Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
WENDY
There’s no turning back.
Today is the day. Everyone who matters in Darkland will be attending our wedding this evening, and they will know, officially, that Roc belongs to James and me.
And because I am a bit superstitious and didn’t want to risk anything, I requested that we all spend our Wedding Eve in separate residences.
Roc went back to his old loft in the Umbrage and rented James the King’s Suite at a fancy hotel a few blocks south of the Dark Cathedral, where the wedding is to take place.
They both decided it was safest for me to stay at Maddred Manor.
There has been a flurry of activity this morning. The staff made me the most beautiful breakfast spread, but I couldn’t seem to eat a bite. I just sat there nursing my coffee, staring at the array of food while Asha ate next to me, chatting with our wedding planner, Yandall.
The nerves are getting the best of me.
Now in my dressing room in the west wing of the Dark Cathedral, Yandall and Asha are directing the makeup and hair people on how to style me, as we discussed weeks ago.
But my heart is racing and I feel sticky and hot.
“Wendy?” Asha is saying, but I feel faint.
“Give us a minute?” Asha says and everyone quickly exits the room.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“What if I’m making the wrong decision?”
She pulls over one of the nearby stools and sits in front of me, taking my hand in hers. I’m not in my dress yet, just a silk robe, feet bare, but I think I might perish from heat stroke.
“If you want to call it off, I can arrange it,” she says.
“What? No!” I catch on immediately. “You were testing me.”
“Yes.” She gives my hand a squeeze. “You countered me quickly. You barely had to think about it.”
I blow out a breath. “Yes, I do want to marry them both. I just hope they want to marry me. Roc could be doing this for perception. He’s got a reputation that is centuries old, so he has to clean it up. And James might be saying yes because he thinks it’s what we want. But is it what he wants?”
“James is madly in love with both of you, so yes, I do.”
“He is?”
Asha tilts her head. “Wendy Darling.”
I deflate and close my eyes. “Okay. Okay. Clearly, my self-consciousness is getting in my way.” I pop my eyes open again and look over at Asha, endlessly patient Asha.
“Most of my life in the Seven Isles, I was only wanted for my power and what I could give. No one cared who I actually was, or what I actually wanted. I’m just scared, Asha. ”
“I know you are.” She coaxes me up and embraces me deeply. “They love you. Both of them. Do not doubt that.”
“And I love you to the bottom of my heart.” I kiss the side of her head, grateful to have her. “When I’m queen, can I please make you a duchess? And give you a beautiful manor on the sea full of old books and rolled scrolls to thank you for your tireless friendship?”
“Will it come with a sexy butler?”
“I’m sure we can drum one up.”
She laughs and then calls the others back in and preparations for the wedding resume.