The Black Kingdom hadn't been this beautiful, forget about its jaw dropping landmarks and location, the people were happy, after all today was their beloved princess's wedding, it was sad that after the marriage she will have to leave with her new husband and family but they were also happy that she was marrying into the Ice Kingdom, though not as rich and prosperous like her kingdom, it was still a rich place, despite the ice, the princess can make it a home. The whole kingdom was decorated in happy colours, the people dressed in their best clothes ready to attend the wedding, hours before the auspicious time the huge wedding hall was already flooded with guests, from all over the world both far and near and just to witness the marriage of Batya from the Black Kingdom and Allister Snow from the Ice Kingdom. Of course merchants also used this as an opportunity to trade, many fine fabrics were sold and bought in preparation for the great feast. Every merchant in whatever business they were in benefited from the great preparation.
***
In a room at the East Wing of the great castle were mother and son. Allister stood proud and strong in his well fitted wedding suit. The white and gold suit matched well with his straight white hair, standing in the mirror he was dissatisfied with his looks...
"Is she worth getting this well prepared for?",.. the dry tone of the Ice queen asked with hidden malice. Allister just had no idea why his mother couldn't be happy for him, he was getting married to the woman that he loves, for years he had tried to understand her hidden rage for the Black Kingdom and especially for its queen Meredith, he couldn't count the number of times he had asked for the reason behind this hatred for a very innocent looking person, in his opinion the Black Queen has always been innocent, whatever she did in the past she did it to protect her home, her family. She is a great healer and powerful with a sword, in fact if he dared to think of it, she was far more powerful than his mother, and she stood proud and powerful beside her husband the Great Black King Reagan, together they made a power couple. Could this be one of the reasons why his mother hated her so much? Queen Meredith has so far supported him in his pursuit of Batya more than his own mother had, she encouraged him to do his best and just focus on learning his trade as an apprentice to take the throne and prepare to take the throne after his mother, when others had advised him to eliminate his brother to make him more eligible, that queen had advised him against the idea and rather built up his confidence, he won the battle with his brother and truly was able to become the crown prince. He was happy such woman was trusting him with her only daughter to protect for the rest of her life and he was truly honored, no matter what he won't let her down.
***
'Accept Batya?' over her dead body, thought Akhasha the ice queen, the fresh breeze blew across her cheek and she closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling, this was one of the reasons why she hated Meredith, the chance to breath in fresh air void of cold breeze she had everything, a powerful and loving husband, four great sons who could on their own handle a dozen soldiers without fret and the most beautiful girl she had ever laid eyes on as daughter and to top it a great and prosperous kingdom and loving people to call hers, and her what has she got, a kingdom of ice to rule with people constantly demanding for stupid things like security against rogues and bandits, she had stupid sons and the only one she had hope in also had to fall for her greatest rival's daughter, truly she is cursed. A drunkard for a husband king at an early age, she had no hope of enjoying the future that she had been picturing all her life as a youth, to her marrying Jeremiah the late king of the Ice Kingdom had been an opportunity for her, a life of wealth and relaxation and she thought she could finally win over her with her status as queen where as she was just a servant girl in the black kingdom then, when she had married the king, she could remember how much she had mocked her till she had had gotten into the carriage and left with her husband to her new home, but she had been mistaken, that bright future she dreamt of, never came to be, her husband was nothing but a drunk and a womanizer, her mother always told her the ways of the snow people were different from theirs in the black kingdom and so it was okay for her husband to have a concubine or two, oh but how her mother had been wrong and she hated her for that. Not warning her about the jealousy and loneliness you get to feel when your husband is away in bed with another woman and he was so shameless about it, oh how nice it had been when he had drunk himself stupor one night and fell to his death, she remembered how she stood watching as he breathed his last breath. The kingdom was hers to rule and she did a great job, eliminating all those women who had the nerve to roll with the king and laughed at her in the face with it, and she had gathered an army huge enough to conquer a kingdom, joining hands with the other two kingdoms, they promised to shared whatever was remained of the Black kingdom after its defeat, but she had got it wrong, her friend had married Reagan and she remembered how mighty he looked when he stood at the frontline with his army defending his kingdom, they had lost brutally, that had been the Great War, she had suffered a lot, lost both men and resources, she had to swallow her pride and sign the peace treaty and to make it firm and trusting it had been sealed with a marriage, where her son could marry any first daughter of the black king. For years she thought it had be impossible until Batya came along, but she wasn't entirely unsupportive of the union, she had her plans, and in the end the Black Kingdom will be in her hands. She smiled and closed her eyes breathing in the fresh air, ah no cold.
