Page 12 of Façade

I’d just never imagined my duties would ever extend tothis. How I loathed the thought. If only Lucian and Evelyn both being heirs didn’t forbade a union between them; he seemed to have no problem setting aside his conscience to do what must be done.

The sharp wayward thought threatened my careful resolve, forcing me to exhort my desperation to cling to it and prevent it from escaping. I evenly met my reflection’s gaze. “You know what must be done. Feel nothing.”

My expression gradually hardened. Uneasiness pressed against my heart as I turned away. Despite the years I’d worn this mask, I could never grow accustomed to it. I forced another steadying breath, but it did little to quell my rising anxiety. I couldn’t falter now, not with the situation afflicting our kingdom growing more dire; marrying Princess Evelyn would all be for naught if I didn’t acquire her powers.

My fingers grazed the vial I’d hidden in my pocket just before our vows. The glass was icy to the touch, a sign of the enchantment placed upon it. Magic was nearly nonexistent in our kingdom, requiring Father to pay a hefty price for such a relic…as would I, only with my conscience rather than coin; more would undoubtedly be required should I succeed in my task. Aversion twisted my stomach even as I resolved myself that this was the only way, as necessary to walk as it was unideal.

I still couldn’t quite believe we were married. Just last week, Father had summoned me to his study with the utmost urgency, his usual calm eclipsed by a frantic desperation I hadn’t seen since the year before when the blight had suddenly taken a turn for the worse, an event that had led to the calculations for our current scheme.

Alarm had seized hold, but before I could inquire as to what was wrong, Father held up a letter. “Estoria has rescinded on the engagement contract.”

My breath caught.No. Though I’d never had any emotional attachment to uniting with the princess herself, the power that she and her kingdom came with—the last resource of magic in the land, which rumors whispered Estoria produced in abundance—had been the sole pinprick of light in the darkness slowly eclipsing our kingdom, and with it all hope.

A recent excursion with Father and Lucian had taken us to the more remote areas of Brimoire, places that had once thrived with resources and life now erased from our kingdom, leaving nothing in its wake. It was one thing to analyze the statistics brought to us almost daily by the desperate courtiers who’d been sent out to scout the land, and quite another to see it for myself.

In the end, this devastating reality was the only force strong enough to suppress the temptation to deviate me from my chosen course, one that wrenched my conscience. It must be done. I was a prince, and I would live up to the title if it was the last thing I ever did, all for the sake of protecting the kingdom and people I cared for…yet now our last hope had been stolen, just as we’d already lost everything else.

With the exhaustion from the constant burdens our kingdom bore, the weight of Father’s news was too heavy to withstand. I collapsed in my seat. “Why?” It was the only breathless word I could manage.

Father groaned and buried his face in his hands, a rare falter in his regal composure. “I suspect the Estorian king and queen have discovered our true reasons for seeking an alliance.”

My heart sank. We’d been wary of the possibility ever since the creation of our scheme and done our best to shroud our plans in secrecy. Despite our careful attempts, they hadn’t been enough.

I searched for the anger the situation warranted but couldn’t summon the emotion against my warring sense. From a political standpoint, Estoria had made the correct decision—allying with us when our kingdom was in such a state would be like uniting with a kingdom entangled in a war that they would likely lose, only we were being invaded by an invisible force far more dangerous than a foreign army, one Estoria would do well to avoid. The thought stirred my pesky conscience anew.

But logic had no place midst the desperation that had guided our kingdom’s decisions. There was only one path forward if we hoped to survive, especially after we’d spent years exhausting every other possibility—pursuing ancient documents, consulting experts on magic, and researching past curses, only to conclude that magic was our last hope for the blight afflicting us…and it too was being snatched away, leaving us with nothing.

My despair rose, threatening to consume me. I took a steadying breath in an effort to attain a semblance of calm, nigh impossible to grasp midst such devastating news. “What are we to do?”

Father was silent a long moment before he heaved a weary sigh. “Lucian is scrambling to find another solution, just in case these past several years we’ve missed something. You are to join his efforts, and I will go to Estoria in an attempt to regain their lost trust and negotiate the contract—strengthening the benefits of the union if necessary,anythingto recreate the alliance.”

“Do you think they’ll reconsider?”

His despair deepened the worry furrowing his brow. “Doubtful, but we’re left with no other option. The situation is too dire to give up.” Despite his firm resolve, his eyes were lifeless and without expectation, making it difficult for me to cling to any hope myself.

To think our once prosperous kingdom had come tothis. The memories of the years in my early childhood when we’d been thriving had grown distant, making them seem like nothing more than a dream in the face of the nightmare slowly consuming us.

Father had departed for Estoria, leaving me nothing to do but wait with only my constant anxiety following me like a shadow.

But then a miracle had occurred. Rather than my stumbling upon a solution, one had miraculously come to me mere days later—the princess herself, seeking the very alliance we’d thought lost forever…and now I found myself married, bound not by love but duty, the only possibility of saving our kingdom.

Pulling myself from my thoughts, I managed to summon enough courage to leave my room to where Evelyn sat rigidly waiting for me in my private parlor, the only betrayal of her royal portrait her hands twisting anxiously in her lap. She’d been an image of poise when she’d sought an immediate fulfillment of our previous engagement contract; only now that the deed was done did her true feelings seem to escape her careful control, the very reservations I shared but which it was essential I keep guarded.

After an awkward greeting I sat down across from her for our first meal as husband and wife, a relationship that felt surreal even though I’d had years to prepare myself for it. Even the hours since her arrival hadn’t been enough for the shock of her presence to subside. In the course of only a few days she’d gone from my intended, to my ex, to my spouse.

The magic I sought felt tantalizingly close. Legend stated that the magical connection forged between us during our marriage ceremony would allow me to access this power we desperately needed. I searched for the invisible enchanted thread binding us for her magic, knowing how I could immediately put to use: to restore the most recent village that had been consumed, and with it one of our most prosperous mines whose loss would severely damage our trade and our kingdom’s economy.

But there was nothing, which meant if I hoped to seize hold of her magic I’d have to go about it in a more conventional way that bore the risk of her refusal.

Her sigh punctuated my whirling thoughts, reminding me that for the time being, my new duties as a husband eclipsed that of a prince and would serve as a gate to what I needed. The fate of my kingdom depended on it.

I awkwardly cleared my throat. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to neglect you; I’m simply accustomed to dining alone.” It was a pitiful excuse for my negligence but one I still hoped she’d accept.

She jolted, as if startled by the suddenly shattered silence, before giving an accepting nod. “It’s no matter.” Yet her extended grace didn’t match the annoyance filling her eyes. I’d have to tread more carefully.

I straightened, determined to atone for the time I’d ignored her, not the best way to begin our life together as her new husband; as my only chance at magic she needed to be my focus.

I searched for an appropriate topic; I’d done my share of small talk with the dignitaries and members of the court, and while Evelyn and I weren’t unacquainted, it was quite different conversing with her as my wife than when she’d merely been my intended.

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