AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Within a year, Anastasia Douglas was going to marry the man she loved and who loved her back with a thoroughness and intensity that left her breathless.
It was the first time she’d worn it.
‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to the jewels,’ she said. ‘They’re so…’
‘I know.’ Beside her, Claudia lifted her hands to the tiara that sat on her head. Ana was not allowed to wear a tiara until after she was married, according to Lor, but Claudia could, and had chosen one from the vault, and hadn’t that been a visit to the royal vault worth remembering. They’d taken Sophia, the Lady Serah, Rudolpho and a pile of dresses and had vowed to make the king’s chief advisor crack a smile.
He’d done more than that. When his pomp and ceremony had finally shattered and he’d finally smiled, he’d also walked away to try and hide the tears in his eyes. The Lady Serah had said to let him be. She’d said that laughter had been a long time coming to these halls and that while the change was welcome, some—who had lived a lifetime in the shadows—found it overwhelming.
They’d stopped teasing him after that, and he’d put his defences back together and returned, only to have Sophia begin an animated conversation with him about whether he preferred the rings on her fingers to the ones on her toes.
He’d told her the history of each and every one of them with a sly and wicked humour, and won himself three Rudolpho fans for life.
The gown Claudia had chosen for the evening was the shimmering colour of beaten bronze and the designers had made the most of her slender form. It had a full gauzy skirt, a herringbone corsetry bodice and was strapless. With it she wore a purple and white sash denoting that she was a member of the royal family of Byzenmaach. The cross that pinned her sash low on the waist was a gift from the north, announcing her allegiance to one of their orders as well. The glittering diamond tiara on Claudia’s head had belonged to her mother and her diamond necklace and earrings had come from the royal collection. She too wore her hair swept up in a style wholly flattering.
Sophia, future duchess and self-proclaimed member of the Order of the Dragon, was not going to the ball. She wore a white cotton nightgown with lace around the edges and a long strand of hopefully not priceless pearls draped across her thin frame and tied at the hip like a sash. She was barefoot and tousle-haired and danced around them, already in attendance at her own imaginary ball.
‘I have jewels for you too,’ Sophia said and opened her fist to reveal two small, smooth pebbles of mottled green. ‘They’re dragon stones and there’s one for each of you. You have to wear them close to your heart.’
‘Thank you,’ said Claudia as she took one of the offered pebbles and tucked it into her bodice. ‘For courage.’
‘You can keep it,’ said Sophia.
‘I will.’
Ana took the other pebble and tucked it into her bodice too. Her daughter was in danger of becoming seriously indulged. ‘How do we look?’
‘Like princesses.’ Sophia twirled and the pearls twirled with her. ‘Papa said he was going to dance with you all night long. Both of you.’
‘We should clone him,’ said Ana.
‘I heard that,’ said a voice at the doorway and there he stood, resplendent in white tie and weighed down with medals and a sash just like Claudia’s.
‘Pinch me,’ Ana muttered to her soon-to-be sister-in-law. ‘But not somewhere people will see the bruise.’
Claudia stepped closer, smiled angelically at her brother and obligingly pinched Ana on the ass. ‘That what you wanted?’
‘Perfect.’ She really was here and he really was real. Because sometimes she could have sworn she was living a fairy tale. ‘All good.’
‘Are we ready?’ asked Casimir.
Sophia eyed him narrowly. ‘Do you have your dragon stone?’
‘Right here.’ He patted the general direction of his heart.
‘What’s keeping it there?’ Claudia asked with the lift of an elegant eyebrow, and Ana could really grow to like this woman.
‘Duct tape.’
‘I love you,’ Ana said, because he should be told this often. The more she told him the more he lit up like Christmas morning. It was a good look on him.
