Chapter Thirty-Two
It isn’t raining on the day of the wedding, which is a miracle in and of itself.
My mother, Lydia, and I are picked up midmorning by a palace carriage and taken to Caledonia Cottage, where we will dress for the wedding. “Isn’t rain supposed to be lucky?” I ask, slumped against the velvet seat.
“How much luckier could you get?” Lydia replies.
I run my tongue over the smooth gap in my gum where my upper left molar used to be. Mother tells me to ignore that too, but I can’t stop prodding at it like a worry stone.
I’ve been sleeping in Lydia’s room for the past two weeks. Our parents think it’s sweet that we’re maximizing our last days together under the same roof, but really, I just like that she’s awake in the middle of the night too.
The irony of our situation doesn’t escape me. All the time I spent raging at her for the bargain she couldn’t remember, and now I’ve gone and done the same thing.
Lydia didn’t gloat about my bargain. She’s always been a better person than I am.
She just said, “It looks like we’re both exactly the same kind of stupid,” which almost makes me laugh.
Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. An auspicious beginning to what will be a long and happy marriage. It’s splashed all over the papers, my description on every front page in London. The headlines no longer THE SIX, but THE ONE.
They’ve embroidered my face on tea towels, there’s no backing out now.
Bram and I have barely seen each other. Every waking moment is filled with dress fittings or appointments about table settings or flowers.
Crowds line the streets all the way from our house to the palace. They shout good wishes and wave handkerchiefs as we pass by.
My mother’s elbow jabs me in the ribs. “Wave,” she urges.
I lean my head out the window, and the crowd goes absolutely wild. I’ve never felt more lonely in my life.
When we arrive, Marion, Faith, Olive, and Emmy are there in matching cream silk bridesmaid dresses. I missed them all dearly, even Faith.
Olive tames my curls into ringlets and then pins them into an elaborate updo. She looks concerned the whole time, staring at me like she’s biting her tongue about something.
“You bite at your lips when you’re nervous,” I say as she winds the hair by my ears around the hot tong.
“Why would I be nervous? It’s your wedding day.” She smiles. I have that odd feeling, the one I still can’t shake when I look at all of them. We’velace carriage been living together all season, but why does it feel like there’s somethingedding. “Isn’t I’m forgetting? Could my bargain have included the other girls? That feels unlikely.
“Is there something you need to tell me?” I twirl my engagement ringmy upper left nervously. It sits next to the pearl ring Bram gave me the day I first thought Itop prodding could love him. I haven’t taken it off.
“Only that you’re the most stunning bride we’ve ever seen,” Marion says.Our parents The queen didn’t strip anyone of their titles. It seems she’s happy enoughder the same to let the threat hang over us, or she’s been too preoccupied with wedding planning to remember. Regardless, I’ll be a princess soon, and I intend to usespent raging my status to protect the other girls the best I can. I’m certain Bram will helpand done the me.
The season already feels like a dream, like it happened to someone else. Ibetter person can barely even remember being at the balls and social events. The only moments that feel truly crystallized are the queen’s lessons and the momentsnd of stupid,” with the other girls.
Lydia buttons me into my white wedding gown. It’s a gauzy confection,An auspicious with a wide V-neck that hangs off my shoulders and layers upon layers ofshed all over fine-tooled lace that falls in ruffles across the bodice and skirt.headlines no It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever had on my body, but I glance in the mirror anxiously. I was nervous when the atelier decided on this silhouette.
The neckline shows the part of my neck where I had that strange, toothyment is filled bruise. It took weeks to heal but finally appears to be gone. It’s the oddest thing, I can’t remember how I got it.palace. They Once I’m in my dress, a footman comes in with a velvet case of royal jewels. I flip open the case to find a pair of diamond drop earrings and a matching necklace. Bram will place a tiara on my head at the altar, as isely wild. I’ve tradition.
in matchingAttached to the jewelry case is a note in Bram’s elegant hand. I cannot
wait to be your husband. —Bram. an elaborateMy heart swells. e’s biting herI don’t love Bram. I’m honest enough with myself to acknowledge that.
