Mira laughed inwardly.
Ancillary wife wasn't so bad after all.
As Princess Celestia Zaravan rose, her eyes sought Mira's and smiled with cool confidence. Mira could detect no malice in her smile, because to the Princess Celestia Zaravan, Mira was no competition. In her mind, Mira was not even at the level that could be considered an opponent,
Mira returned the smile. She also knew it was pretty much game over. Princess Celestia Zaravan did not even need to say anything. Her deep graceful curtsy was basically a mic drop moment. The girl's beauty was undeniable. Furthermore, she had most likely been groomed for this position ever since she could walk.
As for Mira...she was the only child of two physicians. She was a latchkey kid who grew up on peanut-butter & jelly sandwiches, and Tom & Jerry. Her parents often worked late into the night, so she was excellent at entertaining herself, especially with various video games.
She was also a damn good nurse, but that was a far cry from knowing what a princess was supposed to know. What in heck was princess training anyway?
She was so busy thinking about all of this that she completely missed Zander's words until he got to the end of what he was saying.
"...while I do appreciate the kind gesture, your Royal Highness, it would be very crude of me, to poach on my cousin's new bride, especially since he is temporarily indisposed."
"She is not Erick's bride." The Emperor waved his hand in protest. "She was only PROMISED to a Crown Prince. You are also a Crown Prince, Zander."
"But I am already married, your Majesty, and I care too much about my noble cousin, De Erick Rashak, to do anything that would hurt him." Zander enunciated Erick's name clearly towards the Princess, as if stating that the real groom was Erick, and not himself.
"You are not hurting him in the least," the Emperor grinned, a hint of steel emoting from his eyes. "I will send out a royal edict tomorrow morning, announcing the news of your upcoming marriage to the Princess Celeste Zaravan of Topaz."
Zander's silver blue eyes turned an icy steel.
Ignoring Zander, the Emperor turned to Mira. "You should feel extremely fortunate. You will be Ancillary Spouse to the Crown Prince De Zander Tamein. You will also be given a noble title and a generous endowment. The title of Princess will not be allowed, of course, since you will not be his Primary Spouse, but do not fret. I will be quite generous."
"Well then, in that case, I will just have to make her my Primary Spouse, now won't I, so she can keep her Princess title." A voice called out from one side of the room.
Mira's eyes widened.
Erick Rashak!
Standing by her side, Zander Tamein gently laughed.
Check mate.
Erick Rashak walked into the room with all the elegance of a limping duck.
His elegant purple jacket was gone, his muddy teal hair hung in matted dreads, and his inner robes were filthy and covered with blood. He was leaning on Daran, but his grin was wide.
He came closer to Mira, his eyes traveling up and down her body.
"Woman, don't you dare leave me like that again!" And without warning, he grabbed her into a tight bear hug that nearly knocked her over. "I've been going crazy sick with worry about you!" He whispered gruffly into her ear.
Within seconds, Zander had wedged himself between Mira and Erick, and with a strength that he normally downplayed, he grabbed Erick by the neck and threw him across the room.
"Have some respect, cousin. She is my wife." Zander's voice was gentle, but fingers flexed and unflexed. He looked as if he wanted to do more, but was restraining himself.
Erick Rashak crawled back up on his hands and knees, grinning like a wolf. "Didn't you hear my Royal Father, the Emperor saying that he was going to send out a royal edict of your impending marriage with…" he glanced around until he saw the Princess Celestia Zaravan, standing with a shocked expression on her face, "...with that pretty 'exchangeling'?"
Princess Celestia Zaravan's face blanched white.
Mira didn't know what an exchangeling was, but it was most likely a word that did not have the English equivalent. She made a mental note to ask Zander what it meant when she got the chance. At the moment, however, things were starting to heat up.
Erick's laughter rang out, filling the entire room. He turned to the Emperor with a piercing gaze. "Good evening, Father. Are you happy to see me?"
"Of--of course, you crazy fool. Where have you been this past few weeks?" The Emperor spat.
"Where have I been?" Erick Rashak slowly stood up on his legs, and faced down his father. "I have been on the run, trying to save my sorry life, after your precious third son poisoned me, tried to skewer me with his sword, and then when he failed to stick the sword in, he sent hundreds of his goons after me."
