Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
It reminded me of what the queen said to me after my speech. The palace did not have time to stop and applaud.
I was back.
And I was staying.
Epilogue
How many things could you fit into one day?
To the palace, it was only one coronation and wedding. To me, it would be one coronation, one wedding, a wedding anniversary, and a birthday. I did not even have a good enough word for this. Stress didn’t do it justice, and chaos wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. It was sheer and utter insanity, mixed with deafening cheers, tears to fill an ocean, sparkles, lace, butterflies escaping stomachs, sprinkled with mushy love goo everywhere. Those words didn’t really make sense, but it was the only way to describe how I felt on this day—my wedding, birthday, anniversary, and coronation day.
“Hurry, ladies, we need to hurry.” Balduin waved people like an air traffic controller as we went down the palace steps. “Lift the train. Lift with your arms, my dear. It cannot touch the ground yet.”
“Balduin.”
“Take your time, miss,” he said, rushing to stand beside me. “Slow and steady. Slow and steady.”
That was the problem.
I was anxious enough as it was. I just wanted to run into the carriage and rush to the abbey and be done with all of this already.
“Stay calm. Remember, it is still your day,” Balduin added, making sure to walk with me. Over the last few months, it became clear that he was truly fit for his new position as the new Head Secretary of Palace Affairs. He did not run the palace with an iron fist, but a steadying understanding and always stopped to make sure I felt comfortable. Gale said he was becoming more of my right hand than his now.
“We’re almost there,” he said as we reached the front of the palace. “Now, remember when we step out, there will be quite a lot of people out there.”
I nodded, no longer able to speak as I braced myself. However, when I stepped out into the light, it once again hit me that there was no bracing for this.
“Odette!”
“Odette!”
“God bless you, Odette!”
“Congratulations, Odette!”
“Odette!”
“Odette!”
It was like having a loudspeaker in my face. Quite a lot, meaning hundreds, maybe even thousands. They all lined the gates—no, nearly claimed the gates, waving and screaming.
“Do you think I will still be able to hear after today?” my mother asked as she came up beside me, dressed in a long, champagne-colored fitted evening dress. Her hair was dyed back to brown, but she kept it cut in a curly pixie.
She smiled at me and nodded for me to get into a red and golden carriage, drawn by Ass and Maple, that looked as if it were meant to make Cinderella and all her stepsisters jealous. My mother helped Gelula, and the rest of the staff get the train—fifteen feet long—into the carriage. According to an old custom, I had to ride the four miles to Brauenburg Abbey alone. Around me were six royal guards on horseback. Thelma was the first woman ever to have that honor, and she was very excited. Though when I looked out the window, her face was dead-set focused...she was a little bit nervous too.
“I will see you there,” my mother said. “Don’t forget to breathe.”
“I’ll try,” I replied, but she only winked before stepping out to join my actual maid of honor, Eliza, in the car behind us. I wished Augusta could have been here. That, somehow, we would have magically made up after I was in the hospital. That she and I could put all the past behind us and that she would have been my maid of honor. However, we could never get everything we wanted. Our relationship had only gotten worse, and I didn’t want to deal with her today. I had my own life to live right now, and it was chaotic enough.
“Are you ready, miss?” Iskandar asked from on top of the horseback beside me.
I nodded.
It was hard for him to hear anything else over the screams and shouts.
And just like that, we were off. I sat straight and proper, knowing that all the cameras were on me and this carriage. Also, knowing that there was a little girl watching somewhere, I made sure my curls were extra big in the back for her. As I looked straight ahead, there were people on both sides of the road, waving flags, waving their hands, and calling out. I knew they couldn’t see my face well due to the veil, but I did wave every so often, my face fluctuating from wide smiles to nervous smiles and thinking, Oh, my God, this is happening.
On every other pillar down the road, there were official banners of Gale and I. It was surreal, and it only became more unimaginable when we arrived at the abbey, which was massive and daunting, even with all the greenery they had added to the entrance.