Ludwig sat in his chair, pretending to read his book, while the servants prepared his room for the night. They did not need to know that he intended to leave his quarters again this evening, yet alone Yuvalon entirely. He needed to make a visit to the human realm, in the cover of darkness, to visit a special someone who was expecting him.
He had met her twelve years ago now, back when she was just barely a teenager by human standards, and he was considered fully grown by fae standards. His father was becoming ill with age, and it appeared that his elder brother Gilbert would soon take the throne. Ludwig travelled to the human realm to see how their royals treated their spare heirs, to see if he could learn anything that might help him as the second son of the Unseelie Court.
That's when he met her. They encountered each other in her family's private gardens, late one night while the moon was covered. She was still quite young then, so they became close friends at first as they shared their life stories with each other to that point. Over time, she finished growing up and became one of the most highly-sought beauties in the human realm, managing to enchant even him.
Ludwig glanced away from his book as the servants quickly bowed to him, before they finally left the room and shut the door. Now that he was completely alone, he put down the book and pulled out an indigo gemstone, which matched her eyes, and activated it to send a message.
I'm ready whenever you are.
After a few moments, the indigo gemstone flashed green, and a new message was received.
I'm ready too, come join me.
Ludwig held the gemstone tight in his hand as he rose, and used its magic to find the destination of its paired gemstone in the human realm. Deep blue magic began swirling around him as he cast the teleportation spell between realms, the haze thickening at first to obscure his rooms in Tivalon before finally fading away to reveal his destination. Once the spell was complete, he was standing on a balcony overlooking the royal gardens in Thagia, the light of the waning gibbous moon burning down on him.
He turned around to look into the room, and saw her leave her dresser to approach him. Her long and wavy golden blonde hair was hanging loose behind her, and she wore a sheer blue robe over her silk nightgown, with a blue ribbon tying it shut around the waist. As she stepped into the moonlit area of the room towards him, she became even more enchanting in her beauty.
"I'll never understand it, Madeline," Ludwig wondered, "How does the moonlight make you so radiant each time?"
"Why is it always the moonlight?" Madeline prodded teasingly as she reached out her arms to wrap around his waist, "Am I not also beautiful in the sunlight?"
"Of course you are," Ludwig assured, pulling her in closer against him, "I just see you more by night then by day."
"Let's hope that changes soon," Madeline noted.
Ludwig reached up to caress her jaw as they pressed their lips together, and let himself sink into the bliss as they shared several kisses. After several moments, their lips parted and he began to pepper kisses along her jaw, while she reached up to hold his raised hand in hers.
"Your skin is already warming up," Madeline observed, "We better get you into the darkness before you burn."
"Lead the way," Ludwig conceded, "I will follow."
He released her from his hold as she backed away, still holding his hand in hers, and pulled her into the room. The curtains were covering the rest of the windows, making it so only the two candles illuminated the dresser and the rest of the room was in the dark. On many occasions, they had sat together on her lounging chairs and talked for hours, or even gone to her four-post bed to hide behind the curtains and cuddle.
For now, however, she led him to the dresser, where Ludwig could now see several items displayed in a case, with a pair of white gloves to the side.
"Business first, before you get too distracted," Madeline directed, "I have ring prototypes for you to look at."
"Ring prototypes?" Ludwig chuckled, "You actually fooled the blacksmith after all?"
"It turned out to be very easy to do," Madeline described, "All I had to say was that they were for Alfred and his soon-to-be betrothed. Unfortunately, my darling, they are all made of iron. The blacksmith was not amused with the prospect of making several prototypes in gold, it would be best to give him the preferred design first."
"I can understand his concern there," Ludwig remarked.
"I wasn't sure whether you'd want to try them on," Madeline continued, "So I have a pair of Alfred's evening gloves here that might help."
"We'll give it a try," Ludwig accepted.
Madeline handed him the gloves, which Ludwig immediately took and put on his hands, finding luckily enough that they fit him well enough despite clearly being tailored specifically for Madeline's brother. While he did that, Madeline took the first ring and placed it on her outstretched palm.
"Remember not to hurt yourself here," Madeline warned, "I don't want you to lose your fingers."
Ludwig nodded before slowly reaching out with his hand to hover over hers, only an inch above the ring. Feeling no burning sensation with his finger so close to the iron, he slowly tilted his finger down to touch the ring as gently as possible. There was no burning sensation there either, so he pressed on the ring with more force.
He did not immediately lift his finger when the sensation started, taking the moment to consider its severity first.
"It seems to only be a mild irritation when I press on it," Ludwig reported as he lifted his finger, "I can handle that for as long as it takes to try these on."
"Are you certain?" Madeline fussed, "Is your finger not affected under that glove?"
He quickly removed the glove to inspect his finger, and found there was no visible marking on the skin of his fingertip.
"Nothing," Ludwig verified, "I think these gloves will do the trick."
"If you say so," Madeline allowed, "But we can always stop if it becomes too irritating."
One by one, they spent the next several minutes looking at the rings, Madeline describing their designs while Ludwig tried them on his gloved hands. While it was hard to tell how well they would look on his ungloved hands, there were certainly some that were much more to his taste than others.
At the very end, as he reviewed the full selection once again, he pulled back out one of the rings and tried it on again. It was a simple band, etched all around in laurels, that seemed to fit his finger almost perfectly.
"This one," Ludwig determined, "This is the design I'd choose."
"Isn't that a coincidence," Madeline commented as she reached to her jewelry box and opened the top lid, "My top choice has laurels too, along with an insert for a marquise-cut gem of choice."
Ludwig removed the ring from his finger and held it out, while Madeline took out her ring and brought it over to compare. Sure enough, the laurels on the bands were a perfect match.
"I can find you the best gem in Yuvalon for it," Ludwig promised, "Worthy of a princess."
"I was wondering if we should have each other's rings made," Madeline proposed, "If it's safe to do so, you could take the iron prototype for my ring back to Tivalon with you, and have your blacksmiths make the golden ring with a Yuvalon gem. I have a silk pouch here, and some extra cloth, to wrap it safely in for you to take with you. In the meantime, I'll take your prototype back to my blacksmith, and have him remake it in gold."
"That sounds like a plan to me," Ludwig approved as he handed back his iron ring to her, "If your blacksmith is quick enough, the ring should be ready in time for the ritual."
"The ritual?" Madeline pried as she placed both iron rings back on the dresser, "Gilbert knows the timing then?"
"He has Lukas and Yao measuring the sky tonight," Ludwig revealed, "We are fairly confident that the alignment will happen in a couple weeks time."
"So we can easily marry within the month?" Madeline calculated as she turned back towards him, "Travelling between realms, just as we've planned?"
"Just as we've planned," Ludwig vowed as he took her hands and pulled her close to him, "You will be the first Princess of the Unseelie Court that is still human."
"Let's hope the Court plays nice," Madeline muttered as Ludwig leaned in to kiss her again.