You can do this.

It's your first announcement as Prince.

The most important one you'll make.

“Good afternoon,” I called loudly from the front steps of the castle, Zarian, Alaric, Antoni, Leon, and Chevalier behind me, “as you have been aware, I'm Prince Ezra Nouvelle. I understand that I've hidden from all of you for a year and a half. You have my deepest apologies. I had to remember Nouvelle before I could face all of you,” I gently wiped my hands on my pants doing my best to hide how nervous I was, “there are a few things I want to tell all of you. First, we have gained entire control of Serce. After helping the loyalists rise up and drive off Alanin, Prince Leon will now be the Duke of Serce alongside his fiances Princess Hortencia and Lady Peregrine,” I gestured to the three of them as a cheer ripped through the crowd.

“Prince Ezra!” A loud voice called and I looked into the crowd to find a man I knew to be the blacksmith, “we can't take someone else's land. Prince Zarian could return at any point and want his home back.”

“He is home already. We kept his appearance a secret from you all until he was healed,” I turned and Zarian walked to my side, his red cape fluttering gently atop bright gold robes, “Zarian is no longer the Prince of Serce. Rather, he is now Lord Zarian of Nouvelle. Captain of trade and commerce.”

“Thank you,” Zarian nodded politely, addressing the crowd, “I am so very grateful to know that anyone was wondering when I would return to the land. I was kept in Alanin for many years. I know that most gossip doesn't reach Nouvelle from Serce. But I did not return to you all alone. While held captive, I was forcefully impregnated. However, I love my daughter more than myself. Lady Sidra,” he smiled at Sidra and she waved happily, giggling as she adjusted her dress, “she is three. Next to her is Princess Celeste, daughter of Prince Ezra and brought to Nouvelle from the Land of Reason.”

Celeste carefully walked down the stairs with Sidra and took my hand, staring into the crowd who waved at them, the joy palpable in the crowd, “Hi. I'm Princess Celeste. I'm 6 now. It was safe for me to hide for a long time. I'm a healer. One day I'll be a doctor and possibly the future queen. Thank you,” she ran back to Chevalier, taking Sidra with her and my heart swelled with pride for my daughters.

“I would like to introduce two more members of the government in Nouvelle. The first will be entirely familiar to all of you as he is regularly in the village visiting with all of you. Lord Antoni,” I nodded and he came to stand next to Zarian, adjusting the sleeves of his robes, a deep midnight blue that caused the yellow of his hair to stand out, “Antoni is now our main contact with all of you. He is also my right hand. My advisor. The final is Alaric,” I smiled and he did his best to walk slowly to my side, every piece of him full of energy and nerves. We had practiced walking and talking properly over the last six months but Alaric wanted to be the forest fae he truly was and I regularly found him napping near Antoni's old cottage under trees, “he was the one to lead the uprising in Serce. He has been a phenomenal spy on Alanin and Serce when they were still under siege. We have gained knowledge of their intentions due to him. However, Alaric has asked to stay in Nouvelle with us. I accepted this as did King Chevalier. He is now Lord Alaric and will be helping with agriculture and water safety. He has been for a while now, helping to keep the local crops alive in farms and checking the wells and water ways. Secretly, of course. He has only been here for six months with us. Now, there is one last thing I just say. As you may be aware, I'm 27 and set to be the next king of Nouvelle. I am unmarried. No, I'm not opening that up to anyone,” I laughed, making everyone smile, “for we will be having two royal weddings in Nouvelle in the next six months. The first will be Prince Leon, Princess Hortencia, and Lady Peregrine. Once their marriage is complete, they will move to the castle in Serce. It’s nearly rebuilt. The second is mine. To Lord Antoni, Lord Zarian, and Lord Alaric. I am aware that most royal marriages are two people. However, I have given my heart and soul to the three men standing at my side and we swear to continue to lead Nouvelle to prosperity.”

“But where are they from?” The blacksmith called again, pointing at Alaric and Antoni, “you're not marrying into Alanin, right?”

