The Dark Realm

Royal Pain

Lilly looked at herself in the mirror. She looked exhausted and pale. She wore light red eye shadow and lipstick as well as black mascara. The makeup helped disguise her fatigue. Her hair was up in a bun with a braided twist around it. A few strands of hair framed her face on both sides.

The dress she was wearing was made of white silk. It had a sweetheart neckline that accented her bare shoulders and laced half-sleeves which showed off her her shoulders. The dress' chest was decorated in fine, silver embroidery. The skirt was a ball gown format, covered in similar embroidery and had a lacy Watteau train that matched the sleeves. On her head was a small silver tiara along with a laced veil.*

There was a reason for her dressy appearance. It was August 12th, her wedding day. For most brides this would be a joyous occasion, but Lilly was not one of them. If she could she would refuse to walk down the aisle, but she knew that Max would do anything to become king and he couldn't become king until he was married.

Lilly glared at the book she had found in the library only a while back. Yes it offered solutions but they were solutions she could do. If Max was defeated in battle with an opposing force the curse would be broken. If her heart was truly shattered because of something in the Dark Realm then the curse would be broken. At least according to the book it would be, but sadly Lilly couldn't do anything by herself.

Lilly then glanced at the papers she had written in her time there. They were addressed to her best friends. She didn't know if her friends would ever even see them.

There was a knock at the door and Serena came in. She had a solum look on her face.

"Ready?" She asked in a voice that expressed that she didn't want Lilly to have to go through with the wedding either. Lilly only nodded.

As soon as she stepped out of the room two guards snuck up behind her and each held a knife to her back as to encourage her to keep moving. She had known it was coming or else she would have refused to go through with it. It was either die or marry Max. Death was a very permanent solution to a hopefully temporary problem.

Lilly walked down to the Great Hall where they were having the ceremony. The guards followed behind. They opened the door.

Lilly heard the wedding music play as she walked. To her it felt more like a death march. She knew that if Luke was here he would have probably said the Imperial March from his favorite movie series. If it was any other day Lilly would have smiled at the thought.

She wished Luke was here now. Nothing truly bad could ever happen when the two of them were together. Wait why was she even thinking about Luke right now? She was in the middle of a wedding for pete's sake.

Lilly felt something sharp poke her in the back. While she thought of her friend she had apparently stopped walking. She continued to walk.

Max stood at the alter looking triumphant. He gazed at Lilly as if she were an prize to win. She glared at him.

She knew, thanks to Serena, that the only reason they were having an actual wedding is because it's tradition. She knew that both Max and herself would have rather just sighed a license. Max was so excited to be king that he was going to be crowned right after the ceremony.

Lilly stepped up to the alter. The priest began to say some words but Lilly wasn't paying any attention. She was thinking about how she had dreamed this moment being like. Every since she was little she had been thinking about her wedding day. It was nothing like how she dreamt it would be. There was no love, no fairytale, no knight in shining armor.

"Do you, Max, take Lilly Parker of the Aequalis Realm to be your wife."

"Yes I do." Max said, but not even a hint of love was in his voice.

"Do you take Prince Max of the Dark Realm to be your husband?" The priest asked her. A knife was pressed into her back, breaking the skin. Lilly gritted her teeth.

"Yes." She hissed. She refused to say those precious words that were normally said. The priest nodded.

"You may now kiss the bride." He told Max. The guards stepped away from Lilly. Max ignored the priest and instead whispered in Lilly's ear.

"Now you're officially mine." He smirked. After all he had won the competition for the girl he honestly didn't care for in the slightest. Now he just needed to win the war. A war he was going to start back up.

Max let Lilly disappear into her room. Everyone who had watched the wedding vows could tell that something was up. Not everyone knew that the two weren't in love. Serena was about to leave, to be with Lilly, when Max stopped.

"What are you doing?" Max asked.

"What does it look like? I'm leaving." Serena hissed.

"But why? I'm about to be crowned the king." Max implored with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"So?" Serena made it clear that she didn't care.

"Aren't you going to watch? You used to say that you couldn't wait to watch me be crowned king when we were kids."

Serena glared at him. "Well I don't do that anymore. I don't care." Serena snapped and walked away. Why would he care?

Max scowled as she ditched him. "It's not like I want you to be there or anything... I don't care either, you lowly servant!"

Pfft! He didn't care. He only cared about his battle which now that he was king he could put into action. Soon he would control both realms.

Max was going to be king.

So there you have it! Max is now able to become king. Lilly's married to him and Serena has finally had it with him. Soon the battle will begin.

*I swear that is the most feminine paragraph I've ever written. I felt like I was gonna puke. Oh well... Details are necessary.