Jaws were sure to drop, but Queen Maeve wanted to use the opportunity to show that she supported this marriage wholeheartedly.
I spent a little extra time with the kids before I joined the next table, where Gav and Fern sat with Audra and Archer. I could tell before I sat down that sparks had already begun to fly between my brother and one of my new best friends. I was immediately on board with this. Archer was a strong personality; he needed an equally strong woman to keep him in check while continually pushing him to be better.
Countess Audra Tremwell fit that bill and then some.
“You’re going to have a hard time following up to this wedding, Sis,” he told Fern.
She giggled. “I don’t need all this.” She turned to Gav. “I just need him.”
I envied that she had a choice in the matter. As much as they tell you it’s a fairy tale romance to fall in love with a prince, and have that prince fall back in love with you, but the cost for such a dream was astronomical.
If it hadn’t been Auggie, I wouldn’t have paid it.
“So, an intimate affair at Maggie Farms, then?” he joked.
We all laughed, thinking of how well that would go over with the more formal Tremwells.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going back to Maggie Farms,” Fern said sadly. “I know it was never ours to begin with, but I’ll miss it.”
“Me, too,” I agreed. That life seemed so long ago, when Fernie and I would stay up all night giggling in the pool house, dreaming about our futures.
Neither of us has predicted any of this.
“How about you, Archer?” Audra asked. “Will you be returning to America?”
“It’s my home,” he stated simply. “I suppose you’re probably done with it.”
Her face grew wistful. “I enjoyed my time there,” she admitted. “But I am Aldaynean. It is good to be home.”
He nodded and didn’t say much. He turned to me. “And you’ll be holding dual citizenship, then?”
I nodded. Aldayne allowed me to be a citizen both in the U.S. and in Aldayne. “The process should finalize around the time of Auggie’s coronation.”
“Convenient,” he quipped.
Fern laughed. “It’s two-years from your wedding if you marry an Aldaynean. Which means I need to hurry up and get married to catch up with Pea.”
“For a variety of reasons,” Gav grinned before he leaned in to sneak a slow, tantalizing kiss.
Archer easily read between the lines. “Isn’t it a little soon to be thinking about children?”
Gav pulled Fernie closer. “Never too soon when you find the right partner, mate.”
Out of the corner of my eye I watched Arch steal a glance at Audra. I grinned to myself as I made way to my next table, where my Glam Squad was in full effect, laughing and boisterous as they prepared for what would literally be a crowning achievement in all of their careers.
“I should send you to bed right now,” Jorge declared. “No royal bride of mine is going to have bags under her eyes.”
I laughed. “If I did, I’m sure you could fix them.”
He groaned thinking about it.
“I’ve got you covered, Pea,” Clem said. “Working for Caz Bixby, I’ve had a lot of experience disguising damage after a late night of frivolity.”
I laughed. “I bet.” Everyone knew the infamous Caz Bixby, who had made being a gigolo damn near patriotic. He was unabashed about his avant-garde lifestyle, where he had gained his notoriety through being a male escort, with his very own reality show to prove it.
Since Clem worked on said reality show, I knew she had plenty of tricks up her sleeve.
“Where is your boss these days?” I asked, just to make conversation. I suppose that was why I was surprised when she answered.
“He’s in Aldayne. He’ll be at the wedding.”
My eyes widened and my mouth gaped. “How’d he manage that?”
“Vivienne Byrne,” she smirked.
My jaw practically unhinged.
Vivienne Byrne was Allan Byrne’s thrice-divorced sister and Cillian’s infamous socialite aunt. Unlike the Byrne men, Vivian had no real interest in ruling Aldayne. She instead preferred to shake things up a bit, like inviting a well-known male escort to a royal wedding.
“Does Queen Maeve know?”
“Know?” Clem crowed with a laugh. “She sent him a gift basket.”
I giggled. That sounded like Maeve. She knew that giving Viv full reign to wreak havoc would do more to upset the Byrnes than the Quinns.
Besides, it wasn’t like Viv could ever be contained.
This was shaping up to be quite a wedding indeed!
After dinner, Mom turned up the music and officially started the karaoke part of our evening. George and Ellen were gracious enough to join us for the first few songs before retiring for the evening. Everyone else, though, was just getting started.
We were right in the middle of Jorge and Clem’s version of a Pussycat Dolls song when the night got even more interesting with the arrival of some important guests.
Queen Maeve, herself, stood at the arched doorway of her castle, watching us tear up the joint. Mariel stood to one side and Giz to her immediate left. Both Giz and Mariel smiled as they watched the frivolity before them. Maeve, however, had a harder time processing what was happening in her royal home.
When the Queen’s eyes met mine, no words were necessary.
I knew she was not amused.
Chapter Three
The music continued and my lovely American friends didn’t even miss a beat, although to me the Queen’s arrival was like a giant record scratch.
Dash, who had grown to love Maeve every bit as much as she loved him, even despite herself, rushed to her side to grab her hand and pull her into the ballroom we had turned into a discotheque.
“Grandmama Maeve,” he greeted with the biggest smile you ever saw. “You should come sing with us! I have just the song!”
I ran immediately to her rescue. “Dashie, come on. The Queen doesn’t karaoke.”
Dash’s face fell as he looked up at her. “Why not?”
She mustered a smile for him and patted his shoulder. “You sing a nice song for both of us, Dashiell,” she said, regally sidestepping the request.
He responded with a furious nod before he ran over to the karaoke machine to pick a song, dragging Giz along with him. Mariel gave me a supportive wink before she followed them. Maeve turned to me.
“Enjoying your last night as a single woman, I see.”
I wasn’t going to apologize for having fun with the people I loved. I stood a little straighter and squared my shoulders. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She answered only with a small smile. “I was wondering if I could speak to you and your parents briefly.”
I thought about Cillian’s gift from earlier with a gnawing of dread in my tummy. “Of course. Is there anything wrong?”
She pounced on the insecurity. “Why would you assume there’s something wrong?”
“It’s been that kind of year,” I blithely remarked.
She glanced me over, pausing her gaze on my very pregnant tummy. “I suppose it has.” Her eyes met mine. “This is more a formal visit.”