Prologue

Beulah stood by the window overlooking the garden, rubbing her temples. A seemingly endless stream of carriages approached her house as relations from her mother and father’s sides of the family arrived for the day of celebration. She had refused to see any of them so far. Being stuck in the house like this--for the entire day--was too bitter a sentiment. It really wasn’t supposed to be a punishment, but that’s what she saw it as. The only person she really wanted to be with was the one that had been banished from the estate for the day.

Today was her last day in her father’s house, which was why there was family and food crowding the ground floor. Yet the day was going on without her, and she wasn’t sure she cared. It wasn’t really the last time she’d see any of them. When married, she imagined she would have plenty of opportunities to visit with her family.

Once the sun was positioned directly over the house, though, Beulah finally relented enough to respond to the latest knock on her door.

“Beulah, my parents are here,” her father said. “Most of us are having dinner now. Please come out?”

“Fine,” she replied, her hand already reaching for the knob. Someone opened it before she could--she had forgotten about her guard. He had been one of the very first gifts she had received from her espoused. There was a lady-in-waiting, too, but she had arrived after Beulah was dressed that morning, so she had immediately been sent away. The servant had gone back to do whatever it was she did, without questioning her order, and Beulah had relished the lonely silence even more.

Her father bore a toothy grin when she walked out, ecstatic to be graced with her presence at last. “You look beautiful.”

She laughed. “You’re not supposed to tell me that until tomorrow.”

“I can tell you that any day I like!” He quieted abruptly. “Or, I could.”

“Oh, you’ll still see me once I’m gone! You can come over any time you like. The guards will know you as our honored guest. I’d say you could even come live with us, but I think I like this house too much for you to just leave it.” She looked up at the roof dreamily and swayed against her father.

He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “No castle life for us, then, huh?”

Beulah beamed at him with her eyes squeezed close.

Her grandmother was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.

“All hail Princess Beulah!” said her father with a grin.

“I’m no princess, daddy, and I never will be,” she said with a teasing smile as she hugged her grandma.

“Oh, you’re so beautiful! I can’t believe you’re getting married already!”

“That’s right, you’re too special to be a princess! No ponies or pages for Queen Beulah!”

“What do pages have to do with being a princess?” She and her grandmother grasped each other’s arms.

“Oh, but you must be so happy, but why would you be hiding up in your room all day? This is the last day you’ll be spending here in a long time! Oh, tomorrow you’ve got your wedding, and then your honeymoon! Now that’s the funnest part of all. You make sure this old lady gets to see another baby in the family before she dies!”

Beulah made a face, and her grandfather limped in.

“Oh, we can wait a little while for my grandchildren,” her father said awkwardly.

“She is the baby of the family. Come here, give me a hug!”

“I am not.” There were at least five cousins who were younger than her. She grunted as her grandpa squeezed her in his embrace.

“Oh, you’ll always be grandma’s baby. Oh, but I can’t wait to meet Irving! I always thought, he always seemed like such a handsome young man.”

“He’s four years older than her,” Beulah’s father said.

“Yes, and you’re five years older than Brooke. Oh, you find out by the time you’re old that age differences don’t matter anyways.”

“Even if he was as old as Grandpa?” Beulah joked.

“Well, not that old. You’re hardly even twenty; of course that’s too old for you. And then he’d be dead before your children were grown!”

“Hey,” Grandpa said. “I don’t want to be dead before her children are grown.”

“Oh, we’ve talked about this, darling. We’ll probably both be dead before the war between Papridia and Redwins is over.”

“But it’s been a year since it started,” Beulah said with a frown. “It might even be over by the end of this year.”

“Oh, who knows.” Grandma shrugged it off. “What are we having for dinner? It smells wonderful!”

“Smells like smoked rats to me,” Grandpa said with a wide grin.

“Rats, or horses?” Beulah asked with a horrified expression. He didn’t have the nicest of nicknames for their stallions.

“Oh, you know!” he laughed as they walked to the dining room.

Beulah was woken by a noise outside her room the next morning, and she quickly overcame the temptation to sleep in when she remembered what the day had in store for her. “Oh, come in, Janae, come in!” Her covers were flung to one corner of the bed.

Her shy young lady-in-waiting stepped into the bedroom. “Good morning, miss. Should we start with the gown, or your hair?”

There was nothing that bothered Beulah more than her hair. The stiff, springy ringlets stretched all the way down her back, and they were impossible to brush out unless they were wet. Even that was a difficult feat to accomplish. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said as she calmed down, standing next to her bed. “If we’re going to do anything with my hair at all, I’m going to have to take a bath first.”

