I thought I understood. Ivia’s necklace was the same, but she had little charms on it that must be from all her mates. That must be what they all had to ask me.
I’d better answer before they all flipped their shit.
“Idris, it would honor me to be your mate. I love you more than anything.”
The entire audience started cheering as Idris fastened the necklace around my neck, and passionately kissed me. He stepped back with my other men.
Oprix moved forward on his knees a little. He opened his box and saw a little copper scythe to wear on my necklace.
“Frankie, you’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. The day you said you wanted to explore your feelings for me was the best day of my life. Will you be my wife?”
“Oprix, I would love to be your wife. I’m only sorry it took me so long to say I wanted to explore my feelings. We could have been happier even longer.”
Oprix slid the scythe on the chain. “I was blissfully happy just being around you. You’ll never want for anything as my wife, Frankie.”
I grabbed him and kissed him. “I know, Oprix. I’ve never wanted for anything since I met you.”
As soon as Oprix stepped back, Daxar stepped forward. He didn’t speak. He grabbed me, pulled me to his chest, and kissed me like we were alone. His hands tangled in my braids and he yanked my hair right as be bit my lower lip.
“Marry me,” he growled. “I’ve never met anyone like you, and I don’t think I ever will. I’ll never love anyone like I love you. Marry me and promise to misbehave a lot.”
“I love you, Daxar. You brought something in my life that was missing that I didn’t know I needed. I need you, but it can only be you. When you said you’d come West with me, it made me so happy and completed my heart with these other men. Of course, I’ll marry you.”
I think the Quadlings were cheering the loudest as Daxar slipped a copper flame on my necklace. It was appropriate. The scythe fit Oprix because he was a farmer, and the scythe chose him to fly on. The flame was like Daxar and me. Almost as soon as we met, something sparked, and we started burning with an intense passion. I also hadn’t forgotten how much I liked him using candle wax on my skin.
Galen was last. I realized they went in the order I had met them. I technically met Idris before I met Oprix because his father had him at my mother’s estate when we were both babies. From what his father told us, he was placed in my crib with me, and we napped together. When Ibus and my mother finished their business and Ibus came to my nursery to get Idris, we were napping holding each other, like we knew even then we were meant to be together.
Galen was shy, like he worried I’d said yes to everyone else, but I would say no to him. He was on his knees in front of me, holding a box out, and he looked like he was trying to figure out what to say that would be perfect in his head. Galen always thought he needed to impress me, but he never realized that he amazed me ever since he told me he ran away from his father.
I lifted his chin and made him look me in the eyes. I pulled him to his feet and kissed him with just as much heat as everyone else who proposed to me tonight.
“The answer is yes, Galen, if it’s something you want too.”
“What if I want it, but I don’t think I deserve it? What if I fuck everything up? You know who my father is.”
“I know who your father is, and I know who you are. I love you for who you are and I may fuck this up just as much as any of you.”
Galen gave me a shy smile. “Then will you make something possible that I thought was impossible, Frankie? Will you marry me?”
“The answer is a big, happy, yes, Galen.”
Galen opened his box, and I saw a copper apple blossom flower. Appropriate for Galen in so many ways. The apple blossom flower was considered good luck in the West and it was presented as a symbol of peace when a dispute was reached. Galen played a huge part in the peace we had in Oz right now and I knew how much he hated conflict.
I let Galen slip the copper apple blossom flower on my necklace and gave him another kiss. They all jumped up and pulled me into this mass hug while the audience cheered. They were all mine now, and I didn’t have to hide it anymore. Ozma didn’t have to hide her relationship anymore. No one in Oz did and based on the reaction from the audience when Ozma announced she was revoking those laws, there were plenty of people hiding.
Pridius stepped forward when the audience calmed down.
“We’ve had two proposals on stage, but Emarus of the South has already asked Saffron of the East to be his bride. They have asked to be married today in front of all of Oz. Ozma also asks that anyone else wishing to be married today may do so. I can officiate marriages and would be honored to marry anyone in this audience.”
Pavius shocked the shit out of me. I had him pegged for an ignorant bigot based on his behavior at the trial. He just kind of appeared out of nowhere in purple robes like my father’s blue robes.
“To cut down on the lines, I will also marry anyone who wishes to be married.”
Roxar must have left Ivia and gone to get his red robes because he was on stage too.
“The South will also marry anyone who wishes to be married.”
Nick Chopper, who nearly spent the entire trial saying nothing, joined them on the stage.
“I’ve married several Winkies as Emperor of the West. I’m not heartless anymore, and I’m not one to stand in the way of true love. The West would be honored to marry anyone who wishes to be married.”
I’d only just been proposed to, and I had no idea it was coming. I didn’t think any of us would get married until after I completed my training and was settled back in my mother’s home in the West. But there was just something in the air tonight. Members of the crowd were proposing to each other whether or not their marriage had previously been illegal. There was so much love in the air.
It just felt right to have my father marry us while everyone else was getting married too. It would be a wedding I would never forget, and I couldn’t top later. I would have to murder Saffron for not telling me she planned to get married tonight, but I wasn’t angry with her. I understood now why she wanted to.
