A L M I R A

Chapter 47
Almira Davenport

It's been about a week since my engagement to Calix. I was still as bubbly and happy as ever, but not completely blinded from reality. I still knew there was a war going on and that Alastor hasn't attacked in a while.

His absence has worried me and he's been a frequent  presence in my nightmares. I fear for the people, both of Galadia and Mortala. I've prayed nightly and continued my magic as I would've before Raiya died, waiting for the moment he shows up and she takes over.

My heart continuously felt heavy in chest whenever I thought about all of my people being caught up in this mess. I often wondered how they felt. Having to hide after dark, secluded to their houses. They had no idea why the rules were as strict as they are. They didn't know much except we were at war. Nobody on the village knew a why.

I shook my head. I couldn't feel hopeless or helpless for them. I had no reason to. I knew that Abelia has her full magic restored and I knew that my body was her vessel.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my sorrowful state of mind. "Come in!" I called out.

Calix walked, seemingly becoming more handsome by the day. "Good afternoon, love. How do you feel about discussing the wedding?"

"Excited. What do you have in mind?" I asked, watching him as he came to sit beside me.

"Well," He began, scratching the back of his neck. "I was going to ask you that."

"Oh. Okay, first, we can agree that we both need clothes. I need a dress and you need a tuxedo," I mumbled, tapping my cheek as I continued to think. "Damn. Planning your own wedding is a lot harder than when you're planning someone else's."

"Maybe I can be of some assistance with that," a feminine voice commented, coming from the doorway.

Calix and I turned towards the door, our eyes landing on Karlienne. I grinned. "Karlienne, come on in."

Karlienne steppes inside and leaned against the wall. "I couldn't help but overhear you two as I walked by. I can be your wedding planner if you like."

I looked at Calix and he glanced at me before turning back to Karlienne. "That'd be very appreciated, Karlienne, thank you."

"My honor, Your Majesty."

"Call me Calix," He objected, dismissing the fancy title.

"As you wish," Karlienne nodded. She clapped her hands together. "We don't have much time. We need a list of guests you want to invite, cake testing, wedding colors and themes, bridesmaids, groomsmen, then of course your suit and your wedding dress, oh! We cannot forget the ceremonial stuff that goes along with royal weddings."

"Are they different in this kingdom?" I questioned, looking at her curiously.

She nodded again. "Here you mark your mate in front of everyone. You exchange wedding rings and then marks. After that, there's a rope you two have to braid together and then it goes in the hallway beside your wedding portrait."

My mouth gaped. "Oh that's actually cool."

Calix nodded.

"It is. Now, for starters, you two need to pick a color theme," Karlienne mumbled while shuffling to grab a book and paper.

"I like the color burgundy," Calix stated, looking at me.

I grinned. "We can do burgundy. Oooh! What if we did burgundy, gold, and navy?"

"I like that idea, I like it a lot, actually."

"Then it's settled! Almira, if you'll go get tailored for your dress and tell what you want and then, Calix, you go get your suit tailored, and pick out the color you like for your suit, I'll get the details set up on the wedding. Afterwards, you can do cake testing and work on the guest list later tonight," Karlienne explained.

We both glanced at each other before parting ways. I went to go get my dress and he his suit.

I walked into the tailoring room and cleared my throat. They all stood up and bowed. "Your Highness, what is it you need?"

"My wedding dress, actually," I replied.

"The rumors are true?" One of the gasped, squealing in delight.

I nodded my head. "They are. Now, that dress, can you help me?"

"Of course!" A group of feminine voices called out.

"Alright, so here's the vision..."

~-~

I met Calix downstairs for cake testing and grinned. "Enjoy getting your suit made?"

"I think I've been stabbed more with needles today than I've had assassination attempts on me," Calix mumbled, rubbing his eyebrows.

I snickered. "Awh, is the big bad king upset?"

Calix looked at me before smirking.

Uh oh.

"Maybe he is. And, maybe, his fiancée should make him feel better," Calix suggested, taking slow strides towards me.

"And how might she go about that?" I teased, looking up at him as he stood directly in front of me.

"I have an idea or two," He lowly said, his lips now grazing my ear.

I shivered at the affect he had on me. I hated that I loved it sometimes. "Not right now. We have a wedding to plan, love."

Calix growled and pouted. It was all I could do not to laugh at him. He quickly kissed me before wrapping an arm around my waist. I leaned into him as we walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

The chef greeted us by bowing. "Your Majesty, Your Highness, to what do I owe the lovely pleasure to?"

I smiled. "Our wedding, actually. We were hoping we could have you bake our cake for us."

"It would be my honor! Do you have a flavor in mind?"

"Chocolate."

"Chocolate."

The chef giggled, her silvery grey hair reflecting the warm lighting. "I see. Do you have an idea of how big?"

