Page 19 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating
FORGE RINGS WITH BONE AND HAIR?(ROMANCE, DARK-LORD STYLE)
ARABELLA
The dress arrived late.
I stood in my chambers, arms crossed, watching Vex pace in front of the hearth. Her black coat slanted dramatically, and her newly dyed hair—midnight now instead of yesterday’s silver—only made her impatient scowl more severe.
“If they’ve ruined the timing of the ceremony,” she growled, “I’ll personally remove their fingers, one knuckle at a?—”
Before she could finish, the door burst open. Two servants hurried in, carrying a swath of fabric that looked like a midnight waterfall. They were followed by a small, jittery man with measuring tape draped around his neck and pins bristling from his collar.
“Forgive the delay, Lady Evenfall,” the tailor said, executing a deep bow. “The embroidery required additional attention.”
Vex’s sneer nearly made him drop the pins. “The ceremony begins in less than an hour.”
“Then we’d better hurry,” I said. I felt my heart hammering, no matter how hard I tried to steady myself. Reality was sinking in. Within the hour, I would marry the Dark Lord. Voluntarily,if one counted the string of negotiations and tenuous deals I’d squeezed him into.
The tailor and his assistants dressed me with swift, practiced motions. The moment the fabric settled over my shoulders, I drew a sharp breath. The midnight-blue velvet appeared nearly black under the torchlight, the silver embroidery twisting into elegant vines of thorns as I moved. A high collar framed my neck, regal but not suffocating, and the fitted sleeves ended in points over my hands. From the waist down, the gown flared into rippling layers.
Vex gave me a slow once-over. “It will do,” she pronounced, which might have been genuine praise from her. A servant stepped forward with a gleaming silver circlet set with sapphires—the bride’s crown.
They began twisting my hair into an elaborate updo, weaving thin silver threads through the braids and nestling small black roses among them.
“Those don’t draw blood, do they?”
“Not unless you ask nicely,” Vex replied. She paused by my shoulder and lowered her voice. “A detail for the ceremony, my lady. I need a single hair from you.”
I felt a twinge of irritation, but Vex merely stood waiting, not taking it by force.
“Fine,” I said. I carefully plucked one strand free myself, handing it over. Boundaries, no matter how small, deserved to be maintained.
Once they finished with a subtle enchantment that made my skin glow from within and added smoky shadow around my eyes, I took in my reflection. The woman staring back had sharp lines and thorns embroidered along her bodice, as if to announce she was done being docile. I considered, for one wild moment, refusing to show up for the ceremony at all. But running would guarantee death, and if I died, whatever powerlay dormant in my blood would remain untapped. I wanted to know what I was capable of.
“It’s time,” Vex announced. She pressed a small vial into my hand, the liquid inside clear as glass.
“Poison seems counterproductive at this stage,” I said, but uncorked it anyway. The soft waft of lavender and mint drifted up.
She snorted. “A calming draught. If I wanted you dead, Lady Evenfall, you’d never have stepped out of that forest alive.”
I tossed it back, feeling pleasant warmth spread through my veins.
Vex led me out of my chambers, along corridors teeming with swirling shadows, down multiple spiraling staircases, and past an airy courtyard. At last, we arrived at a tall tower doorway opening onto empty air. My heart lurched at the vast drop beneath swirling clouds.
“The Great Hall is on a separate island,” Vex explained. “We cross by lightning bridge.”
Right on cue, sizzling arcs of electricity flared, weaving themselves into a narrow, pulsing walkway just like the one I’d accidentally rearranged in the observatory. The bridge hummed with power.
“Everyone except the Dark Lord—and now you—who enters the citadel must carry a magic token,” she explained, “which allows them passage on the bridges that befit their rank and business.”
I swallowed hard, grateful for the calming draught now warming my veins. Without it, I might have balked entirely at the prospect of crossing what appeared to be solidified lightning.
“First time is always the worst,” Vex added, stepping onto the bridge. “Keep your eyes forward and don’t look down.”
My stomach tightened, but I forced myself forward. Each footfall sent tiny shocks through my boots. By the time wereached the far side, I’d gotten past the worst of the fear, but those bridges would take some getting used to.
Guards snapped to attention as we passed another archway. A short walk later, we reached towering black doors inlaid with silver. Griffin appeared, skidding to a halt in his too-short robes, the hem singed and his hair standing on end as though he’d just battled a thundercloud.
“Lady Evenfall!” he said breathlessly. “You look… remarkable. I—ah—wouldn’t mention the dress delay to His Darkness. He nearly incinerated the tailor’s first attempts. Mumbled something about ‘my wife is not a showpiece for lesser men to ogle.’”
