KATIE
The next morning Issy and Maggy helped me to get ready.
It was a beautiful day. I was nervous as hell as they put the dress on me.
Connie was nowhere to be found and I was really worried about that.
“Where is Constance?”
“She is just running an errand. She will be here soon, now relax.”
I was afraid that maybe she wasn’t going to be here.
Albert told me that Goran wouldn’t be here. I knew he liked me but I never thought it was like that.
But I had made my choice and I wasn’t regretting it one bit.
I wanted Albert.
The dress was stunning. It covered my arms and neck and it was made of a beautiful soft fabric with lace.
I don’t know where Constance got it from, but it was perfect.
Maggy helped with my hair just the way Constance said she would do.
She put a small flower crown on my head, weaved just like the bouquet of wildflowers were.
“It’s stunning Maggy, thank you.”
“For you anything, Katie. I can’t believe you are marrying a prince.”
I smiled.
The door opened and Maggy’s eyes rose. It was probably Albert.
“I told you I don’t believe…” I turned around and was staring straight at my mother.
“Katie,” my mother said and came hugging me tight.
“What are you doing here?”
“You are alive.” She kissed me all over my face.
“Mom!” I made her stop. “Constance didn’t tell you.”
“She told me that she needed my assistance. I thought it was to help with a sick patient of hers. She didn’t tell me any of this.”
“I’m alive.”
She hugged me again as tears rolled down her face.
“Oh you look so beautiful. What is the occasion?”
“You didn’t tell her.” Maggy yelled.
“I didn’t have time.” Connie yelled back.
I closed my eyes.
“What is going on here.”
“I’m getting married, Mom.”
She gasped and smiled. “You are, to whom?”
I smiled. It was my mother’s biggest dream for me to find someone that would marry me. She was so worried that I wouldn’t.
“I think you need to sit down for this one.” I led her to the bed.
I looked at Connie. “She knows that she can’t leave right.”
“Oh that part I did tell her. I made arrangements for your brother and sisters.”
I closed my eyes.
“I’m so sorry sweetheart.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I’m sorry.”
“No Katie if you were there, I might have lost you too.” She touched my face. “You are so beautiful sweetheart.”
“Mom,” I smiled. “You need to tell him what is going on because it might take longer than we expected.”
“Fine, I’ll go tell him.” Connie said and left.
“She is a remarkable dragon.”
“I know she is. She was going to heal daddy. How did he die?”
“The flem got too much. He worried about you all the time.”
“I didn’t want him too. I had to do it mother. He wasn’t fit to fight another war.”
“He wasn’t fit to do anything, Katie.” She smiled. “It’s not your fault that he died, sweetheart.”
I nodded.
“So, who are you marrying,” my mother dabbed a stray tear strolling down my cheek.
“A ghost.”
My mother frowned and Maggy started to laugh.
“A ghost.”
“Please don’t freak out.” I said.
“Why would I panic?”
“Okay, I started off by fighting for King Louis’ army, but I’m not anymore.”
“Suits you right, war isn’t for ladies Katie.”
“Mama, we both know I’m far from one.” I made my voice stern.
“You are going to be one pretty soon. You can’t go fighting with swords and what knots.”
“A bow and arrow and I’m pretty good at it.”
“I’m blaming your father. Let his soul rest in peace but it’s all his damn fault.”
I bit my tongue not to laugh.
“I’m fighting in this war, I’ll be okay.”
“Katie, please.”
“Mom, I have a role to play. I know you don’t like it but I’m no damsel in distress.”
“Oh no, she is just going to be a princess.”
I gasped. “Maggy.”
“A princess.”
Maggy laughed. “It’s your mother, Katherine, there is no easing into things with her.”
“A princess.” My mother asked again more stern this time. “Katherine what is going on?”
“They didn’t die, okay.”
“Who didn’t die.”
“The Princes of Paegeia didn’t die.”
“Then where the hell are they.”
“Fighting….”
She frowned.
“In the rebellion.”
Her eyes rose. “What.”
