Page 49 of Of Curses and Beauty

“I have traveled far to attend this wedding. I am a guest.”

“Not any guest that I know,” said the man on the left. His skin was pink from the cold, his upturned nose completing the swine-like appearance. “Anyway, guests aren’t being allowed in yet. You’ll have to wait with everyone else and be checked against the guest list.”

“I am an honored guest of the bride and you would do well to let me pass.”

Daric felt a presence at his back and braced for the imminent attack, willing to go down swinging if it meant he’d done all he could to reach Alaine. Eudora would look out for her if he failed.

“He is with us, Gregory.”

The soft, yet steady voice that came from behind him was not that of another guard, but Alaine’s father. Daric schooled his features into neutrality in an attempt to hide his shock as the guards looked between Alaine’s father and himself.

“You know this man?” The first man directed his question to her father but raised his eyebrows at Daric.

“Indeed. He is very dear to my daughter. She would be quite distressed if he was barred entrance.” Her father’s tone brooked no argument as he stopped beside him. Daric risked a glance toward the shorter man, noting hair and eyes the same color as Alaine’s.

Daric wondered how much her father knew, or if he only guessed at his connection to Alaine. There didn’t appear to be any malicious intent in helping him. Although, he couldn’t say the same for his wife. Alaine’s mother looked at him like she was sizing up a prize stallion for breeding. Her nose turned up at his travel-worn clothes, but she made no move to reveal her husband’s deception, likely playing along until she decided which side better served her purpose.

After a long look passed between them, the guards let them pass, the pig-nosed one holding the door open for them.

“Thank you for your assistance,” said Daric as he and Alaine’s parents squeezed through the doorway.

He desperately wanted to find Alaine but didn’t want to give his savior the wrong impression by rushing off immediately. He kept his pace slow but steady as they entered a large hall with rows upon rows of wooden benches. A center aisle cut through the sea of seats adorned with winter blooms and ribbon. The aisle led to a small, raised dais, illuminated by hundreds of white pillar candles. A large stained glass window threw rainbows throughout the room, dulled but still visible though the storm raged on. The vaulted ceilings echoed every faint sound and Daric lightened his gait to match the hush of the few others present. None of the faces he saw matched the one he sought.

Alaine’s father gave him a knowing smile once they were out of earshot of the guards. “You must be the reason my daughter sneaks off to the forest. I am Albair Martan,” he said, extending his hand.

“Daric.” The man’s slight stature belied the strength of his handshake. Taken aback by that show of strength, Daric didn’t think to pull away as Alaine’s father studied his ring. Hisfamilyring.

“That’s quite the trinket you wear.”

Daric smiled and nodded his head in thanks as he casually returned his hand to his side. It would be quite a feat to recognize the signet ring of a monarchy hundreds of years past, but he wouldn’t put it past Alaine’s cunning-eyed father, who continued to regard him sidelong as they strode shoulder to shoulder down the aisle.

“If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Martan. I must find Alaine.”

“Of course.” Albair bowed slightly at the waist. “She’ll be with her intended and the officiant through those doors.”

He motioned to a set of doors that Daric hadn’t noticed in his initial perusal of the hall. Tucked in the corner beside the dais stood a pair of unremarkable and unmarked doors.

Daric nodded his thanks and set off in the indicated direction, leaving Alaine’s parents behind. He’d almost reached the doors when they swung outward of their own accord, revealing two men engaged in conversation; a tall, thin man in ceremonial robes and the man Daric knew to be Lord Baxter. And beyond, in all her dark and wild splendor, waited Alaine.

He knew the moment she saw him, her face transforming from sullen and resigned to bright and exuberant in an instant. She pushed her way between the two men, both looking on with identical expressions of confusion. The distance between them melted away as she sprinted for Daric, leaping up to wrap her arms around his neck. His own arms encircled her swiftly and it felt like coming home. He inhaled the honey lavender scent of her and picked up gentle notes of snow and pine as well.

When her breathing hitched, he pulled her closer, afraid she’d disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Although it was still premature, he could wait no longer. “We did it, Alaine,” he whispered. “You’re free.”

Chapter 43

Alaine

Thoughshe’dseenhimonly hours before, Alaine had refused to see that moment as anything but another chance to say goodbye. Seeing him now, and hearing him speak the words she’d been too afraid to hope for, opened the floodgates deep inside her.

Sobs wracked her body as her emotions skipped from elation to relief and everything in between. She pressed her face to Daric’s chest, committing the feel of him to memory in case something else sought to tear them asunder. His cheek came to rest against the top of her head and he murmured into her hair. Though she couldn’t distinguish his words over the sound of her own weeping, his voice was a comforting rumble in her ears.

Someone cleared their throat nearby, cutting into her and Daric’s too-quick reunion.

Daric’s coat, already soaked through by the snow, looked no worse from her tears when she pulled away.

“What in the skies is going on here?”

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