That’s all I need. This will be okay. Everything will be okay.
* * *
Rehearsal took longerthan I expected. Adela and Theo were finishing up some important details, traditions Adela wanted to make sure she got right, so when we arrive back at the palace, Katla gives me about five minutes to say goodbye to Keller before she whisks me away for the maidenhood rituals, something I’m still very much in the dark about. And you know what? I even tried to look it up on the Internet, but it seems to be a tight-lipped, royal family activity because I found nothing. Not one single piece of information to prepare me.
Knowing I’m expected up in my room right now, I turn toward Keller and rest my hands on the lapels of his suit jacket. “I hate that I won’t be able to spend the night with you.”
He rubs his hands up and down my back softly. “Me too.”
“Nor will I see you until we’re at Norse Temple. That’s too long.”
“The wedding is early, so you’ll see me sooner than you think.” He bends down and presses a kiss to my lips. “Have fun with the girls, and I’ll see you tomorrow . . . my wife.”
I smile up at him. “My husband . . . my king.”
He tilts my jaw up with his thumb and steals one more kiss, this one is longer, deeper, full of promises and the future as his tongue swipes inside my mouth. I reciprocate the movement, getting lost in the way he possesses me. And when he pulls away, not putting much distance between us at all, he cups my cheek and softly says, “I love you, Lilly. You have my heart . . . forever.”
“You have mine,” I say.
Ottar walks up behind Keller and puts his hand on his shoulder. “Come on, you’re with me.”
Lara comes up to me as well. “I’ll take you to your room.”
“Take good care of her,” Keller says, a slight worry in his eyes.
“I will,” Lara says.
I point at Ottar and say, “You take good care of Keller too.”
“He’s mine until tomorrow, you can count on it.”
“Good.” I reach up and give Keller one more kiss. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow,” he says. Lara takes me down the halls, toward my bedroom.
* * *
“Now,”Katla says, hands clasped together. “Strip down, it’s time to wash the maidenhood off you.”
Okay, so when I say I wasn’t prepared for what tonight would bring, I was one hundred percent right because the moment I walked into my bedroom to find a large copper tub in the middle of the room and washcloths lined up with soap, I knew I was in trouble.
“Um . . . what now?” I ask as Katla stands before me, Isabella, Marit, and Pala behind her, all of them wearing robes.
With a pleased smile, Katla says, “It’s tradition that the women of the family wash down the bride the night before the wedding. This is to scrub the virginity off you so you’re ready for your new husband.”
I nearly choke on my own saliva.
Scrub the virginity?
Yeah, that was scrubbed off years ago.
“So you want me to get naked in front of all of you, sit in that tub, I’m assuming, while you wash me? Like . . . do you scrub between my privates? Have me bend over for better access?”
Everyone laughs while Katla shakes her head. “No, dear. A bathing suit awaits you. We just shower you with love, some essential oils, and then we will braid your hair while we chat. Runa has left a wonderful spread of crackers, cheese, and fruit for us to munch on as well.”
“Oh . . . okay,” I say, the nerves starting to fade away. “Because I know I used to be down for a wet T-shirt contest, but I don’t quite think I’m ready to get naked in front of my newfound family yet.”
“I don’t think we are either,” Marit calls out.
