Page 226 of Settle Down, Princess

“Oh goodness!” The doors to my changing room were flung open and Roan’s sisters and their mother came in a great flurry, but they stopped as soon as they saw us. “Your Majesty…” His mother rushed over then took my hands. “You look a picture.”

“You look beautiful yourself, Majorie,” I replied. “Was my seamstress satisfactory?”

“Satisfactory?” Desi wriggled, trying to find a way to breathe in her corset and failed. “She knows how to make a beautiful dress, that’s for certain, but can breathing and beauty occupy the same space? Surely they can.”

“It’s just until the coronation is over,” I told her, reaching up and tweaking the red wig she now wore, making sure it sat straight. “Then you can toss the blasted thing aside.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.” She looked around as if people would come bleeding through the walls to observe us. “The shame…”

“I will if you will,” I said with a smile. “I’ll toss mine in the fire once it’s done if you like. Perhaps we will set a new trend for corset burning at court?”

That set everyone giggling, but before we could discuss anything further, there was a sharp knock at the door. I expected it to be Roan standing there, ready to escort me down the aisle and towards the high priest, but instead we had other visitors, and I went very still at the sight of them.

“Mother…? Grandmother…?”

“Well, I do like this dress,” Grandmother said, planting her cane into the ground, then sallying forth. “White always washed you out, but red…” She nodded slowly. “Yes, yes, this suits you very well, don’t you think, Alyce?”

Mother nodded, but couldn’t seem to say much more, and I knew why. The tension in her jaw, in her lips, I knew it well. Her eyes were too wide, as if by tensing them too, she could stop herself from crying. Tears shone like jewels, but one slipped free, the shock of that breaking whatever spell she was under. I rushed towards her just as she did me, our hands gripping each other’s before I did something that would have had my maids in fits and hugged her close.

“Mother—”

“You survived! Of course, you did. My daughter brought down the Beast of Khean. Clever girl!”

“I wish I could say it was because of my cleverness, but…” As I pulled back, Selene slipped into the room from a door inset into the walls that I hadn’t noticed before. “I fear my input was rather minimal.”

“So ensure it isn’t now.” Grandmother raised her chin, and I found myself doing the same, our gazes locking. “You have an opportunity here, Granddaughter. You’ve been elevated to a position farther above any other woman in the continent.” Her brow wrinkled. “Apart from those harpies in the south. So, what’re you going to do with this power?”

Selene smiled as I scanned the room, staring into the eyes of each woman. What they needed was dizzying.

Roan’s mother and sisters needed more resources: food, money, water, but more than a handout. They needed equitable opportunities to get them themselves.

Selene needed everyone to get the hell out of her way. She knew exactly what to do and how she wanted it done. She was more than qualified to run The Guild, but people needed to see past her gender to realise that.

Fern needed to keep her mates, to be able to raise her children together with their fathers. My hand slid low, something every woman noticed, with eyes widening, hands going to their mouths as they decided what that meant. I didn’t know officially if I was pregnant, but a woman knows these things.

What would my daughter need when she was born?

Safety, security, people judging her for her actions, not her gender. The freedom to be a woman without her strengths or weaknesses held against her. She needed to be safe, most of all. My nails snagged on the silk as I considered everything that had happened under Magnus’ rule. I sucked in a breath, ready to say just that when the door opened.

“Ooh, he does scrub up nice,” Verity said as Roan walked in the door. His red hair was scraped back from his face into a neat queue, and he’d been dressed in formalwear that sported a lot of gold embroidery.

“I look bloody stupid,” came his grumpy reply. He tugged at his collar, threatening to unbutton it until I stepped forward.

“This is a frock coat fit for a royal consort,” I replied, smoothing my hands across his shoulders. “And it makes you look very big and strong.”

“Jessalyn…”

The twinkle of those amber eyes told me he knew exactly what I was doing.

“Your Majesty, surely,” I replied with a smile, “and as your queen, I am sorry, but I must command you to leave your poor coat alone and just look majestic by my side. You represent your people in this ceremony.”

“Speaking of which, I’m to escort you down the aisle,” he said, offering me his arm. “You’re queen of my heart, but now… you become queen in reality.”

“Now?” Fern squeaked. “All right, hold the train and match your steps to the queen. Hold the train and match her steps.”

“You’ll be fine,” Majorie said. “We’ve got the easy job…”

And I had the hard one.

---