Beauty's Cursed Sleep Page 19

  Henry shot her a look of pure disappointment. “You don’t mean that.”

  “Oh, I do. Adam didn’t care if I died, Henry. That’s not a friendship worth fighting for.”

  “You know that’s not true. Things are harder for Adam than they are for the rest of us. You know he’s not well.”

  Her pinched voice rose to a shout. “No, I wasn’t well! I was in a coma, and I actually needed him to be strong for me for once, instead of me always picking him up off the floor.”

  Henry gaped at her, and then recovered. “You’re so sexy when you yell at me. Tell me this white dress comes off easily.”

  Rory gave in to a smirk and lightly shoved him away, righting her veil in the mirror. “Cord gets to take this dress off me tonight, thank you very much.”

  Henry plucked his phone from his pocket and pulled her close, snapping a shot of the two of them. They smiled wistfully at the photo, seeing the life that could’ve been, if only fate hadn’t had a say.

  “We look like we’re the ones to be married,” he commented quietly, his voice wistful.

  Rory laced her fingers through his. “We do. I’m glad I get to keep you forever. The future king and the future Chancellor of Avondale.”

  Henry tucked his phone back into his pocket. “There’s no one I’d rather spend the rest of my life beside. Will you be my Chancellor? Will you promise to keep me on task, and pick me up when I flounder?” His request had the note of a plea to it. He shifted to face her, holding their hands between them as if they were at the altar saying their vows.

  “I do,” she pledged. “Henry, will you be my fearsome and gentle king? Will you promise to listen to me and love me as you do Avondale, never turning your back on us?”

  “I do.”

  The two shared a chaste kiss in the quiet of the bride room, sealing their vows that they would put Avondale first, and hold their friendship tight in their hearts.

  Henry moved her palm to his cheek to warm her fingers, the two sharing a smile that bloomed from the preciousness of the moment that was purely theirs. “I think it’s time, Rory.” A gleam of mischief lit his eyes as his eyebrows danced to tease her. “I’ve got something brilliant planned for the ceremony.”

  Rory’s face turned stony. “If you’re thinking of fake proposing to me in the middle of my own wedding, I’ll tear Cord’s gloves off him myself and tell him to electrocute your testicles. I mean it, Henry. Behave yourself.”

  Henry sniggered at her wrath, as if he found her endearing instead of menacing. “I wasn’t going to propose during your wedding. What kind of a selfish cad do you think I am? No, no, silly girl. I was going to follow you tonight and crash your honeymoon, so I could propose to you then. It’s more intimate on a honeymoon, don’t you think?”

  Rory chuckled at her best friend’s antics. “You actually would have a good chance at getting your balls electrocuted if you did that.”

  Henry rolled his eyes and batted his hand at her. “Cord’s on the pill. He doesn’t even need to wear those gloves anymore. He only wears them to punish himself, which I assure you, no one else is doing.”

  She ran her tongue along her teeth, unhappy that she hadn’t confessed to Henry that Cordray actually needed two pills to mute his magic. Remus instructed them to keep that information private, but keeping secrets from Henry felt unnatural to her.

  Rory straightened and cleared her throat. “Yes, well, that’s Cord’s choice, and I won’t rob him of it. The gloves make him feel safer, so don’t tease him about them.”

  “Roger that.” When the doors opened, letting Stefan, Remus and Benjamin in, Henry postured. “I think it’s time, Glory.”

  When Rory raised her eyebrow at the new nickname, he explained, “Rory’s too plain for a day like today, looking how you do. Today, you’ll be Glory, and we’ll all get to revel in your loveliness.”

  Remus gave his niece a slow, sweeping bow, paying respect to the long road it had taken her to get to this moment, and the sacrifice he had paid to make it all possible.

  Rory reached out and placed her hand on Remus’, her eyes burning with unshed tears that were threatening to fall. “All of this is because of you. I love you with all my heart, Uncle Remus.”

  He covered her hand with his. “Then repay me by living a full life. Every time you succeed, I feel the glow of it.” He released her with a look of a brother letting his younger sister go off into the unknown. “Avondale and I live to watch you glow.”

