A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)

A thousand people stood as one and turned toward us.

I gulped but put one foot in front of another.

Off to my right were the King’s Brigade, all of them sighing and sobbing. Deidre had to be held back as she tried to lunge at me.

There was Todd, he of the adorable ears. He had brought a date, and I was surprised to see that it was William, the man I’d tried to set Justin up with so very long ago who had made us call him Sir. I reminded myself to compliment Todd on the leather collar he was wearing around his neck and to ask what his hard limits were.

There were Katya and Brant, which—huh. I’d forgotten they even existed. How nice of them to be here.

There was Vadoma, surrounded by other gypsies, her eyes tracking me unnervingly with every step I took. Our relationship was… contentious, to say the least, but she had seemed thrilled to receive the invite and had even offered to read my fortune before the wedding. I had politely declined, telling her I would rather stab myself in the face with a dull spoon until I died.

Mama sat near the front, because she wouldn’t be anywhere else. She wore a tight, revealing dress that would most likely be considered inappropriate in at least three-fourths of Verania, but since she didn’t give a single fuck, neither did I. Next to her were Letnia and Moishe, the latter of whom stared at me, undoub

tedly thinking about how he’d like to lick the magic off my skin, the gross asshole.

Dimitri buzzed with his fairies around the raised dais, their lights blinking brightly. “Say the word,” he whispered as I walked by him. “I can get you out of here and our love can blossom in the Dark Woods.”

“Not the time, dude,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I had to try. The last time there was a wedding here, it worked.”

He wasn’t wrong, but still. What a dick.

Gary and Tiggy stood to one side of the dais along with Terry, who for some reason had decided to stick around the City of Lockes, much to Gary’s dismay. Terry had recently told us that their parents were wrapping up their swingers tour and that we should probably expect them shortly. Gary hadn’t been too happy to hear that, but I was excited, because everyone knew the only thing better than two unicorns was four unicorns.

The doors to the garden were open so Kevin could stick his head in to take part in the proceedings. He winked at me, flicked his tongue salaciously in my direction, then proceeded to shed a tear because his son was getting married, Gary, look at our baby boy!

The crowd tittered.

I ignored them.

The King and Prince looked regal as fuck, crowns atop their heads as they sat upon their thrones. The King nodded at me, a twinkle in his eye, and Justin looked bored, but before I could turn and look at my husband-to-be, Justin broke protocol, jumped up, crossed the dais, and wrapped me in a tight hug. “I’m so happy for you,” he muttered. “And if you tell anyone I said that, I will lock you in the dungeons for the rest of your life. Best friends 5eva.”

I was gobsmacked. “You do love me more than anything in the—”

“Not. Another. Word.”

I closed my mouth immediately.

Randall stood near the King, his eyebrows having finally broken down the last of his face’s defenses, now waging the final battle for control of his head. He frowned hard at me, most likely already planning on berating me for my lateness. Morgan was next to him, looking amused. And just because I could, I stared at him in awe, still not quite believing that he was actually here.

But they all faded away before the last.

Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart.

He stood before me, looking uncharacteristically nervous and extraordinarily handsome in his best suit of armor, the one shot with red rock that he’d worn the night he’d been promoted to Knight Commander. His wavy hair was endearing, his beard neatly trimmed (as I refused to let him get rid of it after I’d been able to sit on his face). He was biting his bottom lip, his eyes wide. As my parents kissed my cheek and let me go, he flushed brightly when my father reached forward, hugging him and whispering words I couldn’t quite make out. Ryan just nodded to whatever my father was saying, glancing over at me. Dad let him go, kissed his forehead, then went to stand next to my mother.

It was just the two of us.

(Surrounded by a thousand people and all our loved ones, but whatever.)

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“Hi.”

“Okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just this whole… thing. Gary wanted to have a three-way with a centaur named Jeffrey, and he kidnapped us and—”