Page 126 of Reign
His lips pressed together in regret. “I’m sorry, Sam. I realize now that even though Hawaii was great, it wasn’t real life. It was a form of avoidance—hiding out and hoping the world would have magically changed when I came back. But the world doesn’t fix itself,” he added softly. “A very smart girl once told me that if we want things to change, we need to change them ourselves.”
She took a step toward him, her body acting of its own volition, and Marshall’s breathing caught.
“I love you, Sam. I have loved you from the moment I saw you on that museum balcony, kicking the iron railing like you were going to destroy it through sheer force of will. I fall more in love with you every day, if that’s even possible.”
Sam took one last step forward, and then her head was on his chest and she was breathing in the scent of him, letting his arms close tight around her. The sheer joy of touching him after all these weeks apart sent a jolt of electricity through herbody, as if she’d been sleepwalking and now every inch of her was suddenly and brutally awake.
With her face still muffled in his tuxedo, she asked, “What does this mean for us?”
“I don’t know what the future holds,” Marshall said gruffly. “All I know is that I don’t want to face it without you. It’s no use building a life in Hawaii if we aren’t building it together. Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.”
Sam felt her fears evaporating in the face of this—their history, and, more importantly, their future.
She tipped her face up to kiss him. Her body flooded with heat despite the freezing temperatures, her hands reaching up to grab the lapels of his jacket and clutch them tight.
When they pulled away, Sam became aware of thunderous applause, plus a few scattered whoops of approval. She smiled against Marshall’s chest, laughing. She’d forgotten they had an audience.
“I can’t believe you went full-on grand gesture.”
“I took a page out of your playbook,” Marshall teased. “Remember when you pulled me into the imperial state carriage and informed me that we were dating?”
“That’s not how I remember it!” She stared at him, suddenly realizing that his tuxedo looked a little snug around the shoulders. “Is that your tux?”
“Oh, um, I borrowed it from your family. I didn’t pack mine,” Marshall admitted. “Anju helped me track one down.”
“What about your pin?”
“I got it from my grandfather. He’s been carrying it around ever since I left it in Bellevue, that day we ran away.”
“You saw your grandfather?” Sam nearly screeched, but Marshall didn’t seem worried. “Why didn’t you say that sooner? How did it go?”
“As well as could be expected. I’ll tell you everything later,” he promised. “Should we head back?”
Sam laced her fingers in his, then turned to wave one last time at the wedding crowds, who cheered in approval. Camera flashes went off around them like the blinking lights of fireflies.
“By the way, why were you out here doing a walkabout alone?” Marshall asked under his breath.
“There were some complications with the wedding. Beatrice sent me out here to distract everyone,” Sam explained.
Marshall barked out a laugh, and had to cover it with a cough.
“Your job was to distract everyone?” he repeated. “I think it’s safe to say you succeeded.”
“I forgot how absurd the protocol is for royal weddings,” Nina muttered as she and Jamie stared around the throne room. “Am I really only allotted eighteen inches of this bench?”
“Here, scoot closer. I don’t mind if you cross into my space,” Jamie teased.
The embossed card that had arrived with their invitations had warned that seating was limited, so women should avoid “full-skirted gowns or long trains.” Daphne and Jeff were apparently trying to fit nearly six thousand people into the throne room—the most it had ever held. But then, the wedding of a ruling monarch was state business, while the wedding of a younger sibling was really just an excuse for a nationwide party.
Nina’s oh-so-helpful protocol card had also instructed her about cell-phone use (phones were allowed but flash photos prohibited), gifts (donations to one of three charities were gently suggested), and, most importantly, her scheduled check-in time (staggering the arrival of the guests in an attempt to control traffic).
As one of the highest-ranking people in attendance, Jamie had been granted a prime arrival time just thirty minutes before the ceremony. Nina, an ordinary nobody, was asked to show up nearly two hours prior. Though of course, she’d been here even longer.
She still couldn’t believe everything that had had happened this morning. When she’d started emailing Daphne and Ethan—she hated to think of it as blackmail—she’d hoped to knock some sense into them both. She’d certainly never imagined that Gabriella might intervene, and make a turbulent situation even uglier. Gabriella had lobbed the secret about Daphne and Ethan into the room like a live grenade.
So far, the ushers and staff were all acting as if the wedding was still taking place, but it felt to Nina like a very bigif.She wondered what the Washingtons would say when forced to confront the aftermath of not one but two canceled weddings.
Jamie reached for her hand, which had clenched into a stiff claw. “You okay?”
