Chapter 200

Evan smiled broadly at the sight of me and Lucy in our dresses, our hair and makeup all done up. “Whoa,” he said, going wide-eyed. “You girls look incredible.”

“Oh my Goddess, back at you!” I cried, making my brother blush. Evan was all cleaned up, had even gotten a haircut, and he was wearing a gorgeous, expensive tuxedo with a boutonniere in the lapel that matched my bouquet. “What is all this?”

“Oh. Didn’t you know? I am the Best Man.” He grinned guiltily, cheesing with his teeth clenched.

“Oh, that is so…” I felt tears pinging at my eyes, thinking about Nolan making the gesture of asking Evan to stand beside him at our ceremony. That must have been what they were discussing at Tina’s. “That’s sweet, Evan. I’m sure it means a lot to Nolan. Thank you.”

He shrugged, starting to look awkward.

“Be right back, guys,” Lucy said, heading for the fancy little half-bathroom that was directly across the hall from my studio.

“Yena, I’m really happy for you,” Evan said to me quietly once she was out of the room.

“Thanks, Evan.”

“And, before Lucy comes back I just wanted to tell you, uh… well, thank you. For the good advice you gave me last week.”

“Oh. So does that mean you’re not going to…”

He shook his head, blushing and looking at his feet. “No… well, not anytime soon, at least. I think for now we’ll be friends. Thanks for always helping me keep my head on straight, Yena.”

“It’s what I do.” I gave him a little pat on the cheek.

Evan and I heard Tina’s voice at the same time, both raising our eyebrows at each other as the sound hit our ears. Tina was calling down the hall at Lucy, having run into her out there.

“Oh yeah, the ‘rents are right behind me,” Evan said in a voice of caution. “And Tina is… well…”

Then the three of them were coming in, Lucy returning with Tina and Peter following behind. My parents were dressed in the clothes that Nolan and I had had delivered to their home last night. I’d picked out a nice new suit for Peter and a gold and cream colored dress for Tina that complimented the colors of my own gown.

“Oh, Yena!” Tina gasped when she looked at me in my dress.

“Oh, no. Why are there tears already?”

“Oh, I’m just so happy for my wonderful daughter. Come here, Yena.” She waved me over to her, begging for a hug. “Oh, Goddess, you look more beautiful than ever.”

“Truly,” Peter said from her side. “You look lovely, Yena.”

“You guys look great, too.”

Lucy warned, “Careful with the hair, please, Tina,” as I permitted my adoptive mother to embrace me. I was grateful for that, because Tina listened and obeyed her.

“Stop it, Tina.” I shook my head at her with a smile. She seemed overcome with emotion. “You know I am already married, don’t you? Today is just for fun!”

She chuckled. “Of course. But I also know… that this day is meaningful to you and your sweet husband…” Her voice warbled on that last word.

“Oh no,” I whispered, feeling moisture in my eyes. I am a contagious crier. “Tina, stop. You’re going to make me ruin my perfect makeup!”

“Alright,” Lucy said confidently. The mention of ruined makeup had her hurrying to my side. She stepped in between me and Tina and took on a tone of voice and posture like she was my personal security guard. “Maid of Honor here. I have to insist you take a step back from the Bride, give the lady some room.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, dears. Phew.” Tina took a hitching breath and used her hand like a fan, batting it near her eyes as if to dry them.

I checked the clock on my phone.

It was go time.

“Okay everyone, let’s get out of here,” I said in my best Camp Director tone. “I’ve got a wedding I’d like to get to, with a very handsome prince I’d rather not keep waiting.”

They all did as I told them, filing out into the hallway. Nolan and I were having our ceremony outside in a cute little courtyard in a different area of the palace, a short walk from our wing.

And then I remembered at the last second—I couldn’t believe that I’d almost forgotten the finishing touch! I let my family all keep walking ahead, and they didn’t even notice as I dipped back into the studio in a hurry.

I retrieved my last accessory from a box on my desk, and then rejoined my family just as Evan was spinning around looking for me.

I had Lucy put it on me just-so while we walked.

NOLAN

Yena had given Nolan a silky, sea-green bowtie and matching pocket square to pair with his tuxedo. The tie was giving him some trouble.

The fabric was beautiful, but slippery and uncooperative. He had a feeling Yena would have made fast and easy work of tying it perfectly, but she had special skills that Nolan did not. He had put it on earlier when getting dressed in their bedroom, but now he was lingering in a small parlor room near the courtyard where they were having their ceremony, fussing over the tie until the last minute.

Nolan paused when he felt a strange sensation in the air. A feeling like a change in air pressure. It told him that his father, the Alpha King, was approaching.

He gave himself one more look in the mirror, running a hand across his short, tight beard. And then opened the door just as his father reached it.

“Good morning, Father.” Nolan stepped aside with a bow.

The King stepped inside, having to duck slightly to clear the door frame.

“Good morning, son. You know…” He moved to the window, crossing in the room in just a few long, slow strides, and looked out at the pale gray sky. “There is a storm coming in within the hour. We could easily have the servants move everything inside, into one of the ballrooms. They’ll make quick work of it.”

Nolan followed his father’s gaze out to the courtyard, where a vine and rose covered archway had been set up for the wedding. There was an aisle of strewn pink and cream colored rose petals leading up to the arch and two sets of two chairs angled on either side of it. It was indeed overcast and gloomy out this morning, but that was most often the case in this part of the world.

“It will be a short ceremony,” Nolan said, glancing at his gold watch. “And we should head out there soon. Yena and her family will be coming out in just a few minutes.”

The King nodded. He maintained his posture at the window, glaring up into the clouds as if warning them not to break, and said, “I saw your brother this morning.”

Nolan frowned at his father’s back. “Did you? How is he?”

The old man sighed. Slowly now he turned around and met his son’s eyes. “He is going mad.”

Nolan recalled the last time he had seen Adan, down in the underground prison. He’d been leashed to the ancient stone walls of his dungeon cell, still recovering from his injuries and looking wild-eyed and hungry.

“Whatever was wrong inside him before,” the King continued, “it has only grown stronger in the solitude of captivity.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Nolan said quietly. Just to say something.

He had to sit down for a moment.

“I wonder, you know…” Nolan looked up at his father, deciding to just be honest with the man for once in his life. “Whether I should have killed him. I wake from dreams about it. I don’t know if I made the right choice. I worry sometimes… like now, for instance, as I hear you telling me of his current condition…” Nolan hung his head. “Maybe our world would have been safer if I’d just ended Adan’s life when I had the chance.”

The Alpha King approached his son. Old memories stored deep in Nolan’s bones made his body want to flinch when his father came this close to him. Within striking distance. Of course, Nolan had spent many years gaining mastery of his reflexes, and he remained still.

“Son, I can’t tell you what is right, about this or any other matter. But one thing I do know.”

Nolan met his father’s eyes, surprised. He’d half expected to receive some sort of reprimand for expressing such vulnerable emotions.

“You may never want the enemy see you falter,” the King said, “but it is a wise man, and a good leader, who privately questions his own choices and who cares enough about his responsibility to his world to lie awake and worry about the impact of his actions.”

He extended an open hand to his son. Nolan rose to stand and cautiously reached his own hand out to meet it.

“You will make a fine Alpha King,” his father concluded. He shook Nolan’s hand firmly, and inclined his head to his son in a slight bow.