“How big do you expect this party of yours to be?”
“The entire city, of course. Everyone will want to come.”
Jen cringed inwardly. That kind of affair meant she was probably going to have to do a lot of hand-shaking and introductions and having to learn people’s names even though she’d never see them again. Why couldn’t they just have something small and quiet?
“We will have to get you a dress!”
“Dominic.”
“I should see about having some floral arrangements.”
“Dominic.”
“Music.”
“Dom!”
Startled, he stopped his pacing.
“Dom, darling, as glad as I am you are excited about this, can we not get ahead of ourselves for a bit? We don’t have to think of everything right this minute. Can we just celebrate right now, just the two of us?”
Dominic looked quite flustered he had gotten out of hand and took the nearest seat beside her. What he couldn’t hide, however, was the sparkle of excitement in his eye.
“I get carried away sometimes. Yes. A drink for the two of us, of the good stuff.”
A bottle miraculously appeared in his hand out of nowhere, a pretty purple color that glistened in the dim lighting. The fancy script on it was hard for Jen to read, but it definitely looked expensive. He poured them both a glass, and she took note of how aromatic it was, almost floral in nature. It almost smelled too much like perfume.
“To us and our future together.” He held up his glass.
“To us.” She toasted against his before taking a sip. Her senses were overwhelmed with the scent of it, so much so that she could barely taste anything at all.
“You don’t like it.” He looked disappointed as he drew the glass away from his lips.
“It smells strong.”
“Well, you better get used to it, because that is what we will be serving at the banquet.”
“Great.”
* * *
Thankfully for her, despite the grand affair, she hardly had to lift a finger with the preparations. Dominic had the right connections, knew how to get everything in place by then. Which left her feeling somewhat useless about the whole thing. She didn’t want to lie around for the rest of her life, letting someone else dictate the affairs of what she did and how she did them.
Five days. She would have five days before everything would come to a head. It was her inaction that was making her restless, to the point that she couldn’t deal with it by herself anymore.
She managed to give Julie a call.
“Congratulations! I just heard the news!”
She still sounded as pleasant as ever.
“Thanks. I’m just going a little stir-crazy here. Dominic’s taking care of everything and I’m not sure what I should be doing to prepare.”
“You should treat yourself to some dress shopping. A little retail therapy.”
That did sound like a good idea. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t thought of it before.
“Will you come with me?” she asked quietly. She didn’t want to put Julie out if she was busy with other things.
“For you?! I’d overturn this table right now if you didn’t ask. You are going to be royalty.”
Jen cringed inwardly; were the others going to treat her differently now?
“I’ll see you in five minutes.”
The line went dead before Jen could stop her. She had no intention of going out right at that moment, but it couldn’t be helped now. She slipped on what clean clothes she could find and made her way out the door.
Getting through the city without being stopped and greeted by everyone she passed was quickly becoming both a nuisance and a reality for her. This is what it was going to be like for the rest of her long life. That meant forced smiles and caring about other people’s conversations and affairs. Definitely not an advantage for the position she would be taking at Dominic’s side.
Eventually, she found Julie standing on a promenade near one of the larger lakes. She was tapping her foot, her mouth screwed to one side in slight annoyance. Jen waved her over.
“You’re late.”
“Believe me, I tried. It wasn’t easy getting here with everyone wanting to have a conversation with me.”
“Did you have to kiss any babies?” Julie mused.
Jen’s face screwed up in disgust.
“Just don’t make that look around the parents. They’re not going to take kindly to you disapproving of their drooling little poop monsters.”
Julie looped her arm through hers and led her towards the shops. The windows were lined with various costumes and outfits that Jen found mostly impractical and too lavish for her tastes. It was starting to make her feel self-conscious about how much these things even cost.
“I don’t think this is a good idea anymore.” She pulled away from Julie’s grip.
“You’re getting cold feet. Just don’t think about it. Think of it as just trying on nice things. There’s no special occasion, no banquet to look forward to. I’ll even try on a few myself if that will make you feel better.”
It did, and Jen followed her inside where they were greeted by several smiling women who also offered up their congratulations.
“Are we here to find a gown for–”
Julie raised her hand and shook her head.
“Nothing special. We just want to have a day of fun.”
Jen was glad for her intervention; keeping the meaning of today as vague as possible would keep her intruding thoughts at bay.
They took turns trying on dresses and modeling them in the middle of the store, which the employees seemed to have no problem with. They were having so much fun that Jen completely forgot why she needed to escape in the first place.
Until she saw a gown she knew she needed to have.
“You’re gaping.” Julie touched her chin, and Jen realized her mouth was hanging open. “I told you the answer would fall into your lap. I think he’s going to love it.”
* * *
Jen wasn’t sure how she managed to get her hands on a dress like this, but it fit like a dream. It hugged her curves in all the right places yet didn’t chafe against the wider parts of her body. In fact, it felt like she was wearing nothing at all, to the point she kept glancing down to make sure she was actually dressed.
