by J. J. McAvoy
“Four minutes, sir,” he said without missing a beat, still grinning.
“Why did they not call sooner!” I snapped at him, hopping into my pants.
“I do not know, sir.”
Ignoring him, I buttoned my shirt. I wasn’t sure what to think. Why was she coming back? We hadn’t spoken in days. Maybe she was coming to have me sign divorce papers again. Shaking my head, I did my best not to care. Whatever the reason, even if it were for a final goodbye, I’d still be glad to see her, to know we both at least didn’t end on that night.
“Two minutes, sir.”
“Let’s go,” I said, adjusting my cufflinks as I moved out the door. With each step, my heart rang out loudly in my head.
The thought, What if this is all a drunken dream? suddenly popped into my mind.
“Are you sure she’s coming?” I asked Iskandar as we came down the stairs.
“Yes, sir.”
“Did she say why?”
“No, sir, and you’re fidgeting.”
I turned to glare at him, and he stared back. Ignoring him, I inhaled deeply as I made it outside with only seconds to spare. Her car entered through the private side of the palace, and as it grew closer, I felt my stomach drop. I felt like I was going to be sick but forced myself to remain composed.
No matter the reason. I thought as the car came to a stop in front of me. Thelma stepped out and opened the door for Odette. And when she did, I stopped breathing. Like always, she was a vision of visions, the most beautiful of the most beautiful as her brown eyes stared into mine, and I could not move.
We both stood there for a moment, like kids, and I opened my mouth to speak, but she stepped forward, then forward again until we were face-to-face, so close that I could smell the vanilla and honey scent rising off her. So close, I wanted to touch her to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. But instead, always beating me to the punch, she reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck. It was like the heavens opening or air filling deprived lungs. Wrapping my arms around her, too, I hugged her tightly.
“Welcome home, bevilën.”
—FORTY MINUTES EARLIER—
“You aren’t coming, are you?” my mother asked when I didn’t step farther from the car, a frown on her face. “I could see it on your face the moment you stepped out of the hospital room, but I hoped for once, I was wrong.”
“I’m not strong enough to leave him,” I whispered with a half-hearted smile. “It could all go very wrong, and some other horrible thing might happen to me. I’m scared, and I want to run away, but I can’t because I’m also scared of not being with him. I want to go, but I don’t want to. Aren’t I mess?”
“Yes.” She walked up to place her hands onto my cheeks. “But you are my mess. And even though I dislike this place and what they say about you, I love you.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“Don’t be.” She smiled. “When I went to go be Miss USA, my mom said not to go and that they’d never chose me. I went anyway, and I made them choose me. You’re my daughter, so I know you can do it too. I just don’t want you to suffer for anything or anyone. But that’s not possible, is it? What did your dad always say?”
I grinned. “If it were easy, you wouldn’t be first.”
“Go. Show them why you can’t mess with a Wyntor.” She kissed my cheek.
“Come back with me.”
She shook her head, laughing. “Don’t you know me? I can’t be around and not cause a scene. I might pull a Naomi and throw a cell phone at one of those nasty reporters.”
I flinched, which caused her to laugh more.
“See you at your wedding, sweetheart. I mean, Your Future Majesty.” She curtsied, then twirled and walked up the stairs of the jet. Before going in, she turned and pointed at me, a serious expression on her face. “Don’t let them pick an ugly matron of honor dress for me. No ruffles!”
“Matron of honor? Don’t you mean the mother of the bride?”
“As if you have any other best friend but me.”
“Bye, Mom!” I snapped, and she laughed, waving.
I waited until her jet took off before turning to see Wolfgang and Thelma smiling. The sizes of their smiles were different, but the meaning was the same.
“Miss,” Thelma said as she held open the door.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll call the palace—”
“Wolfgang, wait!” I reached up, touching his shoulder to stop him. He looked at me, confused. “Start driving. But—but I don’t want the whole palace waiting for me.”
“Okay,” he replied, putting down his phone, and I sat back.
I didn’t want anyone waiting because I wanted time to talk to Gale. We hadn’t talked in so long that I was actually anxious to see what was going to happen. What was I going to say to him? How was I going to explain all the things that were racing through my mind and heart? For some reason, the return trip felt so much faster than it did when I was leaving. I still hadn’t come up with what to say. And what if he didn’t want to see me now?
Shit.
I hadn’t really thought about that.
What if he was tired of chasing after me? He didn’t try again after the first day. What if he’d given up, too? The more I thought about it, the more panicked I became.
“On second thought, Wolfgang, could you let them know I’m coming?” Before I was rejected in front of the whole palace.
“Yes, miss,” he replied, lifting his phone.
And all I understood from that conversation was that we were ten minutes away. Ten minutes! And I hadn’t even focused on my outfit, wearing any simple loose dress they had brought for me.
“Wolfgang, where is that duffel bag?” I checked around the back, finding it behind my seat and reaching back to grab it. “Never mind.”
