Broken Dove (Fantasyland #4)(211)

Holy cow.

I shook my head. “But, it’s your payment.”

“I have learned, Madeleine, and I must admit it was against my will, but I have learned that there are many ways to be compensated.” Her fingers tipped in blood red pressed into my shoulders. “Today, you bind yourself to a man who holds you precious. You walk to him carrying a child made from love. I played a small part in that. And that is the only payment I need.”

I was so totally talking Apollo into giving her more diamonds to get my Fritos.

“I don’t know what to say,” I told her.

“Say nothing. Just be. And in being, be happy,” she replied.

Okay. Until then, I wasn’t sure she was my favorite person.

But now she’d hit the top ten.

I smiled at her in the mirror.

Her lips tipped up in return.

The door flew open and Loretta flew in. “The men are getting restless!” she cried.

Meeta strolled after her, her eyes coming to me, and noted, “This is true. However, things can hardly get started without you and it is an exercise in character to learn to wait.”

She wasn’t wrong.

But I didn’t want my man to wait so I made a move and felt Valentine’s hands fall from my shoulders.

“Time to get this show started,” Finnie murmured, came to me and leaned in to finish in my ear, “Try not to fall asleep.”

I grinned into her hair.

Apollo had explained the marriage ceremony of Lunwyn. I knew I was in for a lot of standing and a lot of hearing words no one in the room understood because the holy men of this place spoke in the ancient tongue.

I did not care.

When it was done, Apollo Ulfr (the good one) would officially be mine.

To get that, I’d stand for a year and listen to someone prattle on.

Luckily, I didn’t have to do that.

Finnie grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze before she leaned away and winked.

“See you at the post-nuptial festivities,” Circe said, dashing forward when Finnie moved away and touching her cheek to mine.

“See you there,” I replied.

She gave me another smile before moving away and Cora was there.

She touched her cheek to mine too and said, “Don’t be happy. Be ecstatically happy. You’ve earned it.”

She was so sweet.

“I will,” I promised.

She moved away and they all gathered together, Valentine not giving me any words for which I was glad. She’d said enough. I was just holding up. I didn’t need to break down. I wanted Apollo to marry the awesome me, not the puffy-eyed, mascara-streaked, red-faced me.

But before they exited, I studied them, thinking it was pretty freaking cool I was friends with two bona fide princesses and a full blown queen.

And just thinking it was pretty freaking cool I had so many friends.

Finnie in her ice blue velvet gown with the kickass crown in her white hair that looked like diamonds formed into icicles.

Circe wearing a heavy silk sarong made of gold material held up by a belt made of gold disks. Her gold bandeau top could be seen because it was covered by a sheer skintight long-sleeved golden top. A heavy-looking gold necklace at her neck, deeply dropping gold chandelier earrings at her ears and what appeared to be hundreds of gold bangles at her wrists. Her crown of feathers glimmering at her forehead.

Cora wearing a royal blue velvet dress in the fashion of Lunwyn, a heavy gold chain hanging low on her hips, the ends dripping down into massive sapphires, a tasteful, but fabulous gold crown mingled in her shining brunette updo.

The dream team.

My dream team.

Women who, like me, knew impossible, amazing, fantastical dreams could come true.

Dreams you would not dare to dream.

Dreams that we lived in every day.

I blew them a kiss.

They returned the gesture (all but Valentine) and moved through the door.

Loretta and Meeta rushed forward when they did, both putting their hands to me. Meeta’s rising to my fiddle with my hair, Loretta’s lowering to fidget with the skirt of my gown.

“What’s this?” Meeta asked, leaning back, her eyes on my necklace. The she looked to me. “This does not go with your gown Miss Maddie.”

She was right.

It didn’t.

My gown was the gown I luckily had to wear to the Bitter Gales.

A gown that was now my wedding gown.

Ulfr green satin, off-the-shoulder, but the low neckline and around my upper arms were fashioned in a wide luxurious line of black-brown mink. The hem and long train of my skirt had the same fur tracing it. My low-slung belt was also gold but fitted in every other link was an emerald and a topaz. I had half a dozen matching bejeweled combs holding up the intricate twists and curls of my hair and matching dangling earrings falling from my earlobes. And I had topaz evening gloves with thin tufts of mink at the ends.

The ice blue diamonds didn’t match.

And yet they were utterly perfect.

“It’s from Apollo,” I told Meeta.

It wasn’t the exact truth.

But it was still true.

“Ah,” she mumbled.

I smiled at her.

She caught my eyes and smiled back.

“There are two ladies who need to take their seats and the Head of a House who’s growing rather impatient,” a man’s voice noted and we all looked to the door to see Achilles had his head stuck in.