  At his commission, Rory’s shoulders rolled back, her chin lifting to make her posture regal and ready for the cameras.

  Stefan extended his arm to his daughter, unwilling to fight back the tears that couldn’t be helped. “If you’re ready, I know a young man at the altar who’s anxiously waiting for you.”

  Rory took her father’s arm, but paused to wipe away the condensation from his eyes. He laughed at himself and shook his head. “If I’d known how wonderful you’d turn out, perhaps I wouldn’t have worried so much.”

  “Maybe it’s because of the worrying I turned out at all,” Rory amended. “I’ll be okay, Dad.”

  Stefan braved a smile and nodded. “Of course you will. Our nightmares are behind us.” Stefan and Remus brought her veil down over her face, completing the perfect picture of the royal bride on her wedding day. With pink roses and the white lilies of Avondale clutched in her trembling grip, she followed Henry out the door, and into the narthex of the most ornate chapel in the land. It was where all the royals and important people of Avondale were wed – where Rory’s parents said their vows.

  After she was awoken, the story of how Cordray’s love broke through Malaura’s curse flooded the land. Every child wanted a repeat of the bedtime story, about how the mighty Cordray fought his way through a band of Lethals, breaking bones and fighting Malaura to the death so he could get back to his one true love. The single kiss that brought the Chancellor’s daughter to life and set her dormant magic free was a grand feat that no amount of prose could capture, though not for lack of trying. Poets and bards from all over tried their hand at coining songs to be sung on Cordray and Aurora’s wedding day. The entire kingdom wanted to be part of the miracle in which evil was defeated by love.

  The harps played the traditional dirge as Henry walked out ahead of them, his sword in its sheath on his hip to complete the picture of the prince of the land. Every eligible woman in Avondale drooled for Henry – so much the more when he was in a tuxedo, doting on his best friend and playing the role of her Maid of Honor. Now that he was officially and publicly never to marry Aurora, his star status reached the stratosphere, attracting even the most reserved woman and drawing her eye with a charming smirk.

  Remus walked out next – the mysterious man behind the Chancellor’s rule who’d sacrificed a portion of his own life to see his family succeed. The people loved Henry, but they revered Remus, a few inclining their heads to him as he walked down the aisle.

  King Hubert himself performed all the weddings of the higher-ups, and though he’d once expected to marry his son and Aurora when they’d been children together, the king smiled at Cordray, who stood to his left, knowing that Henry had never been taken with anyone the way Cordray was enraptured by Rory. He wanted that for his son, but knew it would take more than a betrothal to get the charming prince to settle down.

  Before Rory could come around the corner to face the kingdom in the massive church, her father’s footsteps froze. “Daddy?” she inquired, looking up at his worry when he didn’t move forward.

  “I… I… Forgive me, sweetheart. I knew this day would come, but now that it’s here, I don’t want to give you up! Tell me Cordray is a good man. Remind me of all the reasons why a father should be expected to let go of his daughter’s hand.”

  Rory softened, smiling at his consternation. “Cord is a wonderful man. He’s smart and caring, and after all he’s been through, he still has a firm hold on his conscience. He’s good to me, Daddy.”

  Stefan gulped a p
ortion of his fear down. “I watched every step you took from the time you were a baby. Now that you’ll be stepping out on your own without me? I can’t bear it!” Stefan held onto his daughter’s hand. “I need your Pulse, Aurora. Please.”

  “Uncle Remus told me I shouldn’t use it unless there was an emergency.”

  Stefan’s eyes widened. “The emergency is that I’m about to drag you out this door and drive away from this chapel until my heart calms down!”

  Rory chuckled at her father’s angst. “I love you, too.” Her fingers brushed over his arm, and a wave of Peace flood through Stefan’s skin. Though she’d been practicing with Remus and Cordray every day for months, the gift was still new to her, and apparently, it was one of the rarer ones that could turn lethal if left unchecked. Her first few times, she’d Pulsed so much Peace into Remus, that he’d lost consciousness for four hours. Since then, she’d learned to rein in the gift she’d waited her whole life to unwrap.

