Once upon a time, there were three princesses. They were the fairest and most coveted across the lands of Astras.
Not many knew there was a fourth.
She was not the prettiest, or the most graceful among her siblings. She was an ordinary, plain Jane. And she preferred to spend her time with the slaves in the castle, so much so, she was treated just like one. A Cinderella, you might call her, but she preferred the dirt of hay on her hands to the flamboyant lifestyle, the corsets or the lies and false laughter of the women in Court, where she would be prodded and treated like an outcast.
Across Astras, a war with the Vampyrs ravaged the humans and wolves alike. It had spanned for years and the death toll still rose.
One day, a truce was met. The Vampyr King and the Werewolf King came to an agreement. To bind their people together, there would be a marriage. The Crown Prince, next in line to the throne, Prince Caesar of Vampyr, would make a Queen of one of the Werewolf King's daughters.
When it was heard that the handsome prince was visiting with his nine brothers to make a choice of his bride, the castle was in a frenzy. Tulle, gossamer, silver slippers, extravagant hairdos. Naturally, the fourth princess had no interest in partaking in the dramatics. Not that she could if she wanted to. With the celebrations, there was so much to do and she found herself aiding the servants in serving their guests.
She shouldn't have. After all, she was called clumsy for a reason.
But she did and spilled her wine all over the tenth prince, drawing the attention of all of them, including the first that had been conversing with her oldest sister.
And when the fourth princess's eyes locked with the first prince's aquamarine blue ones, the mating bond snapped into place between them.
It was unusual. Werewolves did not mate with Vampyrs. It was unseen and unheard of, and they were both the first of their kind to have experienced this sort of blessing from the moon goddess. The entire kingdom was overjoyed by this. Celebrations were thrown in their honour. The fourth princess was frightened at the suddenness and enormity of it all, having never even looked at a man before.
But as opposed to their dark reputation, Prince Caeser was kind. He was patient. And he treated the fourth princess like she was the only woman in the entire world. As traditions stated, their wedding was fixed and in the duration that led up to the mating ceremony, the Crown Prince courted his little princess.
He showered her with enough gifts, letters and love to make every woman envious, and with time, his princess began to look forward to them, to his visits. Shy glances across the dinner tables and events attended together with fingers entwined turned into kisses stolen against the wall and adept fingers underneath her dress, touching her and knowing her in ways no other man had. They were wild for and around each other. Inseparable. Unable to keep their hands away from the other.
And one day, she begged for more. She wanted to know what it'd feel like to have him inside her in more ways than one.
Her Prince made love to her. Softly like she was a breakable flower petal. And the fourth princess took in with child. More celebrations were on the way. A Vampyr heir and a wedding celebration and a coronation all in one.
The fourth princess was happy. She'd never known love to be enchanting.
Soon, the date arrived.
And…
She married her prince and they lived happily ever after?
Sike.
**
There is blood on my wedding dress.
The hall echoes with the screams of the guests as they try to get away from the gory scene.
But no one screams louder than me.
My fingers push against the wound in his neck. "Stay with me, Ceaser. Please." His face is pale and bloodless. The brooch I fixed onto his suit only an hour ago is stained with blood. He tries to speak but he gurgles, chokes.
There is no beauty in death, I realize as I look into my love's eyes and feel his pain as mine. Death is ugly. It takes and gifts nothing in turn. And today, it has visited me to destroy me. But I won't let it. I'll die if he dies. I cannot--I will not live without him. He is my life. He is my mate. He is the very meaning of life and the definition of the world to me.
The white of his eyes are bloodshot against the brilliant blue I've come to adore so much. Veins spread against his cheek from the poison of the vervain bullet in his neck. "G-gwen--"
A rough hand jerks me upright as the rest of the royal family flees. "No!" I scream as that arm bands around my waist, tearing me away from my mate. "Ceaser!" I scream. My nails tear against the hands holding me. I fight, tears falling down my cheeks as I watch my mate choke on his blood to death. His blue eyes never leave mine.
His wedding band glistens on his finger as he reaches for me. He had said he would stick with me in sickness and in health. Till death do us part.
And the bullet had come immediately he said the words. I didn't get to say them back. I didn't get to tell him I would die with him.
I scream, reaching for him. To go with him. To tether him to me. I am unsure which it is. But the male carrying me runs further away from where I need to be and I am unconsolable. I am deranged with grief, mad with despair.
I see the moment the light dies in Ceaser's eyes. And in that moment, I die, too.