Reckless Magic (28 page)

I was not sure if I even took the
whole monarchy thing seriously yet. It didn’t seem real and the
truth was, I had a hard time believing there was a king out there
that actually had authority over me. It was even harder to believe
that one day that king would be Kiran.

I rolled my eyes and began to rummage
through another section of clothes. I paused on a black strapless
dress I had worn to a funeral for one of Aunt Syl’s coworkers. The
dress was tight-fitting, but had a ruffle that started mid-thigh
and ended at the knee. To the funeral I wore a black, cardigan to
cover up my shoulders, but I could go without one for the dance. I
stomped my foot, frustrated, realizing that this date was the last
thing I wanted to do tonight.

I found it hard to believe that Kiran
was doing this with my best interest in mind. It seemed more like a
way to torment me more than anything else. A date with Talbott, who
completely lacked personality and didn’t like me anyways, all while
watching Seraphina Van Curen throw herself at Kiran sounded more
like torture than a high school rite of passage.

“
How are you doing sweetie?”
Aunt Syl peeked her head in the door and talked softly, soothingly.
She had probably heard me stomping my foot and grumbling for the
last couple of hours to know that I was just a little
upset.

“
I have nothing to wear,” I
pulled my head out of the closet and glanced at the clock: 6:30. At
least I had already showered.

“
This came for you,” she
said tentatively and stepped all the way into my room, pushing the
door aside with a large white box, wrapped in a soft pink
ribbon.

When I didn’t respond, she walked over
to the bed and laid the box on top of my rumpled covers. I could
see her watching me out of the corner of her eye, while she opened
the box and revealed soft pink silk wrapped in silver tissue
paper.

Since I didn’t move to examine the
contents of the box, Aunt Syl did the honors by slowly unwrapping
the tissue paper and pulling out the garment. She held it up, with
a soft gasp. The dress was absolutely stunning; the material
completely pink silk, with gold embroidery at the hem. The top cut
into a deep v in the front and in the back with wide cap sleeves,
while the bottom flowed out into an a-line skirt with detailed
pleating. Left in the box I could see a pair of gold strappy
stilettos.

“
Who’s it from?” I asked,
although I could probably assume.

“
Oh here, this came with
it,” she handed me a piece of ivory cardstock, embellished with an
elaborate snake circling around to eat its own tail; surrounding
the snake were dainty lilies and intertwining with the snake was an
ornate golden crown. I realized I had seen a lot of snakes recently
and pondered their meaning as I grudgingly read the hand written
note.

I wanted to be the one to take you
tonight.

Know that I’ll be thinking of only
you.

“
What a bunch of
bull-sh--“

“
Eden,” my aunt cut me off
sharply. “It is a nice gesture, and a beautiful gown,” she held it
closer and sighed softly. The dress was beautiful. I stepped closer
to examine it and rubbed the soft silk between my fingers. I
couldn’t find a label and wondered what designer was responsible
for this magnificent creation.

“
No. I am not going to play
these games,” I said firmly, letting the material drop from my
hands. I walked back over to my closet and ripped the black funeral
dress from the hanger.

“
Absolutely not,” my aunt
shook her head. “Come with me if you’re going to be
stubborn.”

Aunt Syl laid the pink dress very
carefully onto my bed, laying it out perfectly. She touched it one
more time and gave another soft sigh, before turning on her heel
and beckoning me to follow. We walked down the hall into her
bedroom.

The master bedroom was gigantic and
looked like a page directly out of pottery barn. Her bed always
perfectly made, was adorned with a lavish comforter and probably
fifteen pillows. I imagined that it was also gathering dust since
she was never here to sleep in it. We walked past her settee and
52” flat screen TV and entered her bathroom.

The bathroom itself looked like a spa,
but the real treasure was in the back…. her walk-in closet. Aunt
Syl’s only vice was clothing. She loved shopping and had a closet
full of clothes to testify. Aunt Syl was really quite the
bombshell. Her thin frame and trendy sense of style made it easy
for us to share and swap, so I was excited to see what she had in
mind.

