Queen Maeve, herself, stood at the arched doorway of her castle, watching us tear up the joint. Mariel stood to one side and Giz to her immediate left. Both Giz and Mariel smiled as they watched the frivolity before them. Maeve, however, had a harder time processing what was happening in her royal home.
When the Queen’s eyes met mine, no words were necessary.
I knew she was not amused.
Chapter Three
The music continued and my lovely American friends didn’t even miss a beat, although to me the Queen’s arrival was like a giant record scratch.
Dash, who had grown to love Maeve every bit as much as she loved him, even despite herself, rushed to her side to grab her hand and pull her into the ballroom we had turned into a discotheque.
“Grandmama Maeve,” he greeted with the biggest smile you ever saw. “You should come sing with us! I have just the song!”
I ran immediately to her rescue. “Dashie, come on. The Queen doesn’t karaoke.”
Dash’s face fell as he looked up at her. “Why not?”
She mustered a smile for him and patted his shoulder. “You sing a nice song for both of us, Dashiell,” she said, regally sidestepping the request.
He responded with a furious nod before he ran over to the karaoke machine to pick a song, dragging Giz along with him. Mariel gave me a supportive wink before she followed them. Maeve turned to me.
“Enjoying your last night as a single woman, I see.”
I wasn’t going to apologize for having fun with the people I loved. I stood a little straighter and squared my shoulders. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She answered only with a small smile. “I was wondering if I could speak to you and your parents briefly.”
I thought about Cillian’s gift from earlier with a gnawing of dread in my tummy. “Of course. Is there anything wrong?”
She pounced on the insecurity. “Why would you assume there’s something wrong?”
“It’s been that kind of year,” I blithely remarked.
She glanced me over, pausing her gaze on my very pregnant tummy. “I suppose it has.” Her eyes met mine. “This is more a formal visit.”
Her answer didn’t do much to pacify me. “I’ll round up my folks.”
She nodded. “Meet me in the main drawing room.”
Fern watched as I crossed the room to tap my parents on the shoulders and lead them away from the party. I knew she wanted to come. Hell, I wanted her to come. But the rules were different now. We had to do as the Queen requested.
Mom and Dad followed me to the elegant drawing room with the large, stone-sculpted fireplace that was currently roaring with a blazing fire. Maeve sat in one of the Queen Anne chairs facing it, warming her face with its glow.
“Your Majesty,” I greeted, simply because I hadn’t quite grown comfortable enough to call her Maeve like the rest of my family, or even Grandmama, like Dashie. I still had to fight the urge to curtsy whenever I was in her presence.
She turned to face us. “Please. Be seated.”
We all sat to face her, waiting expectantly. The silence dragged so long my stoic father was the first to speak. “I wish I knew you were coming. I would have made some more barbecue.”
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I apologize if I caught you all off guard. That was not my intention.”
“So, what was your intention, Maeve?” my mother asked. They had become quite chummy over the past few weeks, so she had grown comfortable with using her given name. “Everything is moving along schedule, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” Maeve dismissed easily with a wave of her hand. “Auggie had suggested that perhaps Giz would enjoy riding with the bridal party from Greystone. I concurred. It gave me the perfect opportunity to bring to you my wedding gift to the McPhee family.”
She rose from the chair, pulling an envelope from her coat pocket and walking it over to my father.
“Please accept this gift on behalf of Aldayne.”
He shared a look with Mom before he opened the envelope that had been secured with purple wax and a royal seal. He withdrew the official parchment and skimmed the contents before falling slowly onto the chair behind him. “What is this?”
Mom took the paper and read it. “I don’t understand.”
Maeve smiled before she, too, sat on the sofa. “Auggie had approached me about allowing you to become caretakers of one of our royal homes, but it made better sense to me that you stay with Auggie and Peaches in Castlewick. With the wedding and all, we haven’t had much time to sufficiently interview adequate staff to assist them. Now that the due date is fast approaching, they’ll need the help of their family more than ever. That, to me, is the caretaking job that matters most.”