  Stefan breathed more easily now, his shoulders lifting up and down with far less tension. “Ah, that’s much better. Thank you. You’re getting quite adept at wielding your gift, you know.”

  “You can thank your brother for that. He’s an excellent tutor.”

  “I’ve always said as much.” He held his daughter’s arm that wound under his elbow. “Shall we?”

  The aisle was long, but the road to find true love had been infinitely longer for the two. Rory was poised and ready to say her vows when she held her husband’s hands at the altar, but before any of that could be orchestrated, Cordray lifted her veil and pressed his lips to hers, skipping to the good part he simply couldn’t wait for a moment longer. He cupped her startled face, his lips moving slowly with hers as the audience and many photographers chortled and swooned at the impetuousness of young love.

  When the public had learned of their relationship, it took exactly one photograph for the world to fall in love with Cordray – for it was clear in the way he gazed at the Chancellor’s daughter that he would never stop trying to win the heart she’d already handed him. His love for her fueled the public’s adoration of the royal couple.

  When Cordray finally sated his need to sweep her off her feet, he leaned in and whispered, “You will always be my favorite Story.”

  Rory’s eyes were lidded as she slowly flitted back down to earth. “Tell me you’ll always kiss me exactly like that.”

  “My kisses will always bring you back to life,” he promised, pressing another to her cheek.

  Years from then, Rory would remember scarcely little of the banners, flowers and ribbons that decked the chapel, proclaiming the joyous occasion. The shimmering spots of that day paled in comparison to the brightness in Cordray’s eyes, which seemed to shine only for her. Though they’d been through much, their love was too great to ever be stamped out by the evil of the world.

  Their first kiss as man and wife brought about a sense of romance and celebration to the entire kingdom. For if a former Deadpulse and a Lethal could find each other after everything life had stacked against them, then perhaps there was hope for them all.

  * * *

  The End.

  * * *

  Love the book? Leave a review.

  Beauty’s Cursed Beast

  Read Adam’s story in Beauty’s Cursed Beast – a Beauty and the Beast Fairytale Retelling

  1

  Unexpected Guest

  “You shouldn’t have a Pulse!” Audra exclaimed as she set the tea tray down on the stand. There were so many people milling about; she wanted to guard the delicate china cups, lest yet another of them chip. They were down to two-hundred-forty-four, which was barely enough for the crowd Adam had packed into the castle. Though, to be fair, they preferred shot glasses to tea cups.

  Adam laughed at his housekeeper, his eyes dancing with mirth. “You’re only saying that because you got stuck with putting people at ease as your Pulse. Mine’s actually useful.”

  Audra leaned over and flicked his nose, just as she’d done when he was a little boy stuck in fits of petulance. “Yes. If only you were useful, as well.” She was only half-joking, but she squinted her eyes at him all the same. “If you hadn’t been gifted with the ability to persuade people as your Pulse, you wouldn’t have a dime to your name.”

  “Oh, Audra. Persuasion is such an ugly summary of what I do. I merely strip away a layer of inhibition so they can see themselves and their options clearly. People love to be coaxed into doing things they’d otherwise be too scared to enjoy. Look at her up there. Isn’t she a beauty?” He motioned to the mid-twenties woman who was dancing on the stage, stripping off one piece of clothing slowly for the viewers. “Now, if I used my Pulse on you, there’s no way you’d end up on the stage doing a striptease for my friends, because you know who you are and what you want, which isn’t that.”

  Audra shuddered. “Oh, my boy. These people aren’t your friends.”

  Adam took a canape from her tray. “This girl wanted, in some buried part of her, to be up there doing exactly that. I just gave her a nudge.”

  “I believe that’s the same logic used by drug-dealing scum.”

  “Oh, you.” Adam batted his hand at the maid who could easily pass for his mother, and had served that function on many occasions when his own mother was away on her many social engagements. Now that his parents were deceased, Audra was one of the few chances he had at a conscience.

