...
".....We whirled among the servants and courtiers, and the stars danced in the skies. I focused on the way my feet bounced from the grass, on the smell of faraway rain and the songs of cicadas.
I tried not to focus too much on the feel of his hand on the waist of my dress. Or his muscles moving under my hand as we danced. Those were silly things, things caused by fairy wine.
And yet, when I opened my eyes, his were closer still. Staring right into my soul, just a breath away, he looked absolutely serious.
"Did you think?" he asked. His breath was sweet.
"THink?" I repeated dumbly, as we made another turn.
"About my proposal."
I dragged my eyes to the curved line of his lips.
"We could be the kind and the queen of this place. Just like we dreamt about," he murmured into my neck and my breath caught.
"I...," I tried to exhale. "I didn't..."
"Of course you did. You are just the same as I am. We've always had so much in common. That first night, when I saw you across the table, looking so lost and yet, so above it all - in you I saw my reflection...."
YOU ARE READING
A Fever Dream
FantasyEngland, 20th-century. Days before her wedding Aster escapes busy London, retreating to her grand grandmother's cottage in South England to pick up a traditional wedding dress. In an old chest of drawers, she finds a ticket to the city she's never h...