“So, what is this?” Mom said, holding up the document.
She paused. “Security means a lot to me and a lot to Auggie. This is something that will give you and all McPhees a stable future, and a reason to stay in Aldayne.”
I grabbed the document from my mother. It was a deed, stating Doug and Sunny McPhee would take ownership of Kings Watch, a royal residence just off Unity Lake, and would be known here and forever after as Baron and Baroness. With this peerage, they would be entrusted with the upkeep of King’s Keep and participate in the House of Lords, with a personal wealth that included not just one comma, but two.
I wilted into a seat as well.
“With this marriage, I wanted to show the people of Aldayne we stand united as a family. The whole family. Your children will be titled as well. The Honourable Peaches McPhee. The Honourable Fern McPhee. And so on. Known as Lord and Lady accordingly.”
Lord Dashiell McPhee. He was going to lose his mind.
“I don’t know what to say,” Mom stammered, as discombobulated as I had ever seen her.
Another smirk from the Queen. “I hear ‘thank you’ is customary in these situations.”
“Of course, thank you,” Mom said, before looking helplessly towards my dad.
“We’re not even citizens,” he trailed off, trying to make sense of it.
Maeve chuckled. “What can I say? It’s good to be queen. You’re part of the royal family now, a Quinn by marriage by this time tomorrow. One thing you will quickly learn, we take care of our own.”
“Wow,” Mom breathed, barely able to form a thought. Finally, “Can I hug you now?”
Maeve shrugged. “If you must.”
“I must,” Mom said before she grabbed Maeve into a hug. Dad gave her a bear hug that would have knocked her crown askew had she been wearing it.
“I apologize for not telling you sooner. I ran into some resistance gaining approval from the House of Lords regarding transferring ownership from Kings Watch from their previous owners.”
My gut tugged. “Who were the previous owners?”
Those cool, bright green eyes met mine. “The Byrnes.”
I nodded. Of course.
“They had outsourced the care of King’s Keep, paying other people to stay there and tend to the royal duties that come with ownership of the house. My argument was that the McPhee family had a long history of caretaking various homes for important and notable people. I received a lovely response from Graham Baxter himself, as a testament how well you had treated his property in your tenure. It seems obvious to me that if you cared so much about houses you didn’t own; just imagine how you would treat land that you did. Aldayne would benefit having citizens like you. The House of Lords ultimately concurred, given the Byrne this property had been promised has yet to marry and take possession. So, congratulations, Baron and Baroness. Lady McPhee,” she said as she turned to me.
Suddenly it all made sense. It was a way to give me a title and legitimize me in time for the wedding and stick it to the Byrnes in the process.
Maeve Quinn was slick. No wonder she was Queen.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, gathering her things. “We have a busy day tomorrow. I have one last gift for Peaches, but
I would like to do that in private if I may.”
“Of course,” Mom and Dad both said, with the appropriate bow/curtsy to their new queen as they departed.
“You’re having way too much fun with this wedding, I think,” I said as I waited for her to withdraw her gift from the bag she carried.
“Like I said, it’s good to be queen.” She turned to me. “You’ll know this very soon.”
What could I say to that?
“Here,” she said, handing me a small box. “Consider this something old.”
I opened it to find a monogrammed handkerchief with the Quinn family crest. It had R and S, for Roan and Sofie. “Maeve,” I breathed, forgetting my reticence to call her by her given name entirely.
“All Aldaynean brides carry a family handkerchief for luck,” she said softly. “May it bring you better luck than it brought them.”
I was overcome. This way I could have Auggie’s parents with us on our special day. It meant so much more than she knew. “This is so special. Thank you.”
“Despite what my grandson might have told you, family means everything to me. I tried to give that to him in meaningful ways, but I could never fill the hole losing them ripped into him. He’s happy with you. And I am grateful.”
