Page 25 of Royally Hacked Belle & Flame
ALIX
Between my stress about my mother and concern about the missing children, I almost forgot to panic over my wedding.Almost.
I eventually suggested that we all take a trip into the village to get my mother out of the house, which was when Beatrix remembered she had to stay and supervise the decorating, and Odessa reminded me that my dress still needed to be taken back to the seamstress if I wanted the final alterations finished before the wedding. I went upstairs to find the dress, and that’s when all my stress came rushing back at once.
My wedding is barely a day away, and the snow is getting worse; I have no idea where Daemon is; and to make matters worse, my dress is a disaster. I swear to God, I remember Daemon being careful, but obviously “careful” wasn’t enough because my beautiful, gold dress looks like crinkled old crape paper.
The grumpy seamstress is going to actually murder me. It might not even matter, because at this rate, the wedding feels cursed.
It could be worse…right?
Bracing myself, I gather up the dress and pile it, along with Dessa, Aurelia, Nana, and my mother, into the back of a horse-drawn sleigh. The sleigh is a bright, shiny red metal, and I chose it specifically because it reminded me ofHallmark Christmas movies, but I never pictured driving it in an actual blizzard.
“If I use magic to keep the snow off us, will your mother start screaming again?” Aurelia whispers in my ear.
I weigh the odds. “Yeah, probably…but do it anyway.”
She grins and starts using her hands to direct the cold sleet away from us. She looks like she’s doing some sort of interpretive dance about wind, and my mom pointedly ignores her as we set off for the village.
Our sleigh glides downhill, the runners carving twin paths through untouched snow. Spread out below us, Storia is lit up like a Christmas card, with golden windows glowing like candles in the night.
“Doesn’t it look like Santa’s village, Mom?” I ask over the howling wind.
My mother clutches her coat collar tight. “It’s as cold as The North Pole—I’ll give you that.”
I roll my eyes. Due to Aurelia’s dancing, it’s perfectly comfortable in the sleigh, but my mom seems determined to hate everything.
We pass through the center of town and the seamstress’s shop appears around the bend, its windows glowing amber against the gathering dusk. I stop the horses right outside and jump out, my crumpled dress bundled in my arms and protected from the weather by a bedsheet.
A bell jingles as I push open the door to the shop. Instead of the stern-faced woman I’d been dreading, only her assistant—a girl barely sixteen with pins stuck in her collar—looks up from behind the counter. She immediately darts out to greet me, falling into a deep curtsey. “Welcome, Your Majesty.”
It’s not “Your Majesty” yet, but I don’t waste time correcting her. “Hi! I’m looking for Nerine?”
“I’m so sorry. Madam Nerine left an hour ago,” she says, brushing a loose strand of hair from her forehead.
I bite back a groan. “Do you know where I can find her?”
“She’s at the schoolhouse, fitting the children for their procession outfits—for your wedding.”
“Alexandria, why are there school children in your wedding procession?”
I jump nearly a foot in the air and spin around. I hadn’t noticed my mom following me inside, and now she’s glaring at me with renewed suspicion.
The shop girl, clearly eager to be helpful, cuts in. “It’s a royal tradition, ma’am.”
“Royal?” My mother says, sounding horrified. “Who is royal?”
I put a hand over my eyes. Great. For once, I actually don’t think this could get worse.
“Thank you for your help,” I say begrudgingly to the assistant as I walk back out of the shop, my mother hot on my heels.
Mom peppers me with questions all the way to the new schoolhouse, until finally Nana takes pity on me and cuts in. “Iris, leave it alone. I mean it.”
My mom turns her ire on her own mother instead, and I breathe a weary sigh.
Dessa pats my leg sympathetically. “Just focus on the honeypot. You’re so close.”
“Honeymoon,” I correct her, smiling.
