AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh no.” She scrambled off of his lap, back into the seat next to him. “I’m not even dressed properly!” She was wearing the simple black dress uniform that she’d put on that morning.
“That’s no one’s fault but your own.” He grinned, lifting his arm to greet his people. “I told you about this weeks ago.”
“You ogre-handled me into this carriage,” she hissed. He laughed, tugging off his blue cloak to throw over her shoulders. She found herself surrounded by his heat and scent and almost melted into the seat.
“I don’t think you mind being handled by me, per se,” he murmured into her ear and she felt her face go hot.
She elbowed him in the side, earning a grunt for her effort, before he lifted her hand and forced her to wave at everyone. “They don’t want me to wave at them.” She tried to tug her hand free, but he didn’t let her.
“Yes they do. They’re already planning our wedding.”
Cassandra turned her incredulous gaze his way. “Wedding?”
“Yep.” He popped the p, grinning like a lunatic as he kept up his own wave, reaching out to shake hands with anyone who could reach. On the other side of the carriage, people reached out toward her with huge smiles, expectantly.
She hesitantly reached out, but they took her hand happily, shaking it with enthusiasm.
“So nice to finally have a queen again,” one ogress cooed.
It was everything that Cassandra could do to stop herself from screaming that she wasn’t the queen. She knew better than to make rash pronouncements though, so she’d just leave it up to Maximus. He’d figure out a way to let them know who she was. She trusted him to handle the situation with the aplomb he always did. The sudden crash of insecurity as she wondered what she was exactly to him had to be pushed aside as she shook more and more hands.
Cassandra found herself beaming along with everyone in the crowd, enjoying herself more than she thought she would have. When she spotted Maximus smirking at her, she rolled her eyes at him. “Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.” He didn’t need to, though. The smugness was written all over his gorgeous face.
When they were finally at the end of their route, he took her hand in his to help her down. They were immediately surrounded by throngs of people and the chatter was so loud that she almost couldn’t hear anything. One of the ogresses nearest her squeezed her into a hug, shaking her from side to side.
“We’ve never had a queen as tiny as you.” She beamed up at Maximus. “You’re going to have a hard time getting this one to carry your babies.”
“We’ll figure it out.” He winked and the crowd tittered while Cassandra gave him a lethal look. He shrugged unrepentantly before taking her hand and leading her through everyone, his huge size easily parting the throng so they could make their way to the podium.
Cassandra was jolted by the many hands reaching out to pat her head and squeeze her hand. The joy in their eyes and the excitement amongst them was contagious though and after the first few times, she embraced them as well, just happy to be part of this all. They made her feel like she belonged. Like they wanted her as their queen.
Chapter Seven
"On this Hearts Day," Maximus proclaimed into a microphone, “I’d like to thank everyone for joining my future queen and I in our celebration.”
Everything screeched to a halt as Cassandra’s eyes all but bugged out of her head.
This isn’t handling it! This is making it worse!
Even as those words screeched across her mind, she couldn’t help the softening of her heart and the loosening of her knees. She loved this ogre and he was proud of her—making his announcement of their future in front of such a huge crowd. When she spotted the cameras aimed their way, she almost fainted. The entire country would know about this before the end of the day, she was sure.
He continued his speech, thanking everyone who participated and made the parade successful. When he was done, he smiled happily at her, his fangs gleaming in the sunlight. Walking down to her, he held out his huge palm. She slowly took it, allowing him to lead her back to the carriage. He stopped to chat many times, but he never released her, asking her opinion often while cheerfully introducing her to everyone he could.
By the time they were back in the carriage, she felt herself reflecting on the day, shedding a new light on everything she’d thought she’d known about their relationship and their country at large. He kept her hand in his, eyeing her silently while keeping up the rapport with everyone who reached out while they passed. She tried to do the same, but she was hopelessly distracted.
It didn’t take them long to return to the castle and when they disembarked from the carriage, Maximus took her hand into his and led her directly to his chambers. Her shoulders were in his hands immediately. “Cass… What’re you thinking? Why won’t you look at me?”
Blinking up at him for what felt like the first time ever, she reached a trembling hand up to cup his strong jaw, her thumb running over his gleaming tusk. “You love me.”
His furrowed brow eased slightly. “I do. I have for years.”
“Years.” She swallowed hard, shaking her head and choking out a little laugh around her tight throat. “Years that I pretended I didn’t love you right back.”
“I knew.” His usual handsome grin lit up his face, joy shining through. “I’ve always known that we’d be together.”
“I’m sorry.” A slow tear tracked down her cheek and he swept it away with his thumb before pressing a gentle kiss to each of her eyes, his tusks bracketing her face.