Allister nearly toppled over his chair when he saw his mother smile he didn't know the woman could smile, normally she had on a cold face and gave off an icy aura. Never mind his mother, he grabbed his hair, not knowing what to do with it, he signaled for his stylist and asked her to do something with it, in the end it was settled for a single huge braid that rested neatly on his back, he loved it.
***
Batya ignored the anxious feeling she felt growing in her stomach, she threw up twice already and her nervousness was finally noticed, this was the same girl who couldn't wait to get married and now here she was, a nervous wreck. But Batya knew that all this started when she had almost drowned yesterday in the stream and also worse what she had seen in the stream.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself, she wouldn't let that girl; wherever she came from ruin her day, this was her happiest day and she was to enjoy every bit of it, but looking at herself in the mirror and seeing her gorgeous gown she couldn't help but recap on what the girl had said, 'you cursed bride', cursed? She didn't mean to say that she, Batya of the Black Kingdom, daughter of mighty King Reagan and beautiful Queen Meredith. Maybe she was mistaken, but who had burnt her face to that extent? She looked horrible with scar on, anybody will be afraid of her should they see her. Oh cut it out, she doesn't even know if the girl is dead or alive or who she was and yet she had enough strength to worry about her when she was fighting for nerve control.
"You look beautiful darling"…her mother said placing her crown on her head, proclaiming her status as the princess of the Black Kingdom, the queen also wore hers, for today they were all officially dressed for the wedding of their daughter and they will celebrate each moment with her. Meredith liked the simplicity of the gown, she had specially ordered the seamstress for the best gown or she will have her head and to be frank she had done a great job, she should reward a few more gold coins, the bodice was just perfect, it didn't give her a nunnery look nor a harlot's look, it captured and held her bountiful chest firmly. It held her midriff and cascaded down her feet in huge beautiful layers adorned with golden decorations. Truly, she was jealous of her daughter's slender and curvy figure, it made her look beautiful in anything she wears, she precisely warned the seamstress about body hugging dresses for her daughter, she didn't want hungry eyes of merchant feasting off of her. She is pretty, Meredith was proud, Batya was no longer the little girl she has been chasing around the castle for many years, she was a woman and soon to start a family of her own. Meredith dismissed the maids and sat her daughter down on the stool, she went ahead to gather her golden hair in her hand and worked it up in a messy bun, holding it together with flowery hair pins, the jeweler called it the new trend. It was after she was done with her handiwork that she saw the mark on her nape, Meredith paused for a bit and looked carefully at the mark, that was a curse mark, she couldn't be mistaken, the three black dots circling each other was indeed a curse mark, but where was this from, if Batya had this before she would have known. This was worrying, a curse mark on her daughter, who put it there? For how long has she had it?
"Battie, where did you get this?" she asked gently not trying to scare the girl, if it a curse mark like she believed it was then this a huge problem.
The princess touched her neck, lightly and looked at her mother in the mirror, she told her the story of what had happened at the stream.
"And you woke up with this on?"
"Yes mother, I only saw it this morning"
"Was that why you asked the maids out when you took the bath? Darling, can you describe the face of the girl you saw, is she from this kingdom?"
