His Rejected Mate

Chapter 2

The prince felt self-conscious for once in his life; he was small, and hot. If Elderaine were to have looked in the mirror, a very pink face would have peered back at him.

Contented sounds of nickering tore through the silence, and, turning, he saw the maiden feeding his horse the strawberries she was carrying. As the stallion ate happily, she spoke to it in a gentle and quiet voice.

As if feeling his perplexed stare, she turned and said softly, "My name is Auriel. Your horse seemed hungry, I hope you don't mind."

Elderaine assured her he didn't, and looked about him. The sky was a dusky purple now, pinpricks of starlight poking through.

The threesome sat and talked for hours, for although it was getting late, Elderaine and Auriel preferred the night air and glittering royal blue sky over any cabin the village had to offer. which left Mirage in discontented silence, now and then insulting her company and complaining about the fireflies buzzing in her ear.

She is welcome to leave then. The prince found himself thinking.

But for a moment, in the darkness, Mirage was forgotten by the prince, who stayed up for hours with Auriel, and they talked of his horse, of the violin, of novels the two had read and the ones they have yet to. Amazed, the prince found Auriel's words so sweet and true with meaning and how her mind did flourish like beautiful yellow roses.

And through the night he only wished to know more, and more still.

And as Mirage lay asleep in the darkness, the prince thought, she was nothing more than nature's poison. He realized that he did not want Mirage beside him - even if she would accept him. And the more and more he thought and the more and more he talked with Auriel it became quite clear to him, in his heart, soul, and his mind.

"I just love how fireflies glow, don't you, Elderaine? How they shine like little stars of the earth, so gentle, and unaware of their simple yet miraculous magic?" She said sleepily, mostly to herself.

But Elderaine took a deep, shaking breath and whispered, "My twenty-first birthday is in three weeks, and it is Laide tradition that the king's son must marry before then..."

The maiden sat herself up against the oak tree. "Well, who do you wish to marry? I'm sure she is quite beautiful." She whispered back.

The prince didn't understand why she didn't mention Mirage.

But did she ever mention her?

"She is, Auriel. She is wonderful and smart and beautiful and kind." He smiled in the blue darkness.

"I'd like to meet her," The princes laughed, beaming madly. "When you ask her to become your bride I do hope she says yes."

"I hope so too, but that depends on one thing."

"And that is?"

"Will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Silence.

The darkness seemed to become heavier as Auriel drew away from him, and the prince had started to feel a sensation unfamiliar to him.

His heart was thumping and tightening in his chest, his throat, his head.

There was nothing on Earth he wanted more.

"I've...only just met you, young sir. We hardly know each other - "

"Then let me know you," The prince said, flushed with hands that were shaking, finding her's in the darkness. "You are all I want in this world."

In the scarce light he saw her eyes, and something within them that matched his own. He no longer thought of Mirage or anyone for in comparison to Auriel they were nothing, just faces, just paintings on a wall. What Elderaine saw in her, she reciprocated it entirely, and her fear was lost with the night wind.

Glancing upwards, the prince noticed strange mounds in the branches of the oak tree. "What are those?" he whispered.

"I believe it's mistletoe. See the flowers that fell?" And she showed the prince the little silky white circles (Blue in the light).

"It must be near Christmas, I'd be - " but before he could finish his sentence, Auriel was pressing her lips against his, and they stayed like that for a long time.

When they finally pulled back, she whispered "I do." and settled in beside him, and fell asleep.

Suddenly bright flashes of gold and red blinded the young prince's eyes like a burst of fire, where the surly Mirage had been lying moments before.

Elderaine gasped and tried to move but he found himself rooted to the earth, as if in a dream. In place of the girl, when the fire subsided, a figure emerged, whom Elderaine recognized immediately.

"Old Eden?" an astonished prince exclaimed.

The elder smiled down at him. "You have a good heart, boy. I gave you a choice, a test for your heart. You are good and not blinded by the pure chance of outer beauty, which, to an extent, means you are not blinded by the fated chance of being born into monarchy. You will make a fine king one day. Auriel was the one you were always meant to find. I just helped you find her sooner." Her voice was warm and the prince thanked her many times before she faded into the darkness once again, and many years later he still wasn't sure if it was a dream.

***

the morning in which the prince woke he thought he was with a different person. Beside him was certainly Auriel, but adorned in silky blues and glittering greens, her hair spilling about her in gentle waves.

Confused by all this, he gently nudged her awake. She grinned and said what he was thinking.

"You must be wondering why I was dressed like a servant and underneath I look like a princess," She laughed. "Well, that's because I am. My country fell into ruins because of my aunt's unjust rule. I was smuggled out of the kingdom a year ago, and I hear it has become sovereignty."

Hardly believing her words, they rode the black stallion home -Auriel in front- the next time, they kissed being on their wedding day.