But I will love him. In time. winds the hairI can picture it so clearly, like love is something I’ve felt before and need to remember how to do again. It’s a ghost I’m chasing around corners, just miles. I haveout of reach. them. We’veMy mother fastens the final piece of my bridal ensemble, not a veil, but a ’s somethingdelicate lace cape, attached at my throat with a ribbon, with a billowing hood s? That feelsover my head. My bouquet is small, a tasteful arrangement of lily of the valley, but I clutch it hard to keep my sweaty hands from shaking. agement ringMy mother appears over my shoulder in the mirror and gives me a irst thought Isqueeze. “He’s the luckiest man in England,” she says.
He’s not a man, though, not quite. He’s something else. But I don’t Marion says.correct her. appy enoughI have the same uncanny feeling I had on the day of the Pact Parade, as if with weddingI’m looking at myself through a spyglass from the future. The course has intend to usealready been set, there’s no stopping it now. ram will helpLydia goes to stand with the other bridesmaids, my mother leaves to sit with the crowd, and then it is just my father and me waiting at the side door meone else. Iof the cottage. ts. The onlyPrince Emmett appears in the door, tall and broad-shouldered in his ink- the momentsblack frock coat. He offers a weak smile. “The processional will begin shortly.” He glances down at my father’s lapel. “You’ve forgotten your y confection,boutonniere.” pon layers ofMy father grasps his chest, then mutters “Oh!” and scurries off to retrieve it from the other room, leaving Prince Emmett and me alone. glance in theHe drags his eyes from my hem back up to my face and takes a strange, is silhouette.abbreviated breath. I don’t know him well enough to understand the range, toothyexpression on his face, but something about it makes my ribs ache. ’s the oddest“I’m sorry we haven’t gotten the chance to get to know each other better,” I offer, because it seems the polite thing to say. case of royal“We’ll have all the time in the world now that you’re to be my sister-in- arrings and alaw.” e altar, as is“True,” I reply, though I doubt the prince has any intention of sticking around Kensington Palace, not when he’s been absent all season.
I cannot“Do you love him?” he asks me.
I blink in shock.
He frowns. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” owledge that.“Have you ever been in love?” I ask in return. I don’t know what makes me say it. ore and needHe nods slowly, like it pains him. “Just once.” corners, just“What did it feel like?”
He thinks for a moment, his eyes boring into mine all the while. “Like t a veil, but agetting run over by a carriage.” llowing hood“Hmm.” I look down at my bouquet, unable to stand the force of his eye of lily of thecontact. “I wouldn’t know what that feels like.”
Emmett huffs out a laugh but doesn’t smile. “No, I suppose you gives me awouldn’t.”
My father bursts back into the room, his boutonniere crooked. Prince But I don’tEmmett straightens it for him while my father mutters something about forgetting his head if it wasn’t attached to his neck.
Parade, as ifHundreds of chairs have been set around the long, rectangular pool in the e course hassunken garden. The aisle has been built on a platform over the water. At the far end is the altar, crawling with a rainbow of flowers. leaves to sitIt’s a perfect evening here on the longest day of the year, and the sun the side doormakes sure to give us all a show. It flashes golden and pink, setting rainbows off the jewels around the necks and silk gowns of all of London’s high ed in his ink-society. This is the event of the century, and I am the star. will beginWhen the sky turns purple and the music from the full orchestra swells, rgotten yourmy father squeezes my hand. “There’s still time to run,” he jokes. But there isn’t. Not really. off to retrieveI run my tongue over the smooth gap in my gum where my molar used to be, and I step out onto the aisle. kes a strange,My bridesmaids trail behind me, carrying my long train, as is tradition, derstand thebut I so wish I could see their faces. One reassuring smile from my sister would help me to be brave. w each otherAt the altar, bathed in golden light, is Bram. He’s in a green velvet coat, a delicate circlet of gold laid on his hair. my sister-in-The pointed tips of his ears poke through his unruly waves, and he’s never looked less human. n of stickingBut he’s beaming. He’s staring at me like he loves me. I am lucky, I keep reminding myself, to have this, have him.
Why, then, do my eyes keep landing on his brother?
Prince Emmett stands next to him, his jaw clenched, his hands in fists at his side. His all-black suit makes him look dressed for a funeral. In his eyes is w what makesan emotion I can’t name. Agony is the closest word I can muster, but that doesn’t make any sense.