“Thank you,” I said again, unable to think of anything more eloquent.
She nodded before producing a bigger velvet box. “Now for something borrowed.”
I opened the box. It was a sparkling tiara that looked incredibly old and unbelievably valuable, with seven cabochon aldrites balanced between diamond-studded triquetras. I gasped as I wilted back into a chair. She sat next to me. “This was commissioned by King Riordan for his daughter Eliza, Duchess of Iver, and as such, the new Duchess of Iver should wear it on her wedding day, and every day thereafter she rules. Wear it with pride, Lady McPhee.”
My eyes widened as I looked back up at this powerful woman who would now become my grandmother by marriage. I didn’t even ask for a hug. I just went for it. She allowed it for a moment before she collected herself. “Now, I must go. Tomorrow is going to be a historic day.”
As she collected her things, I asked, “Maeve?” She turned to face me. “How’s Auggie?”
She hesitated only a moment. “Desperately looking forward to tomorrow,” she said at last.
She left me with that, and the tiara I now held in my hands, a tiara worn by someone I had grown to deeply admire. I clutched the tiara and the handkerchief to my heart.
They would all be with me tomorrow… when I finally walked down the aisle to my prince.
I couldn’t wait.
Chapter Four
I was awake a half-hour before the alarm went off the following morning. I hadn’t even gotten four solid hours of sleep, but I was a wreck thinking about the day ahead.
There was getting to see Auggie again, sure. Marrying the man of my dreams, of course. But sandwiched on either side of that was a lot of royal performance theater, as I had begun to call it in my head. I was expected to go through each hoop with a smile on my face and a delicate wave of my hand. No longer would I be simply Peaches McPhee. To the people of Aldayne, to whom I would belong, I would be Her Royal Highness.
No longer would I write articles for entertainment magazines or post pictures to an Instagram account people may or may not even see.
No longer would I go to the supermarket for some milk or stand in line to get tickets for the latest movie.
No longer would I get to make my own clothes, or shop discount outlets or second-hand stores. Never again would I get total autonomy over how I looked, what I wore, how I spoke. Everything would be watched, studied, and judged by an entire country… and entire world.
I woke up sick to my stomach, which was reminiscent of the first day I met my prince. It would have been funny if I hadn’t felt so shitty.
When I went downstairs to the kitchen, Mom was already there, prepping some tea to go along with some auberry muffins she had convinced the staff to bake for me.
They hadn’t planned a big breakfast for our motley crew, but we needed enough fuel to get us from Greystone to Crystal Skye, where I was due to marry my betrothed at noon. After what promised to be at least an hour-long ceremony, we would all ride back to Shimmering Falls for the reception, both public and private. It would be there I could eat again, so I knew to get through everything I had to do that morning, I’d need sustenance.
Mom greeted me with a hug. “Good morning, honey,” she said, pulling me close. “Or should I say Lady McPhee?”
I laughed. “You’re Lady McPhee,” I reminded. “I’m about to be something else entirely.”
She held me by the shoulders and studied my face. “Cold feet?”
I shrugged. “Not about Auggie. Just about everything else. I just feel like this new life is trying to gobble me whole.”
She hugged me again. “It’s a good thing I raised you to be so strong, then. You can be the wife and the partner that Auggie deserves.”
My eyes met hers. “You really think so?”
She caressed my face. “Have I ever lied to you before?”
I shook my head. That wasn’t the kind of relationship we had ever had. She sat me down and poured me a cup of tea. I munched on a muffin while the chef prepared an omelet for me as the rest of the house began to rouse.
By six o’clock, I was in my royal suite, under the artful hands of Jorge and Clementine as they began the transformation from simple farm girl to fairy tale princess.
The makeup had to be dramatic since every minute of the ceremony would be broadcast worldwide. The news channels were already on Wedding Watch, going over the history of Aldayne and how politically important this wedding would prove to be.
