The Summer King and His Winter Bride-Chapter 27: Wedding Night
The doors to their chamber closed behind them with a quiet finality, sealing them in the dimly lit space that now belonged to them as husband and wife. The weight of expectation pressed against Caroline’s chest and it got heavier with each step she took into the room.
The air was thick with the scent of rose petals and citrus fruit and lingering embers from the hearth but it did little to ease the knot of nerves in her stomach.
Casimir stood a few steps away, he gazed at her as he sank into the bed. His eyes not leaving hers as she slowly reached for the delicate clasps of her gown. The dress came undone and the silk pooled at her feet in a whisper of surrender yet she hesitated. The firelight illuminated her bare skin, leaving its golden trail along her shoulders, her collarbone and her breasts. He observed the rapid rise and fall of her chest.
A queen should not falter or hesitate she mentally scolded herself, but tonight she was not a queen, she was merely a woman standing before a man she did not know well completely bare and vulnerable.
Casimir moved towards her slow and deliberate. His touch was gentle, a single calloused hand grazing her cheek, then slipping down her neck, her arm and finally down to the curve of her waist. His lips hovered over hers, testing and waiting for her to respond. There was no force, no urgency just a gentle warmth the kind she had not expected from him.
She exhaled and boldly allowed herself to lean into him and let him guide her to the bed. She wanted to forget for a moment that this was her duty for she had hoped it would have been a night of passion that they each felt strongly for the other.
His breath suddenly hitched and his grip on her tightened not from passion but something else. A shudder rippled through his body and a sharp pained gasp left his lips.
She barely had time to react before heat surged around them and not the comforting heat of the firelight this was wild and uncontrollable. The air crackled around them and suddenly the room lit up with fiery flames.
The flames then burst through the walls, running up the tapestries, consuming the curtains of the bedchamber at terrifying speed. Casimir’s body arched beneath her as though something inside him had snapped. His fevered skin burned against hers and she realized too late that this was no mere sickness. This was wild magic breaking free from his control.
He was setting the room ablaze.
"Casimir!" she gasped shaking him as his shone amber. He did not respond barely conscious now his body burning hotter by the minute beneath her touch. If she did nothing they would all die in this fire and the entire palace would be consumed.
Her instincts took over as she pressed her hands to his fevered skin and summoned every ounce of cold magic she possessed. Ice spread from her fingertips and tendrils of frost raced over his chest, arms, torso, and legs. To cool the fever as best as she could but it was not enough he was too strong and too far gone.
With her heart pounding she did the only thing she could.
She shifted her weight and struck him sharply across the temple. A choked sound escaped his lips before his body went limp beneath her. The flames roared at her for another heartbeat before they began to flicker out and finally snuff out entirely, leaving behind clouds of smoke and the scent of scorched silk.
The doors to their chambers burst open as Miranda stood there, wide eyed with six court healers at her side. Their horrified gazes darted from the smoldering remains of the room to where Caroline knelt naked over her unconscious husband, her bare skin flushed red with from the fire and the ice.
She barely noticed them as she pressed her trembling hands to his fevered chest as she summoned her magic willing the last remains of his fire magic to subside.
She had not expect this but neither had she wanted to leave him alone.
She wrapped her body around his to cool his fever as best as she could steadying him and holding him tight through the wreckage of their ruined wedding night.
"Don’t just stand there take him from her," Miranda ordered the healers.
They obeyed her command as they gently took him away from Caroline’s arms. They carried him into another bedchamber and sealed the doors shut.
Lady Miranda took off her royal robe and gently lifted it up and covered Caroline’s naked form. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Come, dear let us get some rest the worst of the night is over, promise me you will not mention what you saw to anyone else."
"I will not Lady Miranda," Caroline said quietly.
"I know I can trust you," Lady Miranda remarked before she guided her to another bedchamber for her to recover from the ordeal.
"I will send your ladies maids to prepare you for bed tonight, my apologies that your wedding night did not go as planned, Your Majesty."
"It was not your fault Lady Miranda," Caroline said.
"Still had you not been there he might have died tonight, we owe you much for saving our ruler," Lady Miranda said before bowing her head and leaving her alone in her chambers.
"Oh Casimir, I hope you recover darling," Caroline whispered as she got into a tub soaked with warm water and scented with lavender soap.
Her ladies maid massaged her shoulders to relive her of the stress of the night.
Once she stepped out of the water, they towel dried her and helped her into a night dress that was soft to the touch.
Caroline then sank into the sheets on her bed and as a head hit the pillow she fell asleep, tired from all her efforts in keeping him alive.