“Mom, calm down. It’s not what you think. The rebellion isn’t the Chromatic dragons and the rebellion didn’t attack Eikenborough. I promise. It was the Chromatics did. They want all people gone. This war is complicated and was bound to happen. I’ll explain it to you later and you will understand, but you are safe here, you have my word.
“Do the kings know about their children?”
“Mom, they are fighting against their fathers. What don’t you understand about the rebellion?”
“Oh those, those…”
“Be careful what you say. One of them is about to become my husband.”
My mother froze as her gaze snapped at me.
I smiled.
“Albert?”
I nodded. “It was real for both of us that night Mama.” Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Oh Katie.” She hugged me tight. “And he doesn’t care that you are from Eikenborough.”
“No, he doesn’t care.”
A knock came at the door.
“Is that him? He can’t see you.”
“Calm down. I don’t believe in that superstition.”
Maggy opened the door and peeked outside. “You are not allowed to see her.”
“Marguerite, that is the crown prince.” Mama scolded softly.
Al laughed.
“He’s an idiot.” Maggy looked at my mother and back at Albert. “Go back.”
“Manners.” My mother almost had a heart attack and pushed Maggy out of the way.
“Oh my,” she said. “You are handsome.” She looked at me. “You really look so beautiful sweetheart.” She stepped out and both Maggy and I laughed as the door closed.
“Now I see where you get everything from Katie.” Issy said. She hadn’t said a single word since my mother came into the room.
“I hope she is okay.”
“She’ll be fine. I think you are ready and it’s time.”
I smiled.
Constance came back in and I hugged her tightly.
“Oh,” Connie said from shocked.
“Thank you, Connie.”
“I told you it would be perfect, didn’t I.”
“You did.”
She pushed me away. “Now dry those tears and go marry the prince of every girl’s heart.”
I laughed and nodded.
The door opened and Connie led the way.
My mother waited for me by the door.
She touched my hair and smiled at me. “I was so wrong about that night. I should’ve never told you that sweetheart.”
“It’s okay, Mama.” I said as the time came for her to walk me to where Albert stood.
There was flute music but that was about it. Nothing fancy as it was a forest wedding.
Albert didn’t even look like a prince but he was one through and through. Like Connie said, the prince of everyone’s heart. My heart.
He took my hand and smiled softly at my mother after she kissed me.
The priest carried on with a small ceremony and then we exchanged our vows.
My mom gave me my dad’s ring and he gave me a ring that I did not know where he had gotten it from.
“It’s a loaner, but I promise to give you your own when all this mess is over.”
I smiled as tears filled my eyes. “It’s perfect.”
We exchanged rings and then the priest finally said that we were husband and wife and that Albert should kiss his bride.
He dipped me backward and gave me a soft kiss.
I couldn’t believe that I was his wife. It felt so unreal.
The celebration was jolly. I couldn’t find another word to describe it.
We had a huge boar on the fire and the kids loved to dance with soft music playing on instruments and we partied till late into the night.
I was slightly nervous as tonight would be my first time with a man and not just any man. Albert had a lot of experience in that department. That was one thing I knew for sure.
I saw Tanya taking the priest back to where Connie had found him and would love to see her in action.
Albert went with her and he alone returned.
My heart was racing as I didn’t know what to expect. Mother hadn’t really told me about any of this. Maggy hadn’t done it yet either so it was sort of a taboo topic to talk about.
Albert took my hand and we said goodnight.
He didn’t take me to his treehouse.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Bob did something special while he was gone. He showed me this afternoon before the wedding and you will like it.”
“Like what?”
“Wait and see Katie.” He smiled as he led me toward the lake.
It was so far from the campsite.
The evening was beautiful and not too cold.
I was so nervous.
“It’s going to be okay, love.”
“That obvious. I don’t have any experience, Al.”
“I have enough for both of us.”
“Okay.” That was so embarrassing and he laughed, and kissed me on my nose.
He pushed away vines and a clearing was hiding beneath them.
We walked down the pathway and up in a tree was the most beautiful small log house.
“Bob made it.”
“He’s very talented.” Albert said and then lifted me up as he took steps leading up to the entrance.