How can he hate me when he doesn’t even know me? The whole thing makes my stomach turn with unease. while. “LikeBut I paste a smile on my face. I’m about to become a princess. There’s a man who loves me, who wants to make me happy. It’s so much more than I ce of his eyeever thought I’d get. My mother and father and Lydia are going to be safe, protected by my status, and I will live without fear of destitution. My children suppose youand their children will be royalty. I haven’t just saved my parents and my sister, I’ve ensured that our family will be safe for generations. Queen Mor is oked. Princeimmortal, and she will remember me as she welcomes my great- ething aboutgrandchildren to court.
We make it to the altar, and the music hums to a close. ar pool in theBram lowers the hood of my cape, then captures both my hands in his. He water. At thelooks down at me with his gray eyes, and I am struck, as I always am, by his profound beauty. “Thank you for this,” he says, but I’m not entirely sure and the sunwhat he means. ing rainbowsThe priestess says something about love and commitment and duty, but ondon’s highthe words are nothing but a dull buzzing in my ears.
I can’t stop looking at Emmett. He’s looking straight ahead, not at either hestra swells,of us. It’s a look I recognize well because it’s often on my own face, the look es. But thereof someone who would rather be anywhere but here.
“The rings, please,” the priestess drones. molar used toEmmett doesn’t move.
The priestess clears her throat. “The rings?” s is tradition,“Oh.” Emmett jumps and digs into his pocket. He pulls out two circles of om my sisterWelsh gold and places them in the priestess’s palm. His hands are shaking.
The sun sinks low on the horizon, a glorious finale on the longest day of velvet coat, athe year. The evening dips into twilight as Bram takes my hand in his.
He places the ring around my finger with gentle care and a look in his ves, and he’seyes so full of joy, I can’t help but smile back at him. “All that I am and all that I have is yours,” Bram promises. lucky, I keepI slide his on in turn. I’ve done it. It’s done.
Bram’s eyes well with tears as he picks up my May Queen tiara from
where it rests on a velvet pillow on the altar and lowers it onto my head. nds in fists at“In the power vested in me by Her Eternal Majesty Queen Moryen, I In his eyes ispronounce you husband and wife,” says the priestess. ster, but thatBram slips his arm around the small of my back and kisses me. It’s much too passionate a kiss for a public ceremony like this, and when he pulls back, whole thinghe’s laughing.
Suddenly there’s screaming coming from the crowd. Shouts of panicked ess. There’s aconfusion. People stand, and chairs are toppled. h more than IIt’s chaos. My head spins, my stomach lurches, and my mouth fills with g to be safe,something acrid and metallic. I spit a mouthful of blood, and it splatters all My childrenover the altar. rents and myI lock eyes with Emmett, and it all comes flooding back. That first night Queen Mor isin the carriage, the coaching inn, the secret glances across candlelit my great-ballrooms, his hands on my back, his mouth on my neck. I’m nearly knocked backward by the force of the love I feel for him.
I turn to Bram, panicked, but he’s still just standing there, laughing like nds in his. Hethis is the funniest thing in the world. ys am, by hisIn the front row, Queen Mor stands, her chair toppling behind her. “No!” entirely sureshe screams. “Bram, what have you done?”
He shakes his head, like this is all some joke she just doesn’t understand. and duty, but“Seize her.”
not at either face, the look
wo circles of
ongest day of
a look in his I am and all
en tiara from
where it rests on a velvet pillow on the altar and lowers it onto my head.
“In the power vested in me by Her Eternal Majesty Queen Moryen, I pronounce you husband and wife,” says the priestess.
Bram slips his arm around the small of my back and kisses me. It’s much too passionate a kiss for a public ceremony like this, and when he pulls back, he’s laughing.
Suddenly there’s screaming coming from the crowd. Shouts of panicked confusion. People stand, and chairs are toppled.
It’s chaos. My head spins, my stomach lurches, and my mouth fills with something acrid and metallic. I spit a mouthful of blood, and it splatters all over the altar.
I lock eyes with Emmett, and it all comes flooding back. That first night in the carriage, the coaching inn, the secret glances across candlelit ballrooms, his hands on my back, his mouth on my neck. I’m nearly knocked backward by the force of the love I feel for him.
I turn to Bram, panicked, but he’s still just standing there, laughing like this is the funniest thing in the world.
In the front row, Queen Mor stands, her chair toppling behind her. “No!” she screams. “Bram, what have you done?”
He shakes his head, like this is all some joke she just doesn’t understand.
“Seize her.”
