Fantastical (Fantasyland 3)

So, in the end, it wasn’t a wedding extravaganza but it was still sweet and it meant I was Tor’s real wife and a true princess so I certainly wasn’t complaining.

I watched Cora lift her head and she started, “Your grace –”

King Ludlum cut her off. “You sought the company of witches for reprehensible purposes, to find the means to keep your sister, who you should cherish and do all in your power to keep from harm, and her intended, who, incidentally, is my son and a prince of this realm, from being wed. You discovered the existence of another world and conspired with The Shrew to transport yourself from this world to that. You schemed to place your sister in harm’s way. And all of your plots succeeded, causing your sister to be held by the she-god putting her, your prince, your other self and your world at great risk.”

This was all true. She’d copped to it. Tor told me. It was all about Dash. Stupid cow.

Cora came back to this world, Tor guessed, because Minerva had double-crossed her, not meaning to send her to my world for all her natural born days as Cora said Minerva had promised she would. When we went back, Tor had come along for the ride, again a guess, because he held me in his arms – a mistake Minerva rectified with all due haste, taking Tor away from me but separating us before she did.

Since no one had (or wanted) a direct line to the evil Minerva, we would never know, except, of course, Cora and since Minerva couldn’t get to her on sacred land, she couldn’t ask either.

What was certain was that Tor and I shared a soul. That we knew (boy did we know). And from the battle on the coast, Minerva was willing to throw everything at keeping us apart which one could assume meant that was her plan all along, to bring us together then tear us apart… forever.

And the Cora of this world had fed into her scheme beautifully.

Luckily, however, her plot didn’t succeed.

“But, your grace, in doing this, Prince Noctorno found the true half to his soul –” Cora started.

“A lucky coincidence,” King Ludlum cut her off tersely and Dara Goode started visibly trembling.

Her daughter’s lip curled. Tor shifted at my side and I looked up at him to see his jaw was hard. He’d seen the lip curl and it pissed him off.

I looked back at Cora when she kept talking and saw she’d managed to control her expression. “They are happy, your son is happy, does this count for nothing?”

“You did not hatch your schemes with the intent to make my son happy, Cora,” King Ludlum said quietly and she lost control of her expression and her face twisted.

Then she cried out, “This is not fair! This is not just! He was not destined for me!” She tipped her head to Tor. “He was never destined for me! Don’t you see? This was why I had feelings for Prince Dashiell. This was why I found my mate in that other world! Doesn’t anyone care about me?”

“Oh boy,” I muttered and Tor’s hand moved, his fingers curling around my own.

“You found your mate in the other world?” King Ludlum asked, his brows rising.

“Yes! She,” she pointed at me, “is the destiny of Prince Noctorno but I am destined for the Noctorno of the other world!” she announced.

“Oh boy,” I repeated and Tor squeezed my fingers.

“My Noctorno is perfect!” She kept going. “My Noctorno is beautiful. He suits me!”

My body locked and I whispered, “Um… hell no.”

“Still, love,” Tor ordered and I did as he asked. It was hard but I did it.

“Send me back to the other world so I can be with my mate!” she demanded. “That is fair! That is just! And in the end, all will be well for everybody!”

This was a mistake. I knew it when I felt the air in the room get heavy; I felt Tor’s body tense and peered around Tor to see King Ludlum’s face was hard as granite.

“I believe, my dear, that I am your king and I decide what is fair and just,” he said quietly and I looked back to Cora to see her grinding her teeth to keep her mouth shut but her eyes were flashing.

“It pains me,” King Ludlum went on, “to see you do not struggle with the consequences of your actions, that you do not wish to atone for the decisions you made which caused harm to others, that you do not understand that conspiring with Minerva…” he shook his head, “Cora, that alone is an act of high treason.”

“And I do not, your grace, because Prince Noctorno is bound to his true mate and my sister weds hers this very day. If not for me, the former would never have happened and everything, in the end, is as it should be,” she retorted.

Tor’s fingers squeezed mine and I drew in breath. I did this because, it sucked, but this was true

“It also pains me,” King Ludlum stated, “to agree that this is true.”

My head snapped around to look at the king again but I didn’t miss Cora’s face brightening with hope.

King Ludlum looked at me. “Cora, the Gracious,” jeez, I totally loved that, “it is my understanding you came to know my son of the other world.”

“Yes, your grace,” I replied.

“Is it his wish to be bound to this Cora?” he asked, tipping his head at Cora.

Oh dear.

“Um…” I avoided looking at the other Cora’s parents and then said honestly, “No. He’s not that into her.”

I felt Tor move and I looked up to see his head tilted slightly back but I could also see him fighting a smile.

“Not that that into her?” King Ludlum asked, taking my attention back to him.

“He doesn’t like her much,” I explained.

“He loves me!” Cora exclaimed. “He’s devoted to me! Totally devoted to me.”

I looked at her. “Uh… not so much,” I muttered and I heard Orlando stifle a chuckle.

“She lies!” Cora shrieked, my body got tight but not as tight as Tor’s.

“Careful, Cora,” he warned low.

She wasn’t careful. “She does not know and you do not know what we shared.”

“I’m afraid we do. He was a member of their city guard. He was investigating illegal gaming and using you to do it,” Tor told her and she gasped. “When my Cora returned and broke things off with the other me, he said nary a word and explained later to my Cora that he was relieved to walk away. He said you were not very bright, you were lazy and he held disdain for your incessant gaming…” Tor’s eyes swept her pointedly, “amongst other things.”