Treasure: Appearances
Summary: Though you have been inflicted by a curse, you make the best life for yourself that you can. Until the new moon brings an unexpected encounter.
A/N: Reader is female and has environmentally/magically induced vitiligo. No other physical descriptors used.
Warnings: Forced marriage, Vitiligo seen as a curse. Please let me know if I missed any!
Word Count: ~3.3k
Part of the Blue Roses AU.
The sun was falling and you were itching to go outside. Ever since your curse, going outside in the sunlight has been more and more dangerous, especially from the townspeople.
But at night, they were all in bed and the sun couldn't hurt the more sensitive parts of your skin. You could roam freely and even collect ingredients for Mother's shop that could only be found at night. Tonight was especially important because the new moon meant the lunar lilies would be at their brightest, making their dried petals more potent for medicines. The townspeople might treat you poorly because of your cursed nature, but Mother, Father and your siblings have ever loved you so you try to do your part for the family
"Have you applied your balms?" Mother asks as she sees you getting ready.
"Yes, Mother," you promise. The balms are supposed to help with the curse. Mother regularly tries different ingredients and ratios but nothing's been able to turn your skin back to normal.
"And don't forget you lunch," Father adds. Because Mother makes the medicines and runs the shop, Father is the one who generally makes the meals for the family. Sure it's also his gardening that supplies the majority of Mother's ingredients, but he's got a lot less time sensitive work to do.
"Thank you, Father," you call to him, gesturing your younger siblings closer.
Father always packs an extra treat or two in your pail. You always sneak at least some to Libby and Jimmy. Partially it's love for your siblings, partially it's knowing your gifts are from Father's guilt. If he'd been able to grow the rare ingredient Mother required, you might not have been cursed.
You don't blame Father or Mother for what happened. Not everything can be grown at will and some medicines need those items that aren't readily available. Really if you'd been more careful you might not have fallen into the swamp and covered with the muck and gunk. If anything you're still alive because Father pulled you out and Mother's skills kept your resulting fever under control.
It certainly wasn't their fault your skin started changing color, lightening in splotches all over your body. And they're not responsible for the scared looks and mean words you received from the townsfolk when they saw your face. And there's only so much a human can do against the sun that burned your splotchy skin with great ease.
No. You know your family loves you and would do anything within their power to free you from whatever curse this is you've brought upon yourself. You've thought about making the trek to the palace to see if Mage Beck's famous healing magic could help you. But the trip is dangerous, especially for someone so obviously cursed, and you have no guarantees he'd hear your case.
Best to be grateful for what you've got and do your part for your loving family.
"You've got your gloves? Your cloak? Your dagger? Everything you'll need?" Father interrupts your thoughts as your siblings quickly hide the shared treats.
"Yes, Father. I'll be back by the time you wake up, just as always."
"I'll hold you to that," he intones, eyes soft with worry.
Hugging him and Mother you repeat the same promises as every night.
Standing in a clearing, you spend more time looking at the stars than you probably should. Without the moon to outshine them, they're able to sparkle at their brightest. And given how many people are asleep right now, you let yourself feel a little smug at knowing you're the only one who knows the stars true beauty.
Just like the lunar lilies at your feet. How many other people will ever be able to say they've seen them in full bloom?
Taking a quick glance down, you notice they're just about ready for harvest when you feel a sudden gust of wind that almost knocks you on your feet.
The wind is warmer than it should be for this time of year and your eyes start scanning the skies, thinking of Mother's bestiary. A sudden gust of warm wind could mean a dragon!
Keeping your eyes on the sky you circle several times looking, listening for any other signs. Surely if a dragon was flying, even on a moonless night, they could be seen blocking out some of the stars. Right?
When your nerves have calmed you look back at your feet and are startled to see the lilies already starting to fade! Time was running out so, pushing your fears aside, you set to work harvesting the beautiful flowers.
You remember Father's words and make sure to leave plenty behind to ensure more would grow and not taking too much from the forest creatures that ate them. Honestly you'd rather not think about a world where moths and butterflies didn't glow because they were denied their lunar lily pollen.
When you think you've gathered enough, you carefully wrap them and place them in your bag with the other little treasures you've found tonight.
But when you stand up, you find yourself looking into a pair of glowing eyes! All caution goes to the wind as you grab your bag and run. Everything you've learned about nocturnal creatures confirms that glowing eyes mean danger and your best bet is to run fast.
Too afraid to look back you focus on avoiding trees and random roots, determined to not fall. You think you feel another gust of warm wind but it could just be your fear getting the better of you. You can't hear anything other than the pounding of your heart and your own ragged breathing.
The cabin is in sight! Mother and Father always leave out a lantern for you to aid your journeys home.
The second you enter the house, you slam the door shut behind you, uncaring if you wake someone up. Quickly locking it, you expect to hear snarls, scratches, banging, anything to indicate the beast you know you saw.
But nothing happens.
Father calls your name, getting your attention but you can only look back and forth between him and the door.
"You're home," he comforts, grabbing you into a hug. "You're home and you're safe."
