Belle flashed the guards with a polite smile with a subtle bow of her head as she entered the grand hall. Her electric blue hair danced down her back as she sashayed her hips, strolling in with an appearance of much more confidence than she was currently feeling.
Her mother turned her head away from their guests to greet Belle with a welcoming smile, holding out her arm to embrace Belle as she took her place beside her mother. A young man, who couldn’t be much older than Belle wandered around the conference table and pulled out Belle’s chair as a gentlemanly gesture.Belle took a moment to take in his appearance, noticing every feature from his icy blue eyes, his chiselled cheekbones, the dimple on his chin, his wavy white hair which fell past his shoulders. He wore half of his hair in loose bun at the back of his head, in a sort of half up half down feature with a few loose waves dangling in front of his face.He was certainly the most beautiful man she had ever seen, perhaps in another life he was the first born of the Gods, Adonis and Aphrodite. He had both the devil and an angel written all over him, tempting her to be a sinner and a saint.Belle curtly nodded her head as she took a seat. “Thank you.” The trail of his green full-dress uniform followed him as he strode to his seat. Belle remembered the royal colour of Avalon was Emerald and she wasn’t shy of admitting his realms colours suited him.He took a seat beside his father, King Eryek, who was engaging in polite conversation with Belle’s mother, Queen Serena. Belle wasn’t too sure why her presence had been requested at this meeting, she barely had any free time due to her upcoming coronation.Being both the Queen of the werewolf world and the Midsummer realm had become too much for Belle’s mother, who was needed more at Amaris with her husband, the Alpha King and Belle’s father, meaning she was unable to provide Midsummer the attention they deserved.With her eldest brother, Arlen, involved in other affairs and her youngest brother, Cobi, set to take over from their father when he decided to step down, Belle had always dreamed of the day she would be named the Queen of Midsummer. She loved the people with her whole heart and knew since her parents first brought her to the castle that this was where she felt most at home.Being a hybrid, and a royal one at that, gave Belle an advantage as she was much stronger than your average wolf or faerie. However, she wasn’t ignorant to the fact that faeries from other realms only believed in ‘pure bloods’ ruling.Which is why Belle was presuming she had been called to this meeting. King Eryek and his son, Prince Layke, were ‘pure bloods’ and having their support would make Belle’s life as Queen much less complex. Initially, Belle had worried about becoming Queen, especially if she had taken a werewolf mate. But she had already taken care of this with the help of their family friend, Gladdis.Gladdis was the high priestess of the most powerful coven across all the different realms and both herself and daughter, Maddie, were close friends of her family. Belle refused to allow anything to hold her back from reaching her full potential as Queen and this also meant being able to put the people of Midsummer first. If she took a werewolf mate, the people of Midsummer would never feel truly cared for.Besides, over the years Belle had come to learn that many take advantage of her status, never truly caring about her for her but to gain status themselves. She’d experienced enough of that for a lifetime and had no interest in history repeating itself.“Your Majesty, Your Highness. Thank you for welcoming us into your lovely home.” King Eryek smiled. He was a kind looking man, features very similar to his son, but there was a glowing warmth around him which Prince Layke didn’t have.Queen Serena grinned. “Thank you both for joining us. Belle, Prince Layke, I’m sure you’re both wondering why your attendance was requested today?”Prince Layke chuckled as he nodded his head. “My father has been rather tight lipped.”Queen Serena nodded in understanding. “I’m sure you have both heard the rumours with regards to the Gylandies making their way through the realm. They hold different beliefs to how the realms should be ran and are slowly wiping out each of the monarchies in order to get what they want.”The Gylandies were the faerie version of rogues. Each fallen as an outcast to their coven, banished from their realm. Usually, a faerie gets banished for practising dark magic and not drawing power from the earth, but instead drawing their power from scenes where mass destruction has occurred. Using the blood and death of other faeries to provide yourself strength was the biggest crime a faerie could commit and most often, what caused fellow coveners to be ex-communicated.Over the years, the exiled faeries have been gathering and forming their own coven called the ‘Gylandies’. They have their own versions of what they believe the rules governing faeries should be and have been threatening to overthrow all the monarchies until they have the ultimate power.Another important point is that each realm is only as strong as its leader. Whilst faeries draw their power from the earth, the skill and strength of the Monarch is what fuels the strength of kingdom. With Queen Serena being Queen of two different species, the Midsummer realm was the strongest of the four. Due to Belle being a direct descant from Queen Serena and still royalty in the werewolf world in her own right, this will remain the same when Belle takes the crown.Avalon is the second strongest realm as both King Eryek and his wife, Queen Lissa, are pure bloods. With Queen Serena and her three children being an exception, there are no stronger faeries than pure bloods. The Queens of the Moonbeam and Willowisp Realms were both half-bloods, and although both King’s were pure-bloods, they weren’t as strong as Midsummer and Avalon and were much easier to take out.