Wedding Plans

The next two months passed slowly and in a state of fear. I warned the royal guard to be extra cautious and, true to his word, Leo sent police to bulk up their numbers. I wasn’t sure if the extra security made me feel safer or more nervous, but I couldn’t get a moment alone at all. The palace was always filled, and I felt like I was constantly being watched. Guards stood in every corridor, and yet, every unexplained noise had my heart jumping. All packages and letters for us were diverted to a local sorting office where specialized bomb squads opened them and checked their contents. Despite the fact that I kept the media out of the palace, I had more eyes on me than ever. The only solitude I got was when I was in my room at night. I’d not heard from Cynder in over two months. Luca’s parents confirmed that he hadn’t returned to Thalia or, at least, not to his job at the royal castle, and the media hadn’t caught up with him. It was probably for the best, but every night, I gazed out of my window looking for a light in his old apartment that never came.

Most of my days were filled with wedding plans. My mother, Xavi, Jenny, and occasionally Elise when she felt up to it, would sit with me in the dressing room going through swatches and photos of wedding gowns. The only good thing that happened over the two months leading up to the wedding was the fact I got to stop an order of the most flouncy horrible meringue gown I’d ever seen that my mother had picked out for me. Instead, I sketched out something, something plain that Xavi promised to have made for me. I was in no doubt she wouldn’t be able to make it without adding her own touches, but anything was better than the meringue gown. Elise’s bridesmaid dress was a much easier choice. She picked out a beautiful pale golden dress that could be let out to cover her burgeoning belly. Thus, the theme of the wedding became gold and white. It enabled my mother to pick matching flowers and centerpieces and the million other things that a royal wedding seemed to require. At least, they were all happy, and partly, so was I. It was nice to spend time with them. I’d been so busy in the previous months that I’d forgotten what it was like to be around family.

Luca took up a lot of my duties, leaving me to relax as much as possible, and, as such, I saw very little of him. The only people I saw to do with work on a frequent basis were Leo and, occasionally, Dean when he came up to the palace.

Little progress was made on the identity of The Regent, although they had narrowed it down to someone who had connections to the capital. I tried not to worry about it. After all, the palace security was at an all-time high. Even the demonstrations outside the palace seemed to have dwindled to a few hard-core people with banners.

All in all, in the week running up to the wedding, I was beginning to come out of my funk and actually look forward to the occasion. The cathedral was booked and decorated. The palace ballroom, swathed in bunches of gold and white material with flowers to match looked as beautiful as it had ever been, and I even had a dress I was halfway happy with.

On the morning of the wedding, I woke up to glorious sunshine filtering through the curtains. Opening them wide, I knew it was going to be a magical day. People had come out in droves to see us and were already jostling for a good view at the back gates. I knew that there would be ten times that number at the front gates.

Jenny kindly brought me a breakfast of fruit, and when I complained about the lack of bacon sandwiches, she winked and lifted the silver cover, revealing one.

“How are you feeling?” she asked as I grabbed for the sandwich.

“Good, I suppose.”

“You suppose?” She arched her brow, sitting on my bed. She knew me too well.

“I know marrying Luca is the right thing to do. He’s been so busy lately, I’ve barely seen him, and it’s just that...”

“Yes?” she encouraged.

“I’ve not really missed him. Is that terrible.”

“Oh, honey. You’ve had a lot on your plate. This last year has been pretty terrible. You’ve still seen him every day even if it’s only been at dinner. Once you are married, things will change.”

“Will they?” I wasn’t so sure.

“You’ll not have to worry about flowers and dresses for a start. I know how boring you’ve found all this wedding planning stuff. You and Luca will be running the kingdom together. It will be wonderful.”

“Hmmm,” I sighed non-commitedly.

“Is this about Cynder?”

“No,” I lied. I’d not seen him for months and had given up scouring the newspapers for information. Just as he had done last year, he’d completely disappeared. I’d thought about hiring private investigators to search for him, but it was kinder on all of us to just let him go.

“Good,” Jenny said, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “I’ll see you in the dressing room in half an hour.”

When I finally got down there, Xavi had double the number of beauticians lined up to make me beautiful for my big day. My mother and Elise were already sitting at a couple of stations having their hair done.

“You all know the wedding isn’t until two and it’s only eight in the morning right?” I asked Xavi, who rolled her eyes.

“This is the biggest day of your life. Everyone in the land will be watching on TV unless they’ve come to the capital to catch a glimpse of you in the flesh.”

“But six hours...”

“Should be enough to get everything done. Now go into the marble room to get a good scrub down.”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. I did as she asked and entered the room where I’d be loofahed and scrubbed until my skin shined.