"Maybe like, um, I'm not sure how weddings work. Babe?" Calix turned to me, not knowing how to answer the question.

"How about a round, two-tier cake? Six on top, eight on the bottom?" I suggested sheepishly.

"Of course!"

"Thank you so much!" I nodded.

Calix and I left the kitchen and ran back into Karlienne. "Oh, goodness! I was actually trying to find you two!"

"Here we are," I replied. I wrapped an arm around Calix and leaned my head against his chest.

"Great! I had some maids make assortments and examples of bouquets for you and the bridesmaids, the table set up, and then the room decoration should be easy and we'll do that the day of," Karlienne explained. She lead us to where they were and I audibly gasped at the view before me.

There was a table of bouquets for me to look at, and then tables decorated as an example of how they'd all be. Some tables had candles of different colors, some had flower assortments in the middle, and some were lightly decorated but had more detail put into how the plates were set up.

Calix rubbed my back before pointing at two tables. "I like these two."

"Me too. Karlienne?"

"Yeah?" She popped up, out of nowhere.

"Can we do the plate detail and candle set up of this table, but the flower assortment and cloth color of this one?" I questioned, picking out the details that I liked.

Karlienne nodded. "Of course you can!"

Cole walked into the room and pulled Calix aside, talking to him about something for a moment. Karlienne raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

I see you, Karli.

I cleared my throat and all eyes snapped to me. "How rude of us, Calix!"

"Hm?" He hummed, confused.

"We haven't introduced Cole and Karlienne," I dramatically said, winking at Calix. He picked up on what I was hinting at and his mouth formed a whale of an "o".

"Cole, my dearest brother, this is Karlienne, Almira's new friend," Calix introduced, moving his hand to suggest Karlienne's presence.

Karlienne set her book and paper down, curtsying. Cole walked towards her and bowed, taking her hand, and kissing it.

Cole's brows furrowed. "Excuse me," he quickly dismissed himself.

I look at Karlienne who looked at me with a mixed state of emotions. "What happened there?"

"I don't know? He held my hand and kissed it and sparks and tingles erupted from my hand. After that he just, well, left."

I turned to Calix with a confused face. "How is that possible?"

"Do you think he triggered a curse of his own?" Calix frowned.

I shook my head. "Abelia wouldn't do that. Maybe he has a second chance?"

We both turned to look at Karlienne who was still very confused and shaken up about what just happened.

"I have no idea."

"Oh, and your bouquet?" Karlienne dismissed, looking at me.

"Uh, that one." I pointed.

Karlienne picked up the fifteen-inch composite bouquet of red roses and sunflowers with a sparse appearance of white flowers. The bouquet was tied off with a big navy ribbon. She wrote it down before setting the bouquet back on the table. "I think that's all for today. I'm going to need an invite list, of course, but I think that settles everything else."

We nodded and all parted ways.

~-~

Calix and I sat in bed, each of us writing names down that we want to invite to the wedding. "This is harder than I thought."

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, it is. I've already wrote down Ambrielle, Alexander, Adam, Cole, Karlienne and her family, and I can't think of anyone else."

"That's literally my whole list," Calix huffed, dropping his pen onto his paper.

I leaned against the bed frame. "Are we really this conservative and anti-social?"

"I think so. Usually I'd invite more like my past weddings but they're either dead, or we're not longer on speaking terms," Calix replied, running his hands through his hair.

"Well, what would normally happen would be we'd invite friends, family, and whoever else we wanted to, but my family is all dead, so are your parents, your brother is already on the list, Atlas is rotting in a prison cell, and everyone else I'd invite is dead."

"I think we have issues," Calix joked, taking my paper and pen and setting both of our lists on the night stand.

"Me too," I confirmed.

Calix leaned over and kissed me lightly, smiling. I kissed him back and wrapped my arms around his neck. Calix moved on top of me, running his fingers through my hair.

Our kisses became more heated and intense, his tongue sweeping across my bottom lip for entrance. I playfully denied and Calix growled, entering anyways. Our tongues danced and fought, Calix ultimately winning.

I pouted and Calix snickered, his hands trailing down my body. I ran my hands across his bare, muscular chest, making sure I linger long enough to tease him. Calix slid my nightgown off, my naked body exposed to his warm touch.

Calix trailed kisses from my lips down my jaw and to my neck. He licked, bit, and sucked on my neck, leaving a trail of love bites.

"I hope you know those are going to be hard to cover up on our wedding day," I noted, running my nails lightly across his back.

"At least they'll know you're mine," He huskily replies, trailing kisses down my body. My body arched in please and response, craving more of him and his touch. Calix looked me in the eyes before sliding his under garments off, continuing to kiss and tease me.

~-~•~-~