She took in a big breath as if paying
homage to the closet gods and let her fingers slide across the
racks of clothes until she reached the back. I saw her slowly, and
carefully, picking her way through the many formal dresses she had
accumulated. Her fingers brushed softly, almost reverently over
their various materials, moving them out of the way gently.
Finally, she came to rest on one. She pulled the hanger down and
turned around to face me.

I smiled. This was one of her favorite
purchases. She picked it up in the middle of the summer and hadn’t
had a chance to wear it yet. The emerald green dress was strapless
and short, with a curving bodice. Small black and gold beading
covered the front, giving it the look of a corset, while the waist
was cinched even smaller with an oversized black belt. At least it
would give me curves.

I took the dress from her and gave her
a small kiss on the cheek. I turned to head back to my room, but
not before I grabbed a pair of killer black heels. Once in my room
I dressed in seconds, maneuvering my body in ways I didn’t think
possible to get the zipper all the way up in the back. I slipped on
the heels and pulled my black waves into an unruly bun at the base
of my neck. It was messy, but it would have to do.

I headed to the bathroom, where my
makeup awaited. I was in the middle of painting on a quick retouch
of bright pink fingernail polish when I heard the doorbell ring.
They were just going to have to wait. I smudged my black eyeliner
on, while Aunt Syl answered the door. A little bit of mascara and
some bright pink lip gloss and I was ready to go.

I grabbed a beaded black clutch and
stuffed it with the essentials, and made my descent down the
staircase. I always imagined the walk down the tall, wooden
staircase, to be somewhat magical on my first date when I was a
little girl. Unfortunately, I never imagined my first date to be
with someone who despised me, to a dance where I was sure to make a
fool of myself, by orders from a royal prince who likes me but has
been forbidden to talk to me; but I never had much of an
imagination.

Talbott waited at the foot of the
stairs, more pink chrysanthemums in hand; well, they used to be my
favorite flowers. As my heels clicked on the staircase, Talbott
looked up to take a look at me. The moment his eyes took me in,
they nearly bugged out of his big head. His mouth dropped open and
I could see that he was struggling for words. I would have taken it
as a compliment except the look on his face made me more
self-conscious than anything.

“
Y-y-y-you can’t wear that,”
Talbott stammered out.

“
Why not?” I asked
defensively and finished my descent down the stairs.

“
Because, you can’t,” he
said simply, not really giving me a reason.

“
Yes, I can,” I argued back
with attitude.

“
Where is the dress Prince
Kiran sent you? You have to wear that one,” Talbott took a step
forward and I thought for a moment he was going to push me back up
the staircase.

“
No, I don’t have to wear
that one. I don’t have to do anything. You’re lucky I’m even going
to this stupid dance,” I brushed past him and out the door, leaving
him to stare after me completely unsure what to do.

“
Eden, behave tonight,” Aunt
Syl called after me, fidgeting with a camera she never got to turn
on, as I made my way hurriedly towards Talbott’s retro
limousine.

The chauffer tried to get out of the
driver’s side quickly, but I beat him to it, leaving him just as
confused as Talbott. I yanked open the door and threw myself in to
the back seat, landing on something soft, but not quite a car seat.
I looked up and saw Kiran looking down at me, confused and
surprised.

“
Excuse me,” I said
irritably, and maneuvered quickly, and as lady-like as possible in
my short skirt off of Kiran’s lap.

“
You’re excused,” Kiran
replied slowly and somewhat befuddled.

“
I didn’t expect anyone to
be in here. I mean, I thought it would just be Talbott and me,” I
tried to explain, and crossed my legs self-consciously. Suddenly, I
was rethinking my choice of evening attire.

“
It’s a double,” Kiran
cleared his throat, never taking his eyes off of me. Talbott
finally began to make his way down the walk and towards the limo.
“Didn’t you like the dress I sent you?” his smirk was suddenly
there and I watched his eyes appraise me.