Five hours later and I was transformed. I had to admit that the crew had done an amazing job with me. I let the dressers carefully lower the dress over my head. It was perfect. Simple, flowing, and white. It was beautiful. A simple golden sash matching Elise’s dress was wrapped around my middle, and a simple diamond tiara was placed upon my head. Of all the looks Xavi had dressed me in, this was my all-time favorite. I looked elegant but not over the top.

“You look stunning!” Elise came over to me and gazed at my reflection in the huge mirror. My mother took up my other side. We did look beautiful. My mother filled with grace and the pride of every mother on her daughter’s wedding day, Elise with her swollen tummy that she managed to make look elegant, and me in the center looking every inch the bride.

“Time to go!” yelled Xavi.

I gave my mother and sister a shy smile and headed out the door.

There were so many people accompanying me to the palace’s main door, that I could barely tell who was who. My mother and sister kept to my side the whole way, and Daniel, whom I’d asked to walk me down the aisle, was waiting for me at the door.

Behind us, were all the beauticians plus a great number of guards who would be keeping me safe all day.

Leo came bounding up just as the main doors opened. I noticed the worried look on his face straight away.

“What is it? Is it Luca?” Luca had chosen Leo to be his best man, so they should both already be at the cathedral waiting for my entrance.

“I need to talk to you,” he whispered.

“You three go on ahead,” I said to Daniel, Mother, and Elise. “I’ll meet you in the carriage in a minute.”

I noticed a worried look pass between them, but they did as I asked. I could already hear the crowds screaming and cheering at the gates at the end of the driveway.

“Luca is fine. He’s already gone to the cathedral,” assured Leo, keeping his voice low so only I could hear.

“So what is it?”

“We’ve had a tip-off that The Regent is in town. We think the MDS are planning something huge today, but we don’t know what.”

“We have so many guards, and the cathedral and palace have been checked thoroughly. Luca has been doing a great job of keeping everything safe.”

“He has. I’m sure everything will be fine, I just want you to be alert. We know The Regent is after you. I want the window of your carriage closed at all times along with the curtains.”

“But I’m expected to wave to the people. You’ve seen them. There must be ten thousand people out there.”

“Any one of whom could kill you if they got a chance. I’m doing what I can. I know Luca has made sure you have plenty of guards here and with you, and I’ve got all the officers I can spare on duty too.”

“With all the people looking out for me, I’m sure I’ll be fine, but I’ll keep the carriage window shut as you ask. Thank you for your help with everything. You’ve been amazing.”

“Just looking out for my queen,” he said, kissing my cheek.

“Shouldn’t you be looking out for the Prince right now? You are his best man.”

“Gotcha!”

He gave me a final peck and left me alone in the grand entrance hall.

Two guards stood by the door and quickly escorted me to the carriage.

I recognized it as the pumpkin carriage that Daniel had magicked up a few months previously. Dean sat proudly wearing a white suit in the driver’s seat holding the reigns of six beautiful white horses.

I stepped up into the carriage and immediately we started to move. Taking Leo’s advice, I closed the curtains. Even though I could no longer see the crowds, I could hear them. The cheering was almost deafening, making me smile.

Even though I’d been taking a break from public view for the past couple of months, I knew that Silverwood’s universities and colleges were experiencing record numbers of Magi enrollments and the recruitment drive for the police had been hugely successful. The fear that the Magi would leave again after Cynder did, had not come to pass, and even more encouragingly, the Magi were still coming back into the kingdom. All in all, I had a lot to be grateful for.

Jenny had been right. Today was the beginning of a bright new future with Luca, and I could finally lay to rest everything that had happened in the past year. I ignored the pang that stabbed my heart at the thought of Cynder. He was gone for good.

The carriage came to a halt, and a guard opened the door for us. Daniel climbed out first to help my mother and Elise down the steps. Mother hurried into the cathedral to take her place, leaving just the three of us. Guards held up screens to allow us to get into the cathedral without being seen by the crowds. They might not have been able to see us, but they knew we were there. The screams and cheers were deafening as I climbed out of the carriage. After the wedding, the screens would be taken down, and Luca and I would walk back to the carriage in full view of everyone. For now, I was grateful for the privacy they afforded me. Elise fussed around me, pulling my dress straight and handing me my bouquet of white flowers tied in a gold ribbon. As I’d been very specific about not wanting a long train, she had nothing to hold behind me, so she went first, walking the huge aisle to the front. I heard the wedding march begin to play as she passed through the huge oak doors of the cathedral.

“Ready?” asked Daniel and he held out his arm to me.

“As I’ll ever be.”

I took a deep breath and together, we walked step by step towards my future husband.