Dream Five, Chapter Twenty-Two

(Anything in asterisks is meant to be italicized.)

Barrons woke me up the next morning and had me bring us up to the bookstore, having already procured decaf and regular coffee and donuts. He said I was going to need help and the bookstore was closed because it was Sunday so I needed to go talk to Korrie before I called Dani or Kat or Mom, who already knew Barrons was going to propose to me and was prepping as we spoke.

Barrons was going to be gone for a while, as he needed to discuss some things with Ryodan, but would be available by phone, which he had returned to me. However, he was not planning on being around for any planning sessions and had already told Mom what he would not agree to. I told him cake had better not be on that list because it was the first time in a long time that I had an actual excuse to eat cake and he had better not destroy this one, either. He smiled and did not say whether it was or wasn't before he kissed me and left.

I had to knock on Korrie's door multiple times before she opened it, clearly having still been asleep.

"What the hell, Mac?" she said as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes. "It's nine on a Sunday."

"Good morning to you, too," I said as I swept past her and into the room. "I brought you coffee and I have donuts, as well as a long over-due explanation and not a lot of time."

"Better be one hell of an explanation," she grumbled as she shut the door.

Once she had some coffee and a donut in her, her mood perked up enough that I turned the Amulet off again and revealed that I was pregnant and engaged. She was amazed by the Amulet and rather hurt that I hadn't told her I was pregnant sooner, but less hurt when I revealed that everyone else besides Barrons hadn't known until that week, either. The hurt completely disappeared when I revealed I was engaged and told her I hadn't told anyone else yet, although my parents found out yesterday when Barrons asked for my father's permission.

"The problem is, I have less than two weeks to get married because Dani has to leave again," I finished.

"Wow, that's not a lot of time," she agreed.

"Yes, and I was hoping you'd be one of my bridesmaids," I said. That really perked her up and she readily agreed. She had met several of the people who had become staples in my life since moving to Dublin and she wasn't even hurt that I hadn't asked her to be my Maid of Honor. She understood that Dani and I had been through a lot together and it had bonded us like sisters.

I left her as she started to get ready and took the elevator that had appeared while I had been learning how to use the abilities provided by the True Magic back down to my bookstore where I called Mom and told her I had said yes. She wanted the story but I said I'd tell her later and that we had only two weeks to plan this shindig.

"Your Barrons warned me it would be a fast turnaround time, but I didn't think it would be *that* fast!" she said.

I explained about Dani and she immediately understood, saying she'd be over within an hour. Then I called Kat and left her a message, saying I had some very exciting news and needed her at the bookstore as soon as possible. Once that was done, I called Dani.

"What was going on last night?" she asked when she answered. "Why'd you call so late just to ask how long I was going to be here? You could have just texted."

"Because Barrons proposed to me last night—" The call suddenly went dead and I knew it was because she had just dropped whatever she was doing and was on her way over so I scrambled up to unlock the door. She arrived within five minutes.

"Barrons *proposed* to you?" she said before the bell on the door had even stopped ringing. "As in proposed marriage?"

I held up the ring with a grin and she grinned right back before hugging me. Right after I finished telling her the full, unedited version of the story, I said, "I called you because I want you to be my Maid of Honor. We've got two weeks to plan and put on a wedding. Korrie's finishing getting ready, Mom will be here in less than an hour, and I left a message for Kat."

"Sounds like a dream team to me!" she said brightly.

&&&

Two weeks is only enough time to plan a wedding if you can pretty much fabricate everything yourself with the occasional assistance of someone with a bit more magical power, like the new Unseelie King who helped because Dani and Barrons made him so I didn't overtax myself in the process.

Barrons didn't have many nonnegotiables. One was no personalized vows. We'd already done it once, he didn't see the purpose of doing it again. I couldn't imagine him pouring out his feelings for me in front of a group of people anyway, and didn't think I wanted to. That pleasure was only for me to enjoy. Another request was that he wear a black and white tuxedo; no colorful suits or anything of the like. Everything couldn't also be pink or rainbows.

