Page 13 of Not Another Happily Ever After

I squeeze Xander’s hand, squinting down the long winding corridor past the fractured silver sconces with cobwebs clinging to them. For so long I’ve begged their flames to light this hall, to reveal the way to the onyx tower where they kept me, secluded, alone.

Now? I don’t think I shall ever get the chance.

The thought catches in my throat. I said I didn’t want to know how I’m to meet my fate, but I can’t help wondering…

Will it be the same knife they’ve used before, my blood still staining its blade? Will it be quick? Or must my suffering be drawn out yet another night?

Bile burns hot behind my nose as the heavy slap of leather hitting stone inches closer still.

Everything feels different this time. Father’s confidence. Peony’s goodbye. I wonder if Father reallyhasdone it. Has he found a way to deliver my heart to the hands of a son who no longer resides in the realm of the living?

My stomach flips at the very real possibility that tonight could be my last. I have to swallow down the remnants of yesterday’s supper.

What if the curse requires my heart to remain beating as it leaves my chest? Oh God, I don’t want to die like that.Please don’t let me die like that.

I tear my gaze from what’s coming and catch Xander’s tortured expression before he can wipe it from his face. He still believes this is his fault. That my unfortunate fate falls on him, merely because he was born a boy instead of a girl. The thoughttickles the back of my throat and I want so badly to laugh at its absurdity.If only he knew.

“I would endure it all over again,” I say. “The sacrifices. The ritualistic torture. A life locked away in this tower. And I’d do it with a smile, if it meant getting to have you as a brother, Xander. What they have and have yet to take pales in comparison to what you’ve given me.” I hold his tightened fist between my hands, forcing his steeled gaze to soften. “A heart that endures.”

He says nothing, but his eyes swell with all the words we’ve left unsaid. And now I know for certain. Lovedidexist here.

“I’m going to make everything right. You’ll see. It’ll be okay.” I whisper the words I don’t yet feel, emboldened by how easily they slip from my tongue. “I’ll be okay,” I promise.

Then I turn and walk away. No drawn out goodbyes. No time to stop me. There is no need for both of us to die tonight. And if he were to interfere with Father’s plans in any way, that is exactly what would happen.

The last ceremony was messy enough. I don’t need more innocent blood on my hands. No, this is one chapter Xander can’t be there to see. And honestly? The thought of him screaming from the sidelines, his tears blending with the blood coating the cracked checkered floors cuts deeper than any blade could.

“Your highness?” Rhidland calls out, jogging the rest of the way to me. I quickly pat away my tears, for the second time today, only this time I am careful not to smudge Peony’s work. “Why are you unaccompanied?” he asks.

I open my mouth to reply when I see he’s not alone. Two men I don’t recognize appear from around the corner, falling into step behind him.

I take in their dark gray armor and the twin swords etched into silver cape brooches. They’re knights from what remains of Father’s small collective. But not just any knights.Bachelors.

I stop cold in my tracks. Why would the king call on a pair of Bachelors to escort me through the castle?

Sensing my hesitation, the men remove the silver helmets hiding most of their features and drop into a curt bow. I lean with them, straining to make sense of what I’m seeing. Two men with the same face. Same pale blue eyes. The only notable difference is where one has his copper hair neatly combed to the side, while the other wears it free to bounce just above his brow. They’re near mirror images of one another.

“How?” is all I’m able to get out. I am a believer of many things, but doppelgängers was not something I had ever thought to add to that list.

Unless this is a latent effect of the curse. I suppose I always knew it would eventually be the death of me, but I had hoped to keep my sanity intact until those final moments. Hallucinations, as handsomely captivating as they are, are never a good sign.

“Princess?”

I mumble a response, barely registering my guard’s concern, or the worry that’s etched its way between his furrowed brows. With the ever-looming descent into madness, I’m not sure I’m the right person to be offering him assurances at this moment.

I’m half tempted to ask him if he, too, is seeing double, when one of the knights steps forward, offering me a closed fist over his heart. A sign of respect, but also a clear indicator that they are indeed two separate people. Though the matching set of grins is hardly convincing.

“I’m Merrek. And that…” The knight closest to me gestures toward the other Bachelor, “is my less attractive twin, Myrrdin.”

“We’reidentical,thistle wit.”

“Twins…”I sputter, my jaw hanging low.

I’ve only ever read about twins in old fables. Truthfully, I had begun to think that’s all they were. A work of fiction. Onebaby is hard enough to feed these days. To keep two alive? An impossible feat.

Yet here they are. Standing before me. And they don’t look starved at all. Their corded muscles are taut beneath their armor and broad shoulders. They are two of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen. Not that I’ve had the opportunity to see very many. Men that is. Father isn’t too keen on sharing with the world just how close they came to breaking the curse. Or rather, how closeIcame.

It’s a secret I couldn’t hide if I tried. And I have, for years. Wearing this crimson ribbon around my neck. Having Peony polish my eyes to distract from the silver that’s stolen my sight.