I looked at my men. “What do you say? Should we do this tonight?”
Idris kissed the top of my head. “Sorry, Francesca. We plotted behind your back. Ozma came to us and told us she was proposing after she revoked the laws and that she asked Pridius to marry her if everyone said yes. Saffron confessed Emarus asked and wanted to get married too. We thought you should get the chance to get married with family and friends if you wanted to, and we were going to ask, anyway. My mother had the necklace and charms with her just in case. She would have given them to us when we visited the Flying Monkey court.”
“How did you all manage to plan all this without me knowing? You planned a wedding and two proposals, and I knew nothing!”
Oprix kissed my forehead. “You took one of your infamous soaks in the bathtub once the trial was over.”
That I did. So, they did have plenty of time to plan. When I took a soak in the bathtub, I used scented oils, lit candles, and I stayed in there for hours.
I laughed and tried to pull all four of them as close to me as possible.
“Since it involved a wedding proposal, I’m not mad, but no more using my me time to conspire against me. Let’s go get married!”
Chapter 45
Frankie
I
was never like some Winkie girls my age in the West. I didn’t start planning my wedding as soon as I sprouted boobs. I hadn’t even really planned anything once I admitted I wanted love because I found out my love was illegal, and I wasn’t about to choose one of them. Even if I had tried planning something since I was a teenager or even if I had planned something months ago when I told Idris and Oprix my feelings, it wouldn’t have been as perfect as this.
I got to watch Saffron and Emarus get married, and Ozma married all her loves before it was our turn. Really, the lines behind everyone con
ducting the ceremonies was stretching out into the field. There were so many people wanting to get married. Some, I could tell, had forbidden loves before Ozma made her speech and some were people swept up with all the love in the air and decided it was the perfect time to propose to their beloved.
I was watching Ozma’s marriage, and Dorothy seemed confused at Oz weddings. The place she came from was so odd. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had strange wedding customs too. Dorothy looked totally confused as the myrtle crown was placed on her head and Ozma’s head.
I had no idea how my father managed to do this since this type of marriage had been illegal before. He successfully bound all five hands. There was a yellow cord for Dixius, who was a Winkie, and red cords for Ethar and Aldor as Quadlings. Dorothy could have been Sentinel of the North if she wanted, so her cord was purple. Ozma was from Emerald City, so hers was green.
Dorothy looked like she had no idea why her hands were being bound to everyone else, and I would have to ask her what weddings were like where she came from because I was curious. They had some things we didn’t have here in Oz and in some ways, they were way behind us. I was very curious about Kans-ass now.
Dorothy was eyeing the ceramic bell above her head like Pridius intended to break it on her head. My father could tell this was very new to her, so he explained.
“The bell is full of grain. Once we’ve bound your hands, joining you all as one, we break the bell so the grain showers over you. It’s meant to symbolize fertility and prosperity in your marriage. I realize this may differ from what you are used to. How are marriages done where you come from? I can try to incorporate some of it.”
“Well, they happen in a church. There’s a flower girl, then your father leads you out and gives you away.”
Were daughters property in Kans-ass? How strange that a wedding involved a father giving their daughter to their husband. I needed to have a sit-down conversation with Dorothy about all the strange things about where she grew up.
Idris immediately sprang into action. “What does the flower girl do?”
“Well, she throws flowers down the aisle.”
“Hold that thought,” Idris said.
He disappeared and was back in an instant with Zusim Glinda, Khuzin, and Elore. Khuzin was awake for once. He was sucking his thumb and watching everyone get married with wide eyes. Idris had a basket full of fresh purple orchids grown in the North.
He kneeled down next to Elore. “How would you like to help a queen have the perfect wedding? You could have the title of honorary flower girl in the queen’s wedding. The queen sure would be grateful.”
Elore’s eyes lit up. “I can help Ozma get married?”
“Yes. They especially need you to make the wedding extra perfect, little princess. All you have to do is throw these flowers while Pridius does the ceremony.”
“Mama, can I have a flower girl when I get married?”
“You can do whatever you want when you get married, love.”
“Is this okay?” Idris asked.
“It’s perfect,” Dorothy sighed. “I don’t mind the bell now that I know what it’s for. Elore will make the cutest flower girl.”
Idris stepped back. Little Elore sat there flinging flowers at their feet like if she threw them hard enough, it would give them a successful marriage. I had no idea how it was where Dorothy came from, but in Oz, the officiant sang the words to make the marriage official. It was thought that music was more magical than just speaking the words so that the marriage would have a greater success.
Pridius finished singing and grinned at Ozma. “You’re all now married. You should kiss and make it official.”
Well, they kissed. And then kissed some more. It almost seemed like they would fuck right there on the stage until Zusim cleared his throat to remind them there was a five-year-old right there. Like Saffron and Emarus, they all disappeared upstairs to their rooms.
When I thought about it, I didn’t know if a flower girl had some kind of luck or magic to it back in Kans-ass, but I wanted as much of that on my wedding day as possible, and Elore was adorable.
“Elore, do you want to be my flower girl too?” I asked.
