“Prettyandgenerous,” Tristan says, and I can’t push him out into the corridor fast enough. If he were any other knight, he’d be getting a slap, but as my cousin, he does have more privileges.
“His boots are clean. You don’t need to lick them so early in the morning,” I say, then face Luke, who watches me with the same soulful eyesthat glazed over so many times last night.
Tristan has no idea just how pretty my promised can be in the throes of passion, and he will never know, because that will be for my eyes only.
“Will you be away for long?” Luke asks.
He’s missing me already, be still my heart!
I step close and take both his hands to my lips to kiss each knuckle. “I will be back as soon as I can, my darling,” I say, meeting his eyes, and while this is the thing to say on the day of our wedding, my words come straight from the heart. Moments later, as I’m about to step away like the gallant prince I’m supposed to be, I press my mouth to his lips for a second of absolute bliss.
I can already hear the wedding fanfare.
Chapter 12
Luke
Ithought the outfit I got in the morning was an elaborate gothic dream.
What I’m dressed in for my wedding (something I still can’t fathom is happening) exceeds all expectations I may have had. It consists of fabrics that don’t exist in my world, and a team of elves needed two hours to put it all on me as I played the role of their docile puppet.
I’m wearing at least fifty shades of gray (pun unintended). If I were to encapsulate what the designer was going for, I’d say, he attempted to transform me into a sexy moth who has more money than sense, and a flair for the dramatic.
Which actually captures my personality quite well if I consider my future husband’s riches mine.
A long cape drags behind me as I walk, attached to both my nape and wrists, and embroidered with shimmering thread to resemble a moth’s wings. My new breeches are like second skin, and over the flamboyant black lace shirt, I’m wearing something between jewelry and armor. The silver chest piece resembles a ribcage, it’s decorated with pearls in several shades, and makes me feel like a minor god of death. If that wasn’t elaborate enough, I’ve donned a matching tiara of silver seaweed.
My ears were not spared and are now both pierced and adorned with elongated black crystals. The servant responsible for the jewelry tut-tutted for the longest time over my nose ring but let me keep it in the end.
If the outfit itself wasn’t insanity straight from a deranged haute couture catwalk, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I don’t even recognize my face.
The eyedrops they put in my eyes make my whites appear black, and the paint on my cheekbones swirls up and down, decorated with matte crystals. I wouldn’t be out of place at a KISS concert.
Or at an Alexander McQueen show.
But while I’m stunned by the quality of clothes and accessories that would have made quite the wave if I posted myself wearing them on social media, my thoughts keep wandering to Kyran.
Obligations kept him away from me for most of the day but, as promised, he joined me around midday, so we could share a meal. He loved the term brunch and told me it was very clever. We spoke about my world a little, and he suggested we might go visit it once in a while, but our time together was over too soon, and I was once again stuck with Reiner, who alternates between complaining about stuff and complimenting both me and Kyran on the most random things.
At some point, he told me I would make a very pretty insect, and I’m still not sure whether it was praise or a dig at me.
“So, do you not have electricity because it wasn’t invented, or because it doesn’t work here?” I ask, wondering if there is the slightest chance of setting up Wi-Fi here in the future.
Reiner blinks at me, pulled out of thoughts that made him frown. “I’m not sure I follow. I’ve never been to the human world, so I wouldn’t know.”
He’s leading me down a wide corridor and the heels of my new boots click against the marble floors with elaborate patterns of bones. Maybe it’s not marble? I’m not sure, but I’m too busy stealing another glance at myself when we pass a mirror.
“There will be time for vanity in the coming months when your portrait is painted, Master Luke,” Reiner says with the sternness of a Victorian governess, even though he’s wearing breeches meant to accentuate his ass and thighs.
I look away, but at least my flush won’t show under the pale makeup.
“What time is the wedding? Is there anything else we should do before that? And the reception? Will I be expected to dance? I can only do the tree dance, just saying,” I say and laugh awkwardly when I imagine elven royalty watching me flap my arms about as I close my eyes and let the music lead me. But what works well in a dingy, dark nightclub on goth night might prove embarrassing in the light of the bright green lanterns.
Reiner spins on his heel and raises his hands in an exasperated gesture. “I wish! It’s the custom to hold a ball before the wedding, but His Highness has rushed everything. We barely have an hour left. It’s not making him any more popular,” he says with a twist of his lips. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him. I think if the servants did their best, we could plan for the next full moon. It’s going to be a blood moon too, so it’s anyone’s guess why our prince can’t wait those few weeks.”
He then turns away and mumbles something sounding suspiciously like ‘it’s not like he waited withotherthings’.
“You overestimate my influence,” I say with a deep sigh as we walk into an even wider corridor.