“Of course he's not,” Antoni smiled, shaking his head, “Alaric and I are from the same island. Appanolia. We're both half fae. Alaric is forest based, able to grow plants and clear water with no issues as well as communicate with animals. I focus on object manipulation and destruction. I'm telekinetic, able to move things with a thought. During the first battle here in Nouvelle, I destroyed the castle and sent the remaining soldiers from Alanin away. I also repaired it. I'm rebuilding the castle in Serce but it takes me a long time or I'll die from using all of my energy. Both Alaric and I have given up our long mortality to spend the remainder of our lives with Prince Ezra. He is worth that to us, as Lord Zarian. We truly hope that you will attend the weddings. They'll be held on the palace grounds and open to all of you. Our citizens who we care for deeply and swear to keep working toward a brighter future for.”

“And what of Alanin?” An elder woman called, “are there any plans?”

“Yes,” nodding, I crossed my arm and bowed deeply, “but please understand why we must keep them closely guarded. Lady Sidra has already been kidnapped once. We can't risk that happening again. With everything said, an announcement for the wedding dates will be sent out to all of you in a few months. I hope to see you there. Food and drink will be provided by the castle of course. Thank you for your time today. Should you need anything, please communicate that the way we normally do and one of us will handle it. Have a wonderful day, stay true, and know that you are safe in Nouvelle.”

We turned and headed into the castle, locking the main doors behind us and I groaned, lying on the cool marble floor face down.

“How very unprincely you are,” Robin called from somewhere and I grumbled, groaning at a weight on my back that I recognized as Alaric, Sidra, and Celeste, “but that was a lovely announcement. You did well.”

“Why are you here?” I muttered, raising my head.

“Mads was bringing all of the wedding clothes he's been making, I had to help. There's a lot. He needs everyone to try them on and let him make adjustments. You'll find yours in your chambers. Princess Celeste and Lady Sidra, Ms. Morgan and Ms. Aneira will assist you with yours. You all have two. You'll know based on color which wedding it is for.”

“Do you do all white here?”

“God no that would get filthy!” Mads gasped, “no no no. Blue for you and blue for Lee.”

“He uses the national colors for each kingdom. So you and Leon will wear midnight blue and silver,” Robin pointed to me, “Red and Zarian will be in gold and burgundy. Alaric and Antoni will be in yellow and white. Those are for when you are the ones getting married. Everyone not being married on the day will wear soft blue to stay in the background. Except Chevalier who will wear the robes he married Queen Clarissa in. It's tradition. When your children marry, you'll wear your wedding clothes again.”

“It's so confusing. I need a nap.”

Alaric laughed from his spot on my back and softly kissed the rim of my ear, “go on lazy butt. We all need to get them on. But no peeking. It dooms the marriage.”

“That's a folktale in the Land of Reason but I get the feeling things like that are true to Nouvelle and I'd never risk my life with you three. Fine. But I can't get up until you and the girls move.”

Alaric grumbled and climbed off of me before lifting both Celeste and Sidra who squealed loudly. I jumped to my feet and stretched, kissing Zarian and Antoni before hugging Alaric and kissing his forehead.

Heading up the stairs to my chamber, I felt all of the tension release from my shoulders and smiled, pride from today filling my heart.

“Oh,” I whispered as soon as I laid eyes on both of the outfits on my bed.

The first was a suit made entirely of silver fabric, glittering gently in the sunlight from my windows. It was incredibly ostentatious but the midnight blue cape laying under the suit helped to balance it, all of it tight. I carefully pulled the suit on, clasping the robe around my throat before turning to the mirror and smiling, admiring myself. I continued to wear it as I made my way over to the second outfit, this one a simple set of sky blue robes and a pair of white pants. There was nothing over the top about it and I smiled, knowing that Mads was trying to ensure that the people getting married were the focus of the day, not the family around them.

A soft knock came from the door and I looked over to find Mads poking his head into my room, “hey you.”

“Oh so pretty. Yes yes yes,” Mads giggled, hopping over to me, “oh too big,” clicking his tongue as he adjusted the row of buttons down the front of my vest, his magic immediately tightening them how he wanted, “spin.”

I turned my back to him and he gently pressed his hand to my spine, “too big there too?”

“No. Too small,” Mads sighed, “I really don't like how it's fitting back here but I'm unsure how to fix it without unraveling it.”

My voice froze and I turned around to look into his eyes, startling myself. For the first time in the many years I had known Mads his eyes were no longer two different colors. Instead, they were both a soft brown and I continued to stare, confusion on his face as well.

