Chapter Forty-Seven
Vanessa
Six Months Later
Nor was I alone. I saw a lot of my sister Liv, but also my man. Vil came to see me often, and we would spend every waking moment together, doing … whatever we could. Hanging out. Exploring the city on dates (or visiting dealerships to buy me a new car). Even planning a wedding.
Various friends and some family—I had decided not to invite my mother after consulting my sister.
Liv’s agreement that things would be less dramatic with her not there had settled any and all remaining guilt I possessed.
Vil, of course, had been on my side from the start with whatever decision I made.
“You excited?” Liv asked from the passenger seat.
She was my maid of honor. Of course she was with me.
I smiled at her. “More than ready, sis. I’ve waited a long time for this.”
Of course, I couldn’t tell her about everything Vil and I had already been through.
The whole being a princess thing had sort of faded into the background while I spent six months in the city, but now it was back in full force.
I was about to be among dragons and would spend much of my remaining life with them.
A life that would prove to be long indeed. Vil had warned me about the magic of the dragon thrones. How we would rule for a hundred years before being called to see the God-King.
I’d never expected to live to be a hundred and thirty-two. Maybe in a dream, where technology slowed aging, and eight-five became a hundred and twenty-five, or more. I could accept that. But staying somewhere around fifty or sixty until I was in my thirteenth decade was still a little unfathomable.
I would outlive all my family. It was likely I would outlive my niece and nephew unless technology helped them significantly. That had taken several weeks to process as being real. I would figure it out as time went on because, for now, it wouldn’t really matter.
We entered the house and went up to Vil’s quarters – the house had been rebuilt in the months that followed. They were my quarters for the day.
“Just wait for this,” I said as we entered the room to a hail of laughter and big smiles.
“Vanessa!”
“Ladies!” I said. “This is my sister, Olivia. Liv, this is Tinny, Galli, and Curi. Our stylists for today.”
The three women beamed like some sort of friendly pet hydra.
“Come, come!” Curi said, taking charge as usual. “Let us begin. We only have a few hours to work with, and the dresses will take time to make.”
Liv stared. “Make a dress? They aren’t made yet?”
I winked at her. “You haven’t seen Galli work. Trust me. We’re going to look killer. All three of us.”
“Three?” Liv said.
There was a knock at the door behind us, and a tall redhead strode in.
“Liv, this is Ferra. Ferra, Liv. She’s my other bridesmaid.”
The two said their hellos, then Curi hustled us off into our chairs, and the three women went to work while we enjoyed mimosas and numerous snacks because the hell if I was going to go hungry on my wedding day.
A knock at the door interrupted us, and Curi scolded me when I tried to get up. “Don’t you dare!”
I sat back down, exchanging a smirk with Liv, who just giggled.
“It’s for you,” Curi said. “But don’t you dare open it.”
Tinny stopped working on my hair as I got up and moved to the door.
“Hello?”
“Vanessa.”
My spine tingled as Vil spoke through the tiny crack in the door, with him on one side and me on the other.
“Hello, my love,” I replied, sticking a hand through the little opening.
Strong, warm fingers found mine and gripped them tight.
“Are you well?” he asked.
“I am,” I told him, resting my forehead on the door even as I smiled a smile he couldn’t see. “I’m better than well. I cannot wait for the day to be over. Then I’ll be your mate and your wife. A future I couldn’t want any more than I already do.”
“I’m glad,” he rumbled, his voice vibrating the door. “I look forward to seeing you.”
“And you’ll have to keep looking forward to it until the appointed time,” Curi said, cutting in. “Now, come, she has things to do. So shoo.”
“Shoo?” the Iron Prince asked, humor tinging his words.
“Yes. Shoo. Go on. Git.” Curry said, swatting at his hand and pushing him out so she could close the door. Then she pointed at me. “Get back in the chair.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I nearly yelped, scurrying back to my chair so Tinny could return to work.
Curi continued to bark orders as we were done up, hair, makeup, nails, everything.
Then she slipped Liv and Ferra into matching deep violet dresses that hugged their hips and had a large peekaboo from neck to cleavage, with a thick, chunky collar around the neck.
It flowed smoothly down around the hips.
“Oh, wow,” I said, admiring them both over the screen set up to hide me from everyone. Galli worked like a fiend, designing, cutting, sewing, and putting it together. If I’d thought my presentation dress was something, the princess gown that was taking shape around me would put it to shame.
“You must have started this ahead of time,” I said, admiring the lace and beadwork. “There’s no way you did this from scratch in two hours.”
Galli laughed. “Of course. I’m good, but not that good. I already had a lot of your basic measurements and the like from before. It was easy to do a lot of it. Now, stand up straight. I have to do the buttons up the back. If you slouch, you won’t breathe well once they’re in place.”
I obediently stood perfectly straight. Galli fiddled and fuddled with bits and pieces until Curi barked at her.
“We’re out of time. The music is about to start.”
The music. I looked at Liv and Ferra, who were both grinning at me.
“Ready?” Liv asked.
“Um.” My throat was suddenly dry, and my hands were a little clammy.
Was I ready for this?
After all, we’d only been through dragon flights, fights, bloodshed, death, insurrection, and a Test administered by a dragon the size of a mountain, with a punishment of death if we failed.
The nerves fled, and I laughed, giving both women a grin. “Yes. Hell, yes. I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
The women escorted me out of the room and down through the hallways until I stood behind a curtain and the doors to the back lawns, where everything was set up.
“See you out there. You look beautiful,” Ferra said, winking and disappearing to be linked up with one of Vil’s groomsmen, a cousin I’d never met.
“I’m so excited for you,” Liv said, blowing me a kiss and slipping out beyond the curtain, where she took Coel’s arm and walked down between the chairs.
“You can do this, girl,” Tinny said as she came up next to me.
“You look amazing,” Curi added.
“Of course she does,” Galli said.
The three women nodded, then disappeared to take their seats.
“They’re right,” Cruce said as he came up next to me. “You do look amazing.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling.
“I looked up the meaning of this,” the dragon-man said, shifting back and forth uncomfortably. “I … I am flattered that you asked me to do this.”
“I’m flattered you accepted,” I said. “I couldn’t think of someone better to walk me down the aisle.”
Cruce smiled and looked away. The music changed, and he stood straight, looking immaculate in his tux.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Everyone keeps asking me that,” I said with a laugh. “Fuck, yeah. Take me to get married already!”
Cruce laughed and pulled the curtain aside, and I walked down the aisle to say I do and a forever future with my soon-to-be husband.
***
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The end of Book 3.
To read Book 4: Prince of Tides, turn the page.