Page 80 of The Prince and the Puck
"No need," Lizzy said, just as a knock sounded at the door. Lambert’s guard moved to open it, revealing Lizzy’s mother on the other side.
"I called her as we were landing," Lizzy admitted.
MaryAnne Canfield clasped her hands together under her chin, smiling at my mother. The two women embraced and danced in a little circle.
"I can’t believe it’s all happening right this very minute," my mother said.
"Are you sure you’re not rushing things a bit?" my father asked.
Celeste stepped to Lizzy’s side, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I think it’s romantic," she said.
Her calm practicality seemed to put everyone at ease.
An hour later, we were gathered in the family garden, the sun beating down on our shoulders as Lizzy and I stood facing one another, with Lambert before us, ready to officiate.
Our parents and Celeste stood nearby, close enough to hear every word exchanged. The happiness inside me was effervescent. I feared it might bubble out of my mouth the moment I opened it to speak.
Lambert read from the traditional marriage vows of Murdan. "Do you, Declan Sinclair MacArthur, Prince Regent of Murdan, take Eliza Suzanne Canfield to be your wedded bride?"
I smiled at Lizzy, feeling the expression through my entire body. Nothing in the world would make me happier. I looked deep into her eyes, feeling our souls connect.
"I do."
"And do you, Eliza Suzanne Canfield, take Declan to be your wedded husband?"
Lizzy nodded her head, then added, "I do. Of course, I do. Yes. Definitely.” She clapped a hand over her mouth as if trying to keep herself from agreeing even more enthusiastically.
"By the power vested in me as King of Murdan," Lambert said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."
As I looked at my bride, a sense of calm, unlike anything I had ever felt, descended over me. When I took her in my arms and kissed her tenderly, it felt as if the world had finally begun turning at a rhythm and a speed that made sense.
We boarded the jet once again, a mere three hours after we had originally been scheduled to leave. We took our seats, and I held Lizzy’s hand tightly in mine. As the plane took off, I leanedover and whispered, “I’m ready to go back. Now, I can properly call you wife."
There were many things to figure out once we landed—not the least of which was where we would live. Lizzy insisted, with my parents’ agreement, that the safest place for us would be the eighth floor of the condo high-rise she had rented when she was last in Virginia. It was a little bizarre, considering none of the other floors had tenants.
"Don’t you think it will be a bit lonely?" I asked her as the driver pulled up to the building, where Arnold stood grinning, waiting to open the front doors for us.
"How much time do you actually spend with your neighbors, Declan?" she asked. It was a valid question. But I still didn’t like the idea of being all alone on a floor in a tall building.
"If it really makes you uncomfortable," she teased, "we could just turn the whole building into one gigantic house."
"That would be a little excessive, don’t you think?"
Lizzy grinned at me. "Like something royalty might do." She laughed.
In the end, the security team ended up inhabiting several of the unoccupied floors, and we agreed to lease out two of the ones below us.
We’d been home only a few days when I finally managed to finish everything I’d started on that fateful trip to Murdan.
Lizzy came home after running a few errands to find me waiting on the couch, two packages on the table before me, wrapped with gold ribbon. I also had soft music playing,champagne, and some ideas what we might do after she opened her packages.
“What’s all this?” she asked, coming in and kissing me before taking a seat at my side.
I handed her a flute of champagne.
“A little overdue,” I told her, taking the larger of the two boxes and dropping it gently on her lap.
“Ohh, I love presents,” she said, taking a sip and then setting her glass on the table. “What is it?”