“Willowisp was taken over a few days ago. The Gylandies caught them by surprise and with their abilities being diluted, they were easier to overthrow.” King Eryek explained. “We believe Moonbeam will be next.”“Then they’ll head to us..” Belle pondered aloud.“Even if they do, we’re much stronger than them. They would struggle to overthrow us.” Prince Layke shrugged, not quite grasping the concerned look on his father’s face.“That would have been true if they hadn’t killed so many of the Willowisp faeries, but now they have more dark energy to channel from. If they take over Moonbeam, there’s no guarantee we can still challenge them and win on our own.” King Eryek sighed to his son, a deflated look written across his face.“So why aren’t Moonbeam here? Should we not regroup with them and strategize?” Belle questioned, confused as to why the next target wasn’t involved in the conversation.Queen Serena sighed, pressing her lips gently together. “They weren’t interested in working with us. They don’t agree with the whole ‘hybrid’ thing, remember?” she scoffed.Belle creased her forehead, momentarily too stunned to speak. “They would rather more than likely die.. than work with us?” Her mother shrugged in response. “Well they’re idiots.” Belle muttered.“Look, here’s the situation.” King Eryek began. “We’re the only pure-blood monarch, and whilst most of Midsummer’s faeries are pure-bloods, Midsummer is still the strongest realm due to Queen Serena’s and Princess Belle’s hybrid nature.”The King was met with three nods of understanding. “Together, we could end the Gylandies before they try to take over Avalon or Midsummer. Midsummer may, and that’s a big may, have a chance on their own, but we certainly won’t. Not if they overrule Moonbeam.”“What do you suggest? How can we work together?” Belle asked, prepared to protect her people and join forces.“You need to get married.” The Queen bluntly blurted out.“What!” Both Belle and Prince Layke exclaimed in unison, abruptly rising from their seats.“Belle, please sit down.” Queen Serena sighed, not in the least bit surprised by her daughter’s outburst. “I wouldn’t decide upon this if it wasn’t for the good of the kingdom.” She reminded her daughter.“Father, this is madness. This surely this isn’t the only way.” Prince Layke shook his head in dismay. “She isn’t even my mate! I don’t think..”King Layke raised his brows as he folded his arms across his chest. “Since when were you planning on searching for your mate, Layke?” His father challenged.Prince Layke frowned. “That’s beside the point.” Prince Layke had decided a while ago that he wouldn’t be searching for his mate. Mates complicate matters and make it difficult to prioritise. He needed a clear head in order to put the good of his people first, he couldn’t be distracted by wanting to be around a woman every second of the day.“I don’t think this is particularly necessary, mother.” B
“We’ll do it.” Belle announced as she and her now fiancé returned to their parents. Queen Serena let out a sigh of relief, not because she was concerned about whether her daughter would come through for the sake of the kingdom, but because she had expected more of a fight from her usually fiery daughter. Belle always came through in the end and did the right thing, but she was typically more head-strong about certain matters. King Eryek clapped his hands together in joy as he raised from his seat. “Marvelous!” He concluded. “Come sit down and we’ll work through the details.” He motioned his hand back towards the chairs the prince and princess had been sat in a short while ago. “When does this need to happen?" Prince Layke questioned as he sat besides his father, almost certain he wasn’t going to particularly like the answer. But then again, the sooner they were married the sooner they could deal with the Gylandies and go their separate ways. “3 days time.” Queen Serena confirmed. “
“Here she is,” Prince Layke smirked as he leaned over the balcony. “My dotting fiancé.” He teased. There was something about watching Belle roll her eyes that brought him immense satisfaction, a thrill he couldn’t get enough of. As expected, Belle rolled her eyes. “Come on Charming, lets get this over with.” Belle turned on her heels, heading back towards the grand hall. She wasn’t sure why she had to give Layke a tour, she was fairly certain that he would be able to figure out the grounds all by his big boy self. Layke chuckled as he followed Belle’s lead. “Here’s the grand hall, as you know.” Belle motioned her hands around to emphasis her point as she took deep strides throughout the room. As they left the room, Belle took a right and led Layke down the stone corridor. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling every two metres, and considering how long the corridor in front of him was, there was a fair few chandeliers. Each time they passed another crisp white set of double doors with a
