Aurora. I tested the name in my mind and was surprised at how much I liked it.
"What does it mean?" I asked.
"It means 'dawn aura' which translates in my language to 'evening beauty'."
I hid my smile in the pillow. "Thank you, I really like it."
"If you don't mind my asking, why were you given that name? Did your family know it means 'slave' in most languages?"
Before I could answer her, I felt her hand brush over where the slave mark was on my neck, and she froze. "What is that?"
I contemplated telling her, but something told me she already knew.
"It is the slave mark my family placed on me."
She scoffed. "Is that what they told you it was? This is no slave mark, my dear. This is a mark of the Fae, an insignia meant to act as a seal. Have you always had this?"
I nodded. "For as long as I can remember."
"This is something only a member of the Fae can lift, I'm afraid. They went into hiding hundreds of years ago when their species was attacked by Orcs. Much similar to Sirens, the blood of a Fae carries many magical properties, but it is their hearts that most want."
"Their hearts?" I asked, appalled.
"Yes, the heart of a Fae creature isn't like any other. They are in the shape of precious jewels also known as 'soul stones' and they carry the very essence of a Fae's life. To anyone else, they are just expensive and rare jewels to sell on the black market. Just one of those stones could set up a commoner for life and then some."
I couldn't imagine being a part of a race that lives in constant fear of having their hearts stolen from them.
"So, how would one go about getting a Fae seal removed?" I asked.
Rosalyn frowned. "You would need to get a Fae to remove it, only they can."
In other words, it was hopeless to ever have it removed.
"Thank you, Rosalyn. You've done so much for me; I'll never forget this favour."
She waved me off. "Oh, please. I did this because I wanted to, and don't hesitate to ever call on me if things don't work out here," she said with a wink. "I suppose I should release the hound, now." She walked over to the door and opened it for Caspian.
He walked past her and straight toward the bed to look me over for any new injuries.
"I'll leave you to it," Rosalyn said and saw herself out.
"Did she do anything to you? Are your scars gone?" Caspian bombarded me.
I chuckled and turned around to show him my cleared back.
"Everything is fine, great actually. Rosalyn has bestowed me with a new name, Aurora. How does it sound?"
I was graced with the rare sight of Caspian's smile, and it was breathtaking. I wanted to bottle up the memory and stow it away for bad days.
"It suits you beautifully," he said. "We should celebrate and introduce you with your new name. What do you say to a debutante ball?"
My eyes widened. "Just for me? That's too much."
"You have yet to make your debut as the Luna Queen, and my wife."
My heart thumped painfully with the way he said, 'My wife' and I felt a ghost of a smile touch my lips. "If it is necessary, I can't say no then."
"I promise, it will be a short gathering. We just have to show up, say hi to a few people and you can retire to your room afterwards." He took my hand and kissed the back of it with pleading eyes.
"But what will I wear? I don't exactly have ballroom attire."
He smirked. "Leave that to me."
I never thought I'd live to see the day when I heard a man say that, but I myself had no idea what appropriate ballroom attire would be, so it's probably best for someone with experience of these events to pick my clothes.
Today is also the day where I start my tutoring. Most Queen Luna's are only educated in ways that benefit a ruler, knowing the ins and outs of all things a ruler should know when it comes to territories, allies and packs. But I will go beyond that and learn everything I need to function in high society.
Coming from a lower background, I was never educated alongside Magnus and Alaira. I was only given the bare minimum of speech and language skills, and a bit of mathematical tools to learn how to properly cook.
My first lesson was social etiquette, then it was history, and after that politics. It was going to be a busy morning, and I found myself oddly missing Caspian and often wondering what he was doing in those moments.
At the end of the day, I was happy to retire to my room, but I wasn't expecting Caspian to be waiting in there for me. He was holding what looked like two outfits, one of them a dress.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Our outfits for the ball, just arrived this afternoon. Try it on, we need to see if it fits." He brought over the dress and laid it out on the bed.
It's a deep royal blue ball gown with shoulder-length sleeves that hang off the side and is adorned in string pearls and sapphire gems, a similar colour to Caspian's eyes. The bedroom door opened, and a stark-looking woman walked in with a tape measurer and a notebook.
She brought me into the bathroom to change into the gorgeous dress and she got to work getting it sized to fit me perfectly. After she stuck a bunch of pins in what looked like random places, she stood back to admire her work.
"Now, let's show His Majesty what you look like," she beamed. It felt weird to hear others call Caspian by that title.
As I walked out of the bathroom, I gasped when I laid eyes on Caspian and the outfit he was dressed in. A similar deep royal blue colour and sapphire jewels adorned his attire.
I couldn't be more touched. He had got us matching outfits for the ball.
"You look beautiful, Aurora."
My heart fluttered as he said my new name. It sounded like honey dripping off his tongue and I couldn't love it more.
"Thank you, you have great taste."
He smiled, but it quickly faltered. "My aide just informed me that my mother will attend the ball. She would like to formally meet you."
'Oh, no.'