“Ye should be well protected, my lady,” Kelmila said. “I have sewn a few stones into yer gown as well.”
“And we made yer protector an onyx collar,” Lorilin said as she hesitantly hovered above Aylryd. “Might ye be good enough to have him allow me to place it upon him?”
“Be nice, Aylryd. Time to dress up and look our finest,” Lexi told the great cat.
Aylryd yawned, but deigned to stretch his mighty neck so the seamstress could drape the collar around it and fasten it. As soon as Lorilin had it latched, she flitted well out of reach of the tiger, with her hands pressed to her chest and her cheeks rosier than they’d been before. “Oh my. That was quite exhilarating!”
“You are even more handsome now,” Lexi said to the tiger.
“We are finished, my lady,” Rill said as the seamstresses flitted over to the tall dressing mirror and hovered above it, waiting for Lexi to turn their way. “Ye have never looked lovelier, if ye’ll pardon me for being so bold as to say so.”
Lexi turned on the pedestal, faced the mirror, and stared so long without blinking that her eyes started to burn. “Wow,” she said in a breathy whisper. An excited shiver rippled across her. Even in her best little black dress, she had never looked so…so…old Hollywood style glamorous. The off-the-shoulder, golden creation swirled around her, hugging her curves in all the right places and flaring out at the base to flow into her train. The tight sleeves and bodice were a rich, shimmering combination of gold silk and lamé, but the skirt and train were embellished with gleaming onyx and glittering black jet bead stripes that mimicked the pattern of a tiger’s coat. She and Aylryd were a matching set, a gloriously sparkly and, dare she say, impressive matching set.
Her hair was upswept and held in place with onyx and diamond-encrusted pins and combs, and Rill had used what looked like a watercolor palette to accentuate her eyes and lips. For the first time in her life, Lexi felt utterly beautiful.
“You’ve transformed me,” she told the maid and seamstresses. “Thank you all so much for this. It stokes my courage.”
The four of them accepted her thanks with a unified bow.
“May luck, fate, and destiny be with ye and protect ye, my lady.” Rill helped Lexi step down from the dressing pedestal. She bobbed her head and offered a reassuring smile. “We shall await ye here.”
“Thank you, Rill.” Lexi wouldn’t remind the maid of how badly things were sure to go. There just wasn’t any sense in dwelling on it. Best to get it over with and let the chips fall where they may. Moving as gracefully as she could in the weighty gown, she did her best to replicate the catwalk moves she’d seen models do on the runway. She almost laughed out loud. A model, she was not, but she could hold her head up high, throw her shoulders back, and walk with attitude.That,she could do.
Up ahead, a door opened, and Jeros stepped into the hallway. Lexi halted, almost forgetting how to breathe because he was indeed breathtaking. Black cutaway jacket with medals and insignias on his broad chest. His kilt was belted at his waist and pinned to one shoulder. The weave molded itself around his powerful legs as he moved toward her. Sword belted to his side. Pistol stuck into his belt. He wore his raven hair loose, and it gave him the look of a man who dared anyone to cross him. Highly polished boots rather than the usual shoes and ties of best Highland dress. And then it came to her. Jeros looked like the fiercest Scottish pirate who had ever sailed the Realms’ seas.
“Ye are magnificent,” he said as he took her hand. “I canna believe ye are mine.”
His admiration bolstered her courage. She reached out and touched his cheek, reveling in the feel of his dark day’s worth of growth. He had once told her his parents hated it when he didn’t shave. It made her smile. “And I can’t believe you’re mine. By the way, I love it when you’rebristly.”
He grinned. “Aye, my own. Then bristly, I shall always be.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and turned them toward the atrium. With Jeros on her right, Aylryd took his place on her left. She was surrounded by her boys. Commander Darkcord fell in step behind them. She found the heavy thump of his boots reassuring. She had Aylryd to protect her. The commander would keep Jeros safe.
“How many will be in there?” She didn’t reallywantto know. Sheneededto know. All that forewarned forearmed stuff. “I am expecting a full house because of the servant gossip network. Am I right?”
Jeros’s heavy sigh didn’t make her feel any better. “Ye are correct, my own. I expect the receiving hall to be as full as can be.”
They descended an endless curve of marble steps and continued into another hallway. Her dress seemed to get heavier, but Lexi maintained a perfect posture that would have made Mammaw proud. She could use some of Mammaw’s piss and vinegar right now. Whenever her grandmother walked into a room, no matter whose it was or how big the gathering was, she owned it and always made heads turn.
I am going to own it. If they don’t like me, it’s their loss. Not mine.
Jeros squeezed her arm as if he’d read her mind. “And here we are, my own.”
A pair of thin, silvery-haired servants dressed in royal blue and gold liveries opened the tall, ivory double doors that gleamed with gold accents and symbols Lexi didn’t understand.
A horn sounded, then a voice boomed, “His Royal Highness, Prince Jeros of the Seventh House, and his consort, Lady Lexington Elizabeth.”
“At least they got that part right,” Jeros said low enough so only Lexi could hear.
Aylryd split the air with a mighty roar that shook the crystal gemstones of the many chandeliers as they stepped into the room and proceeded down the aisle that cut through the center of the crowd.
“Breathe, my own,” Jeros said under his breath.
Lexi lifted her head higher and forced herself to take in air and breathe it out. She could do this. Shewoulddo this. Jeros set the pace of their long walk that would end at the many-stepped dais where the king and queen awaited them on their thrones. He kept their stride slow and steady, as if daring the Court to doubt him and his fated mate. The crowd’s stares raked across her, making her ache to roll her shoulders to rid herself of the creepy-crawliness of their condemning scowls. Aylryd padded along beside them, huffing and occasionally rumbling a disgruntled growl. The tiger didn’t like this terrible game any more than she did.
After what seemed like forever, they reached the head of the room and stood before the monarchs. Lexi couldn’t help but wonder if Jeros was adopted. He looked nothing like either the king or the queen. He was smolderingly sexy, handsome darkness. They were icy, disdainful light. She supposed they were attractive in their own sort of way. Both of them were tall and thin, but she found their features sharp and angular, as if the sculptor who had crafted them left their edges jagged and hard to convey an unforgiving rigidity that went to their souls.
“My son,” the king said, but it did not sound like an endearment. The monarch’s gaze slid to Lexi, and his eyes narrowed. “And the fated mate the prophecy foretold.”
Lexi curtsied low as Rill had told her to do, but then she realized Jeros had not bowed. Now, how would she know how long to hold this uncomfortable position? She took his tug on her arm as a signal that she could stand once more, so she straightened and jutted her chin higher.
