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No one could do that; not to Harry and not to Will. Lilah wanted to honour Maddie. She wanted to live her life to the fullest, knowing that every day she lived and breathed and loved Will with all her soul was a day in which Maddie would be smiling down from somewhere.
Will’s voice brought her focus back to the present, and to the man she was agreeing to marry today. “We met reluctantly. Neither of us particularly looked forward to the event.” The crowd laughed a little. “You were sick of journalists and their invasive questions, and I had no interest in a princess from a beautiful, faraway Kingdom. I expected you to be vapid and dull.” Lilah’s eyes glistened with tears but she laughed. “Until the door opened and I saw you. You were grace and temperance,” he said, neatly altering the phrase he’d used at the time. “You were beauty and compassion, kindness and wit. I sat opposite you, and I asked you question after question, and all I could think was that I’d met you: the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.” He squeezed her hands. “When you followed me off the edge of the building, I knew we could go anywhere together.” The crowd laughed once more, the mystery of her daring rescue had never been made public. “I pledge myself to you, Jalilah Mazroui, for all the days we have. Whether many or few, nothing matters more to me than being here, with you.”
She had her own vows prepared but she didn’t trust herself to speak. She pressed a hand to her chest and breathed out with a sound of complete surrender. “And that is what I get for falling in love with someone who writes beautiful words for a living.” She shook her head as their guests yet again laughed quietly. In the audience, Kiral couldn’t help but contrast the ceremony with his own. Though he and Abigail had loved one another deeply, their wedding had been surrounded by resentment and pain too. There was none of that here.
Just pure, blinding joy.
“I would follow you anywhere,” she agreed with his closing sentence. “I …” She shut her mouth, waiting for the tears to leave her throat. But they didn’t. She shook her head and laughed tremulously. “I fought this because I was so terrified of what I felt. I didn’t just love you, William Wright. I liked you and I respected you and I admired you. I saw your soul, and I saw your grief, and I wondered if I could ever be what you need. If I could ever answer the questions that you were asking.” She squeezed his hand. “But marriage isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about promising that we’ll always try. That we’ll jump off buildings together whenever we need to. That we’ll trust and talk and never again run from one another.”
The crowd erupted in applause as Will, overcome by his bride’s words, leaned down and kissed her passionately. It was completely unexpected and bucked every protocol but even the Anaiso overseeing their commitment smiled fondly.
The ceremony was followed by a ball, and it went for hours and hours. The moon was dipping down towards its bed, pulling the blankets of dawn behind it, when finally Lilah caught herself yawning deeply.
“You are worn out,” Will said softly, holding her tight to his chest. She fit against him so perfectly that he couldn’t help but smile.
She nodded. “Starting a new life is tiring.”
“Let’s get you to bed, princess.” He lifted her off the ground and kissed her gently, before placing her gently by his side. But his arm was firm around her and took her weight, so that she almost glided out of the ballroom. As they approached the doors, Kiral and Abi halted their process. Despite the lateness of the hour, they were looking wide awake and as perfectly elegant as always.
“We have a surprise for you,” Abi said gloatingly, her frame showing the signs of her second pregnancy.
“A surprise?” Lilah stifled a yawn and leaned close to her husband. “What is it?
Abi laughed. “You look exhausted.”
“Weddings are tiring,” Lilah confirmed.
“Tell me about it.”
“It won’t take long,” Kiral smiled apologetically at Will. “Abigail has been excited about this all day.”
“Here.” Abi reached into her clutch bag and pulled out a photograph. It was of a simple building on the edge of a creek, surrounded by pomegranate trees and poplars.
“A … postcard?” Lilah asked, frowning quizzically before handing it to Will.
“No. It’s our wedding present to you,” Abi grinned.
“The house, not the card.” Kiral transferred his attention to Will. “It’s an hour south of the city, on a large parcel of land. There is a security perimeter and while you’re in residence guards will be stationed on the boundary of the property. But the rest will be private. Just for the two of you.”
“And any children …” Abi grinned at Lilah, who flushed beet-red.
“We know you don’t wish to live in the palace,” Kiral said simply. “Your safety is paramount, of course, but your happiness matters too. I thought this would be a compromise.”
Lilah nodded. It had been an emotional day and this last gesture of sweetness was almost too much to bear.
“It’s perfect,” she smiled. “As long as you promise to visit us often.”
“Not too often,” Abi laughed. “A chopper can take you tomorrow to explore it for yourself. And Harry has already offered to accompany you on that trip,” Abigail laughed kindly. “Make any changes you see fit, of course.”
“Thank you both.” Lilah kissed them on the cheek and then returned to nuzzle into her husband’s side.
“For now, I think my wife needs to sleep a week,” Will grinned. “Good night.”
Kiral watched them go, a sense of satisfaction braiding through him. He had known, the night Will saved Lilah, that destiny had held a hand in those acts. Their rightness for one another was apparent to anyone who knew them. They were fated for one another as surely as he and Abigail had been.
And fate had been good to these two orphans, who’d been cast adrift to rule a nation and bear the weight of its people on their shoulders. To have found their places in the hearts of people such as Abigail and Will was an honour that Kiral could never have hoped for.
He felt the love that surrounded him and he smiled.
