Shadow and Shimmer
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Corinthe Davies
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18,2K
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40
Born to opposing kingdoms, Prince Ian and Princess Sophilia were destined to unite their realms through marriage. But when tragedy tears apart their engagement, their kingdoms descend into bitterness and silence. Years later, fate forces them back into each other’s orbit. Ian has become colder, sharper, and far more dangerous than the prince she once knew. Yet beneath the resentment and painful memories, the connection between them still burns. Caught between political unrest, ancient magic, and the ghosts of their past, Ian and Sophilia must confront the truth of what tore them apart before history repeats itself.
Chapter 1
SOPHILIA
Dark fields and shadowed trees rolled past my carriage window, making an ominous but appropriate backdrop for my current situation. Four years of dread culminated into a single night. My engagement party.
Now eighteen years old, I would soon be wed. Every princess was duty bound to marry, and I did not oppose it in theory. However, my intended had carved out a place in my heart and mind, and not in a way I welcomed.
The future king of Baysleth was the most cruel and unfeeling man I had ever had the displeasure of meeting. My gloved hands tightened together, apprehensive at the mere thought of seeing him again. The carriage slowed, then turned before a lane that revealed a grand view of the dark realm’s castle.
My older sister Callie pressed against my side to get a proper view through the glass pane. A grand stone fortress loomed before us. Four towering spires rose from each corner as if spearing the skies.
Blackened stone gleamed in the waning evening light. Nothing I had ever seen had come close to its size—not even our castle back home in Algernon.
“Gods, Filly,” my sister mused. “You are to be queen of all this.”
I couldn’t tell if she was attempting to cheer me up or make me feel worse. “You will stay with me all evening, right?” I clutched her elbow as the carriage rolled to a full stop.
A dry look was given in return. “Your plan is to ignore your betrothed, then?” Callie whispered as a royal coachman opened the door. Mother and father climbed out first. “On your engagement day?”
“Not so much ignore as…ah, delay the inevitable?” I gave her a pained but hopeful smile with all my teeth.
The wedding date with Prince Ian would be set shortly after tonight. I wore the same sage-green gown my mother and Callie did to their own engagement parties—though mine required careful alterations and extra fabric to fit. The bust wasn’t tailored properly, though I had a sinking suspicion that was done on purpose.
My large breasts heaved at the bodice of the corseted dress and nearly touched my chin as I fought for each breath against the boned material. My waist looked impossibly tiny. I suspected that was done on purpose too.
My hair was curled into soft ringlets, and a diadem hung across my forehead in the form of a single gold band. I studied myself in the mirror before we departed, hesitant to like the finished product. The last time I had felt this pretty, Prince Ian had been so utterly disappointed that I might as well have been a bridge troll.
My handmaid and I had spent hours making me look beautiful back then too. And all the wasted yarrow we had braided into a crown… Four years later, the memory still made me inwardly wince.
The only difference between now and then? I had filled out considerably. And horrid bridge troll or not, I refused to let Ian dampen my night.
It was my party as much as his, and I intended to dance, drink, and enjoy myself. Lively, upbeat music echoed from afar while large staked torches lit our pathway. It was chilly that evening, even colder in the dark realms where the sun never quite warmed the earth.
Even in daylight, the realm was covered in a perpetual haze, the sun kept behind a dark shroud. After my younger brother climbed out, Callie and I exited last.
Among the line of castle servants, Prince Ian stood waiting to receive us. I stopped short, my breath catching as I took him in. I had filled out since our last meeting four years ago—but so had he.
Tall and broad-shouldered, Ian’s straight white-blond hair had grown and was slicked back, curling at the nape of his neck. His intelligent gray eyes were sharper than ever as they tracked my family and me crossing a red carpet to greet him.
Then those discerning, intelligent eyes fell on me. I braced for the same disappointment I had received at our first meeting. He gave me a slow once-over, trailing up my gown, and lingered on my breasts for an extra split second before settling on my face.
Well, then! Even if he did think I was a bridge troll, at least I was a well-endowed one.
“Your Majesties.” Ian bowed to my parents.
Inwardly, I wanted to roll my eyes. My father held out a hand to the prince, and they firmly shook.
“It’s been some time,” my father said with a guarded smile. “You’ve grown, Ian. Now taller than your father, even.”
