Page 90 of Once Upon an Enchanted Kiss

Rosamund was grateful to the Fae queen for repairing her gown. It had pained her to rip the skirt when she was fighting against Rowena.

Her father’s head injury was tended by the healer, who managed to stop the bleeding and bandage him.

After some confusion and a bit of chaos, that evening, the chapel was filled with those who arrived to witness the wedding of Rosamund and Phillip. She still hadn’t a moment to thank him for the white rose which, miraculously, survived along with the other flowers in her bouquet.

Once more, she stood at the end of the aisle, holding her father’s arm, and facing the altar that had quickly been decorated with candelabras to give it a romantic glow. Her mother and Queen Adele did what they could on short notice.

At the end of the aisle, Phillip waited in his finery that was still smudged with dirt. He seemed unconcerned with his attire and only had eyes for her as they started their journey down the aisle. Her heart beat in anticipation, her nerves suddenly gone. She was focused solely on Phillip’s smile and the way the candlelight reflected in the strands of his hair turning them gold.

At the altar, her father kissed her cheek, the sheer joy evident in his face. She took Phillip’s outstretched hand. Together they turned to the bishop and pledged their love and life to each other forevermore.

Afterward, at the celebration of their nuptials, Phillip grasped her hand and stole her away from the grand dining hall onto the balcony to get a breath of evening air. Stars twinkled overhead in an indigo sky. The full moon shone brightly, the beams cascading down in slashes of blue-white light.

“Are you happy?” he asked.

“Yes. Are you?”

He turned to her, taking both her hands in his. “Deliriously so. I’m glad you got the white rose.”

“You noticed.” She grinned up at him. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you. Jeffrey told me the meaning. Everlasting love and devotion.”

Thinking of it now made her heart squeeze.

“I hoped he would. I mean it, too.” He squeezed her hands. “Rose…I’m so grateful for everything we went through to find each other.”

She loved that his nickname for her was Rose. Once it had irritated her. Now, she wouldn’t want him to call her anything else. She leaned into him to steal some of his warmth as a cool wind breezed over her.

“As am I. Even falling under the sleeping curse.”

“Especiallyfalling under the sleeping curse. If you hadn’t, things may have turned out much differently for us. Oh, and I wanted to give you this.”

He reached into his pocket.

“Hold out your hand.”

She gave him a quizzical look but obliged. He dropped the gold coin into her palm. She emitted a small gasp as she eyed it, the shiny gold surface winking in the evening light.

“The gold coin. You still had it.”

“I kept it for you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close into his embrace. She tipped her head upward to look into those breathtaking honey-colored eyes of his.

“What shall we do now, my prince?”

“Perhaps we find a new adventure, princess.” A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

“Where shall we go to find this new adventure?” She slid her arms around his waist, loving the way his strong body felt against hers.

His smile widened. “Wherever the wind takes us.”

When he kissed her, his lips warm and gentle on hers, she couldn’t wait to find out where the wind took them.

Epilogue

“Andtheylivedhappilyever after,” Hilde said.

Marigold sighed with a blissful contentment about the story of a sleeping beauty, a handsome prince, and a dark faery with the ability to transform into a dragon. It had given her such joy to tell the story of Rosamund and Phillip. She was very fond of them, after all.

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