“It was a strange thing. I had been viewing the marriage question with such trepidation--- the ceremony, the spectacle, all that came after it, in the form of this strange and beautiful kingdom that would thence be half mine. And yet, as I sat there upon the lake amidst the tree-shadow and reflected light and the dragonflies tussling with the wind, I no longer knew why I had been so afraid. Likely it was also the threat of Queen Arna hanging over us like a guillotine--- well, the prospect of imminent death tends to put things into perspective. It was not that my worries vanished--- no magic could manage that. I only realized how much smaller they were than the world that lay before me. A world that I wanted, even after all I had seen, and amidst such a thicket of danger. I wanted it very much. And I especially wanted to share it with Wendell.” MarriageRealizationRomantasyUltimatumFaerie Queen Book:Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales Source: Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales
“I followed his gaze to the lakeshore. A hundred tiny lights dotted the forest--- more than a hundred. A thousand? They kept appearing among the shadows, different in size and luminance depending on the lantern. I hadn't realized the forest was so full of Folk. And among the trees, the silver faerie stones began to glow. "All this for a mortal queen?" I muttered, flushed and overwhelmed. "Too much?" Wendell made a gesture, and the faerie stones dimmed, retaining only a faint luminescence. "That's as much as I can do. The small Folk will keep to their traditions--- they would be greatly offended if I ask them to put their lights out before morning." "Very well," I said. It was easier to bear without the faerie stones, which I've always found eerie, the way they hang untethered among the treetops like a strangely shaped mist. I know the curator of Cambridge's Museum of Dryadology and Ethnofolklore would give her eye teeth for just one of the things--- none have ever been smuggled into the mortal world, and their form and size makes them unique among faerie stones.” MarriageStonesRomantasyFairy RealmOfficialLuminescence Book:Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales Source: Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales