Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
I’d so made the right decision with her.
Totally.
I wasn’t sure how the king and queen would take to that idea, but I did know Aleksei thought it was an excellent one, because he told me.
The only downside was that my father had indeed been hiding money from the HMRD. He’d been charged and was awaiting trial. And I was perplexed by the consolation I felt that his trial was scheduled months from now, so he was free and living at home, and Aleksei told me he’d retained very good representation.
It had been a big news story for a few days, and I was further confused at the complicated emotions I felt whenever I saw him on the newsfeeds, scurrying to avoid the cams.
My mother didn’t appear, but then again, Aleksei’s sources shared either she’d left him, or he’d kicked her out.
As far as I was concerned, this happened twenty-nine years too late (I couldn’t say thirty, because, obviously, that would mean I wouldn’t exist).
One could say I understood the depths of his grief at the loss of his mate. And I couldn’t deny that his remorse and hope for some kind of reconciliation had seemed genuine, and not about me being the next queen.
But one could not say I condoned how my father treated me all my life. I’d had to wait thirty years for him to show even an iota of care for me, and in the time he had me, what he’d shown was habitual inattention, punctuated by bouts of fury with instances of physical abuse.
See?
Complicated emotions.
His arrest, albeit very public, had not had any effect on me, except to put a fine point on what I’d shared during our engagement interview.
My approval rating remained steady at ninety-four (I’d been very right about being so open about my childhood, and not only my rating proved it, the outpouring of mail I was getting at the Palace did). Aleksei’s had climbed to ninety-one. And even the king, queen, Aleece, and both princes had seen upticks in their ratings.
Add to all of this, the very not insignificant fact I was in love with the finest male on the planet.
Not to mention, I was getting great sex on the regular.
And I was right then wearing the most beautiful gown ever created.
In other words, life was good.
“You’ve known Aleksei a long time,” I said to Antheme to explain requesting her opinion about the gown.
“You could wear a potato sack and he’d like you in it,” Antheme replied.
That was sweet (and true, and again, I was in love with the finest male on the planet).
But she wasn’t getting it.
“It’s about me wearing this dress and being on his arm,” I explained.
She rolled her eyes. “Stop stressing. You look gorgeous. And that dress is…fit for purpose.”
Cat snorted.
Gayle choked.
Monique outright laughed.
Lancet gasped in affront and snapped, “Fit for purpose?”
“Anyway, there’s no going back now, right?” Antheme ignored Lancet and asked me.
She was very right.
“I do not know why you subjected me to this creature’s opinion,” Lancet complained.
“Because I’m going to have just shy of eighteen million pics taken of me in this gown. I love it. It’s stunning. But those pics are going to travel twenty realms, live forever, and I’m freaking out,” I explained.
His mood changed immediately, though I didn’t know if it was about wanting to console me, or the reminder that eighteen million pics would be taken of his gown.
“Oh, dearest,” he cooed. “You’ll wow them all.”
I turned on my gals, my heavy skirts swirling with me, almost taking me off balance (note to self, don’t move too fast at the Masque or I was going down).
“You three are set with gowns?” I asked.
“I was set two months ago,” Cat drawled.
“Only because, after you very belatedly invited us, the aide to the True Bride made comms and got the two top designers in the Fall, not including you, of course,” Gayle said her last to Lancet, “to rush gowns for us. Mine is nowhere near as lush as yours, but it’s mega.”
“Mine is a shooting stars theme,” Monique shared. “I thought that was an awesome idea, but butterflies beat it by a mile. Even in Nocturn.”
“Laura, you need to be at the Palace for your weekly tea with the queen in less than half an hour,” Antheme warned.
Oh.
Right.
That had also been added to my schedule.
I couldn’t say Queen Calisa was warming up to me, as such. I had a feeling she was already as warm as she’d ever get. But I could say I loved our chats, mostly because Aleece always joined us, it felt nice getting to know them better, and it felt fabulous being inducted in their crew.
Although the queen wasn’t a demonstrative person, her closeness with Aleece was clear, and the indication they wanted me to be a part of it meant the world to me.