“Would it be easier to just soak your hair?”

Beulah’s nose scrunched up as she thought. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it. We could do it, though, if you want.”

Janae shrugged. “It’s all up to you, ma’am.”

“Oh. Mm. I think I’ll just take a bath, then.”

An hour later, Beulah’s was dressed in a robe and her hair was successfully pinned up.

“If you had the magic to change it, ma’am, what would you do to your hair?”

She sighed. “Honestly, I just think I’d chop it all off if I could. I mean, if I could use magic to just make it straight--that’d be wonderful--but it would still be a pain to brush through, I think.”

“Mm, yeah. I don’t mind mine at all.”

“See, you’re lucky,” Beulah said, standing up. Janae was a few years younger than her, but she was done growing, as well, and barely towered over Beulah’s small frame. “Your hair’s so dark, and soft, and straight.”

“Oh, but I’ve always wanted hair like yours! Your is--it’s strawberry blond, or just blond, or whatever it is--it’s such a beautiful color! And it’s naturally curly, too! I’d gladly trade hair with you if I could.”

Beulah laughed quietly. “Well, anyways, neither of us can Will it dry, but maybe one of my parents can do it today. Since that should probably be done before I change into my wedding dress.”

Janae nodded vigorously. “Let’s see if they can do it, then.”

They found Beulah’s mother already on her way downstairs. “Oh, you’ve already got your hair done! Very nice. I approve! Do you need it dried? Done!”

“Oh!” Beulah wore a sheepish smile. “I guess we could have just stayed in my room. Now for the dress?”

“Breakfast first! Down to the kitchen, Beulah!”

“But I’m not hungry for breakfast! And there’ll be plenty of food later, and--”

“Breakfast! Come on!”

The anxious bride found herself being guided downstairs and into a chair, and soon she was holding a fork and staring at a plate of steaming food that she really didn’t want to eat.

The future she had always waited for was only hours away; it seemed like a betrayal to have a whole meal today without her beloved at her side. That thought also reminded her that she hadn’t seen him in over a day, and doing anything at all without him--if it wasn’t for him--just seemed wrong.

“I’d eat if I were you,” her mother advised.

Beulah just sighed, and the steaming eggs found their way to her mouth.

Once the day finally got going, it went by much too fast to keep up with. Her family was escorted to the castle by three dozen knights with white horses clad in silver, and they were watched by all of the common folk in the city. The castle was decorated with flowers and streamers, and a red carpet was ready for her in the garden. After the ceremony, which went by quickly, it seemed like the entire country of Bobeauton was celebrating. Lords and ladies danced and laughed and drank while two young princes from Papridia ran amuck and caused general chaos. It was well that Beulah’s mother had warned her to eat, because she and Irving didn’t have a chance until it was nearly supper time. Everyone there took the opportunity to speak with them, some for as long as half an hour. The father of the rambunctious young princes tried to take advantage of the joyful day by attempting to upgrade the peace treaty between the two countries to an alliance, but Irving managed to hold his ground. Both he and his new wife were ready to retire for the day long before the line of guests was through.

To Beulah’s dismay, their wedding gifts were left untouched in a separate room at the end of the day, but their families were there to wave goodbye as the newlyweds set off for their honeymoon in the monarchy’s summer home up north.

Towards the end of the day, Beulah sat across Irving’s lap and pulled at his red hair that was just as frizzy as hers was curly. The boat rocked them back and forth gently.

“Beulah...” he said at one point, looking away from her face and putting a halt in the previous conversation.

“What?” she asked, immediately alarmed.

“So my father, he’s a god.”

Beulah nodded. “Yes, you’ve told me that before.”

“The god of greed.”

“Yes...”

“But then there’s the goddess, the goddess of hope. . .”

“What are you trying to say, Irving?”

“We won’t be able to have children because of her.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s something to do with the magic I have because of my dad... But I don’t know. And I can’t undo the magic that a goddess did, or find my dad to do it for me...”

“You’re sure?”

“Sure of what?”

“That you can’t undo it,” she said in a pleading voice.

“Oh, Beulah, I don’t know... But if there’s a way. . .”

“Then we’ll find it! We will have children, Irving.”

He pressed his lips into a smile, trying to relieve the tension. “What, you didn’t marry me just to be queen?”

“There’s still one thing that means more than to be queen, and that’s to be a mother.”

Irving pulled her closer to him. “Then we’ll find a way.”

“We will find a way,” she mumbled into his neck.

Author's Note

Tell me if you see any problems!