I laughed as I could see in my mind’s eye how he was going to slip and fall with me, but nothing like that happened.
My heart was thumping in my chest.
“Calm down,” he put me down. “It’s not that frightening.”
“Sorry.” I closed my eyes with a small smile.
“You scared?”
“No, I’ve just never done this before.” I spoke fast.
“It’s easy,” he stepped closer and kissed me softly on my lips.
His kisses were amazing and my mind grew cloudy.
He pushed me tighter against his body as the kiss grew hungrier.
I was breathing louder, I needed more air but at the same time I didn’t want him to stop.
His lips left mine and trailed down to my collarbone.
A sound left my lips as my body blossomed with goosebumps.
Albert’s hands trailed down my back and started to loosen the dress, not taking his lips from my skin.
He pulled the dress off my body and I was standing there in only a corset and undergarments.
His lips touched mine again as his hands rubbed down hard against my butt. He lifted me up.
My legs automatically curled around his waist as if it was the most natural thing to do.
You are his wife Katie. You are his wife.
The kissing continued as he walked me over to the bed.
He lay me down against the soft pelts of some animals and got on top of me.
His hand disappeared under my garments as he rubbed my leg.
The kiss broke, giving us both time to breathe.
“You see, it’s fun.” He whispered in my ear making me chuckle softly.
“I’m sure this isn’t it, Albert.” I said.
“No, it’s not, but you are not that nervous anymore, are you?”
“No,” I shook my head and the kiss continued.
He was so gentle and I decided then and there that it didn’t matter anymore.
He was my husband and I had a wife’s duties to him now.
He pushed up and sat on his knees. He took his shirt off showing his beautiful chest.
It was golden brown and I just wanted to touch his skin as it looked so smooth.
He came back down and rested his weight on his arms, just looking at me.
“You have any idea how beautiful you are.”
His words made my cheeks flush and he kissed it softly. My eyes closed again.
I wanted him so badly but I had this constant fear that something was going to happen to us.
I wanted to give myself to him, but I was scared of getting too close, too attached. Still we were married.
His lips teased mine, and something told me he loved teasing me more than he should.
I grabbed his lips with mine and he caved through the kiss.
The kiss deepened and grew again into pure hunger. His hands were roaming over my body, hard and seductively.
I had no idea what to do with mine.
I was so clueless in this department.
He broke the kiss again as my head was spinning with want and he started taking off my undergarments.
He pulled me into a sitting position and started unlacing my corset.
He was really good at it too.
“See plenty of experience,” he joked, making me blush.
He kissed me on my cheeks, chuckling.
I was only in my nightgown.
We kissed again as he lay on top of me.
He pulled my nightgown slightly up. My legs were exposed as Albert still stroked my thighs.
He pushed his body harder against me and into me.
It felt amazing. A wave of heat flooded through my system.
It was so hot.
He then took off my nightgown, my body completely exposed.
His warm chest pressed against mine as his lips trailed down to my neck.
My skin felt on fire underneath his lips and the feeling of want rose more and more as he pushed himself harder into me.
His lips were everywhere on my body. My neck, then my collarbone, I sucked in a breath softly as he grabbed my breast with his mouth, and sucked softly on my nipple.
It was driving me insane.
He grunted.
I was in such a daze of want that I really didn’t care anymore that I was sprawled naked in front of him.
My body was moving on its own accord without me telling it what to do, and his lips kept on kissing my entire body, softly, passionately with want.
I was trembling softly underneath him but not from fear. I had no idea what was happening to my body to be honest, but I knew one thing, he was the cause of all of this.
His lips finally found mine again as my hands tangled in his hair.
His hands were exploring my body and I gasped into the kiss as his finger slipped into my sex. I whimpered because of the way he touched me.
His mouth trailed to my ear. “You like that?”
I nodded in the nape of his neck, not able to speak. This was amazing.
He found my lips again as a feeling of pure warmth and itch mixed with I don’t know what overpowered my core. There was an itch I couldn’t scratch but not one I want to laugh at. It was one of those unbearable itches that made me moan and groan into the kiss.