The morning between Belle and Layke had been rather awkward. Neither had brought up last night’s conversation during the journey to Avalon and it also hadn’t been brought up whilst Layke gave Belle a tour of his home. But aside from the animosity between them, Belle found herself to rather impressed by the castle of Avalon. It wasn’t much smaller than her home and it was equally as beautiful. Once she got over the haunting gargoyles resting at the entrance of the home, Belle found the castle to be rather charming. Spiral staircases could be found behind corners, grand chandeliers hung from the ceiling, spotless white marble floor was carried out throughout the home and the doorways were tall enough to fit someone twice the height of Layke. If she had plans to stay, she would have been quite happy here. After Layke did the exact opposite of what she did and took her inside practically every single room, he finally led her out to the castle gardens where most of the kingdom had gather
Despite the nights previous events, both Layke and Belle managed to keep their pent up tension at bay as they joined Layke’s friends and some of the warriors for breakfast. As he sat drinking his coffee, Layke couldn’t help but watch Belle as she enjoyed the bacon on her plate. There was something so effortlessly sensual about each one of her movements, almost graceful and fluid. The way she chewed her food and licked those ample lips had his member threatening to combust. Ironically, Belle had no idea about the feelings she could stir up from the simplest of acts, even when his righthand man couldn’t keep his eyes off her either. Beau’s eyes were stuck to her like glue, much to Layke’s dismay but he couldn’t blame him either. Even Layke’s enforces seemed to helplessly admire her. She really was the most unwillingly sensual person he had ever seen. The fact that she was so oblivious to it only made the attraction grow. Belle lifted her eyes from her food, noticing the way the men on
“I think I’ll go get my bags now, we’re due back in Midsummer shortly.” Belle said sweetly, releasing a gasping Sierra to the floor, before she made her way around her and pointedly ignore the enforcer. “Oh, and close your mouth, Layke. You’ll catch flies.” Perplexed and also slightly horny as a result of the alpha vibes rolling off of her, Layke watched after Belle as she strode out the room nibbling on her last piece of bacon. Once Belle was out of sight, Layke’s eyes landed on Sierra, who was desperately rubbing her neck. At least it wasn’t him on Belle’s bad side this time. He gave his three men a look, instructing them to follow him out of the dining room as he prepared to leave his home once again. He couldn’t help but chuckle and feel a slight sense of pride when he heard Coen mutter, “damn, that female is freakishly strong for her size.” - “Well, you certainly made an impression.” Layke snorted, trying to refrain the corners of his lips from twitching as he focused on driv
Belle glanced at herself in the mirror, she didn’t remember a time she’d ever felt as beautiful as she did now. Her thick, blue hair was styled into loose waves with pieces from the sides being braided until they met in the middle at the back of her head. A few loose strands fell down the side of her face in an effortless yet put together fashion. Her sold gold tiara rested on her head perfectly, with potentially the biggest topaz gemstone she had ever seen positioned in the centre. Her lips had been painted a natural shade of pink, allowing the centre of attention to be on the soft blue eyeshadow along her eyelids, encouraging her ocean eyes to pop even bright than usual. Matching her hair and makeup, she was wearing the most exquisite topaz shaded gown she had ever seen. It started with a strapless corset, amplifying the curves of her body as it enveloped her waist, before delicate gold embroidery separated the corset into a free flowing, floor length skirt with a 3 metre train. T
The rest of the day had gone smoothy, the people of the two kingdoms had began to bond and intermingle as they accepted their new world. Layke had expected some animosity between the avalonions and the summerians, due to the different beliefs many of the subjects held, but things couldn’t have gone better. An even bigger blessing was that Sierra had decided to stay at home and miss the wedding. It was drama neither Layke nor Belle needed that day and with Belle having her werewolf friends here, Layke knew how easy it could have turned into a blood bath. Since the ceremony, the pair had acted as though the kiss between them never happened. Belle had put the feelings the kiss created in a locked box inside her mind, deciding it was purely because of the adrenaline of the day and the heat of the moment. Layke believed it was purely the tension from the night in his office that had stirred up those feelings and as long as the pair stopped bickering like fire and ice, they wouldn’t have