Despite his insistence on having nothing to do with the planning of our wedding (I'm fairly certain he felt it was woman's work but never said it because I was pregnant and he didn't want to deal with any more mood swings from me than he already had to), he did still come in handy at times. We were stuck on choosing an officiate one week in and I mentioned it to him before I fell asleep that night. He told me he had forgotten to mention that Lor volunteered to do it. When I said I had assumed Lor was going to be a groomsmen, he said that he only needed three since I only had three bridesmaids and they were Ryodan, Fade, and Kasteo. I wasn't thrilled with Korrie being anywhere near the Nine because I know they can be addicting and Barrons had once described Fade as still just having fun, but it could have been worse.

When I later mentioned maybe adding Lyryka, he quickly told me no because then he'd have to make Christian a groomsmen and that'd only make Christian more insistent the Nine were a part of his tribe.

He and Ryodan almost lost it when I told them one night that I was inviting the Keltar.

"Why," was all Ryodan said softly.

"Dageus approached me a couple of weeks ago and said that they've served the Fae for forever and would like to continue being the queen's Druids. I'd like to make another Compact and will need them to do it. They're also the keepers of Fae history and I don't want to rely on the Fae to not be objective in their records. Besides, they're good allies to have and you both know it." I addressed Barrons. "I don't want to hear anything more about it. You said you wanted nothing to do with planning this wedding so you don't really get any say in who's invited. I'm not just your Rainbow Girl. I have other responsibilities that I more or less bear alone." I slanted Ryodan a look. "Just be glad I'm inviting Masdann at your request and not any of the rest of the court."

I'd made up my mind. They would just have to get over it.

The venue was easy: the abbey. It also provided the perfect excuse as to why none of the rest of the courts were invited. None of them ever needed to know Masdann was there. Ryodan and I did most of the work while Kat, Korrie, Dani, Mom, and I did all the planning. I even made my own dress.

It was exhausting.

Ryodan had to then make the bridesmaids dresses as Barrons and I went to the Garden so I could recharge; I never went to Faery without him. My loyal consort, protector, and soon to be husband. Ryodan was not happy about making three pink dresses; Dani assured me she'd make it up to him later. I didn't ask how. She'd been making up a lot to him lately.

I knew I should ask Lyryka if she could make any predictions about how the courts would react if they learned their queen had gotten married and not invited nearly any of them, aside from herself, the Prince of Death Christian MacKeltar, the Prince of Famine Sean O'Bannion, Inspector Jayne, and the Prince of Dreams Masdann, who had been made by Cruce with a bit of Jericho Barrons's essence (Barrons didn't want to like Masdann at first but I've felt a burgeoning bromance between the two. I've never heard Barrons speak so glowingly about someone aside from myself.), but there was already so much going on and on my plate that I never got around to it.

Also invited were the Spyrsidhe, nature elementals who are a lower caste of Seelie. They're what you're supposed to picture when you think of fairies. The sweet pixie-like beings were the first caste to greet me as queen, showing up at my bookstore one night to ask that I allow them to return to Faery after my predecessor cast them out. I had to invite them because they live at the abbey. (But they proved useful as they helped with the flowers.) Mom, Daddy, and Kat were all insisting I be married in a chapel.

One of Dublin's nicest churches had exploded after a visit from the Hoarfrost King, an Unseelie who had been collecting sound and killing several dozens of humans and Fae in the process and coating the city and anywhere else it visited in snow, as well as leaving behind black holes that had forced me to find and sing the Song of Making.

And there was no way I was ever going back into the church where I was raped and turned *Pri-ya* by the death-by-sex Princes of War (though I wouldn't find that out until later) and Pestilence and Sean and Christian's predecessors (one of whom Dani killed when they tried to take me from the abbey after she rescued me) at the command of Darroc, a former Fae-turned-mortal and my sister's fiancé (didn't learn about that one until much later, either).

I was grateful that it kept me safe through the night—hidden in a closet up in the belfry—after my attempts to leave the city had failed and I'd discovered my beloved bookstore, my lit and glowing sanctuary, had gone dark, (It's floodlights had been shot out.) but I wasn't stepping foot in that church ever again if I could help it.

That left the abbey. There were other churches but the abbey just felt right. It's also heavily warded by the resident *sidhe*-seers and the Nine against Fae, providing a perfect excuse as to why I couldn't invite them if they found out. Hopefully they wouldn't discover we'd dropped the wards for Masdann.

