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“Isaid red roses, not coral, not scarlet, not carmine, not cerise, and not cherry. Red!” The offending roses were promptly thrown out the window. “Now!”
“Yes, ma’am,” the servant cried, taking off running.
Another problem dared enter the room. The man carrying in the ice sculpture pulled up short when a swirling thundercloud of stress bore down on him.
“No, no, no. This is an elegant affair. Think swans, peacocks, and butterflies. Not dragons!” She sliced the rearing ice creature’s head off without blinking. “Take it away!”
Eadaoin made a harsh noise in her throat. “You’d think she was the one getting married.”
All I could do was nod in agreement, watching Aeris flit about the ballroom—making everything perfection, and tearing to shreds anything that wasn’t.
Everyone was excited when we announced we were getting married for the third time, but no one was as excited as Aeris. She immediately took over the wedding planning—finding little need for my input. I simply sat back and left her to it.
It was safer that way.
“Take note, Bradach.” I winked at him. “This is your future.”
His smile shone upon Aeris. He didn’t mind that at all.
The three of us walked the length of the ballroom, watching the wedding prep come together, but staying out of Aeris’s way.
“I never imagined anyone could love my lord so much, they’d marry him three times.” Bradach eyed me. “Are you certain you weren’t also struck by that love spell? Or is this more of your stunted sickness?”
“Quite certain, and no,” I returned, voice flat. “I love him. I want to marry him for real. A true ceremony where neither of us is being tricked, blackmailed, or plotting to kill the other.” I eyed him right back. “Bradach, can I ask you something?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you call Alisdair ‘my lord’ instead of ‘my brother’? Actually, why didn’t you tell me from the beginning that he was your brother?”
The ever-present, affable smile evaporated, shocking me so much that I came to a halt. Bradach didn’t.
“I lost the right to call him my brother a long time ago. When he needed his brother, I was... lost,” Bradach replied. “I will live with that shame for the rest of my days.” Then, he was gone. Bradach walked out the side door and didn’t come back.
Eadaoin whistled. “Complicated history there, and that’s the most I’ve ever heard him speak about it.”
“That was?”
She nodded. “For all Bradach’s joking, flirting, teasing, and tumbling—he’s the most closed-off man I’ve ever met. Even more so than Lord Lumenfell.”
Now that was a real shock.
“No one knows a thing about his life before Wind and Wild. The man is a vault of secrets.”
I fiddled with my bracelet, chewing my lip. Should I try to talk to Bradach? Tell him that Alisdair told me the truth about his history with Constance, and all that led him to where he is today? Would that make Bradach feel more comfortable doing the same?
“Where are the utensils?” Aeris squawked. “We will have a neat, civilized wedding feast tonight, or none of you will eat!”
Sighing, I let it go. That wasn’t my place. Alisdair opened up to the woman he loved and trusted. When Bradach was ready, he would do the same.
“I can’t believe the ball is tonight.” Eadaoin jumped up and down, clapping and squealing. “We’ve never had a ball here, Lady Ana.Never.I’m so excited to wear a beautiful, flowing gown and spend all night dancing with Keefe.
“You really have brought hope back to these lands again.”
I followed her gaze out the window. The snow had been melting all week. That morning, I put on my shawl and had my coat sent back to the wardrobe. It was too hot for it.
I didn’t know what to think seeing the melting snow. There’d been celebrations in the village every day and every night—rejoicing the coming end of the beast curse, and my alnihaya. But how had we lifted the beast curse? Assuming it was even something Alisdair and I did.
I still didn’t know how the curse came to be, or where his heart was. Due to the silence that ensnared every cursed tongue, that was no surprise, but it did make me wonder. Did Alisdair do what Meallan claimed? Did he rescue his heart from its hiding place, and begin the process of destroying it, so that he could love me fully? Was that his choice—to reign as a strong, all-powerful beast, or love as a regular man?
