“Today’s the day,” she answers. “You must fill your fat tummy and we must make you ready!”
“Bazzi…” I start to say.
“Is with the king,” she finishes. “He has already eaten all his breakfast like a good boy. Now, you be a good girl and eat, Queen Drákon.”
“Okay, I’ll eat,” I agree, sitting all the way up. “But you really have to start calling me Ola. I’m not down with this Queen Drákon stuff. We don’t even bother with titles anymore where I come from.”
The bright smile falls off Agda’s face. “No, I will not do this,” she answers, her voice severe. Then she sets the golden tray down across my lap with another huge smile. “Eat, Queen Drákon, eat!”
Okay, it honestly feels like Damianos is punishing me some more by hitting me with this little old fireball so early in the morning. And I don’t appreciate being bossed around. By her or anyone else.
But the breakfast is yummy emoji face, and she’s right about us having a lot to do.
Thalia meets me downstairs with a whole team. They converge on me and for hours I’m steamed, massaged, waxed and plucked within an inch of my life. Then I’m fed a late afternoon lunch.
“Now you are to take a nap until approximately 90 minutes before the main event when I’ll come to your room with a makeup artist and attend to your evening attire,” Thalia tells me as Agda clears away my plate.
Makeup artist, I understand. Though it will feel weird to have a real-life someone applying cosmetics to my skin after years of just pressing my face into a Spectrum—an all-in-one makeup application machine specially designed for women of color. But… “You don’t have to come up to dress me. I can get the gown on by myself.”
Thalia rears back like I slugged her. “But I am your attendant.”
“Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t mean—”
“And you are the new queen of Lukos. I have to make sure everything goes without a hitch when you are presented to all our fellow wolves tonight.”
“Wait…my big day…there will be wolves there?”
“Yes!” Thalia answers, practically jumping up and down. “We all received the invitation on our biosystems yesterday. And the mayor announced it over the radio for everyone else.”
“The mayor?” I ask, trying and failing to keep up.
Thalia waves a hand dismissively, “Yes, we were forced to appoint a mayor many decades ago since none of the Drákon line kings have ever shown any interest in our affairs. We thought that was because we were too small and insignificant for a family such as the Drákons to care about. But all of that has changed now that King Drákon has chosen you as his mate?”
She takes me by the hands. “None of the other King Drákons have ever brought a mate home. Nor has one ever invited us wolves to this island. We are all so excited. Most of all me. So please Queen Drákon. Allow me to dress you. When the other villagers post their experiences about the first time they gazed upon the Greek wolf queen on WolfNet, I want to be tagged in all their stories.”
Wow…well, when she puts it that epic way. “Okay, sure, I guess I’ll see you after my nap.”
As it turns out, the nap was a really good idea. After my restless night and busy morning, I sleep like a log as soon as my blouse-covered head hits the pillow.
I’m only just waking up when Thalia bursts into the room with a makeup artist trailing behind her. And my eyes just about bug when I see who it is.
Remember that makeup application machine I mentioned using for years because it was especially designed for women of color? This is Staci Spectrum, the woman who created it. A human, definitely not a wolf. But I’m totally starstruck from the minute she walks in.
Though she gushes all over me as she expertly applies my makeup. As it turns out she’s a huge fan of my videogame designer mom. “OMG emoji face, it’s so bionic to be doing your makeup. I love your mom! I mean, all the heart emojis. I grew up playing Viking Shifters! She’s the reason I became an engineer. I couldn’t believe it when they asked me here to do your ultimate look. Do you think you could hook me up with VIP tickets to the next ShifterCon?”
Only four months ago, my answer would have been an unequivocal yes. I might have even bioed my ridiculously shy mom up and made her give my favorite MUA a mumbled hi.
But now…
Funny, I’d always found Mom’s side of my parents’ love story so lackluster. All she’d done was run and run some more when my dads landed in this time. All because she’d known her father would never approve of them and didn’t want to take a chance on love. I hadn’t understood why she cared so much about what her father thought. Love was love and I adored my fathers. How could she have even thought about passing up that chance at love?