Chapter 1 : The Ball
*Amaya*
Nothing was amiss, the sun lazily peaked through my bedroom window the same as every morning. Waking me eagerly after a night of restless sleep. I was far too excited to sleep more than a few minutes, the day of the ball in which my betrothal would become official had finally arrived. Everything was falling into place. It was fate.
In the ornate golden mirror that rested in the corner of my bedchamber, I retreated. It once belonged to my mother. I traced the intertwining floral design absentmindedly with my finger. As it always had, my mind drifted to thoughts of my mother. I missed her terribly. I wondered if she would have approved of the choices I’d made for tonight’s ball.
Would she have gone with the color scheme I’d chosen? Would she have picked the same menu? Would she have hired the same musicians? Ultimately, the only question on my mind, as it had been for as long as I could remember, am I anything like her? She’d cast a rather large shadow that I was unable and unwilling to escape from.
The only portrait of her was hung in a dark corner of the library. My father had ordered the others to be destroyed. As a child, I spent many hours standing in front of the painting desperately scanning it for any resemblances.
She and I have the same auburn hair. She was shown with her hair braided and twisted with a heavy golden crown resting on top. Her eyes were a deep mossy green, unlike my brown. It was said that she was the jewel of my father’s crown. Her beauty was immortalized in songs still sung in taverns across the land even in the wrenched kingdom of Shadowguard. But in her portrait there was a sadness in her eyes that always made me feel uneasy, there were no songs about that.
“Princess,” a small squeak shocked me back to the present day. In the mirror, I could see standing at the door the small army of ladies in waiting and attendants waiting to help prepare me for the night’s festivities.
I smiled warmly to greet them and then quickly moved to my dressing chair. I couldn’t think of my mother, there was too much to do and this was going to be one of the happiest days of my life. Before I knew it, they were fussing over me, brushing my hair, and cleaning my fingernails. I closed my eyes and relaxed back into the silk cushion of the chair. I’d always enjoyed this part of being a princess.
Suddenly, I felt two icy glass orbs on my closed eyes. I shrieked as I jumped from the surprise causing them to fall into my lap.
“Princess!” Imelda, my old nurse, gently scolded. She cupped my face under her leathered hands as she sternly looked at me down the bridge of her bird-like nose. “Neither your King father nor your beloved will be too happy with those ugly bags under your eyes.”
I bowed my head in embarrassment. Imelda wasn’t wrong. Two attendants whose names I hadn’t had the chance to learn, quickly appeared at my side. Each took a glass orb and gently massaged my face with them. The orbs stung my skin but as Imeda always said, pain was the price of beauty.
My hands were finally free and had found their way to my lap. I began to absentmindedly rub my right thumb along the inside of my left wrist, exposing it to the attendants.
The attendant on my right gasped. “Oh! Is that the mark?” she asked excitedly. I smiled proudly. “Oh, it’s so romantic,” she sighed.
I nodded in agreement. Although I could tell that Imelda didn’t approve of this conversation, I encouraged it by pushing up the sleeve of my dressing gown and holding my wrist out. The room came to a standstill as all the attendants and ladies in waiting circled me to see my mark.
“I thought it was just a rumor,” someone murmured to no one in particular.
“You’re so lucky, your highness,” another voice replied. There were a few wistful sighs and an, “I wish that could be me.” I smiled proudly and happily from ear to ear.
“So, is it true then?”
I nodded my head excitedly. “Yes! Tonight’s the night! At the ball, it will be official,” I squeaked. “Finally,” I sighed. “After all these years.” My tone drifted into momentary sadness.
“Is he really an Alpha?” an attendant with an accent I was unfamiliar with asked.
But before I could reply, another attendant answered annoyingly. “Of course, he’s an Alpha. Only an Alpha could marry the daughter of our Alpha King.” The first attendant bowed her head in embarrassment.
“It’s okay,” I tried to reassure her. She had no reason to be embarrassed for not knowing. I reached my hand out to grab hers and as her eyes found mine, I gave her a small smile. She blushed slightly as she returned an even smaller smile to me. “He’s the Alpha of Wormwood.”
Suddenly her smile disappeared from her face. She looked worried or frightened, I couldn’t place it. “Oh, Caine Hightower,” she said darkly as she covered her mouth with her free hand.
“Wait,” I said as I gripped her hand harder. I felt her try to pull away. There was an empty feeling in my stomach as if she knew something that I didn’t. Before I could finish or before she could say anything more, Imelda clapped her hands and the group broke the circle around me and returned to the duty of preparing me for the ball.
I shook my head to shake out the empty feeling. There was no way that she, a lowly attendant from Goddess knows where, would know more about my beloved than me. I took a deep breath.
My eyes darted to the large wooden box that I kept by my bed. Inside, I kept every letter Caine had ever written to me. I sighed as my mind replayed the words of my favorite letters. Whoever had said it was right, I was lucky.
My heart still raced as if I was reading his words for the first time. The butterflies replaced the anxiety. Once everyone was too busy to notice, I brought my mark to my lips and gave it a small kiss as Caine instructed me to do the night he’d given it to me.