She glared at me with her little hands on her hips. “Are you marrying Idris?” she demanded.
Oh, fuck. I forgot about her crush on him.
“If that’s okay with you, Elore.”
“But do you love him like the stories my papa tells me?”
“I love him more than the stories your mama and papa tell you.”
Elore chewed her bottom lip and twirled one of her braids. Her little face lit up.
“Okay! I get to be a flower girl for a queen and a prince!”
Idris leaned down to tweak her nose. “You’re the best flower girl ever, Elore.”
Elore’s eyes started watering, and her lower lip started quivering. Why was she crying?
“I’m out of flowers!” she wailed.
Zusim swooped in to the rescue. It wasn’t purple orchids this time. He’d gone to Locasta’s garden and picked Catmint. He started loading the flowers into Elore’s basket.
“See, love? More flowers. You get to be a flower girl for Idris too.”
“Thank you, Papa.”
Idris swooped down and scooped her up while Zusim filled her basket.
“Hey, dry those tears. We would have made it work no matter what. There’s no way I could have gotten married without you. You’re important. We would have gotten you those flowers.”
Elore sniffled. “I was worried I had ruined your wedding.”
I had no idea Galen even liked children. He pulled just enough Catmint out of the basket to weave a little crown and placed it on Elore’s head.
“Now, you look like the little princess Idris likes to call you.”
Elore touched the crown and gazed at Galen with these huge eyes. Idris set her down and kissed the top of her head.
“How about we get married now?”
We all held out our hands. Our hands were bound together with cords of yellow, purple, and red, and there was a golden cord that I knew was just for Idris. It was surreal. I closed my eyes as my father sang the words binding us. I felt this cool breeze pick up and lift my braids. It was like this blanket of peace settled over me when the song was over. They were mine now.
I opened my eyes when my father finished his song. “It was an honor to be the one to marry you, Francesca. You are all now married, so kiss each other, but keep in mind, you are standing in front of her father. Before you get too into it, take it back to your bedroom.”
I didn’t have much better control than Ozma did. I lost myself into each kiss. I remembered what Ivia said about having them together. I definitely wanted to try that tonight. I was kissing Galen. He was the last one I needed to kiss. I heard this tiny voice.
“Was I a good flower girl?” Elore asked.
Idris pounced and placed her on his shoulders. “You were the perfect flower girl, little princess. I have to go inside now, but what do you want to do?”
“I want to play the game with the bags again.”
Glinda stepped forward with a gentle smile. “Then we’ll play your game, love. Let’s let the prince enjoy being married for the night. He’ll see you again in the morning. You should thank them for letting you be their flower girl.”
“Thank you, Idris,” Elore yelled, pulling his braids.
“No, thank you, Elore,” Idris said, handing her to Zusim. “Win some chocolate at the bag game for me, okay?”
Zusim put Elore on his shoulder and tried to make a quick exit. “Go enjoy your wedding night.”
“Wait,” I said. “Aren’t the two of you going to get married now that you can?”
Glinda smiled. “Of course, but this is a party, and my children come first. They want to play games and enjoy themselves. We may marry tonight or we may wait until we get back home. We still have to visit the Flying Monkey Court too.”
“What will happen to Emer
ald City Academy?” I asked.
“I was thinking about Locasta’s testimony. She thought people in Oz were weak for not using their magical abilities, but how would they with no one to teach them? Why would anyone teach them when they can’t guarantee they could use it responsibly? If Ozma agrees and we can find staff, I think it should stay open for anyone who wants to learn to tap into their magical abilities. They would have to be vetted to make sure they intend to use it for good, but that’s just what I’m thinking now. And you and Saffron still need to finish your training. Now, off you go. You need not be worrying about academies or anything other than yourself and your husbands tonight.”
She was right. I said I would be a different kind of Sentinel than my mother and Adora. Fuck, I just got married to four men I loved more than anything. We just healed Oz together. I was sure something else would come up eventually, but tonight, the only thing I had to worry about was if I could handle all four of them in the bedroom.
Chapter 46
Frankie
I
t was safe to say Saffron was locked in the bedroom with Emarus, so I started stripping as soon as Oprix kicked the door closed behind him. I threw my shirt across the room and went to kick my shoes off, but Daxar stopped me. He swooped me up and started marching towards the bedroom with me.
“Don’t make a mess in the sitting room, or I’ll have to spank you,” Daxar growled, carrying me through the door to the bedroom.
Daxar set me gently on the bed and stepped back. “Sit still and just watch. Leave the rest of your clothes on for now.”
“Why?” I asked, leaning back on my hands.
“We didn’t just get a visit from Ozma,” Oprix said, grinning. “Idris told Ivia there might be a wedding, so she insisted on meeting with us to tell us how this was done with the Flying Monkeys.”
“And some things a son pretty much never wants to hear from his mother,” Idris grumped.
“Like what?” I asked.
There was pretty much almost nothing you could say to embarrass Idris, but it seemed like Ivia managed. It was weird, Idris was red, but my shy Galen looked downright amused.
Oz Has Spoken: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance (Emerald City Academy Book 3) Page 26