Page 102 of A Dance with the Fae Prince (Married to Magic 2)
“Hopefully Shaye and Giles show up today,” he says as he tugs on his pants.
“Agreed. Though, I must say, for as much as I want to see them all right, I’m glad they didn’t show up last night.” My grin is reflected on his face. Davien’s eyes shine mischievously. He wants to kiss me; I know what that expression means now. I almost take a step forward so that he can.
“Don’t tell them, but I feel the same.”
“So, what do we need to do for this ritual?” I ask, now clothed.
“Here, I’ll show you what Vena sent me with.” Davien retrieves a folio with several loose pages. He lays them out across the table where our blanket just was. The last thing he retrieves is the glass necklace that I tried to put the powers in weeks ago. “The idea is still the same—you’ll abdicate and in doing so fill the necklace with the king’s magic, then you’ll bestow it on me. The lake will offer a catalyst to help draw out those powers. We will anoint you as an heir to the throne would be. That way the magic will hopefully be less dormant and more controllable.”
As I scan the pages intently I begin to find some sense in them. It’s a pattern, a rhythm. Maybe some of what he said last night during our short-lived magic lesson sank in.
“May I make a suggestion?” I ask.
“Always.” He regards me curiously. No doubt wondering what would make me speak up.
“Here…I think that I should be the one to say this line, not you.” I point at a part of the script Vena has written out for us.
“Why is that?”
“I’m not sure… I—” I hum, trying to find words. “It’ll flow better, I think. The ritual will just work. It’s a gut feeling. But I… How to explain—”
“You don’t have to.” He stops my fumbling. “Your instincts have proven themselves right time and again. Be it the magic within you guiding, or just some innate ability you possess, I trust in you.”
“Good, because I have some other changes.” I give him a sly smile and he chuckles.
“Tell me.”
* * *
We discuss all throughout breakfast,debating Vena’s rituals and making adjustments. It’s a bit awkward at first. No matter what he says, I still worry about overstepping. He is the Fae King. Who am I to question?
But he had said some, like Vena, were so in tune with their magic that they could see rituals. Perhaps it is the magic within me guiding the path forward. I put my faith in it.
The sun is high when we finally head outside. The fog still encircles this place as a living wall. It feels as if we are encased in clouds, floating somewhere high in the sky.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
“No reason not to be.” I clutch the necklace with a white-knuckled grip. I stripped down to my small clothes and am already almost shivering even though the sun is on my shoulders. I made it a point to stoke the fire before we left the keep. No matter what happens, I am promptly returning to the warmth of the hearth after this is over.
“At your leisure then.”
Sucking in a bracing breath, I step into the water. It’s ice in liquid form. I exhale through chattering teeth, forcing myself to keep walking over the smooth pebbles that make up the bottom of the lake. As I move, the ripples in the water shimmer like the cosmos I saw on my first night in Midscape. I can feel the magic radiating all around me, calling to me. The faint song I heard in the fog resonates once more, as though its source lies deep within the lake’s center.
I pause as the water hits my lower stomach. Shaking, I wrap my arms around myself, trying to conserve the last scraps of warmth I have. Davien stepping into the water behind me is what forces me to keep going. I inhale sharply as the water reaches my rib cage.
Davien comes to a stop behind me. He looks just as cold as I am. “Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“Very well.” The air around him shifts as his tone becomes serious, his eyes focused. He’s back to staring at the magic within me, magic he’s determined to draw out here and now. “Heir of Aviness, rightful ruler of these wilds, keeper of the power of the old kings, you’ve entered these waters as a woman, but you shall emerge as a queen.” He lifts a hand, drawing lines from my neck, to my shoulders, collarbone, and breast. “I, as loyal subject, anoint you with the sacred water.”
“I receive your blessing.” With the tip of my finger, I draw the shining outlines of shapes on him as well, swirls and dots that have no coherent meaning and yet all seem to say, I see you, I am one with you. “I am the vessel of Aviness.”
All at once, I take a deep breath and plunge under.
The moment my head crosses beneath the surface, warmth surrounds me. I open my eyes and see dozens of silvery figures waiting beneath the water. They all wear crowns of glass that I recognize from the stained glass of the keep. I surface, coughing up the water I inhaled in shock, swimming backward. Davien’s hands close around my shoulders.
This was not part of our plan.
