Chapter Ten
“Herrick, go and visit Cole.”
“Should I announce you, sire?”
“No, I will announce myself.”
Jocasta threw down the book Lady Somerlynn had lent her when she heard Girion’s gruff voice from outside her chamber door.
“May I come in?”
“Just a moment!” Jocasta quickly pulled an ornamental screen in front of her wedding gown. Her mother had said it was bad luck for the groom to see the finished dress until the bride was in it. “Yes, come in!”
Girion entered, face tired, but smiling. “The wedding is at noon.”
“I know.”
“Twelve hours.”
She nodded, biting her lip, wrapping her robe around her nightdress more tightly.
“Are you warm enough in here?”
“I am. Um. Thank you. Thank you for all your help in suggesting ladies-in-waiting. I got your list, and I very much like the people you mentioned. Lady Arendale’s daughter and Lady Somerlynn’s niece will be my attendants at the wedding.
Nalar is putting them in dark blue dresses.
And, er—my parents loved the dinner. They like their lodgings.
My mother was so excited to be given a gown and to have a fitting, and to have Letty and Laren promise to do her hair up in pins and jewels in the morning. ”
“Ah! Ah, yes, I have your crown. I will put it on you at the wedding, after the vows. It is white gold, diamonds, and opals. I hope you like it. If you don’t—”
“I will love it.”
Girion nodded. Hummed. Paced.
“What is it?”
“I think your parents liked me and did not think I was some cruel beast, luring or forcing you away. Buying your cooperation.”
“My father adores you. He is marveling over what a fine son-in-law he has acquired. He has been bragging to the point that he is becoming insufferable in our settlement, which is why it is good that Cole’s parents have offered to show them around the city and even take them on a day trip to Caledon Hollow to see the old ruins.
They’re very happy—and now our neighbors back home will have a break from Father’s yammering. ”
Girion chuckled and stepped closer. “Jocasta... You do not think I bought you? Or bribed you? You thought we made a fair alliance for our mutual good?”
“What? Yes, of course!” Jocasta stepped closer to him.
“And you do not mind that I am older? And have this ugly scar?” He tapped his face with a wince.
“It’s very attractive. Heroic. Your hair is such a beautiful color. Like snow and silver met in moonlight,” Jocasta reassured, lightly touching his braid. “So very handsome,” she murmured.
His hand came to catch hers and hold it tight. "I heard ugly words today—from ugly people.”
“The Foxes, no doubt?”
“Not all Foxes are like them. They are the exception, not the rule.”
“What was said?”
“That they think I chose a human bride to appease the humans who are likely frustrated with the conditions the kingdom has started to experience.”
“You picked a mage. It would not matter, human or shifter, as long as I had magic.”
“That was the start—it is not the finish. I picked you. I see now that I picked you, dear Jo, for yourself as much as for your power. For how you use it. How you use every bit of yourself, as a whole.” It was his turn to stroke her tamed waves and curls, currently braided and hanging down over her shoulder.
“I am grateful and glad that tomorrow is our wedding day.”
“Me, too.” She nodded and smiled, eyes suddenly full.
Heart overflowing with a thousand thoughts.
Tomorrow I am a bride, a wife, a queen—expected to save my land.
This giant of a man is counting on me. The more we are connected, the better things will be for Caledon.
The more heirs we have, the stronger our kingdom will be.
I’ll feel useful if I bear him a child. There is that. What if I fail in everything else?
“What is it? You asked, and now it is your turn to tell me.”
“What if all I succeed at is bearing your children? And what if I cannot even do that? There are women, you know, who are barren.”
“And men who are barren, too. We’ll find out, one day.”
“Soon. If you don’t dislike the idea, let’s find out sooner, rather than later, for if there are problems, I may be able to heal them, but not if I don’t know about them,” Jocasta blurted.
“I don’t object to the idea. But I don’t want you to feel rushed into something.
I... Well, you know that some nobles feel entitled to go out and flaunt every law of man and morality, but a king or prince should not.
That’s how one ends up with bastard heirs.
So I am not impatient. I am not, er, missing what I’ve never had. ”
Jocasta blinked. She somehow expected that a man who had lived with privilege and as a soldier would have had many bedfellows.
Then again, some would say the same about poor wenches working alone on a fishing boat in a town full of cold, lonely men.
“I have been propositioned many times. I have always rejected such offers. Firmly.” She cracked her knuckles, and Girion laughed.
“I will wait until my bride offers. I will not request,” he said with a flourish of his cape and an ostentatious bow.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that!” Jocasta blushed.
The tumble of thoughts was narrowing to one very carnal, piercing thought the more time she was alone with Girion.
Please ask. Please demand. Tell me it’s necessary for me to give in, to finally understand all these cravings, these aches that make me squirm, that make me hide in the sanctuary of the hot tub for longer than is strictly necessary.
“We will be expected to kiss tomorrow. It’s a sealing of the union. I suppose we don’t have to.”
“I had thought we would. Will I have the crown on?”
“You will.”
Jocasta gave him a worried look. “I’ve never kissed with a crown on.
I’ve never done anything with a crown on!
I don’t know how people keep them on their heads!
What if it slides off and breaks? You know I have to tilt my head way back to look up at you.
When we kiss—” Jocasta put herself in position, almost touching his chest, neck craned back.
“We’ll practice, hold on!” Girion turned and walked back to his chambers.