I was a child the first time I saw him but even then I knew he was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. My young heart jumped out of my chest and into his hands.
He was a school friend of my older brother and his father, the then Alpha of Wormwood, had been called to council with my father. Caine had tagged along to spend time with my brother and accompany his father on the annual hunt my father would throw after the big council meeting. All the Alphas of Emerald Mountain would attend but very few brought their children along.
Caine was taller than my brother which at the time, I thought was impossible. As a child, my brother was my hero so to see another child his age tower over him was more than my young mind could comprehend.
His blonde hair bounced as he chased my brother along the halls of the castle. He was faster than my brother and stronger. Embarrassingly, during that trip, I’d followed him around like a little puppy dog much to the chagrin of my brother.
“Go away, Amaya. Leave us alone,” my brother spat as he pushed me to the ground, causing tears to flood my eyes. I was so embarrassed and the push was more forceful than normal. “Go find Imelda, it’s time for your nap since you're a little baby,” my brother taunted.
This was the moment I completely fell head-over-heels in love with Caine. He pushed my brother aside and bent down and offered me his hand. It was like all the fairy tales I was familiar with, the handsome knight and the wounded princess. My teary eyes locked into his ocean greenish-blue eyes as I cautiously took his hand.
“I don’t think she’s a baby,” he said as he helped me to my feet. My brother scoffed and rolled his eyes as he ran off. Caine gave me a little wink before he followed him.
That’s all it took. I was done. I was his.
The letters started soon after the hunt. At first, they were friendly but as I grew up so did the letters. I received my first “I love you” letter on my twelfth birthday. He marked me on my fifteenth birthday.
It was the most magical night of my life. I replayed it often in my mind especially when I missed him. Wormwood was a day’s ride away. His father needed him once he was done with school. I hardly ever got to see him but that was all changing tonight.
Before I knew it, I was ready for the ball. I had a dress made in a soft pink to complement my hair which was pinned up and braided in a similar style to my mother’s portrait. It poofed out from my waist which made it look much smaller than it typically was. I had the corset laced tighter than normal too to help.
I raced down to the ball. I could hear the musicians playing a lively waltz and the swishing of ladies’ dresses dancing. The sight of the room took my breath away.
It’d turned out better than I had ever dreamed. Pink flower garlands hung from the ceilings and the dance floor was covered in pink flower petals. The flowers matched my dress perfectly.
I scanned the room for any signs of Caine but couldn’t find him. Instead, I found the stern gaze of my father. He looked pleased with the outcome of my hard work and planning. I cautiously approached him and took my place at his side.
My father was an intimidating man and to be truthful, he scared me a little. I had no reason to be scared considering I don't think he and I ever said more than ten words to each other at a time. I think it’s because my presence reminds him of my mother and the fact that she’s gone. I wondered how long I’d have to live with the blame for her death, probably for the rest of my life.
He looked me over as I sat down and nodded his head. “That will do.” He then turned away from me and did not say another word to me. I knew well enough to not say anything.
It was so hard to sit there, I felt as if I was going to jump out of my skin but I didn’t want to embarrass my father or Caine so I did my best to sit still and wait for his arrival.
So I waited…
And waited…
And waited…
The moon was high in the night sky. It’d been hours since the ball started and there was still no sight of Caine. My heart was in my stomach. I feared that something horrible had happened.
There’d been word that there were sightings of Shadowguard scouts. Shadowguard wasn’t known for their compassion, and if Caine had encountered one. I couldn’t even finish the thought.
Caine was strong and a good fighter, especially when he shifted. But there was no evil that Shadowguard wouldn’t employ. Imelda once told me that the Alpha King even ate the babies of their enemies.
Suddenly the doors of the ballroom were thrown open and my heart began to soar as I saw Caine enter. He was just as handsome as he always was but since the death of his father, he had the air of authority and power as an Alpha. It awakened something primal in me. I rose from my seat and excitedly ran toward him to embrace him.
But when he saw me, he turned to his Beta, a scrawny little man who looked more like a rat than a human, and they shared a look before bursting out in laughter. His laugh sounded different than I remembered.
He held his hand out to stop me as I approached him which I did. Everything came to a halt. My heart began to race. He was going to do it, he was going to propose. I began to smile uncontrollably.
Caine cleared his throat dramatically as he slowly turned in a circle to make sure that all eyes were on him. He smiled as he stopped before me. The room was silent and an awkward tension filled the air.
I waited with bated breath for his next move. It was unbearable, the anticipation was killing me. But it was his favorite thing to do, especially in bed. He loved to pull back and prolong any satisfaction I could receive even if I begged for it. It was painful and I could tell the more pain I was in, the more he found it to be pleasurable. This moment was no different.
He flashed me a coy smile. His eyes darted between my father and me as if we were his playthings. He cleared his throat again and then began in a loud booming voice, “I, Caine Hightower Alpha of Wormwood…”
My heart skipped a beat, it was finally happening. He was finally going to propose. I wanted to jump into his arms but I refrained.
He smiled again once he saw the anticipation and excitement on my face. He continued proudly, “Reject you, Princess Amaya of Emerald Mountain.”