"No, she only had this burnt mark on her face"…strange, a girl with a burnt mark? Who could it be? Strong enough to mark her daughter with a curse, what curse was it even? She tried not to panic before the girl she dismissed the issue and asked if it hurt, when she shook her head no, she knew she was lying, something happened in that stream far beyond what Batya thought had happened, why didn't Caden report any of this events? Reagan needs to know about this and then she will tell Marvel, that old scum has been lazy enough, her daughter was not leaving this kingdom with that mark on her, even it means going against that hateful Akhasha.
"Stay here, I will call Eve in to give you company, don't tell anyone about that mark do you understand, I will be back….and for the mean time….let your hair down", with that her mother left the room. It was after she left that Batya winced and touched the throbbing mark, it was painful, and she felt like her inside was burning. Her mother tried not to panic in her presence but she had seen it in her eyes, Queen Meredith who was never afraid of anything looked afraid today when she saw that mark on her, she didn't know where it came from, she only woke up with that burning sensation at her nape and she found this on her skin. Was it that serious, was she the 'cursed bride' like that girl had called her?
***
Marvel hasn't slept since Caden told him what he had saw at the stream, not when he knew it was that witch Lilith, throughout the night he thought of the reason for her soul retuning to this world, for what reason will she show her presence in the Black Kingdom? He was still reading the ancient scribes of the life of Lilith when the king barged in with his wife, the looks on their faces alarmed him. He stood up and silently asked what the problem was. The helpless couple waited for a solution when he was told the reason for their unannounced visit.
"What does that mean Marvel is Batya….."
"Cursed? No she is the carrier of a curse"…he replied siting down, he was exhausted. "Caden reported an event to me last night and it was alarming, I didn't understand it until now"…
"So you are telling me, my daughter Batya is cursed and by the description of the mark it was done by a dead witch and she is back from the death after centuries of rotten in hell just make sure this curse manifests? Does it make sense to you Marvel, how could a girl who had never ventured out of this kingdom bare the mark of a curse when she hasn't even encountered a witch in her life, when she had wronged no one for such fate to befall on her. What the hell are you saying, are you getting too old for this position as the kingdom's mediator that you are making up stories?",.. Reagan was angry. Meredith squeezed his hands, they were shaking, she had tears on her eyes that threatened to fall…what did their little girl do to deserve such fate?
"Your Majesties, when I came to a solid conclusion after a lot of researching, it wasn't easy for me to come up with something like this, this could mean a bad fate await Batya, this could mean she could live the rest of her life in eternal torment…"
"You said she is the carrier of a curse, but she is not cursed?" Reagan asked gently this time and his anger has dissipated.
"She is not cursed like a said…"
"But she bears the mark of a curse"….wailed Meredith softly…she let her tears flow, it was just too much, her daughter was getting married few hours from now, the wedding hall has guests coming all over from the four kingdoms and beyond and this misfortune had to fall on her on this day, on her most important day?
"Why did Lilith curse her?"
"I have no idea, but something bad must have happened, something about weddings…why didn't she appear all this time? Why wait till she was getting married?"
"Then is it revenge?"
"Could be, she cursed someone in the past and Batya is paying for the consequence"….
"Who are we to consult on a matter like this, we don't even know her real parents, to us she has always been our daughter, when I found her left for death to a pack of hungry wolves, I didn't even think twice and took her, she became mine from then on, she became my daughter, I didn't think I will need to look into her past one day, and wonder who had done that to her, tried to kill her"….said Meredith sorrowfully, Reagan hugged her, Batya has always been their weakness, their little stubborn daughter.
"You said Lilith is here to make sure the curse is manifested right?"
"You are right"
"That means she is not 'cursed' yet?"
"Exactly your highness…." As if finally getting the point, Marvel made a call, all witches, wizards and warlocks in the kingdom were to stand guard, battle formation and prevent Lilith from entering the kingdom, if she is stopped from seeing to the manifestation of this curse then the princess will be safe. The king and queen with new found hope excused the wizard and went to prepare for a battle of their own.
But even as Marvel made this preparation he knew it was useless but it was better than losing hope, if the devil had a wife, she will be Lilith.