Jocasta heard Girion’s low bass rumble of a voice briefly address Herrick and Cole, and then he was back, bearing two crowns. His and hers.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s incredible. Stunning.”
“All right. Let’s practice.” Girion put his crown on his head, sighing. “These things are silly, in my opinion. A fancy, uncomfortable hat. They offer no protection whatsoever from enemy attack.”
Jocasta giggled. “You look wonderful, sire.”
“All right. The bishop speaks, da dum, da dee. Vows from me. Vows from you. My little speech calling upon you to be not just my wife but my queen—and you say yes.”
“I will,” she promised.
“Then the crown goes on.” Girion took up her crown and rested it gently on her head. He sighed with relief when it fit just right. “Now, you don’t have to tilt your head so much. I’ll come to you.”
Girion held her chin and brought his tall form down to bend over hers.
Lips almost touched.
“We should practice further,” Jocasta whispered. “What if it falls when I turn my head?”
“It doesn’t have to be long. Just a quick gesture.”
“Won’t people talk if it is too quick?”
“Yes, but they will think I’m being scandalous if I linger too long,” Girion whispered back.
Jocasta nudged her chin forward, and he met her mouth with his.
“Where do you want me to put my hands?” Girion demanded, pulling back.
“I don’t know! My arms?”
“All right, again.”
Jocasta was the one to break it this time, even though she had no desire to do so. Girion’s lips were warm and skillful, fitting against hers and sending fire rushing through her without more than a second’s touch. “Where do my hands go?”
“I have no idea. Why is this so complicated?”
“Should we get Herrick and Cole in to tell us if we look silly?”
“God forbid. I would never live it down.”
“Maybe the trick is just to do it without worry?”
“We will be the sovereigns of a kingdom. If they don’t like the way we end the ceremony, it’s not like they can nullify it. I think...” Girion frowned.
Jocasta kissed it away.
GIRION LEFT HER ROOM, both crowns in his hands, a smile plastered to his face. He stumbled like a drunkard.
“Sire, it is very late,” Cole dared to admonish.
“It is.”
“After one!”
“Is it?”
“You need to sleep. You are stumbling.”
“I’ll sleep in a moment.”
“You’re going to need your strength for tomorrow night,” Cole hinted, voice light and teasing.
Girion nodded and shut himself in his room. As soon as he was there, he hurried to the bathing chamber, hands shedding clothes fast and carelessly.
He was hard and throbbing, and it was all he could do not to rush back to Jocasta’s room and ask if they shouldn’t practice consummating as well as kissing.
What had started off as split-second brushes of lips had turned into long, deep, tongue-tangling practices, with their hands trying to find the best spots to land.
His hand landed now around his thick, rigid member, pumping urgently as he remembered how her breasts pressed into his chest and her sweet, wet arousal perfumed the air.
She was ready for me. Wanted me. Or it could have been the act of kissing. What if that is all that is comfortable for her?
She can use her mouth on other parts, a little voice from the darker recesses of his mind hinted. Some men prefer a woman’s mouth to her slit.
The thought of Jocasta on her knees, looking up at him as she wrapped her full lips around his length, sent him groaning to his tub, arching back as he sent his seed down the drain.
And that was another problem. Just thinking of her mouth made him peak. Women needed more time and delicacy. The longer a man lasted, the more he was praised.
Now, in addition to worrying that Jocasta might request his attention out of obligation, he had to add the worry that he would hurt her with his size or disappoint her with his speed.
He let out a long sigh. Sleep was going to evade him.
JOCASTA WANTED TIME to pace. To battle with her nerves until she’d beaten them fully.
No such luck. At eight in the morning, all and sundry burst in upon her, and before she knew it, she was fed, bathed, powdered, oiled, and attended to within an inch of her life.
Her mother, Lady Somerlynn, and her two attendants were also undergoing similar attacks, Letty and Laren flying about them like manic wasps, with paint there, rouge here, pinning up a curl, pulling back a lock, lacing one’s waist tight, heaving one’s bosom higher.
“If I do not get out of this outfit soon, I will go quite mad,” Jocasta hissed.
Her mother, who had known nothing but hardship and struggle for the last thirty years, lolled like a contented cat as Letty massaged her scalp and set her hair.
“The dress is stunning. You look like a princess. Like a queen. I could never have dreamed it,” her mother sighed. “I wish your brothers could be here.”
Great. Now she was going to cry.
Amos’ talisman! She was going to give it to Girion after the ceremony. She should wrap it. Find a little box...
“I need a box and ribbon!” she gasped.
Everyone froze.
“Well, don’t just stand there. Jocasta needs a box and ribbon.
Essa, Valeria, go and see if the guard at the door can get the steward to get a box.
I’m sure there is a ribbon among Letty’s hair things,” Lady Somerlynn said calmly, coming to her side.
“Nerves?” she whispered as the two bridal attendants scurried to the door.
“I just want it to be over. Not the marriage, the wedding. I don’t like people staring at me. I like doing something.”
“Well, the second you are united to Girion and become a member of the royal family of Caledon, your magic will start to nurture the land. The hot springs will start to come back to life. You will do something just by saying your vows. But if you are nervous about anything else, your mother and I could help.”
Jocsta smiled and gave the older woman a quick hug. “Thank you. I don’t have any questions yet.”
That wasn’t true. She had a million questions, but like most things in her life, she believed that the best way to find out the answers was to try it herself.
I won’t know whether or not walking into a cathedral full of hundreds of people makes me faint until I do it.