Of course, the bigger news was how unbelievably shocked they all were that someone so ill-suited for a royal romance had won the heart of a prince. Jorge tried more than once to mute the news, but I insisted he leave it on. “I’m going to have to get used to it eventually.”
“Nobody should have to get used to that,” he muttered as he styled my hair.
“Occupational hazard,” I tried to shrug, but it still stung to hear the comments. Reporters were already on the ground in Aldayne, interviewing citizens on their opinions. Some were enthusiastic, others were not. American news made sure to highlight the latter, particularly those comments where my American citizenship sparked so much ire.
“Controversy sells,” Clem had said as she finished my eye makeup.
Maybe, I thought, but I drew the line when they started digging around my family. That was my hard limit and I turned off the television completely.
Darcy helped me into the A-line dress made of layers of soft white chiffon, which felt like I was being enveloped in a cloud. She secured a silver satin sash at the empire waist, which she tied into an elegant bow at the small of my back, making sure that the ribbon floated gracefully along the back seam all the way to the floor.
Next was the cathedral-length cape veil, scalloped with lace on the edges and clasped together across my breastbone in a dramatic scattering of Aldaynean crystals. With that presentation, other jewelry was redundant. I wore cabochon aldrite earring studs that were surrounded by diamonds and the tiara and that was it.
I stepped into crystal and satin pumps with a lower heal to help protect my back with all the walking I was sure to do that day, and with that, my look was complete.
Well, almost. I grabbed Roan’s and Sofie’s handkerchief and placed it carefully in my jeweled clutch, which housed my cell phone and some makeup essentials to touch up before we reached the church.
When I reached the spiral staircase leading to the floor below, I noticed everyone waited there for me to make my appearance. My legs shook as I held onto the railing, stepping slow but sure as I glided down the stairs. Both Fern and Mom burst immediately into tears. Even Dad and Archer got a little misty. Dash stood tall and proud in his page uniform complete with an Aldaynean kilt to match the one Gav wore and like
ly Auggie would wear. He looked every inch the nobleman he now was. Gav was in his uniform, standing straight and proud next to my sister Fern, who wore a black chiffon off-the-shoulder dress that faded out to purple at the bottom.
Audra’s dress matched the same ombre pattern, but she wore a halter neckline that highlighted her strong, satiny shoulders and toned arms, looking like a goddess sculpture come to life.
Giz looked likewise beautiful in her ombre dress, with its sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. How Dashie held her hand as he stood next to her touched my heart.
Everyone looked amazing, including Jorge, Clementine, and Darcy, who would be taking one of the first cars towards the church. With hugs and last looks and stern instruction not to cry and destroy their hard work, they were out the door as the clock ticked over to the top of the hour.
Mom, Dad, Gav, Ellen, and George followed them to get seated in the first official carriage.
Audra held out my bouquet of cascading Aldaynean roses which matched my white and purple ensemble. It was bound together with jewels and silver chains and tiny silver bells, catching the light however it was held. “A gift from the Tremwells,” she said with a curtsy.
“It’s beautiful,” I said as I grabbed her into a hug.
I followed the bridal party out to the front of the castle, where soldiers already stood guard, both on foot and on horseback, protecting us from prying eyes as we were all seated in our different coaches. My heart soared when I saw Sean in full uniform, waiting to assist me into my coach. I didn’t give a damn about protocol, I reached up to hug his neck. “Sean!”
“I’ll get you to your Prince, milady,” he bowed.
“It couldn’t be anyone else,” I grinned. I was rewarded by the tug of a smile at the corner of his mouth as he helped me step up into the carriage, taking care to gather my train and veil to secure them in the coach before closing the door.
I had hoped to share a coach with the members of my family, or even my bridal party, but the queen had been adamant that this was a journey I had to take alone, introducing me to the people of Aldayne and preparing me for the ultimate separation of who I was and who I was about to become.
The Duke Takes a Bride (The Rocking Royal Trilogy Book 2) Page 3