Searching through it, I grabbed a compact mirror, and quickly, I pulled out makeup, trying to put effort into my face, at least, before grabbing the perfume and rubbing it on my wrist and behind my ears. When I glanced up, I saw Wolfgang grinning and looking at me at the review mirror.
“Don’t laugh!”
“I’m not, miss.”
“You are. I know it’s silly, but still. Ugh, never mind.” I ignored him, not wanting to waste any more time. I even had a mint as we pulled through the private gates of the palace.
Calm down! I mentally yelled with my hand on my frantic heart. But it became impossible as I saw him standing outside, waiting. He stood tall, hands behind his back, shoulders squared, and I could have sworn his hair glistened like the sunrise on morning grass.
I thought I was panicked before, but I was on a whole new level of freaking out now. Inside were mini-mes around screaming. My hands shook. I was not ready! But the car stopped away.
I took three deep breaths before ripping off the bandage and stepping out of the car. When I did, he stared at me with those beautiful blue-green eyes of his. And the words I had been waiting for almost forty minutes to form shattered into a million, billion little pieces. All I could do was stare back. When I saw him move to say something, I panicked and stepped up first, wrapping my arms around his neck, holding on tightly.
Hug me back, please, I mentally begged, and like he’d heard me, he did, his arms wrapping around me and hugging me tightly.
“Welcome home, bevilën.”
I bit my lips to keep from crying. “It’s good to be back.”
I didn’t know how long we hugged, but it didn’t feel long enough when we separated. Then when he smiled down at me, I got over it.
“Have breakfast or lunch or dinner or whatever meal with me?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’d like that.”
He kissed my hand before walking me back inside the palace. However, before we could go any farther in, Balduin ran inside like all hell had broken loose. “Sir!”
“Not now, Balduin, please. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow—”
“You sent a letter!” he interrupted.
G
ale froze, then his eyes widened, and his mouth slightly parted as he whispered, “Shit.”
“What?” I asked, worried, and he turned to me, his face a full range of embarrassment. Now I was very worried. “Gale, what?”
“I may have gotten drunk and written a letter to you last night.”
“What? I didn’t get any letter from you.” I glanced over my shoulder at Wolfgang, who shook his head that he also did not get one.
“I was worried you’d tear it up in anger. But I wanted you to read it, so I...” His voice trailed off.
“So you?”
“He sent it off to the press as the official palace statement!” Balduin screamed out, nearly going mad.
Gale flinched at the sound of it.
“What did you say in that letter?”
He shrugged. “Nothing too damaging, that I loved you, I was sorry and sad about what happened and...”
“Confessed to eloping with you!” Again, Balduin screamed, and Gale flinched. “Now all the press is posting it all over the internet. Reporters are asking about the details of this wedding. It’s chaos, so no, sir, it cannot wait until tomorrow! What are we to say?”
“Balduin, calm down, or you’ll rip out what’s left of your hair,” Gale said with the slightest smile on his face.
“Gale!” I pushed him.
And he just laughed, turned to face me, and placed his hands on my face. “I can fix this, but I need you to answer two questions first.”
“What?”
“Do you love and trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you here to stay with me forever?”
“Yes.”
He kissed my lips so passionately that my body felt like it was rising to his. Then all too quickly, he pulled back.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, stepping back from me grinning. “Balduin, let’s hurry. I’m already worried I’m dreaming, and she might disappear.”
I giggled. “I’ll be here. Always.”
“Good.” He nodded, still walking backward.
“Gale, go!” I laughed outright.
It took him a second before he walked off with Balduin still lecturing on one side and Iskandar silently walking on the other.
“Where exactly is he going?” I asked Wolfgang.
“Most likely to speak to the press directly.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“Only way to beat a story is to give them a new one. The only thing that tops a letter from the prince is the actual prince.”
It reminded me of what the queen said to me after my speech. The palace did not have time to stop and applaud.
I was back.
And I was staying.
Epilogue
How many things could you fit into one day?
To the palace, it was only one coronation and wedding. To me, it would be one coronation, one wedding, a wedding anniversary, and a birthday. I did not even have a good enough word for this. Stress didn’t do it justice, and chaos wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. It was sheer and utter insanity, mixed with deafening cheers, tears to fill an ocean, sparkles, lace, butterflies escaping stomachs, sprinkled with mushy love goo everywhere. Those words didn’t really make sense, but it was the only way to describe how I felt on this day—my wedding, birthday, anniversary, and coronation day.
“Hurry, ladies, we need to hurry.” Balduin waved people like an air traffic controller as we went down the palace steps. “Lift the train. Lift with your arms, my dear. It cannot touch the ground yet.”
“Balduin.”
“Take your time, miss,” he said, rushing to stand beside me. “Slow and steady. Slow and steady.”
That was the problem.
I was anxious enough as it was. I just wanted to run into the carriage and rush to the abbey and be done with all of this already.
“Stay calm. Remember, it is still your day,” Balduin added, making sure to walk with me. Over the last few months, it became clear that he was truly fit for his new position as the new Head Secretary of Palace Affairs. He did not run the palace with an iron fist, but a steadying understanding and always stopped to make sure I felt comfortable. Gale said he was becoming more of my right hand than his now.
