The council leaders, both fey and human, required nice digs, and I wanted my friends to have prime rooms as well, especially the human ones who were visiting Fairy for the very first time. Abigail and Karmen. They were beyond excited. Abigail was thrilled not only to come to Fairy but to be able to spend time with Torquil. And Karmen was thrilled to spend time with Raza. Though he did allot some time for gushing over Killian too. Anyway, when we were finally done lodging everyone, we had resorted to putting up tents in the courtyard to house the overflow. At least the sea fey were sleeping in the lake.
Abigail, Aideen, Latharna, and Gradh were my ladies in waiting. They stood behind me, dressed in shimmering lavender gowns, while I sat at a vanity, looking over my reflection while I picked nervously at my nails. They were also sparkling lavender. I'd had a manicure the night before, at my bachelorette party. That makes it sound tame, but the party was actually pretty wild. We even had a satyr stripper. Karmen had left with him.
The revelries of the previous night had relaxed me, but now my apprehension was threatening my manicure. I stilled my hands, spreading them out over the heavy silk of my gown. Raza had chosen my wedding gown. Raza had chosen everything. Not because he was a control freak, but because I'd been with Tiernan in Seelie, settling things there, until just two days prior to our wedding. So Raza had made all of the arrangements himself. Yes, even my bachelorette party. Which was probably how we ended up with a gay stripper. But I digress. Raza didn't do everything alone. He, of course, had loads of helpers. And seamstresses evidently. My gown was amazing.
Raza had it made in white silk because he knew I'd want some human traditions added to the fey. It was a simple design; a long sheath with a flared hem. The top of the bodice curved in with a swath of fabric, making my cleavage look even more impressive, a feature I was sure Raza had considered. The shoulder straps were thick and held draping pieces of silk which hung over my upper arms, mimicking the bodice. Elegant. Beautiful. Classic. But then there was the train.
Thankfully, the thing attached via a belt and could be put on at the last second... and taken off after the ceremony. It consisted of yards of delicate, but strong, fairy lace. Over this lace were applied millions of little diamonds, in traditional white as well as red and lavender. An odd color choice, except that the red gems were applied in the shape of dragons, the lavender in the shape of stars, and the white were filigree filler. Raza had wanted to represent us both, and by some strange chance, the colors worked together. But damn it, the thing weighed a ton.
“Are you ready for your veil?” Abby asked.
I nodded, and she brought forward a lace veil which matched my train. Luckily, there weren't quite as many diamonds on the veil, or I might not have been able to keep my head up. She used the attached combs to fasten the veil to the back of my head, then laid the front piece over my face. Aideen carefully placed my twilight crown over the veil. The crown was diamond encrusted too, with star-topped spikes.
“I look like I should be in a Russian painting,” I muttered. “Or a Klimt.”
“You look beautiful,” Latharna sighed. “It's perfect.”
“Thank you,” I gave her a little smile.
How strange was it to have my sister-in-law as one of my ladies in waiting at my marriage to a man who wasn't her brother? I started to pick at my nails again and had to clench my hands into fists to stop.
“Let's get you down there,” Gradh motioned me up from my seat. “They'll be waiting on you.”
“It's not like they can start without her,” Abby chuckled.
“Okay,” I stood and took a deep breath. “Let's do this thing.”
“This isn't a mission, Seren,” Abby said gently.
“The hell it isn't,” I smirked. “It's one of the most important missions of my life.”
“So romantic,” Latharna sighed.
“In a very Seren way,” Aideen added.
We tromped out of Raza's bedroom, soon to be my bedroom too, and headed for the stairs. It was hilarious. Three warrior women with one courtier. Abigail, Gradh, and I walked like we were missing a sword on our hips, while Latharna glided forward elegantly. I frowned and tried to mimic her. I'd been a princess for awhile now, I knew how to walk properly damn it. There was no excuse for me heading to my wedding like a barbarian.
Then I nearly tripped over my sparkly shoes. What was it with the fey and sparkly shoes? No one could even see the damn shoes beneath all the layers of fabric they wore... we wore... was wearing. Okay, I needed to calm down, I was regressing into thinking I was only human again. Probably some kind of mental way of not dealing with the fact that I was about to get married. To my second husband. Who happened to be a dragon. Without divorcing my first husband. A seelie sidhe. And everyone was fine with it!
“Seren?” Abby grabbed my arm as we reached the top of the main stairs. “Are you alright?”
“Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be alright?” I asked a little too quickly.
“Because your veil is fluttering with your rapid breaths,” Abby said gently. “And that's a heavy veil. Come on, girl, this is nothing. You love him. He loves you. You're going to unite all of Fairy and have a bunch of babies with wings.”
“Babies?!” I nearly screeched. “Withwings? What the fuck am I going to do with winged offspring? A crawling toddler is bad enough, but a flying one? Oh, sweet Goddess! I'll have to hire some flying nannies to help me catch them.”
“Not the best strategy,” Gradh shook her head at Abby. Then she gave it a try, “Princess, take a moment to push everything else aside, and just focus on what your heart is saying. Do you want to marry King Raza?”
I gaped at her. Wasn't that what Danu had said? Something about focusing on what I wanted, instead of what she wanted. If they happened to be the same thing, what was the harm in that? I went instantly calm and smiled at Gradh.
“I do want to marry him,” I said. “I love him.”
“Alright then,” Gradh nodded. “Go marry that dragon before some slimy sea bitch tries to steal him from you.”
“I will, damn it!” I growled, “There ain't no way in hell I'm letting Daiyu near my man.”
“There's our girl,” Abby nodded.
