Rory POV

We arrived back at the castle later than planned. Silas was far more excited to tell the world of our news than I was. Since we walked through those damn giant doors, I have been having second thoughts. At the lodge, we were alone like kids playing house. It was like I was a wife who let her man come up with the solutions to her problems, but I am not sure if that is what I want to be. It felt right to yes at that moment. My scatterbrain had my thoughts going a thousand ways when Silas knocked on my door.

“Red,” Silas greeted me with a smile. His stupid elf charms made my mind glitch. “You look beautiful.” His eyes stopped at the high slit of my floor-length, deep green dress. The dress flowed just right to hide my daggers. One thing I know about Silas is he will never notice a hidden weapon. He only seems to notice the pretty dress. If only I were a book then I might feel he knows me.

“Silas!” Braxton ran into the door Silas left open and picked him up. The giant lug swung him around like a doll. This guy is built like a brick wall, but his love can be overwhelming at times.

“Easy, brute,” Emera commanded as she broke away from her hug with Red. “These guys have a hard evening ahead of them already.”

I frowned at Emera’s warning. Did that fairy meet with the queen already? “Why? What happened?” Braxton put Silas down from his bear hug, and that’s when I noticed he was in his official military uniform like the other Desfyra Military Officers I have met. Damn it. Shit’s going down before I had a chance to sink back into reality.

Braxton rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. “The representative from Solis arrived a day early. And, you should know, Queen Amory called a war meeting yesterday. Mylor Anfiya will be joining us as well for dinner with some special guests of his own.”

“Well, things got worse than Amory had let on in her letters.” Silas sighed.

I knew the politics part was coming. For most of the people in this castle, I am nothing, but a pawn they want to use in their games. Solis proved that with their ridiculous warrant for my arrest. Queen Amory wants me to make her brother happy and provide an heir to her throne. Then, there’s the council. They want to lock me in a cage and throw away the key. My marriage to Silas will force two of these groups to back down, but Queen Amory will get what she wants. I don’t have an answer for that yet, but I know how to survive this dinner with my head intact.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“It will be the perfect chance to invite them to our wedding, Si. Don’t sweat it. We got this.” Holding his hand, I kissed the back of his hand, causing him to smile. Keep the story alive, Rory. Don’t let Silas down.

“Wedding!” Braxton and Emera shouted, shocked. Yeah, I should have expected.

Before we could answer, Queen Amory walked through my door. The room suddenly felt very small for all of us in here. “What’s this about a wedding?”

“Come now, sister. It was your idea after all.” Silas said sarcastically.

Well, that wasn’t a confidence booster. Is Silas marrying me because of his sister’s wishes? Or, maybe I am really a placeholder to keep the queen’s court from shoving more women down his throat. This whole thing feels like it’s happening too fast. Ema keeps looking at me as if she’s trying to read my mind. I am not sure I know what I want right now.

Queen Amory wasn’t in the mood for jokes as she hip-bumped Silas out of the way and took my hand in hers excitedly. “Now, what wedding?”

Put on a smile, self. “The autumn wedding you have secretly been planning for a month since I arrived.” Ianswered. Amory had been planning a wedding in case Silas or I agreed to this marriage bit. “Silas asked me while we were away doing research.”

“Yeeeeeee! Yes, yes, yes!” Queen Amory started doing a victory dance.

Emera ran and knocked me over into a giant hug. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Em, I haven’t had a chance. Silas and I have been working to recreate Bishop’s research to plead my case against the council. He kissed me once before the trip, but we had fun outside of running experiments.” I gave her a serious look. “It all happened while we were away, and I promise to hash it out with you after dinner.”

She gave me a nod and forced a happy expression. “So, an autumn wedding?” Emera said in her bubbly voice.

“Yes! Everything's coming together perfectly! Here put this on,” Queen Amory handed Silas a silver banded ring with Elvish scrolled along it. There was a crescent-shaped diamond in the middle that reminded me of the moon. “It was our mom’s. She’d want you to have it.”

He got up and placed the ring on my finger as a sign of our engagement. “It’s perfect, Amory.”

“You bet it is. Your wedding will be the catalyst for everything. It’s about to save the ‘Red Lady’s’ life at dinner. We can celebrate later.” Queen Amory was full of energy today. She’s always ten steps ahead of everyone even when they do something unexpected. She knows marrying Silas will give me freedom from being hunted. Silas and I need to have a conversation about all of this. Reality is a freaking pain in the ass.