Once Upon a Romance 03 - With True Love's Kiss

by Jessica Woodard

  They couldn’t have known, but the choice turned out to be easy, because no one actually wanted the job. The dukes, earls, counts, and barons looked at the smoking wreckage of Inisle and suddenly developed a longing for their own, far-removed, estates. In a display of unanimity that she was sure would never be seen again, they elected to follow the bloodlines, and dumped the problem of ruling the impoverished, stricken country squarely in Vivienne’s lap.

  Officially, she was only the country’s regent. As Brannon’s cousin, her mother was now the queen. But Isabelle flatly refused to leave her husband again, and told Vivienne that she might as well practice governing Toldas, since she’d rule both kingdoms someday. Albion and Toldas would, at last, be joined as one.

  It was a horrid mess of rulership, but, honestly, it was the type of problem Vivi normally enjoyed. She would have thrown herself in with great relish, but the logistical tangles seemed almost insurmountable, weighed down as she was by her grief over Bianca. Her sweet, gentle cousin did not deserve to die so young, and Vivienne could not seem to stop crying. The anger and loss were so hard to bear.

  Fain and Felix helped her. They shared her grief, Fain for his sister, and Felix for the friend he had come to know and love in such a short time. They also shared her work. She didn’t know what gods had blessed Toldas, the day Prince Felix had been chosen as one of Bianca’s suitors, but she thanked them daily. She could not have managed without him.

  She sighed and finished her tea. She never had time to wallow long. Too many things required her attention.

  “What’s next?”

  Felix held up three papers. “You could look at any of these, but you might want to take a moment and fix your hair.”

  “Why?” Vivienne reached up. True, she’d made a mess of it, bent over, scribbling away, but there was no one to see it.

  “You’ve a meeting with the Ambassador from Dule.”

  Dule’s ambassador was the real Prince Anders. He was a nice enough fellow, but not very strong-hearted. He’d fainted dead away when he’d discovered that Bianca had been assassinated by someone pretending to be him. Of course, it likely didn’t help that he’d had so many swords pointed at him, at the time.

  Vivienne stretched and went over to look in her mirror. She really was a wreck.

  “Felix, could you ask one of the servants for a basin of water?” He nodded and left the room. Vivi stared at herself. Her hair was bad enough, but she also had ink stains on her fingers, and something odd had happened to her nose.

  No, on second thought, it wasn’t her nose that was odd. She frowned at the mirror. Had it been damaged? There was a ripple in the center, distorting her image. She peered closer, and her eyes widened. The ripple was spreading out from the mirror’s center.

  “Fain!”

  She felt him come up and look over her shoulder.

  “What is going on—”

  Two shadowy figures began to emerge in the glass. The ripples stilled, and as they did, the faces of the figures became clearer.

  “Bianca.” Vivienne felt her heart stop. She leaned forward, reaching out to her cousin.

  “Do not touch the mirror,” Robin warned. “If you break the image, the sending will end.”

  “But, what are you—How are you alive?” Fain demanded.

  “Robin saved me.” Bianca looked up at the hunstman, love written plain on her face. “He linked our lives together.”

  Vivienne gaped at her. “He did what?”

  “I shared my nature with her.” Robin wrapped his arms around Bianca, while looking seriously out of the mirror. “It was the only way to save her.”

  “But, the Accords…”

  “I know.” He nodded. “We have been assigned a penance, of sorts.”

  “I don’t care about the Accords,” Fain said firmly. “I’m just glad you’re alive.” He smiled at Bianca. “I can’t tell you how glad.”

  “As am I,” Vivi hastened to add. A huge smile broke across her face, and more tears, this time ones of joy and relief, rolled down her face. She wiped them away, and laughed in sheer delight. “You’re alive!” Another thought occurred. “Why didn’t you come back?”

  “I can’t. I have to stay here. Besides, how would we explain it? The whole kingdom thinks I’m dead.”

  “But we need you. You’re the queen, for goodness sake.”

  Bianca shook her head. “You’ll be a far better ruler than I would, cousin, and both kingdoms will prosper by this joining. Besides, I will have other duties, now.”

  “What will you be doing?”

  Bianca smiled sadly. “Better, perhaps, if you don’t know.”

  “Will you be safe?”

  “Probably not.” They looked at each other. “But we will be together.”

  The ripples began again, and Vivienne could see them fading away. Fain leaned close, past her shoulder.

  “We love you, Bianca.”

  “And we love you, Fain. And, in the end, that is truly all that matters.”

  ***

  Robin and Bianca followed Mab through the winding passages of her palace in silence. The Fae Queen drifted before them, her bare feet skimming along the cold stone floors, the ragged hem of her gown floating like mist on the breeze that stirred at her passing. The walls themselves seemed to vibrate with the power trapped inside Mab’s flesh, and as they descended deeper into the earth, the pressure built in the air around them, causing Bianca’s flesh to creep.

  Even before they entered the crystal chamber, Bianca could hear the humming. The entire room was ringing with a clear, vibrant tone. It almost hurt, the sound was so pure. The pitch rose, and Mab gave an almost imperceptible pause and then hurried her steps, moving rapidly into the torchlit chamber of the Accords.

  Before them lay the bier which, for thousands of years, had been the resting place of Leanan the lovely. The stone slab was the central focus of the chamber, as Leanan’s enchanted sleep was the fulcrum on which the Accord’s balance had been achieved. Her willing submission to this stasis was what had allowed the two warring factions among the Fae to hammer out a peaceful agreement. It was what kept the conflict from tearing the Fae asunder and shattering their world.

  Which was why it startled Bianca so very much, when Leanan arched her back and let out a guttural moan.

  Mab flew down the stone steps that led to the floor of the chamber, leaving Bianca and Robin to follow on her heels. When the queen reached the bier she gently brushed the golden curls back from Leanan’s face, laying a kiss on the smooth, snowy brow.

  Bianca clutched Robin’s hand. “What is happening?”

  The torches on the wall flickered out Mab’s words. “It is time.”

  “Time for what?” Bianca was bewildered.

  The fire hissed. “Even I cannot stop time. Not completely. Not without shredding the fabric of reality. Time has passed with glacial slowness, but still, it has passed.”

  Leanan moaned again, throwing her head to one side.

  A wind whipped through the chamber, coming from nowhere, blowing words in their ears. “I have eased the bindings of time, so that she can bring forth the child.”

  Bianca gaped at the queen. “You mean she’s in labor?”

  “Yes!” The entire chamber sang it out in beautiful joy. “It is time!”