Epilogue
BEAMING SO HARD she thought her face might split in two, Alessia gripped tightly to Gabriel’s hand as they walked back up the aisle, their vows renewed.
The young bridesmaids who’d carried the twelve-foot train of her wedding dress grinned with varying degrees of gappiness.
A heavily pregnant Clara, who’d been tasked with keeping the young bridesmaids in order as part of her chief bridesmaid role, looked like she was only just controlling her urge to jump over the nearest congregants and enthusiastically throw herself into Alessia’s arms.
Outside in the royal chapel gardens, the sun shone down on the happy couple and their two hundred guests.
To Alessia’s glee, the sun’s rays were diffused by the avalanche of confetti that was tipped over them, started by Gabriel’s best man, his sister, Mariella.
The only guest who didn’t join in was Alessia’s mother, but that was only because she had Alessia and Gabriel’s three-month-old daughter, Mari, in her arms. The queen’s happiness radiated so strongly Alessia felt its waves on her skin every bit as much as the sun’s.
After the professional photographer, who’d been paid a small fortune and made to sign a secrecy order so as to keep this special day entirely private, had finished herding them all into varying orders for the pictures, they all headed inside for the wedding banquet and after-party.
When she caught Gabriel’s mother surreptitiously taking photos of the party on her phone and realised he’d clocked her too, their eyes met.
He shrugged in a ‘what else can we expect?’ way, and then burst out laughing.
Her husband still loathed the press but had become far more adept at tolerating them.
Once, he’d even given them a smile that didn’t look completely like a grimace.
When the early hours came and the time for dancing and celebrating was over, an exhausted Alessia walked the lit path back to the stables, holding tightly to her husband’s hand. Every single person she loved had been there to celebrate the love she and Gabriel had found together.
When they reached their huge oak front door, she was about to take the first step up to it when the ground moved beneath her feet and she found herself swept up into Gabriel’s arms.
‘I do believe it’s traditional for the groom to carry the bride over the threshold,’ he murmured, nuzzling his nose into her cheek.
She smiled dreamily at him. ‘Thank you, Prince Gabriel.’
‘No, Princess Alessia. Thank you.’
She tightened her hold around his neck and pressed her cheek against his. ‘Take me to bed.’
‘With pleasure.’