It was a deep purple covered in crystals so small, they sparkled like the finest glitter. The front had a deep cut and flared around the neck in a lightweight, poofy collar that framed her wonderfully. The back had a long train with the purple fading into a bright blue that matched well with Dominic’s suit.
“We’re going to have to do something with that hair.” one of the women said as they did up the back of the dress.
“What’s wrong with my hair?” she asked.
“It’s a bit boring for this dress, don’t you think?”
Sure, maybe her curls were simple for the dress, but she didn’t have a salon to whip up fancy hairstyles.
But her ire soon vanished once she saw what the woman accomplished with it. Finer curls framed her face and it was done up in a wonderful do that looked practically regal.
She was that now, wasn’t she? Regal. Princess. Possibly eventually a queen. That was never even a possibility on Earth.
Seeing herself in the mirror, it was hard not to put her shoulders back and stand a little taller. She beamed with pride on seeing herself look so regal that she almost shed a tear in the process.
“And now for the final touch. Bend down a little for me, please.”
Jen did as she was asked, bowing her head as the woman stepped onto a small stool to get the height she needed. She felt something being pinned to her head a little too harshly, and when the woman stepped away, she noticed the sparkling tiara in the middle.
“A gift from your spouse to be.”
Jen felt her lip tremble for just a moment and bit on it to keep it at bay. If Dominic was here now, she would have punched him in the
arm for doing this to her. All his talk of treating her like a princess and now he was making her look like one. Their own personal joke.
It was a shame she hadn’t seen him all day, but tradition dictated they couldn’t. That had left her nerves frayed since she’d woken up, and it had been running non-stop with preparations and questions and setting everything out for her to deal with.
This was really happening, wasn’t it?
* * *
If she thought it had been bad inside their house all day, there was even more of a hullabaloo once she stepped outside. There were crowds and crowds of smiling faces lining the streets, all of them eager to see her in her regal attire. There were oohs and aahs and a few screams of delight. She couldn’t be sure if someone had fainted or not or had been accidentally pushed.
The din of the crowd drowned out her own thoughts too, until there was nothing but a buzz in her head she couldn’t get rid of.
It made her want to turn tail and head back inside, forget about the whole affair. Call Dominic and tell him to cancel the whole thing so they could have a smaller, private ceremony with just the two of them and whoever else was needed to make it official.
But her legs knew better as they continued to carry her forward toward her destination. They weren’t about to let her listen to her doubt and give into cowardice. With a mind of their own, they carried her until the pavilion came into sight.
The crowds were packed together even more tightly here, the din even louder. The very ground vibrated with the noise until she was sure it would crack open and swallow her up. But standing there, high above it all on the stage, was Dominic.
She could see his beaming face and it made her forget about everything else. The noise, the crowds, they all melted away until it was just the two of them.
They were drawn together like magnets as the people parted for her entry. The path was littered with a thick layer of flower petals. Each step crushed them beneath her toes, and plumes of perfume greeted her nostrils. She couldn’t be sure if this was responsible for her lightheadedness or if it was everything else.
“I present to you, Miss Jen Davis!”
He held out a hand for her and she gladly took it, squeezing it tightly so she could keep herself rooted in the present.
Dominic felt his breath stolen away by the sight of her. She’d sworn to keep the dress a secret from him so she could measure his first impression of it. She certainly hadn’t disappointed. And the small tiara-like crown on her head looked absolutely stunning as well. He was glad she’d worn it despite his constant annoyance with calling her a princess.
“You look stunning,” he whispered as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. She smelled heavenly. The color of the dress also went well with her eyes, bringing even more of the blue that resided there.
“Stunning is an understatement,” she returned. “I’ll give you some time to think up a better compliment.”
The crowd erupted in an uproar with cheers and applause as Jen took centerstage. Her instincts told her to hunch over and hide, to make herself smaller than she really was. But she wasn’t that Jen any longer. She had become much more since leaving Earth, and she was going to show them what she was made of.
“Thank you, citizens, for coming to celebrate with us today. It’s been an honor living amongst you, learning your ways. I have come to appreciate everything your society stands for. What you have in this wonderful city is a testament to your hard work, your years of dedication, and your acceptance of people who are unlike you.”
For a brief second, she tried to scan the crowd for Julie, Samantha, Beverly, and Wendy, but there were too many faces blurring together to figure any of them out. She would have to look for them later, once the banquet was underway.
“The prince has been very welcoming to me as well, displaying a strong sense of patience when I had a difficult decision to make. It was during that time I came to appreciate what a wonderful man he is, how privileged you have all been to have him as your prince for such a long time. I would be missing out on so many other wonderful things if I didn’t accept his proposal. So to you, I humbly request you accept me as his new wife, his bride-to-be, and your future queen.”
