by Emma Lea
He grinned and leaned back in his chair. “I am a close personal friend of the king,” he said.
Alyssa threw a napkin at him across the table. “I was the one to tell you, not him.”
Jamie blushed. “Yes, well. Meredith didn’t exactly make it easy on me.”
Mother sank down in her chair. “Oh. This will never do,” she said.
“Pardon?” I asked, turning to her. “You can’t possibly have an objection to Jamie and me being married.”
She looked up at me like I was talking gibberish.
“I love him and I don’t care what you think. Jamie and I are married and we intend to stay married.”
“What are you on about?’ Mother asked, her brows furrowed. “Why would I object? I only ever wanted you to be happy.”
Now it was my turn to frown. “You just said, and I quote, ‘This will never do.’ What did you mean by that other than you don’t approve of us being together?”
“I didn’t mean that I don’t approve,” she said, looking stricken. “I just meant that the king can’t have eloped. His country needs something special, something that they can celebrate and unite together over. A royal wedding is the perfect thing.”
I looked up at Jamie. “What do you think about that?”
“I agree with your mother,” he said. “Will you marry me again, Meredith?”
I pushed up on my toes and brushed my lips across his in a chaste kiss. “I would love to.”
Chapter 25
Meredith
“May I come in?”
I turned at the sound of my father’s voice. We had barely had a moment to talk since everything had been revealed and I couldn’t help but feel that I had somehow let him down by walking away from the Bellemere title.
“Hi Daddy,” I said.
My father swallowed as he looked at me and his eyes went a little glassy. I bit my lip to stop my own tears from falling.
“You look so beautiful,” he said coming into the room and closing the door.
My maids made a quiet escape leaving the two of us alone. He was dressed in all his royal regalia. This might be a wedding in a foreign country but it was still the joining of two royal households.
“Daddy,” I said with a sniff, turning to lay my head on his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Whatever for, kitten?’ he asked, tucking a finger under my chin and tipping my face up to his. His eyebrows were furrowed as he looked down at me with a frown.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be the countess you wanted me to be.”
“Oh kitten,” he said, his face softening in a sweet smile. “I only ever wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to have a purpose and to see that there was more you could do for your country and your queen than just being in the guard. I knew how seriously you took your job and how it would seem like such a frivolous thing to take up a title. Seeing you with Jamie has made me so happy. Seeing the way you have taken on the role of his wife and queen of Kalopsia has made this old man burst with pride for the daughter of my heart.”
I sniffed again, valiantly trying to not let the tears of relief and love overflow and ruin the makeup my maids had spent hours doing.
“But what about the title? What will happen to it now?”
“It’s still yours,” he said. “And it will go to your daughter or your son - whoever misses out on being the next in line for the throne.”
I swallowed. I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. Children. Um, wow.
My father chuckled. “Don’t panic,” he said. “There’s no rush.”
“I love you daddy,” I said.
“I love you too kitten,” he replied and placed a kiss on my forehead. “Are you ready to go down and promise forever to your husband?”
“More than ready,” I replied with a teary smile.
It wasn’t the same pomp and ceremony that had characterised Alyssa’s wedding. It wasn’t even as grand as the wedding between Freddie and Alex. But it was beautiful all the same and it was exactly what I wanted.
Jamie asked Father Felipe to come back to Le Beau to perform the rededication ceremony. As far as the people of Kalopsia were concerned, we were getting married for real. We didn’t think we needed to publicise the fact that we had eloped.
The ceremony took place in the royal gardens overlooking the Aegean Sea. It was the perfect autumn day with the sun shining and the sky a brilliant cerulean blue. Savannah had made my wedding dress, which was as exquisite as it was simple and elegant. A simple sheath with just a hint of detail on the bust. My father walked me down the aisle and Alex was my matron of honour, with the other ladies in waiting making up the rest of my bridal party. Freddie stood up as best man for Jamie, and Cody and a couple of the other royal guard made up the rest of his groomsman, which included Benjamin. I was shocked to find out that Benjamin had known about Jamie and me all along. The man had one killer poker face.
We repeated our vows surrounded by friends - new and old - and family. It wasn’t a big wedding, as neither Jamie nor I wanted a big spectacle, but it was full of love and joy. I was so full of happiness that I felt like I might burst with it. And the way Jamie looked at me just before he kissed me, with those grey eyes all dark and stormy, could not have been more perfect.
In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Jamie had introduced me to his country. For the most part they had welcomed me with open arms. There would always be detractors and people who didn’t want to be ruled by a monarchy, but after the decade of tyranny that these people had lived under, most of them were ready to try something new. I was probably not the queen they were expecting, but I felt I was the queen they needed. Kalopsia was in flux and we needed strong women to stand up and help shoulder the burden of rebuilding the nation. I intended to lead by example. I didn’t know any other way.
“Are you happy?” Jamie asked, looking down at me as we danced under the stars, surrounded by the people we cared about most.
“I am,” I said with a little sigh. I rested my head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. A heart that beat for me just as mine beat for him.
