Epilogue
Eleven Months Later
Did I have everything?
I was already wearing the Queen’s underdress, the voluminous garment swirling around my legs, which were already clad in hose and shoes.
The blue brocade dress and gold silk skirt hung on the back of the bathroom door.
My hair was up in a loose bun that Nina would take down immediately and turn into something gorgeous once we got on-site.
I rummaged in my purse by the front door for my tube of Smoked Red, throwing it in my makeup bag before zipping it up.
One great thing about living in a studio: nothing was very far away.
Not that I was here all that much. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d actually slept in my place since moving in.
It hadn’t taken long for Alex’s apartment to become home for the both of us.
Our leases would be up in a couple months; we were hoping a two-bedroom unit would be available by then.
Something that we could turn into a home together.
But if not, his one-bedroom would work just fine.
We only needed one bedroom, after all, and neither of us was attached to stuff.
Alex and I were still pretty minimalist.
I chucked my makeup back into the tote bag on my bed, then rummaged in the dish on my nightstand that my jewelry lived in.
There was a gold chain here somewhere…there.
I tugged reluctantly at the heart-shaped emerald on my ring finger, taking a moment to admire its sparkle in the early-morning sunlight that came through my window.
I ran a fingernail across the asters etched along the band—flowers that matched the ring he still wore around his neck—before stringing it on the chain and looping it around my neck.
The Queen wasn’t engaged, I reminded myself. Virgin Queen and all.
But Caitlin sure as hell was. Alex had proposed right after Valentine’s Day.
I’d been so annoyed that evening that he’d wanted to go out for ice cream in the park; there was an inch of snow on the ground and it was way too cold for ice cream.
But then we’d gotten to our usual bench, and I found it covered in roses of all colors, which represented, he said, all the ways that he loved me.
The ring—signifying that he was offering me his heart on a more permanent basis—couldn’t have been more perfect. More me. More us.
Wedding planning would kick into high gear once we survived this Faire season.
There’d be plenty of time to plan a June wedding, tucked right between the end of the school year and the next Faire season.
My green leather journal was about half-full of ideas, drafts of the guest list, and potential readings.
We’d already picked out our colors: soft pink and forest green.
Dad was on the guest list. It was an olive branch, which was more than he deserved, really, but I wasn’t attached to him accepting it. Emotions when it came to him were still complicated, but Rosalie, my therapist, was helping me navigate that on a weekly basis.
There was a sharp rap at my front door, a formality since it was partially open, and were there really any barriers left between Alex and me?
“My Queen! Thy carriage awaits. Oh, and don’t forget to…
” He trailed off as he took my left hand in his.
“Never mind, you already took it off.” He bent down, brushing a kiss over my knuckles, and what was it about a hand kiss?
Much like being given roses or quoted a Shakespeare sonnet, it was super old-fashioned, but man, was it ever romantic.
His hand tightened around my fingers. “I hate that you can’t wear your ring.”
I did too, but it was part of the gig. “Virgin Queen, right?”
He snorted. “Keep telling yourself that. You ready to go?”
“I am now.” I looped my bag over my shoulder, and Alex folded my costume over his arm.
He’d already stashed his swords and other equipment in the back of his truck—a more practical choice of vehicle, now that he wasn’t living out of it, but sometimes I missed that serial killer van. We’d made some nice memories in it.
It was the first day of the Faire season, and while Alex went straight to the Hollow, I stopped by the bookstore tent.
Emily and I had spent the day before hauling boxes of books out of the back of her Jeep and my hatchback and setting up the tables and shelves.
It was a ramshackle collection of Shakespeare, fantasy novels, and historical romances, as well as a nonfiction section.
Tucked away in a small corner of a vendors’ lane, it was a cozy setup, almost exactly what I’d imagined last summer.
Our part-time college student employee was in simple peasant garb, ready with a cashbox and a full bottle of water.
I made a mental note to have someone check on her during the day, though I knew Emily was probably already on it.
The Hollow was buzzing with nervous excitement when I finally got there, only a couple minutes late.
This year’s crop of high school kids chattered excitedly as they laced into their outfits, and off to the side the Gilded Lilies went through their vocal warm-ups.
Two of the girls had graduated last year and while one came back during her summer break, they’d also recruited a new girl who was purported to be a junior but to me she looked like a first grader.
They sounded great, though, and I let myself settle into my metal folding chair while Nina ran a wide comb through my curls.
“Here we go again.” Toby sat on one of the big coolers and started putting on his boots.
But I was on to him now; the first one complaining, and the first one to sign up to do it all again next season.
For now, he looked at his boots with a skeptical eye while he laced them up.
“If I’m going to keep doing this every year I think I need new boots. ”
“Did I hear ‘new boots’?” Mitch came out from the changing tent, a swirl of tartan fabric settling around his knees. “I just got these two years ago and they’re holding up great.”
“Those are new?” I tilted my head and Nina growled, putting my head back where she wanted it. I muttered an apology, still looking at the boots. They looked the same as the ones he’d always worn: black with big pewter buttons up the side.
“Yeah.” Mitch moved to and fro, striking model poses to show them off. “They’re from the guy that’s set up on the far side of the jousting field. I can show you later today, if you want.”
Toby nodded. “That would be great. Do you know if he offers a discount?” They wandered away, still talking, and I closed my eyes, letting the sounds of the morning surround me.
Pre-show jitters were real, and even though I’d been Queen for a weekend last season, this was the first year the gig was all mine.
But I was ready. I could do this.
I blinked my eyes open, and my gaze settled immediately on Alex, across the way, talking to Simon.
Both were fully dressed in their Faire costumes, Simon in his black and red pirate getup that still set Emily’s heart aflame after all these years, and Alex in his forest-green jerkin and breeches that now did the same to mine.
Both men had swords strapped to their waists, though Simon’s was more ornamental these days.
Alex had taken over as fight captain, and over the past couple months he’d reworked the chess match completely.
We’d spent the winter brainstorming our way through a whole storyline where the players on the board portrayed Shakespeare characters—heroes versus villains.
I’d been particularly proud of a bit I’d come up with between Hermia and Iago.
I’d caught a couple rehearsals the past few weekends, and the kids—and the adults—looked like they were having a lot of fun.
Jeremy had nodded at me during a break. “This guy knows his stuff,” he’d said as he fiddled with his quarterstaff.
The love affair between Jeremy and his stick was eternal.
I’d worried about Simon and Mitch. The chess match had been their baby for so many years, but they both seemed a little relieved to be handing over the reins.
“He’s got it,” Mitch said one night when I was over at the house. “I don’t mind taking a step back and being eye candy full time. Keeps my ankles unbroken, you know?”
When I was fourteen, all I wanted to do was volunteer for the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire, and my Aunt Emily had made that happen for me. Now I was twenty-five, and as I settled the crown on my head, my fiancé was there to take my hand and help me to my feet.
“Your Majesty.” He pressed his cheek to mine, not wanting to ruin my makeup. Smoked Red smeared easily; we’d learned that the hard way. For now, an air kiss would have to do.
He gripped my hand hard; pre-show jitters were getting to him too. He’d done this for a long time, but this was the first year he’d been in charge of something as big as a human combat chess match. And me as Queen? We were like the Faire’s new power couple.
I squeezed back. “Let’s do this.”
We held hands all the way up the hill and through the food court, until I had to break left toward the front gate, heading up there on my own with Toby as my escort.
But that was okay; I’d see Alex later. Right now, I belonged to the Faire.
This place was in my blood, and as far as I could tell it was going to be for a very long time.
After all, I chose the Queen life. And it chose me right back.