Another uproar shook the pavilion and almost made Jen forget everything she had rehearsed for the past few days. She gave her practiced wave and curtsied before stepping back from the microphone to take her place at Dominic’s side.
“You wrote all that?” he asked with a slight nudge of his elbow, clapping and smiling for the audience.
“I might have had a little help from Julie’s friend.” Lover? Wife? Julie hadn’t really explained the nature of the relationship she had other than sex.
“You did wonderfully. I have to say you surprised me.”
“If you think that’s the only surprise I have for you, wait until later.” She returned the nudge with her own elbow, just as the festivities began.
Dominic turned beet red and excused himself to get a drink.
Now came the hard part: greeting everyone that was there. One by one, people lined up to wait for her greeting, shaking hands with her, and bowing before her until they’d leave and she’d have to do it all over again.
There was no way she was going to get through this entire crowd of people and thought it better to mill around to fill a plate with some food and meet them along the way.
Which proved to be even more difficult with how thick the crowd was. It was a struggle just to get from one point to the next, but at some point, she found Dominic at her elbow, guiding her through.
The crowd seemed to part for him more easily, maybe a little too easily.
“Are you pushing them away with your magic?”
Dominic turned and winked. He wasn’t going to admit the truth to her, not when he was having so much fun.
They were on the way to getting a drink for themselves when three figures stepped into their path, resistant to even Dominic’s magics. Two faces towered above the third, with pinched noses and short black hair, mirroring each other. The third had red hair in a neat braid and was dressed in an olive green that made her hair look even redder.
“Wendy?”
“I’m glad to see you’re well.” Wendy looked much different from when they had parted ways. She was still thin, but her features appeared gaunt, mirroring those of the twins who stood behind her.
Despite how they had parted ways, Jen couldn’t help but pull her into a hug. She wasn’t one to hold grudges and she was sure they moved past that.
Wendy’s arms eventually slipped around her shoulders to return the embrace.
“I’m glad you came, thank you. I don’t know where I’d be without you and the others.”
Wendy’s smile was weak but Jen thought nothing of it. Being in this crowd was likely exhausting and too much for someone like her to handle.
“Can we speak when this is all over? Just us and the other girls? We really have a lot of catching up to do.”
Wendy bowed her head lightly in agreement.
“I’d love that.”
The twins, however, only bowed and curtsied respectively before following behind Wendy, almost as if she was their charge and they the pets. A strange arrangement, but who was she to judge.
“I noticed your father hasn’t arrived yet,” she whispered to Dominic as she poured herself a glass. It was more of that fancy wine that smelled too much like perfume. She’d gotten a little acclimated to it since the first time but she still didn’t find it pleasant.
“He tends to. He blames work or whatever excuse he can think of. I think he just enjoys being fashionably late so he can have an uproar of his own.”
Dominic slipped the goblet out of her hand and took it for himself, sipping casually as if he hadn’t just stolen it from her. Jen gave him such a look but he was pointedly ignoring her.
“Is his ego really that big?” Rolling her eyes, she poured another for herself.
“The biggest. Though I’m surprised he hasn’t
done more to jeopardize this event.”
“Why would he do that? Hasn’t he been begging you to find a wife?” Jen tipped her cup against her lips and found the wine quite pleasant this time around. Maybe she hadn’t been giving it enough credit and was finally taking to it, so much so that she started taking deep draws of the drink.
“Oh, I didn’t mean jeopardize in the way you think. I meant he tends to make events all about him. We’d have a hard time getting out from under his shadow with the kind of pomp he touts around at these kinds of things.”
Jen didn’t understand why she was so thirsty all of a sudden. Maybe it had to do with the speech she’d given, or the fact that she was still so nervous in front of all these people. But before she knew it, her goblet was empty and she was pouring herself a new one.
“Think you should slow down a little on the wine, love?” He toasted his half-full goblet against hers with a raised brow. Dominic had ever known her to be a lush, so it was surprising that she was indulging in so much at the moment.
“Sorry. This tastes better than I remember.” Jen fanned herself as she took another sip. Was the wine making her feel hot or had the sun just gotten higher in the sky?
“You’re looking a little flushed, actually. Here, let’s get onto the stage for some fresh air, yes?”
Dominic’s smile was worried, his arm looping around her waist as he guided her out of the crowd. He felt her head loll into the crook of his arm before she pushed herself clear of his grip. She almost tumbled back down the stairs, save for the grip she had on the banister.
“I’m not some helpless whelp, Mister Dominic,” she said quite loudly, gesturing with her goblet and spilling her drink.
He was taken aback by her sudden proclamation, as well as the volume of it. Forget her father ruining things, his drunk bride was doing that all by herself.
Jen felt the room start to spin around her, and her neck and chest were feeling quite hot. She blamed the alcohol for this mess.
Why was Dominic so far away? Hadn’t they just been by each other’s sides only moments ago?
The Dragon’s Gift Page 11