Epilogue
Hazel
T hree Months Later
I stand in front of the tall mirror in my bridal suite and I can’t quite believe what I am looking at. An actual bride. In an actual wedding dress. About to marry a vampire prince.
The dress is gorgeous with a Krovenian-style empire waist that gently accommodates my small three-month bump, modest cap sleeves and a long flowing satin skirt to the floor.
Viktor researched Earth weddings and made sure the dress incorporated my traditions too, so it has a touch of lace at the bodice the way I had described to the seamstress.
Simple. Elegant. Princess-bride enough but not over the top.
I am just barely showing, the baby bump only really visible if you know it’s there.
Late summer light pours through the tall windows of my suite.
From here I can see down to the great lawn where the ceremony will be held.
White chairs are arranged in two graceful arcs facing a small archway draped in greenery and wildflowers.
The Krovenian gardens are golden in the late afternoon sun.
A small ridiculous part of my brain still cannot get over the fact that this is my life now.
Three months ago, I was a nanny eating leftover pastries at midnight in this man’s kitchen.
And now I’m pregnant with his baby and we’re getting married.
But hey, when you know, you know . And soon after I met him, I knew that the Dark Prince was the man for me.
“Hold still, dear.” Madam Petrova has been fussing with my veil for ten minutes. She has been openly weeping with happiness for an hour. She has gone through what I’m pretty sure is her fourth handkerchief.
“Madam Petrova, you’re going to ruin your makeup before the ceremony.”
“I am not wearing makeup, dear.”
“Are you sure? You look very put together.”
“I am Krovenian. We do not require enhancement.”
I bite back a laugh, because she has just made a perfect Krovenian joke and she does not even know it.
There’s a soft knock at the door. “Are you decent?” Claire’s distintive voice calls out.
“Always,” I call back.
The door opens and my new friend sweeps in, already dressed in her queen’s gown, a stunning deep emerald green that makes her look devastating. Her hair is pinned up and her diamond tiara looks amazing. Baby Alexei has been left briefly with his nurse downstairs.
Claire stops in the doorway and her hand goes to her mouth. “Oh.”
“Is the dress okay?”
“Hazel.”
“Is the bump too obvious?”
“You look like a princess already. Stop.” She closes the door behind her and crosses the room in three quick strides, and sweeps me into the kind of hug that does not care about wrinkling either of our gowns.
In the last three months, Claire and I have become the kind of friends who text at two in the morning. She is the only person on this continent who understands what I am about to step into.
She pulls back and holds me at arm’s length and looks me up and down. “Okay. I came prepared.” She produces a small white box from somewhere.
“Claire—”
“Don’t argue with me. Sit.”
I sit on the small upholstered bench at the foot of the bed.
She kneels in front of me in her queen’s gown like she does not care one bit about it.
“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I am not letting you forget anything today.” She opens the box.
Inside is a pair of small antique pearl earrings, a folded square of pale blue silk and a brand-new pair of soft white slippers.
“The earrings are from the Krovenian royal vault, on loan to you for this ceremony. That’s your something old and your something borrowed.
The blue silk is for your bouquet, tuck it in among the stems. That’s your something blue.
The slippers are for after the ceremony, when your feet are murdering you and those pretty heels become unbearable.
That’s your something new and you keep those.
Trust me. By hour three of the reception, you will weep with gratitude. ”
I am already crying.
“This is wonderful, Your Majesty,” Madam Petrova declares, taking the box from the Queen.
“Claire,” I whimper.
“Don’t start. We will both ruin our faces.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Now hold still, the earrings have screw backs.”
She puts the earrings on me herself. Her hands are warm and steady. Petrova tucks the blue silk into the small bunch of wildflowers just placed on the side table to be my bouquet. She sets the slippers under the bed where they will be waiting for me later.
“You ready for this, really?” Claire questions.
“Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“I’m calm. Which is kind of freaking me out.”
She nods slowly. “That’s actually a good sign. I was a wreck. I threw up on Mrs. Vasek’s shoes twenty minutes before my ceremony. She didn’t blink. She is a saint. And she still wears them. She simply cleaned them up and says they’re her good luck shoes now. I am traumatized.”
I laugh through tears.
She takes my hands. “Listen. After you say I do today, the tabloids are going to lose what’s left of their minds.
