Page 6 of Enchanted Kingdom
I gave her a nod. It felt so foreign to have my shoulders bare, but Flora would definitely know better than I would about what was appropriate formalwear. And I honestly loved the dress. There was no way I wasn’t wearing this.
I spun toward my mother to see her hazel eyes misty again.
“Mother?”
She took a few beats to swallow down the emotion. “I just wish Griffith was here to see you in this gown.”
It had been five years, but I still felt a stab at my heart at the mention of my father’s name. “He would’ve been more irritable than I am about going to the castle, and you know it.”
She smirked. “That may be, but you do look very lovely.”
Flora stepped behind me and lifted my hair off my shoulders. “Hair up or down?”
I shrugged. “I’m used to it up? I have no idea.”
My mother, having composed herself, got up from her spot to also fuss over my hair. “Maybe off your face but still down in the back. To provide a little more coverage since you are not as used to your shoulders being bare like this?”
“Yes, that. Whatever that means, I need that,” I agreed.
My mother laughed while still looking at me through my reflection. “I have to admit, for as much as you stomped—no I’m sorry,clomped—on the way over here, you are taking this quite well.”
I held my hands out. “How can one be petulant when wearing somethingsobeautiful?”
Flora reached over and gave me a side hug as the three of us gazed at the gown in the mirror.
Within the following hour, I had the gown. And the shoes. And a game plan for the hair. In two days’ time, I’d be heading through the walls of the kingdom and up to the castle. Though I didn’t have an interest in the crown, it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
CHAPTER3
“Stop worrying,” Mother scolded.
I let out a long, shaky breath, barely recognizing my own reflection in the mirror. I had an array of powders and makeup on. My hair was curled and arranged, the gown was on. I was to be picked up any second now. “What if I’m forced to stay longer? What if they don’t dismiss any of us on the first night?”
My mother took me by the shoulders and spun me toward her. “It will be all right. I only wish you could send word or let me know what goes on up there, but it’s going to be okay, Jorah. We both know whomever the crown princes end up with will be strategic pairings. A woman from Nerede will not be wearing a crown, princess or otherwise. They will not allow it. So if it happens you don’t return right away, enjoy the time off from the bakery and try to relax if possible.”
I nodded and took a steadying breath, knowing she was right. But I also knew that being around the Enchanted, around magic, was never going to be a place where I could feel safe. My whole life I’d been avoiding the Enchanted, and now I was going to a palace full of them.
“I love you, Jorah honey. And though you resent this trip and being forced to go parade in front of the princes in such a manner, I just want you to know how proud I am of you for even being drawn to begin with. We both know it was less of a random drawing and more of a qualifying. You, my dear girl, are a treasure. Here or there.”
I had to take a minute before I could respond. “Thank you. I love you.”
She brought me in for a hug but had barely touched me when a loud knocking sounded on the door.
An angry looking guard wearing a royal blue uniform stood outside the door. “Here to pick up Jorah Demir for the Assemblages of Consorts.”
Wow.He was so pleased to be here he couldn’t even form a complete sentence. I wanted to joke about how it was really my mother and push her toward the door in my place but based on the firm press of the guard’s lips, I decided to just step forward.
I didn’t say hello. He didn’t say hello.
He obviouslylovedhis job. But then again, when my father worked as a solider for the royal army at the Nerede wall, he hadn’t liked his job either, so I was going to try my best to not glare at him.
Outside our cottage, the most beautiful black horses I had ever seen were hitched in front of a black carriage. This was so surreal. And so over the top, particularly for a woman from Nerede. Ignoring the carriage and the Nerede people stopping to stare and watch, my eyes kept going to the horses. Their hooves were huge. The size of a plate. And they were lovely. They were much unlike the other horses I had seen royal guards in Nerede ride in on from time to time, they were far bulkier.
The angry guard opened the door for me. I turned back to my mother and gave her a quick wave. I tried to smile at her, though it definitely felt forced. My smile fell as soon as I turned back toward the carriage and began climbing in.
I tensed when I saw someone was already in the carriage, wondering if I’d have a guard with me the whole trip, before I saw that the person was also wearing a gown.
I sat down across from her on the other bench seat. “Hello, Ivy,” I greeted.
