Page 9 of A Fate In Moonstone

What if my future—

The door to my room opened and I felt the soothing presence of my only true friend before she spoke.

“All right, warrior princess. I’ve got three hours to turn this depressing look into one that says, ‘Hey, handsome, let’s fuck and rule the kingdom with our twenty heirs.’”

I choked. Nyx always knew how to get me out of my head.

She pulled her long, lavender tresses back with a hair tie and rolled up her purple sleeves. Literally and figuratively. “But for real, you smell and it’s my reputation on the line.”

Nyx was a princess from another land who wanted out of her home. She offered to be my handmaiden eight years ago, and I don’t know how I’d lived without her.

“I’ll get the bath ready, and while you soak, you can tell me about your little Hallowstags adventure and the handsome man you took to Laurie’s.”

She strutted into the bathroom, and I looked around my room with a sigh. Figures she’d find out about Rune, although, I wasn’t exactly hiding my time with him. Nothing happened.

Was it too late to climb out the window and make a run for it?

“Don’t even think about leaving. At least not before you wear that dress I created for tonight,” she hollered and I slumped into my chair.

My fate was sealed, and anything outside a miracle would change it. The best thing I could do is to think about the good things.

I had a nice day with a man who twisted my insides in a good way.

The prince and I would have as much time as I needed to bond. He could even be my mate.

As I unhooked my cloak and got to work on the corset strings my chest tightened and I had to slowly breathe to relax.

Nyx appeared in the doorway and helped me finish getting out of the corset and set my sword to the side while I sunk into the large bubble bath. “All right, tell me everything.” She sat on the edge of the stone rimmed tub.

“I killed the goblins that’ve been causing problems. I also stabbed Rune, the guy from the baker, in the shoulder.”

Her purple eyebrow arched. “You stabbed him and he wanted to have pastries afterwards?”

Her question made me laugh.

“Yeah, he was dangerous, and I felt this intense… I don’t know how to describe it, but I wanted to be around him. And even though I talked his head off, he wanted to be around me too.” My head shook. Then, I dipped under the water and ran my fingers through my hair.

When I surfaced, Nyx was closer and wearing an amused look on her face.

“I didn’t know you were kinky, Sapphira. Maybe you’ve got a little battle foreplay thing happening. Fighting and fucking gets you hot,” she teased and poured some flowery scented shampoo onto my head.

“Yeah, well, pointless right? From everything we know, my future husband isn’t a warrior.”

“Who knows. Maybe you’ll see this Rune at the ball, and you can take him as a lover after marrying the prince. It’s pretty common among royals to have lovers.”

It was but I didn’t want to be that type of princess.

“I don’t think so. But it was a nice day, and I can hold onto that. You know… while I’m popping out twenty heirs.” I finished lathering up my curls and dipped back under the water. Nyx’s muffed laughs made me smile and maybe she snuck some of her amethyst core crystals into my bath to calm me because I did feel better. Lighter.

Like I could look and play the role given and everything would work out.

Once I’d been deemed clean, Nyx got to work on my hair and makeup before pulling out her most beautiful design yet.

We tugged the shimmering sapphire blue gown over my head. She tied the laces behind me, then pressed against my back, nudging me to look at her creation all put together in the mirror. My hazel eyes popped with the golden makeup on my lids. My curly hair still had its wild flare, but she’d braided it loosely behind my head, adding bits of golden sparkles to highlight the barely contained waves.

I had to give it to Nyx. She really was the best in Crysia, maybe all the Fae realms when it came to dresses and designing them. She tailored every detail to the person wearing it. The deep blue matched my sapphire core, making me feel myself and connected to this moment. And I loved all the golden stars scattered about, like the dress was a map of the constellations.

The off-the-shoulder straps accentuated my shoulders and neck. Of course, Nyx dusted my brown skin with gold shimmers, and I wanted to admire how smooth and ethereal I looked. I was Fae, a magical being and all, but I looked the part right now. A beautiful princess the mortals wrote romantic fantasy stories about.