with tears as she stood beneath the door’s arch, draping a cream-colored gown over her arms.

“The tailors have just finished it. I rushed to get it here since Zae had to help the boys get ready.”

I smiled softly. “She’s always looking out for those two.”

“Indeed she is,” Lynelle admitted as she took a single step in.

“I, um, I will go see if Veli needs anything downstairs,” Avery announced as she rushed out the door.

I stood from the chair and sucked in a sharp breath as nerves worked their way through me. Lynelle then approached me.

“My dear, it’s a custom in our mortal culture for a family member to escort the bride down the aisle, but I’m not sure if it’s the same for the fae.”

A smile tried to form on my lips, but it refused to meet my eyes. “It’s the same for our culture as well,” I answered .

She pressed her lips together as her eyes roamed over me slowly. “I am so very sorry for your loss, my dear. There has been so much of it on both sides of this.”

“Indeed, there has been,” I whispered. “And thank you. I’m forever sorry for yours as well, Lynelle.”

She waved her hand at me to brush off my remark, as if my birth hadn’t played a part in her own husband’s death. She then carefully hung the dress on the wall beside her.

Lynelle gently placed each of her hands on either side of my arms and looked into my eyes. “That is neither here nor there, sweet girl. You have the weight of the realm on your shoulders, and you are now fighting for us instead of against us. You are our hope.”

She caringly moved my body to twirl before her, so I now faced the wall that was at my back a moment before. Her hand reached out toward the table at our side, and she picked up the beautiful hairbrush that had been resting atop it. I nearly let out a sob as she pulled it gently through my hair.

“Are you alright, Lia?” she asked in a calm whisper.

My lungs released a shuddering breath that felt as if it rattled my entire body. “I just…” No words found me as I desperately tried to explain what I was feeling.

“You don’t have to speak of it if it causes you pain.” Another pull of the brush through my hair nearly had me ruining the work Avery had done to my face as tears threatened me.

“The scars that I bear on my back…” Memories of the day beneath the dungeon slammed into me. “Well, a few of the scars, that is…they are a result of wishing I had a mother to do just this with,” I admitted, never realizing how pitiful it all sounded once spoken aloud.

The brushing faltered, but then continued a second later. “That’s such a horrible thing to hear. I’m so very sorry. How old were you?”

“Thirteen,” I whispered. “I had always watched the queen with her brushes and how I wished I had a mother to share one with. One day, I was caught sneaking into her chambers…”

“Oh my,” Lynelle whispered nervously.

A sad laugh left me. “I combed it through my hair a single time, and when I looked up into the mirror, the queen was staring back at me in disgust. You would have thought the dirtiest peasant in her city’s slums had ravaged through her finery.”

“And you were punished for this? As a child?”

“She had her personal guard take a whip to my back three times. Let's just say the entire ordeal kept me in line for quite a few of the following years. My father never heard of its occurrence.”

Silence blanketed the room for a few seconds. “I’m so sorry you were treated so horrendously, Elianna.”

“It’s quite alright. Her cruelty made me stronger. At least that’s what I would like to believe.”

“But it’s something you shouldn’t have had to endure, and for that, I am sorry.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Her hand then reached out toward a vase on the table that held freshly trimmed flowers and greenery from the estate’s front garden. She plucked a few of the vines and subtle blooms from the vase and began intertwining them in my hair, lacing them into braids that she twisted back from my face.

“May I help you into your dress?”

“Of course.” My voice was hoarse from trying to hold in all the emotions that threatened to flood me from her kindness.

The robe I wore fell to my feet as she moved to grab the gown that hung on the wall and then assisted me into it. Her movements paused as my scars became visible to her, and the weight of her stare made my stomach tighten, but I was grateful she didn’t comment on them further. She carefully guided my arms through the flowing lace sleeves and then laced the back with a cream-colored ribbon that matched the gown itself.

When I turned to face her, a kind smile tilted her lips. “Please, Your Majesty, take a look.” She gestured to the mirror.

“Please don’t feel that it’s necessary to call me that,” I said with a small laugh as I turned to face the mirror once more.

My lips parted at the sight that I beheld in my own reflection. I thought I had felt beautiful during the disastrous night of Kai’s wedding—when Lorelai had placed me in her finery gown and dusted my cheeks with rouge—but what I saw now held no comparison.

My hair pulled back from my face, with beautiful flowers woven between each braid as the rest of the curls fell down my back. The kohl that lined my eyes made their color flare beneath the candlelight, and the faint pink placed upon my lips made them more plump and pout-like .

The gown was breathtaking—its form-fitting bodice adorned with delicate embroidery in champagne thread, with a sweetheart neckline elegantly framed with a trim of tiny pearls. Its sleeves were long and tapered, fitting closely to my arms while extending into a slight flare. The gown's skirt flowed in cascading layers to the floor, with a train that extended several feet behind me.

I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror—for the fierce, blood-soaked warrior was no longer who stared back at me, but a queen.

“I look…”

“You look as if you’re the most beautiful bride and queen that the realm has ever seen. It will bring my nephew to his knees.”

A choked laugh left me at her words, but when my eyes found hers once more in the mirror, I watched as she wiped a single tear away that had slipped down her cheek.

“Are you alright, Lynelle?”

“My nephew…he has always been a boy filled with so much anger. So much rage because of all he had been forced to hold knowledge of from such a young age.”

“I know,” I whispered, as my heart thudded at the reminder. “And I will forever love him with every breath.”

“Yes, I know that, sweet girl. It is just…I never would have even dreamed of him loving someone else so deeply in return. He’s a changed man because of you, and that is for the better. His mother would have been so proud and would have adored you to no end.”

Tears finally escaped me and slid down my cheeks .

She caught them with the tip of her finger and smiled. “Neither of you have parents any longer, but my door will remain open for the rest of my days. That is a promise.”

“Thank you, Lynelle,” I choked out as she took a step back from me.

“There is one more thing,” she admitted as she made her way to the door. “I will be right back.”

My mind raced for an unbearably long minute before she appeared before me once more, holding a small box between her two hands.

I raised a single brow at her as a smirk formed on my face. “What is that?”

“Jace had this made for you. Now, I insisted that we could have expedited a finer one to be made, but he declared that you would have preferred this anyway, and well, he knows you best, I suppose,” she answered.

She stepped up to me and lifted the top of the box. I let out a tiny gasp at what my eyes beheld—a dainty tiara, crafted from silver to mimic woven and twisted leaf-covered vines that met in its center at a point, where an emerald was fastened securely—a mirror to the one upon my mating ring.

“Oh my gods,” I breathed as my eyes flashed up to meet hers.

She chuckled. “I have a feeling that he was correct in his notion of you loving this how it is.”

A smile found my lips as my heart fluttered wildly. “It’s perfect.”

She moved to place the box on the table and carefully picked up the delicate crown, turning to me with pride beaming in her eyes. I slowly lowered my head toward her in a half bow, and she gently placed it atop my head.

Turning back to the mirror, I couldn't help but grin at the person staring back at me as the crown twinkled. A female who had undergone torture at the hands of those she should have been able to trust. A warrior who led armies and brought countless victories to the feet of the wicked beings who tricked her out of her own crown. A mate who would finally attain her happy ending she never knew that she so desperately desired. And lastly, a queen—one who would never again allow her realm to fall at the hands of such wickedness, and would rule with compassion, just as her father had.

My stare leisurely drifted to Lynelle’s as she gazed at me through the mirror, standing off to the side. “I’m ready.”

Her hand lifted toward the door as she inclined her head toward me. “After you, our queen.”