Amora's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

The morning after the prince's dinner, Amora walked into the garden of the dark red keep. Red rose bushes climbed the walls. An idea had come to her in the night. Prince Lionel had crossed a kingdom for a bride. She did not want him. But her cousin Lumi might. If Lumi liked him, no one had come all this way for nothing, and the crowned houses would have their wedding after all. Her aunt Mirana sat on a stone bench among the roses. Mirana was the White Queen, Amora's aunt, who had freed her from the tower with calm words instead of force. Her platinum hair fell loose over her white gown. Beside her sat Lumi, Mirana's daughter, her braid pale as her mother's, her white boots tucked under the bench. Lumi was pulling petals from a rose and letting them drop. "I am tired of waiting," Lumi said. She did not see Amora yet. "Every girl I know has someone. I want a husband. Someone brave. Someone who will look at me." She sighed and dropped another petal. Amora stopped on the path. This was easier than she had hoped. "Then I may have news for you," she said. Lumi turned. Mirana looked up, her gray eyes calm. "A prince came to my keep," Amora said. "Prince Lionel. He rode across a kingdom to find a bride. He is blond, blue-eyed, and kind at the table." She sat between them. "I refused him. But I think he should meet you." Lumi's eyes went wide. "Me?" "You want a husband," Amora said. "He wants a wife. Why should he leave with nothing?" At that moment boots crossed the stone. Prince Lionel came through the roses, his cloak over one arm. He had lingered at the keep, unsure whether to leave. He stopped when he saw the three women. His eyes moved to Lumi and stayed there. Lumi stood. She smoothed her gown. "You are the prince," she said. "I am." He bowed. Then he did what he had never done for Amora. "May I know your name?" "Lumi." She smiled. "Do you truly ride and hunt? Tell me." He stepped closer and began to speak, and this time he asked her a question back. Amora watched them lean toward each other over the roses. It was working. The prince was pleased. Lumi glowed. Mirana touched Amora's hand. "You are clever, niece," she said quietly. "But look at your own face." Amora watched Lumi laugh at something the prince said. She had solved the problem. The prince would not go home empty. Her mother would be pleased. Yet a small ache sat in her chest. She had found love for everyone but herself. She rose and left them to the roses, more alone than before.