“You don’t regret anything?” he asked.
I tilted my head up so I could look into his eyes. “The only thing I regret is running away when I should have stood by you. Can you forgive me for not having enough faith in us?”
He dropped his head and brushed his lips across mine in a tender kiss. “If you can forgive me for not being totally honest with you.”
I grinned at him. “You’re already forgiven.”
He kissed me again and I heard Freddie whistle followed by a few chuckles. Jamie lifted his head, an adorable blush staining his cheeks.
“May I cut in?” Daddy asked.
Jamie relinquished his hold on me and my father stepped into my embrace.
“Have I told you today how proud I am of you?” he asked.
I smiled up at him. “Only about a dozen or so, but not in the last half an hour at least.”
He chuckled. “You are going to make a magnificent queen,’ he said, his voice thick. “I always knew you would become someone special.”
“Being a queen doesn’t make me special,” I said.
“I didn’t mean it that way, honey,” my father said, looking down at me with seriousness. “Anyone can wear a crown. Do you remember when we talked about Louis and Jacques?”
I nodded.
“I have no doubt that Louis would have made a very good king but I think he knew something that no one else knew.”
“What was that?”
“That although he would make a good king, Jacques would make an exceptional one. It wasn’t the crown, but the man. Louis saw something in Jacques that he knew the people of Merveille would need. And you, my beautiful, sweet, wonderful Meredith have something special inside you that the people of Kalopsia need too. You will make an exceptional queen and it’s not because of the crown you will wear; it is because of the woman you are inside.”
“Daddy
,” I breathed as tears streamed down my face. “Thank you daddy for always believing in me.”
“I love you kitten.”
“I love you too, Daddy.”
“Stop making the bride cry, old man,” Freddie said, tapping on Daddy’s shoulder. “It’s time to hand the bride over before she turns into a puddle of tears and snot.”
I laughed and wiped under my eyes as my father and my brother hugged. Freddie took me in his arms and began to spin me around the dance floor.
“I love you Mer, you know that, right?”
I looked into his blue eyes that were so much like mine and nodded.
“I’m so happy for you,” he continued on.
“I’m happy for me too,” I said as I rested my head on his shoulder. “You will come and visit me, won’t you?”
He held me a little tighter. “Just try and keep us away.”
I was going to miss everyone. I had grown used to having a circle of friends around me. I knew I would need to create my own ladies in waiting here in Kalopsia and Mother was already scouting out the possibilities. She was in her element and she beamed with pride every time she looked at me. It was something I had craved all my life, that look. Now that I had it, I realised that it didn’t mean all that much anymore. I was proud of who I was as a person and I didn’t need that validation from my mother. Did that mean I was finally a grown up?
“So who do you think will be next?” Freddie asked.
I looked up at him. “What do you mean?”
He grinned. “All of Alyssa’s ladies in waiting are dropping like flies. There are only two left. So who will it be? Margaret or Savannah?”
I looked over his shoulder and spotted the two women in question in the crowd. Savannah was hard to read. She always looked impatient or as if she had somewhere else more important to be. Right now she was staring down a waiter with her trademark look of disdain and the poor boy was trembling. Margaret was her polar opposite. The shy wallflower hung back from the crowd, her head down as she tried to make herself invisible. Neither one of them looked like a good candidate for a romance story.
“There’s a pool going,” Freddie said, winking mischievously. “My money’s on the quiet one.”
Just to be contrary I said, “Then my money’s on Savannah.”
Freddie laughed as he swirled me around the dance floor.
“My turn,” my husband said, cutting in.
Freddie slapped him on the back as he passed me over into Jamie’s waiting arms. “Take care of her,” Freddie said as he backed away, “or I’ll come for you.”
Jamie looked down at me. “I will,” he said. “Always.”
Jamie
I looked over at my wife, who was laying on a sun lounge in a bright red bikini with a big pair of sunglasses covering her eyes and a hat with a brim so large I was pretty sure you could see it from space. I couldn’t help smiling. These last few days with Meredith could not have compared to anything that had come before. I hadn’t known it was possible to love someone so much or so hard.
I held up a bottle of sunscreen. “Do you need me to apply some more?” I asked, wiggling the bottle.
She chuckled and adjusted her glasses. “You only put some on not five minutes ago.”
“I know, but I wouldn’t want that pretty pale skin to get burned.”
“I’m sure that’s the reason you want to apply my sunscreen. To protect my skin.”
I couldn’t see her eyes, but I imagined she was rolling them at me. I couldn’t help it if I wanted to run my hands over her skin, especially since there was so much of it exposed.
I turned my gaze back to the shore and the softly crashing waves. The beach was private with no access other than from the palace on the cliffs above. It was a long, steep trek, but one we had both braved every day since the wedding. Autumn in the Mediterranean was almost perfect beach weather and I intended to enjoy it as much as I could for as long as I could. Real life would intrude before we knew it and then I didn’t know how long it would be before we would have this amount of alone time together again.
