AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Honey, why don’t we give them some time to talk about it without us here. We can get dessert ready and make a decision over chocolate.” Dad was always full of wisdom when it came to food.
“You don’t have to, Ember, honey, but I would like it.” Mom hugged me and followed Dad off the porch and into the house.
We’d decided we weren’t going to worry if the camp kids saw me or not. Most of the ones who had been here during the session where they’d had my funeral were home now, and this group of kids might have heard about something, but they were busy with classes and likely wouldn’t pay us much attention unless we did something interesting. Like have a wedding.
“Maybe we should plan it for the mid-summer break,” I thought aloud. “If we’re going to do this. You all don’t have to, you know.”
The guys shared a look, then the three princes all took a knee in front of me. After a moment, Baz tugged on Geraint’s arm and dragged him down, too.
“Ember, would you do us the honor of marrying us?” Dio reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.
“Wait, did you all have this planned?” I put a hand to my throat, emotion forming a lump in my chest, even through my surprise.
Nic smiled. “We might have talked. Geraint was occupied, though, so we planned for him.”
“When! We’ve been saving the world. When would you have time to talk about this?”
The princes shared a knowing glance before shrugging. “Dream logic.”
I sighed. “Okay, right.”
“So,” Baz prompted. “You can say no, obviously. You’re stuck with us one way or another, but we’d love to have a royal wedding. Or two.” He frowned. “We’ll probably have to do one in Dream as well.”
I laughed. “I’d love to. Yes. Yes, I will.” Tears sprang to my eyes when Dio handed the ring to Geraint and let him slip it on my finger. It was a beautiful band of silver with smoky bands of black threaded through it.
“We’re so glad,” Nic said, curling tendrils of shadow possessively around me, a smile curling his lips.
The guys rose.
“So how long is it until this break?” Baz looked around.
“A couple of weeks, I think.”
“Great, plenty of time to plan the best wedding ever.” Dio rubbed his hands together. “Okay, Nic. What do we do?”
“Me? How am I supposed to know? Ember is the creative one.”
Geraint laughed. “I’ve got this. Ember, go talk with your folks. I’ll take care of them.”
Heart feeling full and warm, I went back inside to show off my ring and tell my parents the happy news.
I had a lot of mixed feelings about mostly giving up my mortal life, but I certainly had no mixed feelings about spending the rest of my days with these four men.
***
The handful of weeks went by in a blur. Ash agreed to come back long enough to officiate, but she said she still wasn’t ready to face her fiancée. She still wanted [name] to join her in Dream, but wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic, or that she was still alive, or any of it. For a talented lawyer, she sure was tongue tied.
Of course, I didn’t blame her. I’d probably be taking the “hiding from my problems” route, too. In a way I still was. Choosing to stay in Nightmare wasn’t exactly facing the mortal authorities solution, but also, I couldn’t see a reason to come back fully, so I might as well just step away since my affairs were already dealt with.
My mother got super excited about the dress and while I retained veto power, I let her choose what she wanted. She had fabulous taste and the dress she picked met my and Ash’s approval a hundred percent. Mom found Ash a nice white suit in an androgynous style that fit her perfectly. Mom and Dad dusted off some of their dress clothing and their summer chef [Larry – check], let in on the secret and sworn to secrecy, baked an incredible cake I couldn’t wait to put in my face.
Our guest list was tiny, but we invited the mirror dwellers, moving the big stand mirror my parents had bought out into the garden so they could come. Mom and Dad even spent some time speaking with them, though I could tell they were a little freaked out. Larry had accepted that Dream and Nightmare were real places, especially after Nic did a small demonstration, but he flat out refused to look into the mirror. Though he asked us to apologize to the dwellers for his cowardice. They took it well.
I’d even had Mom buy some early summer corn, stalk and all, from a local farmer and had placed it near the alter, just in case the corn creature could somehow sense the invitation.
The princesses had all turned up in lovely gowns and my princes wore tuxes. My princes had dressed Geraint to match. And the princesses had brought a small quartet of instruments from Dream—self-playing ones with enough essence to last for our ceremony. It was as perfect as it could get without more friends to join us. Robby had come, and Casey sent her love and said she was working on something special for our wedding in Dream.
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, though I had no idea why. I’d already pledged myself to these men, but since we were having a ceremony, I wanted it to be perfect. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The humidity had hit a low spot and a breeze cooled the air.
