A Crown of Dreams, A Love of Reality

Previously

…I opened the locket again, hesitantly. It was just smooth, polished silver now. No shimmering images, no beckoning voices. It was just an antique. A very beautiful, very peculiar antique. But I knew, with a certainty that settled deep in my bones, that this was just the beginning. The locket had opened a door, and on the other side, a prince was waiting. A prince, who, for all his flaws, was utterly, undeniably captivating. And for the first time in a long time, my own life felt a little less like a dusty tome and a little more like the opening chapter of a grand, romantic adventure. I just hoped my own clumsy feet wouldn’t trip me up too badly.