It Was a Dream

It Was a Dream
Maddie

After washing the crying stains out of my pillowcase, I hang it up on the shower curtain rod and step into the living room area of my suite. Ellie is still not back from wherever she went. I’d love to have her to talk to right now, but she probably had to go help some of the other staff members or something. I can’t take up all of her time, after all. There’s a lot to be done in a place as big as this castle.

I take a quick bath, changing into a simple dress from my wardrobe suitable for sitting around in my room. I don’t need anything fancy for that.  

I pick up a book I’d been reading from the side table, but all I can do is just stare at the same paragraph. I try to read it carefully, line by line, but none of it really sticks in my mind. I end up going back, reading the first sentence again, but it’s useless. All I can do is think of all those awful words April said. I try to put it out of my mind, going back to the top of the paragraph again.

This goes on for a while before I decide it’s just too much, shutting the book and setting it down.

It’s crazy, all the thoughts running through my mind. I keep going back to the kiss.... Good Goddess, it was the most amazing kiss I’ve ever had. Well, it’s the only real kiss I’ve ever had, but something tells me it was so much more magical than an ordinary first kiss because of the mate bond.

That thought makes my heart soar, but then it takes me to dark places.

There is no way I can be mated to the heir to the Alpha King’s throne. It’s simply unheard of for the royal family to be related to anyone who is not of noble blood. The women mated to princes are daughters of Alphas, not farmers.

Then, my mind goes darker, playing all those words of April back through it. She called me horrible names. She said I’m a whore who wants to sleep with Prince Zachariah for money. I honestly can’t say she’s wrong. Not the whore part. I’m not a whore. I’m a virgin, and I’ve never even been kissed romantically until after lunch today.

But technically, I came here because the Crown offered compensation to my parents: the healer for Cindy, a farmhand for them, or at least enough money to hire someone to help them.

So... I don’t know what I should think about that.

A sudden, loud knock at the door startles me so badly I jump. At first, I think it might be Ellie. But why would Ellie knock? Oh, my Goddess... it must be Prince Zachariah!

There’s no time for makeup or changing my clothes or even doing anything about my hair. The knock comes again, so I have no choice but to open it. If it’s the prince, he’ll just have to see me the way I am after a long episode of crying.

I take a deep breath as I turn the knob, trying to think of what to say to him. But when I open the door, I’m not greeted with sapphire blue eyes. Instead, four royal guardsmen push their way past me into the room.

“Pack your things,” one of them says gruffly. “The Alpha King has ordered you out of the castle immediately.”

“I... what?” My hands tremble as I try to meet his gaze. “There must be some mistake. I-I’ve been chosen by the prince as his breeder. I’m supposed to stay here and—”

“Do not disobey the Alpha King!” he hollers. “Get whatever things belong to you now, or we’re dragging you out with nothing!”

My breath gets choked up in my throat, and all I can do is nod. I turn and head to the bedroom, expecting the men to wait there, but they all follow me. My heart thunders as I open the wardrobe.

But almost none of this is mine. I can’t take these beautiful gowns. What use would they be on a farm? There’s nothing here that’s mine except the patched-up dresses I brought here and the one I wore for the trip to the castle. I take them off the hangers and reach for the bag my mother made me out of bed sheets, loading that up with the dresses. I pull my underclothes out of the drawer discreetly, since these men are staring at me.

The only thing left to get is my hairbrush and the few grooming supplies I brought, and those are in the bathroom.

“That’s everything,” I tell the men after retrieving the items. “Are you sure he wanted me out? I was talking to Prince Zachariah earlier, and he said—”

“This is the order of the Alpha King!” the man barks at me. “You’re leaving now.”

I nod again, my words pushed back down my throat, and take one last look around before following him out the door.

I wish I’d been able to say goodbye to Ellie. I don’t know where she is, and I certainly can’t mind-link her. I really don’t think these men would pass on a message even if I dared to ask, which I won’t.

All I can do is follow them through the unfamiliar, fancy hallways, down the stairs, and out the front door of the castle.

In the courtyard, a carriage awaits. It’s not as fancy as the one that picked me up and brought me here—no jeweled windows, no plush seating—but the wheels are polished to a shine like the other one. I grab the handrail and hoist myself up, settling down on the padded bench.

The seat across from me is empty. There’s no polite Mr. Price or, thankfully, gruff Miss Thunderwave to escort me back home, just the driver and my empty heart.

The carriage leaves as soon as the guards slam my door shut. In just moments, I’m outside the gates, rolling down the streets of Crystonia.

I only keep the curtains open a crack to look outside and watch the city go by. I imagine every single person I see looking at me with disgust as the failed breeder, the fool who tried to reach too close to the sun, who dared to think the prince of Crystal Waters was actually his fated mate as chosen by the Moon Goddess.

I was so foolish.

What a silly dream to imagine I was actually someone important. How selfish of me to think that a love that great was given to me by the Goddess, of all the shifters in the kingdom.

I’m just a farmer’s daughter. Maddie the Plain. Maddie the Useless.

Well, that’s not altogether true. I’m not useless to my family. I’ll go back there and help them. I’ll do my best to earn my keep.

I miss them all so much, after all.



It’s been hours, I think, since the golden rays of sunset shone over the fields. Every time I glance out of the curtains, I see nothing but glittering stars and the faintest sliver of moonlight.

My stomach growls, and I realize I haven’t eaten since lunch. We must be close to the town by now, the one where we spent the night in the inn on the way to the castle.

The driver has barely made a sound outside of a few grunts and what I think are several spits toward the side of the road. I really don’t want to ask. The horse’s hooves make muted clicks on the dirt road, their occasional snorts very close to the sounds the driver makes.

“Excuse me,” I say , pulling apart the curtains on the window that separates the interior carriage with the driver. There isn’t any obvious way to open the window itself, but the glass is so thin, I’m sure he can hear me.

There’s no response, other than what I am now positive is spitting over to the side of the narrow road.

“Sir, please,” I beg him. “It’s getting late. Will we be reaching the inn soon?”

He chortles but does not turn around. “Lady, we ain’t stoppin’ at no inn. The Alpha King ordered me to ride straight through.”

Even if I were in a position to argue, I can’t argue with orders from the Alpha King. “Will we stop for food at least?” I ask.

“You got money, lady?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then we ain’t stoppin’.” He spits again, then adds, “Got a bag of jerky under the back seat.”

I nod, even though he can’t possibly see me while facing forward, and close the curtain so that I don’t have to watch him spit every five minutes, then I turn to examine the seat in front of me.

It seems to be solid all the way to the floor, with no storage area underneath. But a little exploring of the seat cushion tells me it lifts up, so I slide my fingers just under the cushion and find the latch.

A small leather canteen and a burlap sack are the only supplies in the surprisingly large storage space underneath. Bringing them out and setting back into my seat, I take a sip of water and pull out a small stick of beef jerky. It’s hard to bite any off, but it’s food, and I’ll take it.

My eyelids start to feel heavy, so I take one last sip of water and step over to the back seat, trying to get as far away from the driver and his spitting as I can. I don’t know how he’s able to stay up all night, but the ache in me is getting heavier the farther we get from the castle and Prince Zachariah.

So, I lay down, curling my legs up in the small space.

This was all a dream. It must have been. No one ever came for me. My mother never cried. I never stood in a line in the castle ballroom while the prince looked us over to choose a breeder.

And he never chose me. He never kissed me. I never felt the ribbon of connection that was... everything.

When I wake up, I’ll be home in my room with Katy, and nothing will have changed.