As soon as Edward kissed his new bride's lips, coldness shot through his mouth and into his limbs. He gasped and reeled back, touching his face.
"What … what is this?"
Mel's lips curved into a smirk, an expression tinged with the kind of selfish disregard he had never seen in Mel's eyes. Granted, she could be mercenary, but underneath her hard-edged guise, the woman had a caring heart.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the chancellor said.
A fierce gleam glowed in Mel's eyes, and a shiver passed over Edward's flesh. A weight settled onto his head.
"I proclaim you king of Thais, Edward Pendragon," said the chancellor.
Mel smirked and turned to accept her crown. The nagging feeling in his heart grew.
Edward tugged at the chancellor's sleeve. "Wait. Something's not right."
Mel shot him a dark look. "Carry on, Chancellor."
The man gulped and laid a golden circlet on her head.
"Y-yes, M'lady. I proclaim you Queen of Thais, M—"
The temple doors banged open with a sound like one of Lydia's blast spells.
"Edward, stop!"
His heart sank into his feet. That voice—it couldn't be. He turned toward the door as shouts and murmurs broke out through the crowd.
"M-Mel?"
His bride stood near the open doors, her hair in disarray and grass staining the hem of her wedding gown.
A woman with dark skin and purple hair shot out from behind Mel. "Stop the ceremony!"
Edward's eyes filled. "Stella! You're alive? But, wait a moment!"
He looked between two perfect copies of his Mel, one standing on the altar beside him with a triumphant look on her face, the other by the doors, wringing her hands.
"What the hell? Two of you?"
The queen bolted to her feet and slammed her palm on a pew. "What trickery is this?"
The Mel by the door sprinted up the aisle, yanking her skirts a bit too high and revealing her petticoat to the onlookers. She had never cared much for propriety or formality. It was one of the things he loved about her.
"Edward, don't, don't marry that hag!" She rushed into his arms and took hold of his face. "You're supposed to marry me."
Edward fell back, nonplussed. "But … I did marry you. What—how? What's happened? Which one of you is Mel?"
The Mel he had given vows to let out a titter, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
"No," he breathed. "It can't be."
The Mel he had married shimmered and glowed, and Edward leapt back, pulling the other Mel into a protective embrace. Green pigtails sprouted like tentacles from beneath the false Mel's hair. Her nose turned down and lengthened, and her tan skin faded to the ghostly pallor of sheltered noblewomen. Her blue eyes yellowed to swampish-green, and Edward doubled over, nauseated and shaking.
Lydia. Goddess forbid, he had just wed himself to Lydia.
"Drat it, street-rat," Lydia cried. "Why do you always have to ruin everything?"
"You!" The true Mel screeched and leapt onto Lydia, tearing at her gown. "Foul hag! Lying witch, we save the world together and this is how you repay me?"
Lydia ripped Mel's bow out and slapped her face. "Unhand your queen, peasant! I'll throw you in the prison."
Edward fell, shaking, to his knees. "No, no, this isn't right. I married Mel, not Lydia."
Mel's shriek brought dust from the ceiling, and she cut her palm across Lydia's cheek.
The king's voice boomed through the castle. "Girls! Cease this madness this instant!"
Teary-eyed and fierce, Mel tackled Lydia and wrestled her to the ground. "Thieving wench! I'll gut you for this!"
"He's mine, guttersnipe!"
Lydia sent a blaze of fire at Mel, and Edward cringed. Mel couldn't protect herself against magic, and his legs wouldn't move. He couldn't save her, not this time.
White light shot between Mel's tearful face and the blaze. The fire simmered and faded against the shield.
Stella heaved Edward to his feet and gripped his hands. "Edward, tell me you didn't finish the ceremony. Tell me we're not too late."
Edward tried to answer, but his voice made no sound.
Guards pulled Mel and Lydia apart, and subdued them.
"Unhand me," Lydia demanded.
The guard looked between the former king and the woman. The man gave him a slight nod, and the guard released her.
Lydia straightened her hair and sniffed. "As I thought. Remember your place, ruffian."
The guard winced. "Y-yes, M'lady."
Mel raged against the guard holding her with the strength and ferocity of a tiger. "This isn't right! I'm Mel, not that thieving, lying witch! Edward is my fiancé!"
Lydia let out a chilling laugh. "Too late, street-rat! He's mine now! Isn't that right, dear Husband?"
Edward shuddered. "I'm not your husband." He rushed to Mel and pulled her into his arms. "I, Mel, I didn't know. I'm sorry."
She glared at him, though tears shone on her lashes. "You should've known. You should have realized it wasn't me."
He lowered his head. She was right. All that thrill for power, the posturing, the aristocratic manners—it was nothing like Mel.
He should have realized something had gone awry.
"I'm sorry. I, if it means anything, I love you."
Her glare softened—a bit. "Yeah, well, now what? Did you marry her?"
His eyes lit with fury. "I would never marry that hideous witch!"
Lydia's eyes filled with hurt, but a scowl flashed over it the next instant. "Oh, wouldn't you? Because you just did! That's right, King Edward. You're my husband now—whether you like it or not—and the whole kingdom saw you wed me!"
"No, they saw me wed Mel! You, you tricked me."
Stella turned to the priest. "Sir, is this binding? It is clear Edward does not want Lydia, and she used deception to gain her place here."
The priest bowed his head. "I, I'm sorry, M'Lady. I wish I could say it wasn't, but our laws state that once the prince takes a bride and is coroneted, no power can revoke it."
Edward cried out, "No! You know I didn't want to marry her."
"I'm sorry, my lord. There's nothing I can do to reverse it."
Edward turned a pleading look on his parents. "Mother, Father, help me. I don't want this. I want Mel, and this—it's not right."
His mother winced. "Edward, we cannot. She is queen now, not I. And perhaps it isn't such a bad situation. She is of noble blood, unlike your previous choice."
Edward's temper flared. "Mel is still my choice, Mother—that has never, and will never change!"
His father gave him a pitying look. "My boy, as little as I like this, she is the queen now. Try to reconcile yourself to it, at least until we can sort this out."
Edward's knees wobbled, and he fell into Stella's arms. "No. Father, please."
"I'm sorry, my son. I can do nothing."
"B-but Mel—"
The woman pushed past Edward, her expression fierce and her eyes cold. "Never mind it." Mel tossed her veil aside. "I never wanted to be a noble anyway. I was ready to embrace it for you, Edward, but …." She gave him a broken look, and turned her back. "But that's over now.
"Mel, please," Edward reached for her hand, but Mel jerked free.
"Stella, come on. Let's go, before our queen can do anything else to ruin our lives."
With a heavy sigh, Stella kissed Edward's cheek. "Don't worry. We'll figure out something to help you. We'll find a way to make this ri—"
Lydia shrieked, "Get out of my city, street-rats, before I throw you in the dungeons!"
Stella scurried out of the castle after Mel, and Edward's world crashed in. He sank to his knees and whispered her name, but Mel was gone, and he knew her too well to suppose she'd come back.
She couldn't, not with Lydia ruling the kingdom.
Nausea rumbled in his gut. Lydia, ruling over Thais? Gods help them all.