“We’re almost there,” he said as we reached the front of the palace. “Now, remember when we step out, there will be quite a lot of people out there.”
I nodded, no longer able to speak as I braced myself. However, when I stepped out into the light, it once again hit me that there was no bracing for this.
“Odette!”
“Odette!”
“God bless you, Odette!”
“Congratulations, Odette!”
“Odette!”
“Odette!”
It was like having a loudspeaker in my face. Quite a lot, meaning hundreds, maybe even thousands. They all lined the gates—no, nearly claimed the gates, waving and screaming.
“Do you think I will still be able to hear after today?” my mother asked as she came up beside me, dressed in a long, champagne-colored fitted evening dress. Her hair was dyed back to brown, but she kept it cut in a curly pixie.
She smiled at me and nodded for me to get into a red and golden carriage, drawn by Ass and Maple, that looked as if it were meant to make Cinderella and all her stepsisters jealous. My mother helped Gelula, and the rest of the staff get the train—fifteen feet long—into the carriage. According to an old custom, I had to ride the four miles to Brauenburg Abbey alone. Around me were six royal guards on horseback. Thelma was the first woman ever to have that honor, and she was very excited. Though when I looked out the window, her face was dead-set focused...she was a little bit nervous too.
“I will see you there,” my mother said. “Don’t forget to breathe.”
“I’ll try,” I replied, but she only winked before stepping out to join my actual maid of honor, Eliza, in the car behind us. I wished Augusta could have been here. That, somehow, we would have magically made up after I was in the hospital. That she and I could put all the past behind us and that she would have been my maid of honor. However, we could never get everything we wanted. Our relationship had only gotten worse, and I didn’t want to deal with her today. I had my own life to live right now, and it was chaotic enough.
“Are you ready, miss?” Iskandar asked from on top of the horseback beside me.
I nodded.
It was hard for him to hear anything else over the screams and shouts.
And just like that, we were off. I sat straight and proper, knowing that all the cameras were on me and this carriage. Also, knowing that there was a little girl watching somewhere, I made sure my curls were extra big in the back for her. As I looked straight ahead, there were people on both sides of the road, waving flags, waving their hands, and calling out. I knew they couldn’t see my face well due to the veil, but I did wave every so often, my face fluctuating from wide smiles to nervous smiles and thinking, Oh, my God, this is happening.
On every other pillar down the road, there were official banners of Gale and I. It was surreal, and it only became more unimaginable when we arrived at the abbey, which was massive and daunting, even with all the greenery they had added to the entrance.
When the carriage stopped, and the door opened again, the sound of the people gave me goose bumps.
Taking a deep breath, I was helped out by none other than Wolfgang, who stood tall with the Sliver Eagle Medal of Courage pinned to his suit for his act of saving me.
“Welcome, ma’am,” he emphasized, nodding his head to me.
I wanted to say it was too early for the ma’am, but it really wasn’t. I was at the door already.
“Here you are.” Eliza smiled as she handed me my bouquet comprised of the flowers of the nation. “Don’t worry; I have you covered from back here.”
She moved behind me to fix my train. It was too much for just one bridesmaid, so shockingly enough, Sophia stood with her. She wasn’t wearing black for the very first time, a
nd instead, wore a soft gray. I looked back at her, and she just nodded. We weren’t friends. We weren’t enemies. We were just two women who had fallen in love with princes and now supported each other whenever we could. And that was enough.
“And I have you from the side,” my mother said, coming up next to me. This was the reason why she had chosen to be the mother of the bride. Because, in Ersovia, both parents walked you down the aisle, and if one wasn’t there, then the other did it alone, so long as they were family.
“Please don’t let me fall,” I whispered to her.
“Have I ever?”
“Yes.”
“Not this time. Come on, we’re walking,” she replied, and when I entered, everyone stood. The sound of the music drowned out the sounds of the crowd.
Slowly, I began my walk down the red carpet to where Gale stood, dressed in a black and gold royal suit, with his mother beside him dressed in full regalia, scepter, a white and golden robe, and the same golden crown I had worn during that state dinner. As there was going to be a coronation today—on my wedding day—I did not wear a crown to enter. But I did not focus on her for long. Instead, I turned my focus onto Gale, who smiled wide even though we were both told to keep our composure.
Seeing him smile made me smile.
I was getting married to him.
Dear God.
Thank you.
Truly and sincerely with everything I have and I am.
Thank you.
Odette.
I could stand and watch her walk to me all day.
It made me want to dance.
It made me want to run down the pews and shake everyone’s hands.
We had chosen this day because, to us, it really was our wedding day. It also happened to be so many other things, but the only thing that mattered to me right now was this part. I’d care about the other parts in a moment, but this one was for all the world to see that Odette was my wife. It was my favorite.
We weren’t supposed to talk.
However, when she reached me and put her hand in mine, I couldn’t help but say, “You are more than what beauty can describe.”