“
No,” I replied
simply.

“
I think I like this one
better too,” Kiran cleared his throat again and I couldn’t tell if
he was nervous or annoyed. “Thank you, for coming tonight,” he said
sincerely.

“
I didn’t think I had a
choice,” I looked out of the window, hoping for a distraction.
Kiran was dressed in a nicely tailored black tuxedo, shiny shoes to
match. His dirty blonde hair was slicked back away from his face,
accentuating his strong facial features. I had never seen him look
so handsome; it was distracting me, and making me forget how mad I
was.

“
Don’t be so grumpy Eden,”
Kiran scolded playfully, before half standing to sit next to me on
the seat that was facing him. Talbott burst through the door of the
limousine and I noticed for the first time that he was wearing a
tuxedo as well. Apparently this was not just an ordinary high
school dance.

“
Wouldn’t you prefer to sit
over here sir?” Talbott had not yet recovered from my dress and was
still awkward as he took a seat across from us.

“
I will Talbott, stop
worrying so much,” Kiran scooted closer to me as if to spite
Talbott before turning towards my face and wrapping his arm around
me.

My heart began to beat wildly and my
magic was barely under control. Kirans’ touch brought an electrical
storm through my blood and I felt it begin to boil just below the
surface of my skin. I saw Kiran smirk once again before leaning his
lips close to my neck, breathing softly on my neck.

“
You look beautiful tonight,
Eden,” Kiran whispered delicately in my ear, his breath tickling my
throat gently. I felt dizzy from with him so close. “Will you save
a dance for me?” I was flooded with overwhelming magic, making me
forget how angry I was. I would have said yes to anything he asked,
until….

“
Driver, to Ms. Van Curen’s,
please,” Talbott instructed the driver with authority. I suddenly
remembered why this night was so preposterous and snapped out of my
hypnosis.

“
I don’t think so,” I said,
half standing up as quickly as I could, moving across the limo and
onto the seat next to Talbott. I folded my arms stubbornly and
stared out the window, vowing to ignore Kiran Kendrick completely.
He was not taking both Seraphina and me on a date; clearly he
needed to be reminded.

To my irritation however, he only
laughed, as if my rejection of him were somehow entertaining. I
fumed silently; the blood that was boiling from desire now boiled
from fury. I could feel the magic radiating off of me as if putting
up a guard that no man could cross.

Any and all hints I tried to throw
Kiran’s direction apparently flew right over his head because he
purposefully scooted down over in his seat and sat directly across
from me. He casually slid his feet next to mine, our ankles
touching in the smallest of ways. I tried to maneuver my feet away
from his, but the space in the limo was too confined and anywhere I
moved my feet, he simply stretched his longer legs to accommodate.
I saw the smile on his lips and realized this was just another one
of his games. Talbott sat next to me, head in hands, afraid to
watch.

The driver came to a stop in front of
an elaborate mansion on the northwest side of Omaha. The house was
gigantic, with immaculate detailing. The walk up to the house
itself was a good 50 yards. The entry way, surrounded by tall white
columns, was large enough to accommodate an elephant.

Kiran stepped out of the car and
walked the long way alone. I breathed a sigh of relief and
stretched my legs from out of their cramped position. Only a few
minutes went by before Kiran returned with Seraphina, whom he
opened the door for and helped into the seat across from Talbott. I
expect her to scoot down and across from me so that Kiran could
also climb in the car, but to my disappointment he walked around to
the other side of the car and took his place, legs stretched out
before him and all, across from me.

“
You look nice,” Seraphina
said sarcastically, after only seconds of entering the vehicle. Her
eyes appraised me in a much less flattering way than Kiran did, and
I once again felt self-conscious.

“
So do you Seraphina,” I
tried to return it sarcastically, but I knew the sincerity shined
through, because she genuinely looked stunning. She only rolled her
eyes and slipped her arm through Kiran’s as if marking her
merchandise.