  Just then, two guests came up to Audra to kiss her goodbye. Rory and Henry had been regular fixtures in the castle since they’d been children, but ever since Adam had taken the reins of the family fortune, they’d started leaving his parties earlier and earlier. “Goodnight, Audra,” Henry said, kissing her wrinkled cheek that still possessed a bit of plump to it.

  Adam frowned at his two best friends. “You’re leaving already? Come on. It’s my birthday! You can stay in your bedroom here.”

  Rory sank into Adam, her head resting on his chest. She looked dainty and frail in his thick arms, but he was always gentle with her. She was only fourteen, and by far the youngest in the castle. “I thought about that, but there are people up there making babies in my sheets. I think I’ll just go home with Henry.”

  “You could always join them, you know.” When his joke didn’t garner a giggle from his best friends, but only stiff looks of disapproval, Adam released her with a frown of displeasure. “You never stay for the whole party anymore.”

  Rory glanced up at the stage, frowning at the impromptu strip show. “Can you blame me? This isn’t exactly a proud moment for women.”

  Henry’s arm coiled around her, as if to shield his friend from the debauchery. Though Henry was eighteen, he was much too old for parties like that, and took it upon himself to stay by Rory’s side the entire night.

  Adam frowned at Henry. “And you? What’s your excuse for passing up on good whisky on my twentieth birthday?”

  Henry shrugged, his blond hair still perfectly intact after the evening of dancing and mingling. “You know I can’t be seen at events that devolve into this. My father wouldn’t approve.”

  Adam scoffed with too much attitude to be overlooked. He’d started to do that more and more after the death of his parents. “Tell King Hubert that his son needs the royal scepter removed from his ass.”

  Henry tilted his head to the side, as if to silently ask if that’s what Adam truly wanted to say. He paused, and Adam’s bravado shrank marginally. Henry sighed heavily, and then brought Adam in for a hug. “I love you, even when you’re an arrogant prick who forgets everything about the people he loves.”

  When the men released each other, Henry donned a wide grin for Audra. He always treated her as if the maternal affection she beamed was meant only for him. She pinched his cheeks to fill in the holes growing up without a mother had left on the boy. “Do stop by the kitchen on your way out. I made those cookies you like. Chef Bouche put them on top of the microwave.”

  Though Henry commanded many a room with his tall, built
and handsome stature, he turned into a boy for her, bouncing on his toes with excitement at the doting. “Really? Did you put the peanut butter chips inside?”

  Audra scoffed. “I’d like to know who you think you’re talking to. I would never cheat my boy out of anything.” She pulled him in for a hug and kissed his cheek. Instead of releasing him, she stole a moment to whisper in his ear, “Don’t give up on Adam. He needs you.”

  Henry softened, savoring the hug that turned him from man into mischievous boy. “Never.” Then he turned to Adam with a forced smile. “Happy birthday. I must say, that’s the most unique wall-hanging I’ve ever seen.” Henry’s eyes darted to the large printout hanging directly across from the front door, so it was the first thing one saw when they entered.

  The banished and feared former queen of Avondale, Malaura, had taken to sending Adam letters in secret, hoping to entice him to join her league of outcasts. The offers turned to love letters, one of which Adam had blown up and hung in the foyer for all to see. It was a shock for each guest when they entered, giving them guilty giggles at the scandal that Avondale’s Most Eligible Bachelor was handsome enough to turn even the wicked ex-queen into a blushing schoolgirl.

  Adam’s grin widened as he glanced up at the poster with bravado. “Why, thank you. You should’ve seen the one I wrote her in return. Some of my raciest poetry to date.”

  Henry rubbed the nape of his neck. “Are you sure it’s wise to string along someone as powerful and vindictive as my Aunt Malaura?”

  Adam rolled his eyes and pulled Rory into his arms, kissing her atop her straight, raven hair. Rory said nothing of the blatant poke at Malaura, and snuggled into Adam’s side, closing her eyes as if she sorely missed her friend, even though she was currently holding onto him. “Happy birthday, Adam.”