Although it required multiple attempts to make it, my dress turned out perfect. I can more or less make things appear as Queen of the Fae, much in the same way other higher castes of the Fae can do. (The Laws of Physics have remained influx since the walls fell.) However, summoning something that already exists requires a lot less power. The dress was the only thing I was allowing myself to focus on that day. Mostly.

We had sketched it out, Korrie and I. The Amulet allowed us to see what it would look like, but I was still trying to keep the pregnancy a secret, especially from the Fae. After Lyryka's insistence that Ixcythe, the Princess of Winter, was essentially cruel when wronged, I grew concerned; she had no memory of it, but she had abducted my father in an attempt to bend me to her will. I assumed Masdann knew, and Christian, Sean, and Lyryka knew, but not even many humans knew.

The Amulet was on me at all times and I lowered the glamour only when I was surrounded by those who knew. Ryodan was not thrilled I had something that could fool even him. Neither, I imagined, were the rest of the Nine.

Anyway, the dress had to fit over the bulge in my stomach while also being able to require the least amount of glamour as possible. There were going to be a lot of powerful beings at my wedding and it felt like we were asking for trouble; I wasn't going to broadcast any more power than I had to. Then I had to get the Amulet to lower the glamour for one person because Barrons had made it clear to me he would prefer to see me at our wedding instead of the queen of the Fae. Korrie and I were very relieved to discover all of this could be done, but the actual making of the dress took longer than we anticipated and was harder. We didn't factor in the layers that make a skirt poof. I probably would have gone with a mermaid style if I hadn't been pregnant, but I instead went with an empire waisted A-line with an intricate beading pattern we had carefully sketched out. Naturally, it was strapless as I have a healthy bust that has only become more generous due to pregnancy. (Barrons had been enjoying that.) The dress was off-white and had a decent train, with my veil being simple.

I had quickly sifted to the Queen's Bowery in my palace in Faery and retrieved my crown. I made a replica of it, careful not to imbue it with any magical properties as Fae relics tend to take on a life of their own after a while, before returning the actual crown. The veil I made was able to attach to the replica and I fully intended to wear it to the ceremony. I may not always enjoy the formalities of being queen that still feel awkward to me, but it can be good to be queen, too.

Barrons was just going to have to get over the fact that I was the queen and would therefore be wearing my crown to my wedding.

I'll spare you the rest of the details as a lot of it is still a blur, and get on to the actual event without also going into too much detail.

Lor was the officiant; we did traditional vows; Ryodan was the Best Man; Dani was the Maid of Honor; the other two groomsmen were Fade and Kasteo; the other two bridesmaids were Korrie and Kat; Rae was my flower girl; Shazam was the ring bearer; Barrons looked so incredible in his tux, I wanted to take him right then and there (he later said the same thing to me about seeing me in my dress); Daddy and I had to try very hard not to cry before he walked me down the aisle; the whole thing was indescribably beautiful; Ryodan closed Chester's for the reception; Barrons didn't destroy the cake; Dani caught the bouquet (which made Barrons laugh); Sean caught the garter; Barrons's face and hands under my dress as he removed the garter were very difficult to ignore but I successfully did because my parents were watching; the mother of the groom had been dead for a few millennia so I danced with my mom because Barrons doesn't dance in public and rarely in private, though I learned he certainly knows how; Barrons did dance with me more than once; I also ended up dancing with Christian, Lor, all of the groomsmen, and a handful of Keltar, which is what prompted Barrons to dance with me again after our first dance; we kept the guest list as limited as possible; there were shockingly no incidents.

Barrons and I both went with Dani, Ryodan, and Shazam outside to say goodbye before we all parted—us on our honeymoon and them to the stars—to thank them for all of their help. I even got to see K'Vruck, who recognized me as a friend without the *Sinsar Dubh* in me.

I implored Barrons to go nowhere near K'Vruck while fabricating a coat and gloves for myself as I approached him. He gave me the ferocious and toothy grin of a Hunter and let me stroke his massive head.

Dani would be gone for a while, but Ryodan would frequently drop by to make sure her city and those she loved were okay. She was hoping to be back shortly before my due date.

The wedding was lovely. It wasn't what I had always imagined, but lovely all the same. It was a miracle, too, considering our time-frame.

And as much as I enjoyed it, I knew there was something I was going to enjoy more: the honeymoon.

The perfect excuse to have undisturbed and uninterrupted endless sex with Jericho Barrons.