“You’re not sad that we didn’t go somewhere else for our honeymoon?” I asked.
I felt her hand on my shoulder as she sat up and leaned against my back. “No,” she said. “This is perfect.”
It was a far cry from the Alpine vista of Merveille and I hadn’t realised how much I missed being by the sea until coming back here. Merveille was beautiful, but it couldn’t compare to the white sandy beaches and aquamarine ocean that was right on our doorstep.
“I love it here,” Meredith said, echoing my thoughts.
“I love having you here with me,” I said, turning to kiss her.
There was a long road in front of us. Kalopsia was still floundering and it would be many years before we became the nation we once were, but I was ready for the work. I relished it. And I was so happy to know that Meredith would be there, right alongside me as we did this together. She had fallen in love with the island and the people and I couldn’t have asked for more. The most amazing thing was watching the country fall in love with her. She was not what they had expected and I had held my breath for more backlash because I married a foreign woman. It hadn’t come and I didn’t think it would, not with how Meredith had shown the people that she was there for them. Her genuine care and vision for the future spoke volumes. The people of Kalopsia could see that she wanted us to be great again and was willing to roll up her sleeves and help. I’m pretty sure the opinion polls had her ahead of me as preferred leader and I didn’t mind in the slightest. She had bloomed under the responsibility of being the queen of a small, struggling country and I couldn’t wait to see what the rest of our life might bring.
“I love you, agapiméni gynaíka mou,” I whispered, turning to kiss her.
“S’agapo. Se latrevo,” she replied.
Epilogue
Jed
I urged Mistborn into the woods along the narrow path. The horse was a pain in my butt but he was a dream to ride and seeing as though I was the only one he let ride him, I figured I couldn’t complain too much.
The morning was cold and snow was thick on the ground. The woods provided a bit of shelter and the ground, although frozen, wasn’t covered in the white stuff. I still wasn’t quite used to the weather, even though this was my second winter in the Alps. It was a far cry from the horse farm I’d grown up on in Kentucky. Everything about living in this small European country had been an adjustment for me, from working for a royal family to the weather, and the fact that they drove on the wrong damn side of the road. At least Cliff and I spoke the same language - one horseman to another.
There was a high-pitched noise on the wind that could’ve been a bird or some other small animal and Mistborn tossed his head irritatingly. His ears twitched and he started to dance under me. I held my seat, squeezing my thighs together and holding the reins tight. Mistborn was a wily thing and given half the chance, he would toss me from my seat and take off for parts unknown. Ours was a complicated relationship.
The horse had come to be in my care when it was given to the queen as a coronation gift. A pure-bred Arabian with a bad temper, I had thought at the time that whoever had given the gift to the queen probably had a nefarious purpose for doing so. Turned out I was right. But the queen kept the horse, even after he threw her, and I had to respect someone who wouldn’t hold an innocent animal accountable for the misdeeds of the people it was unfortunate enough to be under the care of.
Cliff hadn’t been so forgiving. I had taken pity on Mistborn and Cliff - the queen’s master of horse - had given me his blessing. No one wanted the cantankerous horse, so I had ended up with him by default. He was a beautiful animal and I had a feeling he had been mistreated prior to coming to live in the queen’s stables. A strong-willed horse needed a stronger-willed master, but not someone who would try to break his spirit. I suppose in a way, we suited each other. I was sometimes known as somewhat cantankerous myself.
I
took a deep breath of the frigid air. I loved this time of morning, before the palace was awake and the day really started. Mistborn and I rode at this time every morning - rain, hail, or shine. We both needed the escape and the solitude to keep us sane for the rest of the day. We had slowly been exploring the large parcel of land that belonged to the crown and I had to admit that the scenery was growing on me, even if the cold wasn’t.
We broke through the trees and caught a glimpse of the lake ahead of us. Now that was something to behold, especially with the snow-capped mountains framing the water and being reflected in it. I urged Mistborn into an easy trot as we crossed the flat expanse of land and then headed back under the cover of the woods. I should be starting back toward the stables but there was a curious row of little cottages that I wanted to check out. I had spied them on another ride and decided to come back and see what they were all about. Cliff said they were hunting cabins and were designed with only the barest of essentials for guests of the queen to stay in while hunting in the woods. There hadn’t been a hunting party since the king and crown prince lost their lives during a deer hunt. It happened before I came to the palace so I hadn’t had the privilege of seeing just what ‘the bare essentials’ meant when it came to the royal family.
“Maman! Maman!”
I reined Mistborn to a stop and looked around for the source of the voice. There were no children on the property that I was aware of and definitely none that should be this far into the woods.
“Archer!” A woman’s voice echoed through the stillness. “Come back!”
“Come and watch me Maman,” the little boy’s voice replied. “Come and see!”
“Slow down!” the woman called again.
Her voice sounded familiar, but I didn’t know who it was. Before I could slide from Mistborn’s back, the brush in front of us parted and a little tow-headed boy burst through the woods and into the clearing. He pulled a bright red kite behind him as he ran, not looking where he was going.