“Why are you staring?”

“What is going on? I've known you since we were children. Your eyes are always black and white.”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat and looked away, “it wasn't just Myran that snapped my brain. I'm not sure why, but every night I come back to myself. To the man I was before the pain. It's always been like this. When the suns start to set, I become Oleano. That's all. I don't mind being called Mads but it does hurt a little. I don't want to be this way.”

I wiped a tear away and pulled him into a hug, “I am so sorry. It's just odd for me. I'm used to you talking in riddles and jumping around.”

“I know. But that's not who I really am. Robin had every right to leave me after what happened. But he knows this happens, we've been together since we were kids. So he takes care of me until the sun's set and I make it up to him in the evenings. I'm sorry you've never seen this side of me. We've been friends so long, I always wanted to tell you. I'm proud of you and I'm glad you're home. I missed you, Ezra.”

“Oh I missed you too. But you should know I care about you regardless of which version is standing in front of me. In fact,” I let him go and went behind the partition, changing back into my normal clothes before heading into the hallway, knocking gently on every chamber door and summoning Zarian, Alaric, and Antoni to me, “I want to ask a favor.”

“You're lucky we all changed already,” Zarian grumbled, “what is it?”

“I want to have our wedding in the evening. After sunset.”

“Huh? Why?”

Oleano slowly came from my chamber and wrung his hands, clearly having heard what I was saying, “Prince Ezra. It's your wedding. You don't need to do this.”

“You're my best friend. Of course I do.”

“Oh. You're sundowning,” Antoni smiled, “wait. Has Ezra never seen this?”

“No. I've never been around him in the evening. I didn't want to confuse him,” Oleano chewed his lip, “he would have been confused as a child.”

“True. I understand now. I'm okay with a night wedding. It's very us. We got engaged at night after all. Antoni? Alaric?”

“Absolutely,” Antoni nodded.

“Whatever you guys want I'm okay with. I was wondering why you kept changing your sentences when you were fixing my outfit,” Alaric laughed.

“Ah yeah you were caught up in the change. It can be startling if you're not used to it. I'm going to finish fixing Prince Ezra's outfit then head home. I was a bit out of control earlier and I know I hurt Robin's feelings. So I should go and love him for the rest of the night so he doesn't leave me.”

“You've been a couple for nearly 15 years. If he hasn't left yet, he's not going to now,” I clapped Oleano on the back and he nodded with a smile, going into my chamber, “I was not prepared for that. His eyes changed.”

“He's cursed,” Alaric whispered and we all turned to him, “that's what it is. Antoni, you can sense it can't you?”

“Yeah. Yeah I can,” Antoni sighed, “but it's not something I can remove. If I had known when he was a child I might have been able to then. But it's too much of him now. If I remove the hex from his heart, it'll kill him.”

“Hex?” Zarian gasped as Alaric nodded slowly.

“Yeah. I'm not really sure what kind though. My best guess would be someone tried to split him as a child. Into two people. It takes an incredibly powerful mage to do so though. Someone who is deeply twisted. A normal person, even with magic and the right texts, wouldn't have been able to. They would have snapped him into two different people trapped in one body. That's my guess.”

“His parents separated when he was a baby…” I whispered, “but they fought over him. Oh no…”

“His father won?”

“Yes. So his mother…”

“Yes.”

I sniffled but shook my head, rolling my shoulders, “he doesn't seem to care too much. He knows how to make things right with Robin on days he's a bit out of control. If it's not ruining his life, if he's truly happy this way, then we have to be.”

“You're a good friend,” Alaric kissed between my shoulders and I reached back to tangle my hand in his hair, “can you believe it's almost time to get married?”

“Six months,” smiling, I pulled Antoni and Zarian to me, my arms tight around them as Alaric wrapped his around my waist, “then we can finally sleep in the same room, be alone together without a chaperone. It's weird not being able to. We're adults.”

“It's just common courtesy to ensure babies aren't born out of wedlock. Do you want to spend another three weeks atoning?” Antoni laughed and I pinched his side, “ow!”

“Don't be a shit. Let's go see our girls. They could use time with their dad's.”

“Absolutely.”