"Erick…" the Emperor blinked and raised a pacifying hand. "I--I am well aware of what's been happening within the last few weeks. I have dealt with him in a fitting manner, and I can assure you that this will not happen again."
"How are you going to assure me? Kill off the rest of your sons so they don't get any ideas?"
"Erick, are you mad???" The Emperor hissed.
"I was very badly poisoned, Father. I nearly died." His handsome face turned dark with rage.
"But by the grace of the Gods, you are well and alive. You should thank the lucky stars!" The Emperor raised his hands upward, as if to thank the heavens.
"It was hardly by the grace of the Gods. It was by the grace of those two standing over there!" He pointed towards Zander and Mira. "My cousin used his magik to send me to a safe realm, and my alchemist healer, soon-to-be wife cured me of the poison that was in my body. I owe them my life!"
"If you owe me your life, you'd be repaying me well by leaving my wife alone." Zander interjected.
"I may owe you my life, but not at the loss of my wife. My wife is my life!"
"Erick, I will not repeat myself. Mira is my wife."
"Correction, my dear cousin. She is MY wife. I refuse to allow such a precious woman as Mira to become some...'ANCILLARY WIFE'!" Erick spat the last words in disgust.
"She has never been, and will never be an ancillary wife," Zander glared at him.
"You're damn right, because she will be MY PRIMARY WIFE, and since I don't plan on having more than one wife, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for her to be an ancillary wife!"
"Your primary wife is over there!" Zander pointed at Princess Celestia Zaravan. "She traveled all this way to marry you, and now that you've returned, everything is as it should be."
Erick grinned wickedly. "You will be served a royal edict tomorrow morning, my dear cousin. Enjoy your new wife, because I will be enjoying mine."
As the two princes argued back and forth, Princess Celestia Zaravan's face grew paler and paler. Her eyes grew large, and tears of rage and embarrassment began to spill onto her cheeks.
Mira felt a bit sorry for the Princess. They were throwing her back and forth like some tar baby because neither of them wanted her. She had been turned into a laughing stock.
Choking back a sob, Princess Celestia Zaravan gathered her skirts and ran from the room.
"Celestia!" A voice called out. It was Zander's mother. She watched the Princess's retreating back with a pained expression.
Then she turned back to the two men who looked as if they were ready to rumble on the floor.
"This is most unbecoming. You both are princes of Ashrya. Where is your decorum?" She paused and took a deep breath. "Let us all stop everything here, and pick it back up tomorrow morning. I'm sure things will seem clearer in the light of a new day."
And with that, the royal families dispersed for the night.
Once Mira and Zander were back in the carriage, she thought he would explain a few things to her, but the silence grew between them, stretching outward until it became almost unbearable.
There was the royal edict, the ancillary wife situation, his parents, the Princess Celestia Zaravan, and then of course, there was the strange reappearance of Erick Rashak. How did he even get back?
What was even more puzzling was the fact that the two men were loudly fighting over her, despite the fact that they had only known her for a little over a week. It was the strangest thing Mira had ever experienced.
Mira did not know where to begin, and she did not want to initiate the conversation since she had no idea what his bugbears were.
It was only when she got back to her room that she realized the beautiful white gown Zander gave her had been irreparably ruined.
At the moment when Erick had crushed her into his arms, all the mud and blood on his body had transferred over to the white dress. There was no way to remove the grime and gore.
The handmaidens took the ruined dress away and helped her into a white nightgown, and then they took their leave.
Alone in the bedroom, Mira slipped under the sheets and tried to sleep.
She turned this way. She turned that way. Back and forth, and back again.
Ugh.
She got up and padded out of the room.
The hallway was dark, but it didn't matter because Mira knew exactly where she was going. There was a light shining under the crack of the doorway on the opposite side of the hallway. It had to be Zander's room.
She knocked on the door, and then waited with bated breath.
It did not take long for the door to open. Zander poked his head out.
"Mira? Is everything alright?"
"Um...are you by yourself?"
Zander raised a quizzed eyebrow. "Who else would I be with, at this time of night?"
"Zander, I can't sleep. Can I hang out with you for awhile?"
He stood there for a moment, not saying a word, and then he reached out and pulled her in.