He grunted in annoyance so I corrected, “Apologies, His Royal Highness Prince Ansgar Booboo.”
“I am the middle prince, older than your… mate,” the words ripped through him mockingly, “You should show more respect when you address me.”
“Hey, you made me break the relationship with your brother, without giving me a chance to prove myself. You discriminated against me just because I am human and made me cry myself to sleep for a month. Consider this payback,” I snapped at him and he sighed deeply, opening the door and holding out his hand for me to take, as we both made our way outside the palace doors
Chapter Thirty-Six
The crowd cheered when I reached the podium, the king’s throne prepared for me to claim. The greatest honour Father could do for me. To my surprise, he had received me with open arms and countless apologies, both he and the Queen overly concerned with my wellbeing—I assumed Damaris had told them about my weeks drowning in alcohol—and promised to do what they could to help me achieve prosperity and joy.
I hugged them both and apologised as well, for dislodging the news in such a way, especially since my mate had decided to continue with her human life and had ruthlessly dismissed me. We spent the evening together, as a family, both of them crammed in my chambers, offering advice and talking me through the proceedings of the evening and treating me, to the best of their abilities, as if nothing had changed. As if I hadn’t been rejected, lost my will to live, abandon the district and my duties and behaved like a green youngling, unable to control emotions. Mother made a point to sit with me and tell me her findings regarding the situation I presented to them a month ago. She had searched the libraries of the entire kingdom, rewarding each and every scholar who brought information regarding mating bonds and human connections. She even wrote to the other kingdoms and asked about their knowledge on the matter.
“All letters came back the same, my son,” she announced while patting my shoulder. “There are no documented cases.” It was a compassionate way to tell me my feelings had been overwhelmed by the woman and made me imagine a deeper bond. In any other situation, I would have fought her, arguing that what I felt was true, that I had found my mate and insisted on it being the first connection of the kind. Insisted that Anwen be allowed into the kingdom and into our lives. Yet it was to no avail. Why waste breath and upset Mother, if said mate did not want anything to do with me?
Before dinner, Damaris and Takara made their way into my chambers—it seemed to become the assembly location of the evening—and as soon as I saw her, I rose from my seat and ran towards my sister, holding her tightly in my arms and lifting her up to swirl her body across the room. She laughed joyously and kissed my forehead, asking me to put her down. My nephew did not like pirouettes or any kind of sudden off-ground movements, it seemed.
I smiled at her and quickly put her down, careful to sustain her weight long enough to make sure her soles were fully planted on the floor. I kissed both her cheeks, then kneeled in front of my nephew—or niece, I smirked, gaze pointed at Damaris—and placed a kiss on her tummy. Only after that, I reached my brother and offered him a tight hug, thanking him slowly when our faces stood close together. No other explanation was needed, he knew what for and nodded.
“So,” I asked as all the family gathered together, apart from Vikram, whom we had been waiting for almost an hour, “Are we ready to do this blessing or what?”
They all smiled, Takara bowed in thanks while Father started explaining the order of events and process of the evening. They apologised for adding another event into my marking celebration, since the holiday was supposed to be about me and my chosen symbol exclusively, but I confessed my excitement to share the spotlight with my niece or nephew.
“If you do your job right, the goddess will bless us with a son,” Damaris voiced, always the supporter of tradition.
“If you’d bothered to read some more anatomy books, brother, you would know by now that the goddess’ blessing has nothing to do with gender.”
“You do,” Mother pointed out, much to Takara’s delight.
“One can hope,” my brother defended himself. “Make sure to put enough energy in that drop, brother,” he urged.
“Drop? I will drown your mate in blood if I have to.”
Both Damaris and I started laughing, while Mother and Father rolled their eyes.
“One drop will be enough,” Mother’s voice resounded as Vikram made his way into the chamber.
“Well, well, well, if it's not the male of the hour,” he greeted with a grin, and instead of turning his gaze on me, he stepped towards Takara and petted her stomach gently.
“They just finished that argument,” the healer announced as Vikram made his way to me and trapped me into a hug. Instinct forced me to sniff at his clothes as a familiar scent emerged from them, both frequent and distant, changed yet awakening memories. I scanned his face, but he walked away from the closeness we shared.
“I need to sort out some things, see you at the party?” he announced more than asked and made his way out without even looking back at any of the family members.
I greeted the gathering of faeries and settled onto the throne. I expected it to feel unwelcoming, uncomfortable even, like it could sense its rightful owner, but to my surprise, the energy surrounding the sculpted royal seat responded positively to my own, wrapping me in a veil of power and strength as I supported my back onto the wide spindle. The King and Queen each occupied a smaller throne, Father to my right while Damaris, Takara and Vikram, who made his way in a hurry to catch up to us just as we stepped onto the dais, remained standing behind us, their energy towering my own.
I felt ripples of it scatter across the land, into the crowd, almost uncontainable, urging me to release it into the ground and force my chosen mark to spring free. I only dared a small look at the King, with the corner of my eye, who nodded encouragingly, ushering me to proceed. As I allowed the blast to expulse itself out of my veins, my pores, my body, Anwen’s smile creeped into my mind.
A pinch of sadness unleashed itself from that deep corner I had buried my feelings into. It did not have time to linger, as thousands of faeries started clapping and hailing widely, overpowered by the emerging marks that materialised everywhere into the kingdom. Wherever the eye could be set upon, there was a gardenia. In Mother’s hair, my own, forming a carpet under our feet, pouring from the sky, flouring onto the tables and falling onto people’s drinks, sprouting from the forest and every living plant and growing across the walls.
I felt a tide of relief surging through and knew that it was done. The symbol was marked. The energy was bound. She will be my undying source of energy.
“My chosen mark is the gardenia flower, known around the realm to symbolise gentleness and joy.” It also represented secret love, a secret meaning to keep me warm in the moments I dreamt of her. “As I continue the passage through life, I claim this symbol and bind it to my energy, I vow to draw power at my most dire junctures from its existence and create a family that will honour and protect this organism for the next generations.”
I then stood from the throne and placed my right fist across my heart, bowing slowly at the mass of beings gathered in celebration. Some of the males conjured their own marks as a greeting to mine, a way to receive and welcome it into their ranks while the females and younglings clapped and whistled in content, some of them dancing or grabbing bunches of flowers to throw them once more in the air, to continue the downpour of petals I had summoned.
Each member of the family bowed and saluted me, the King and two commanders placing a hand over mine and the Queen and healer offering me a soft kiss on the cheek.
“All hail Prince Ansgar!” the King encouraged, making the crowd erupt into a cheer so loud it made the soil tremble under our feet. I shifted from the throne and stepped to the left side of my father, eagerly awaiting the announcement that, I felt, was more deserving.
“Since we are gathered this evening in joyous celebration,” the King started speaking once more and I felt Takara and Damaris vibrate with excitement, “it is only fitting that we make this evening even more memorable.” The crowd stopped in wonder, not knowing what else to expect from the royal family. A marking celebration was almost as important as a wedding. “Prince Ansgar was kind enough, as he always has demonstrated,” Father turned to me and placed a proud hand on my shoulder, “to share his marking celebration with the rest of the family, mainly with the heir to our throne, Prince Damaris and our wonderful healer and new daughter, Takara.” Father removed his hand and beckoned the two to step forward, “Who, in seven months, will bless us with a grandchild.”