He stopped touching me to take off his trousers.
I wasn’t shy of the male sex as I’d seen it plenty of times when I was Andrew. Even showed Maggy it once which was embarrassing as Albert saw us.
We were both naked now and the itchiness was starting to disappear faster than I wanted it to.
Then he touched me again.
It felt so amazing and a part of me wanted to voice it.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m more than okay, this is nothing like I expected.”
“Be glad I’m royal. Any other man, and this would’ve been over a long time ago.”
I started to laugh at his answer. But I was seriously thanking my lucky stars.
The itch came back and the kiss broke.
“What is that?”
“What are you feeling.”
“I can’t describe it. It’s warm and itches like hell.”
“It’s your body telling you that it’s good. You feel that already.”
“It’s getting worse. Like I’m going to explode. I don’t want to explode.”
He chuckled. “It’s a great explosion, love. You are close.”
“Close to what.”
“The best feeling in this entire world and what I wanted.”
“Wanted?”
He kissed me again and his finger stopped touching me as he pushed himself inside of me.
We both grunted. “Mother of all things holy,” Albert said fast. “You are so tight.”
“Is that a good thing?” I needed to know.
“The best.” He said and grabbed my lips again as he started to move into me.
It was now mixed with a bit of pain but it wasn’t bad, not like the time I almost broke my leg, this was different.
Albert grunted a lot as we kissed each other and sucked each other’s skin.
I was getting so hot, but I didn’t want him to stop, even if it was slightly painful. It wasn’t so bad.
More noises started to leave Albert and he was moving faster inside of me.
Pumping into me until he grunted into my chest and pressed his body harder into me, holding me tight. He slipped out slightly and pressed into me again.
I didn’t feel like exploding anymore.
He stayed inside of me and just caught his breath.
“You okay?” I asked.
“That was amazing,” he said.
I smiled.
“You didn’t explode.”
“It disappeared.”
“Did I hurt you?”
I shook my head.
“Katherine, don’t lie to me. Tell me the truth.”
“It was slightly painful but that’s okay. I didn’t want to stop.”
He kissed me softly on my lips and looked at me again. “It will get better, and before you know it, you will be right here with me. Sorry. I thought you were on the verge. It’s not that sore then.”
“Wait it’s normal.”
“For women,” he nodded. “But it gets better, sweetheart.”
“So it will stop hurting?”
“After a few times.”
He wanted to do it again? I nodded instead.
“You want to clean up.”
“I would love to clean up but I’m way too tired to go to the lake.”
“Robert took care of that too. Don’t ask me how.” He raised his eyes and pulled finally out of me.
He took my hand and pulled me up from the pelts.
He led me past another vale of vines and behind it was some sort of a natural geyser. Steam were pouring out of it.
Al climbed in first, making sure it wasn’t too hot. I followed.
The water was amazing as I lowered my now aching body into it.
It felt so good.
He pulled me closer to him, me hoping that he didn’t want to do it again. But we only stayed with kissing and talking.
He told me about his mother, and his father, about the castle, his relationship with Robert, how he claimed him even not having the same ability as him.
I was so worried but he was fine, the way he spoke about it made me happy.
I completely forgot about everything that had happened earlier this evening, not that it was a bad experience, the sex part was just not what I expected.
I knew Maggy was going to want to know all about it, how it felt.
Mom had never told me that it would be painful the first time. I hoped Albert was right and that the pain would disappear.
He asked about my father, I told him what my mother told me, that he had died of the flem and with worry because of what I had done.
He apologized that he couldn’t find me and I even told him about that one time just how close he was, when he paid Drizelda’s bill off.
“I wanted to say she looked familiar. That I’d seen her before. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.”
I laughed. “I wanted to come out of the store room so badly, but I didn’t know if it was as magical for you that night as it was for me.”
“Why did you run away.”
“Our carriage back to Eikenborough was going to leave, plus you were surrounded by girls.”
He chuckled. “I only have eyes for one now, and she is right where she belongs.” He kissed me again and I knew just then and there, come what may, he would fight for me just as hard as I was going to fight for him.