It's a few days before you feel comfortable leaving the house again. The entire time you helped Father prepare meals and Mother prepare medicine, you kept mentally chiding yourself.
Just like when you were first cursed, your overconfidence and distractability nearly got you killed. If you'd been more alert to your surroundings, less prideful about the stars, you wouldn't have been caught off guard like that.
Of course you only tell Mother and Father that you saw a creature and blame the new moon for not being able to give more details. If you told them about the glowing eyes they might ban you from the forest for your safety. And you can't handle that thought. You're stuck inside all day, unable to interact with people without them giving you unfavorable looks or whispering about you. The forest is the only freedom you really have.
So you keep yourself quiet and focus on helping your family, preparing yourself to face the night again.
You slowly wake up to the sensation that something is wrong. Your room is normally cool because of the curtains keeping the sun and its heat at bay. But it's warm. So warm, in fact, you sleepily toss your blankets aside.
The blankets hit the floor and you think you must still be dreaming because you swear you smell flowers. And not the kind father grows. Not the kind that grow in the woods. You're not sure you've ever smelled flowers so sweet. You have to be dreaming, right? Or has the curse started messing with your senses?
Moving to sit up, you're stopped short by the bouquet of blue roses tied to your headboard.
Mother closes her shop early, telling everyone she's got some time sensitive medicines to work on. Father rushes to provide you a "proper wedding feast" as he puts it. Libby and Jimmy are confused about the whole thing and are alternating crying and coming up with ways to keep you from having to leave.
You and Mother try to tell them it is the duty of King Wilson's people to answer the call. Whether it was the call to arms in times of war, the call to ration in times of famine, or the call to marry when the creatures of His Majesty's Secret Service were in need. If the line of kings hadn't been good for their people, of course your call would be refused. But because the Kings Wilson have bettered the lives of their people, it was an honor to serve the King.
Perhaps when they're out of their teenage years, like you, they'll understand.
Father's promise of a feast was met. Almost all of your favorite foods and none of your least favorite were made up. You weren't sure the family would be able to eat it all. Father normally didn't cook so much. You noticed whenever he looked at you, he would blink back tears and throw himself into preparing more food.
Meanwhile Mother was helping you prepare your things. Only a single chest was needed for your essentials but mother insisted on giving you more. Precious empty journals for you to write in as well as your very own quill and ink. Several balms that, though they didn't rid your curse, helped keep the sun from being too painful. A small kit for you to make your own tonics. Herbs that were supposed to help a bride recover from her wedding night.
Lastly, Mother gave the wedding dress that had been passed down from elder daughter to eldest daughter for several generations.
"You should save that for Libby," you shake your head. "She's the one who's going to have more daughters."
"Please," Mother's voice cracks. "I don't know what it is you're going into. But wearing this when you do so will be a comfort because you'll be going with the love and support of all the matriarchs in our lineage."
The show of emotion catches you off guard. Mother's shown concern before, of course, but you don't think you've ever seen her close to tears.
"Thank you, Mother," you sniffle. "I'll wear it with pride."
Dinner is spent sharing happy memories. You will never get to see each other again and you want to make sure your last memories with them are filled with smiles.
So it was everyone lost track of time and you were startled when the world froze around you.
A purple hole opened near where your family was sitting and out came a man with messy brown hair and startlingly blue eyes.
"Are you---"
He holds up a finger to interrupt your question before pushing his head through the purple light and, seemingly, gesturing for someone to follow through.
The man who came next was tall and muscular, wearing no shirt. His skin looked almost shiny in the lamplight. And what initially looked like blonde brown hair turned out to be, on closer inspection, more akin to a frilled crest like you've seen on some reptiles.
And when you locked eyes, your jaw dropped in recognition.
"It was you! You're...you're a dragon!"
The man smirks, "it was and I am! I'm Johnny. I have to say it was a lot of fun to fly behind you as you kept turning to look for me. Not many would think to keep their eyes out for something blocking the stars."
"Yes, yes, you like to play," the other man complains. "I do hope you have your things ready?"
You gesture to the chest and bags you and Mother had packed.
"I've got those," your...husband cockily promises. Part of you watches him gather everything in the hopes that he drops something. But he clearly knows his strength as he gathers everything up.
Meanwhile the other man sets a decent sized chest on the chair you'd been sitting in. He tries to do so gently but you still hear the telltale clink of coins.
"And I'm sure your Mother had some fun with the roses," he chuckles.
"She is an apothecary, sir. She had to at least try," you retort. Unfortunately all of Mother's attempts to experiment with the flowers had, quite literally, turned to dust.
"I commend her interest and abilities to get as far as she did," he says with a small bow.
"Thank you."
"Now let's get you to your new home "
You follow Johnny through the purple...doorway and step into a patch of snow.
Only the mountains would still have so much snow, you think.
It's easy enough to follow Johnny's tracks as the snow seems to have melted around each footstep. Despite the number of small houses surrounding a small lake, Johnny leads you to a cave.