Ian nodded without amusement and then turned to my siblings and me. On cue, my sister and I curtsied while my younger brother Sven made a pathetic attempt at a bow. He was barely thirteen, and etiquette lessons were not going well.
Sven stared at Ian as he straightened up, crossing his arms. “Did you know that my sister snores? There might be something wrong with her nose. I didn’t think a person could make a sound like tha—”
My sister elbowed him hard for me, and he grunted.
“Forgive my son.” The light realm king gestured to my brother as my cheeks burned with embarrassment. “He is still…learning the way of things.”
Ian’s lips twitched as his gaze fell back onto me. “I am familiar with the age.”
I wasn’t certain what he meant by that, unless he was aware how cruel he had been to me four years ago. My expectations were kept firmly in check. The prince stepped back, gesturing inside like a perfect gentleman.
“Please come inside, Your Majesties. My parents are in the dining hall waiting for you.”
My mother took Father’s offered arm as they climbed the long flight of steps, and my siblings elbowed each other in a silent battle before following after.
“Callie!” I hissed, earning nothing but an amused shrug and a sly smile tossed over her shoulder. So much for sticking to my side!
Ian waited for me. There was a strange softness to his expression as I approached. He offered his elbow just as my father had done for Mother. At one point or another, I had to deal with him. I just hoped to have a few glasses of wine in me before it happened.
But we were expected to perform, not just for our families, but for both the light and dark realms tonight. And if Ian could act, then I would too. I curled my gloved hand around his arm with a tight, faint smile and climbed the steps with him.
“Hello, Your Highness.”
“Call me Ian,” he insisted. The timbre of his voice had dropped an octave since the last time.
“Then Filly is acceptable for me. Everyone back home calls me that. Sophilia sounds like a sleeping condition.”
That did not garner a laugh as I had hoped it would. Though Ian’s face was still soft and thoughtful as we entered the spacious castle foyer. “You look beautiful tonight.”
My head swiveled so fast that the diadem almost flew off my forehead. I stared at Ian, wide-eyed, judging him with all the intensity of a magistrate in court. He wasn’t joking or mocking me.
In fact, gauging by his serious demeanor, I suspected Ian lacked a single humorous bone in his body.
“Thank you. I would like you to believe I awoke looking like this, but the reality is that it takes quite a bit of work.”
Not even a smirk or a twitch of the mouth in amusement. Gods, he was a hard one to crack!
Ian glanced at me, and then down to my breasts again. “I can only imagine.”
Well…a tiny victory there, at least. My attention drifted to our surroundings. Glittering chandeliers dripped from the white palatial ceiling that soared stories above us.
Servants hurried past in either direction, while the air buzzed with laughter and chatter from finely dressed aristocrats. String music played in the distance. It was beautiful, a great spectacle indeed.
Sven spun on his heel as he watched two servants carry a platter of meat toward the dining hall. “You went to all this trouble?” Sven asked, scrunching his nose at Ian. “Just for Filly?”
“Sven! Gods, shut up.” Callie grasped him by the arm and followed after my parents.
“Please forgive my brother’s behavior.” I was fighting an urge to smack my forehead as we watched Sven get hauled away.
Ian shook his head once to dismiss my concern, his mouth tight. “I was…not pleasant at that age, either, if you recall.”
“I do recall, yes,” I replied with a frown. “You made me cry.”
The foyer had suddenly grown quiet, and I realized we were alone. The exact damn situation I’d been hoping to avoid. Courage drained from me and I regretted my challenging tone when Ian whirled in my direction.
The prince stepped closer and I folded my arms across my chest. I retreated a step. Alarmingly, he matched my move with one of his own.
One more step in the name of self-preservation proved futile as my back came in contact with a massive, rounded column. I was trapped, caged between his braced forearms on either side of the marble surface. His pretty face was only inches away from me.
As my heart hammered in my ears, I realized I had never been this close to a grown man who wasn’t my housecarl or father, before. Worse yet, the last time I had stood this close to him, he had belittled me and watched me cry with a smirk on his face. Now he stood before me again—older, broader, and with that same infuriating quiet certainty, as if I were already his to claim.
“Let us talk,” he whispered. “About what you are to me.”