They’ve been holding back for the engagement period — there’s an unwritten Krovenian press rule about not savaging the Crown Prince’s intended before the wedding.
But once you’re officially Princess Hazel of House Draven, it’s open season. ”
“Viktor warned me.”
“Just remember. They only have power if you read them. I have not read a single Krovenian or European tabloid since Alexei was born. My life has improved exponentially.”
“I’ll follow your lead.”
Claire nods. She glances down at her own hands for a beat, then looks back up at me.“Also. I figure you might want to know the latest on how things are going out there. Beyond these walls.”
“You mean the kingdom?”
“I mean the kingdom.”
“Tell me.”
“The Council has fully accepted the match. They had to, the moment Viktor walked into the Chamber three weeks after the bite, with you on his arm and the mark visible on your throat. It is canon law. A completed Blood Calling cannot be dissolved. Three of the Elders were furious, but most accepted it once they saw the bite. Last night they finally voted to formally bless the union. You have not heard from them since except the standard congratulatory letter, which is exactly how it should be.”
“That’s why none of them are here today.”
“Correct. Viktor was very firm. The Council was rude, not blessing the marriage in their official capacity until the last moment. They were not invited. Nikolai backed him on it. The Elders are not pleased about being excluded, but there is nothing they can do.” A small wicked smile tugs at her lips.
“What about the other noble houses?”I ask.
She shrugs. “Mixed. Some old families remain stiff and unhappy. Most have come around. The ones who matter to Viktor are here today, the parents of Lily’s playgroup who you already know, the few houses who supported the match from the beginning. The ones who were hostile simply were not invited.”
“And the regular Krovenian citizens? How do they feel about this?”
“Sixty-eight percent in favor.”
I blink.“They poll on this?”
“They poll on everything. Welcome to royalty.”
“Sixty-eight percent, is that good?”
“It is higher than I was at this point. By eleven points. They like that you are an early-childhood educator who sent out a release already stating your mission is to institute free preschool. And they like that you adore Lily, the heir to the throne. They’ve decided that you are acceptable.”
“Acceptable?” I chuckle.
“It is the highest praise a Krovenian gives a foreigner, Haze. Accept it.”
I laugh, half-disbelieving.
“Okay.” She looks at the clock. “Now get out there and marry that very serious male. He’s been pacing in the garden for forty minutes. Sebastian is genuinely worried about him.” She kisses my cheek, stands, smooths down her own gown, blows me a kiss, and slips out.
Madam Petrova goes back to fixing the veil.
There is another soft knock.
“Sweetheart?” My father’s voice.
“Come in, Dad.”
My father, Henry Novak, visiting all the way from Dubai, steps into my bridal suite in his perfectly pressed dark suit. He looks me up and down. His mouth pulls down at the corners and his eyes shimmer and he does not pretend otherwise. “Oh, Haze.”
“Don’t, Dad. You’re going to set me off.”
“Already set off, kid.” He crosses the room slowly. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Your mother would have loved him.”
My eyes well up. “You think?”
“I know. Since I’ve been here, I’ve learned that even though the Dark Prince looks like he could snap my neck in a second, he’s actually the perfect husband for you. It’s obvious he loves you very much and wants only what’s best for you.”
“Thanks Dad, for understanding. I know my choice must be surprising to you, but I love him so much…
“A you okay being here? Really? I know the castle is — it’s a lot — “
“It’s true that the idea of attending a vampire wedding in a thousand-year-old castle — “ A small laugh. “It was almost too much.”
“I know.”
“But your brother called me from Cleveland and saidI’d regret it if I didn’t go and he was right, as he often is, which I’m not going to tell him.”
I am laughing through tears now.
“And I am here, Haze. I am proud of who you’ve become. I am proud that you trusted yourself enough to say yes to this man and this life. Your mother would be so proud. I am so proud.”
I can’t speak. I just step forward and he hugs me carefully. “Okay,” he says against my hair. “Let’s go, so you can marry this Krovenian.”
There’s another knock. Daniel pokes his head in with his wife Sarah behind him.
My brother takes one look at me and says, “Oh good lord.”
His wife elbows him. “Daniel.”
“You look gorgeous, Haze.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s still completely insane.”
“I know.”
“I love you anyway.”
“I love you too.”
Sarah, my sister-in-law, hugs me carefully. “You look beautiful. Henry, you ready to walk her down?”
“Ready.”