A few steps into the cave and you can really feel the heat. Johnny's shirtless state makes a bit more sense now. If this cave is always this temperature, wearing clothing would be stifling. You're especially feeling that in the heavy wedding dress. But it's also your only armor. What if he sees your full body and decides he's made a mistake? Sure, he didn't react to seeing the curse marks on your face and hands, but maybe he thinks that's all there is. He hasn't seen your full body yet. And, as your husband, he will be seeing it.
Johnny sets your things down and turns back to face you, his smile still holding.
"Let me get some more light so you can better see your new home, Treasure," he winks. "Stay right where you are."
When he's further back into the cave, you see a swirl of red, yellow, orange sparkles surround him. Within moments the man has turned into a massive red dragon! His scales shimmer in what little light there already is. They make you think back to Mother's book of theories about dragons. You can confirm that the scales do look impenetrable. They make a scratchy noise when they move against the ground, indicating their strength. His "hair" has converted from fills to a horned crest.
He is truly terrifying, and magnificent, to behold.
The dragon gives you a wink and aims his head up. Letting out a few small puffs of fire, he lights the chandeliers you hadn't been able to see.
With more of the cave properly illuminated, you're able to see piles of treasure, stacks of books, couches covered in pillows and, at the center of it all, a rather large bed.
There's another swirl of sparkles and the dragon is replaced by his more human form. Without any clothes.
You look away, suddenly shy. It's not like you haven't read enough of Mother's books to understand at least the basics of anatomy but seeing it in person feels very different. Especially given the expectations of a wedding night.
"No need to be shy," Johnny reassures as he moves close to you. "I know I look good and have no problems with being adored." When you're unable to face him he adds, "I won't force you to look at me, but I'm also not going to wear anything in my own home. Given how you're sweating, you're likely going to want to do the same."
His casualness has you burning with fear, embarrassment and more than a little anger.
"Talk to me, Treasure," he coos. "I'm a centuries old dragon. There's likely nothing you can say that I haven't heard before."
"You know I'm cursed," you spit out, glaring at him. "Even if you couldn't see much of me that night, I know you've seen the markings on my face and my hands by now. But you don't know how cursed I am. How blighted I am. And...and I'm scared of what you'll do to me when you realize and regret your decision to give me the roses."
Johnny crosses his arms, "you're not cursed. I've seen cursed. The mages would never let me choose a cursed bride." You blink, unable to form words. "My scales are not uniform in color. They have streaks of gold and bronze. Does that make me cursed? No, it makes me look even more impressive." Pointing to your hands he affirms, "this is not a curse. Though I suppose I can see why a human might think so."
He holds out his hand and you give him yours. Gently he touches your skin, his eyes glowing a little brighter as he studies it.
"You are not cursed, no. You are art."
"Art?"
Johnny looks up from your hand. "Yes, art. That's the most human way I can describe something that I could stare at for hours on end. There are signs this was brought on by magic that I'm guessing you can't detect. It adds to your looks. It makes you entirely unique. You are fascinatingly beautiful."
"I...I'm cursed..." you doubt. "That's...I couldn't go out in the daylight. People...people treated me like I was dangerous to them. I...it's a curse, not beauty!"
"That's because humans tend to be small minded," Johnny asserts. "You don't have nearly the same sensitivity to sight, sound, touch, everything that I do. What, to me, is the most beautiful flower in all the meadows would be, to a human, just another odd assortment of shapes and colors with negative associations."
"I'm...I'll need some time..."
Johnny smiles again, "of course! Just as I will not make you look at me, I will not force you into bed until you're ready. And, just as I have no problems with being looked at, I also have no problems with being touched. You have a natural curiosity that I'm happy that to satisfy in many ways."
Giggling shyly, you feel yourself starting to hope, even as your face warms from embarrassment.
"What...what are my...wifely duties? Is it just mutual admiration?"
"I certainly wouldn't object," Johnny purrs. "But there's a reason I only choose the most beautiful of women to be my bride. I am ordered by the mages to mostly remain hidden. New moons are the only times I can fly freely, so I spend significant amounts of time in my cave. It gets boring, as I'm sure you can guess. So I surround myself with pretty things, shiny things, and, in the case of my bride, playful and intelligent things."
"Would you let me continue to study?"
"I'd be happy to encourage!" he beams. "So long as I get to watch you, listen to you, talk with you."
"That's...honestly this is all so much more than I was expecting," you admit, hope shining through.
"And I haven't even given you your gift yet," he smirks.
"My gift?"
"Each of us creatures is able to give a kind of magical protection to our bride," he explains. "The demon protects his bride from nightmares. The wraith's bride will never be cold. The bride of the shapeshifter can see through lies. And the celestial's bride will never fall ill."
"And...for me?"
Johnny takes your hands in his, maintaining eye contact. "My gift to you is protection from most physical harm. My scales protect me from just about everything and you will receive a version of that. A kind of armor that will protect you from cuts, bruises and even burns from the sun."
"Oh, Johnny," you gasp, tears of happiness falling.
"I take it you like," he gently teases as he wipes the tears from your cheeks.
Nodding you clean your face with the sleeve of your dress. Looking at the cloth you make decision.
"I think...I think I'm ready to...to...at the very least, remove my dress."
"And I'm definitely ready to see more of you, my Treasure."
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