*Briella*
I hugged Lillian tightly, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. Even now, I could feel the tension throughout her whole body. She slowly relaxed the longer I held her against . I felt concern color my features as I pulled away to look her in the eye.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Your wedding is going to be absolutely perfect.”
Lillian forced a smile onto her face, causing it to look more like a grimace. “I know,” she said. She sighed heavily. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous about it. I know that in the end, it doesn’t matter what happens as long as Kai and I get married.”
“It’s okay to be nervous,” I said, not wanting her to feel bad for being so. “It’s natural even. You’ve never done anything like this before.”
I left out the fact that Lillian had the type of personality that added up to being nervous. She was a gentle soul and extrely sensitive. I would have been concerned if she wasn’t anxious about the whole thing.
I looked at the samples of fabric and flowers laid out on my brother’s dining table before looking around the familiar kitchen. It was hard to believe that I used to live in this little house with him and in just a couple of short weeks, Lillian would be living there with Kai.
I swallowed hard, trying not to get emotional. There would be plenty of ti for that in a couple of weeks during the actual wedding ceremony.
I couldn’t help the rush of emotion though. There was no one more perfect for my soft-spoken brother than gentle Lillian. I thought Kai was extrely shy, but he seed so outspoken and confident when standing next to his quiet fiancee.
“Are you ready to leave, Bri?”
I turned to face my brother. “Just about,” I said. I turned back to face Lillian, taking her hands so I could grasp them tightly. “Your wedding is going to be perfect,” I repeated firmly. “I’m so excited. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
Lillian nodded, her expression determined before it softened. “Thank you so much for coming to help , Briella,” she said. She laughed and shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you. There were so many decisions to make.”
I was surprised and flattered that Lillian had co to for help. I wasn’t the most girly person in the world. I honestly didn’t understand the concept of color theory and what went well together, but between the two of us, we had a good sense of what would look nice in terms of napkin colors and flowers.
“I was happy to co out and help you,” I told her. “It gave a break from all my responsibilities. I’ve also always wanted a sister, so I was thrilled when you asked .”
She hadn’t really been the one to ask . I knew she was appalled to hear that Kai had practically begged to co out and help. Lillian had apparently been so stressed out by everything that she was on the verge of a breakdown.
Lillian thanked again before running up to hug my brother, who wrapped his arms around her tightly, pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head.
“Be careful while I’m gone,” he told her, pulling away so he could look her in the eye. “Be sure to lock up the house before you go to bed.”
Lillian shared an amused, exasperated look with before looking up at Kai. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Have fun with your sister. Don’t worry about .”
Kai frowned slightly. “I’ll never not worry about you when we’re apart,” he said simply. He bent to kiss her. “I love you,” he said after pulling away.
Lillian blushed. “I love you too,” she said.
“You really don’t have to drive all the way back to the kingdom,” I told my brother when we exited his house. “I’ll be fine if you just drop off at the train station.”
I felt a little guilty taking him away from Lillian when she was obviously under so much pressure and my brother just made it clear he would be worrying about her while they were apart.
“And face the wrath of the king when he finds out I let you ride the train for two days when I could just drive you back in less than one?” Kai asked rhetorically. He grimaced. “No thanks.”
I rolled my eyes. “Kryzen would have to get through to get to you,” I said but then flinched at the thought of my husband finding out I took the train without guards to accompany . “But thank you.”
“Of course,” Kai said. “Thank you for coming for Lillian. You should have seen the state she was in before you showed up. I had never seen her so stressed in my life, and we’ve been together for years."
“I’m glad I could,” I told my brother. I smirked at him. “I have a feeling I did more than calm Lillian down. You wouldn’t be nervous about the wedding too, would you little brother?”
I was teasing him, obviously. I knew Kai well enough to know that he didn’t enjoy being the center of attention. It was in his nature to be a bit nervous too. He was hiding it well though, so I had to ask.
He laughed. “I’m definitely freaking out a bit,” he said but then his expression softened. “But I’m much more excited than nervous. I can’t wait for Lillian to be my wife.”
My heart lted at the warm look that crossed my little brother’s features. “You’re going to be an amazing husband, Kai,” I told him. “Lillian’s a lucky girl. I’m so glad the two of you found each other.”
Kai’s cheekbones turned a light pink. I was suddenly reminded of the little boy he once was, the one who would hide behind whenever we had visitors at the mansion growing up. “Thanks, Bri.”
We drove well into the night. After so coaxing, I was able to convince Kai to stop for the night at a hotel. He claid he was fine, but I insisted that he needed to rest. He agreed but requested we wake up before dawn to continue driving so we could make it back to the kingdom by late morning. I knew he was anxious to get back to Lillian, so I didn’t argue.
I had only been gone for a few days but was practically bouncing in my seat, anxious to see my little family. Kryzen would be out doing rounds this late in the morning, so I knew I would have to wait until dinner to see him, but I was thrilled to be just monts away from seeing my babies.
I often marveled at the power of motherhood. My children were my entire world. Even while ruling a kingdom, nothing was more important to than spending ti with them and watching them grow.
We had already driven for hours that morning, so I knew Kai probably wanted a nap and a chance for so privacy to call his fiancee. I showed him to his room before hurrying down the hall to the nursery where my children were likely just finishing up their morning lessons.
I was surprised to find Sulien walking down the hallway, pulling a toy train behind him. He squealed in shock and delight when he saw , dropping his toy and running full speed to .
“Mommy!” he yelled, jumping into my arms.
I laughed and picked him up, hugging him tightly to . “Hello, Sully,” I said brightly, swinging the boy around a bit. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Sully said. “You were gone for a long long ti.”
“I know,” I said before setting him back down on his feet. He was only four years old but growing fast. He was quite heavy for already, which made pretty sad. “Did you have a nice ti while I was away?”
Sulien’s eyes brightened, and he started to tell all about his ti while I was gone. He told about his reading and coloring during his lessons, how he and Emberly went on an adventure in the garden, and the new funny story Daddy was reading to them about a prince who could shapeshift into different animals.
“Can we go outside?” Sulien begged , grabbing my hand and already tugging in that direction. “I have to show you sothing."
“Should we wait for your sister?” I asked the little boy. “Where is Emberly anyway?”
Sulien pouted. “She’s still in lessons,” he said. “But our teacher said she won’t be done for two whole hours.”
I laughed. Sulien put such a petulant emphasis on “two whole hours” as if that was forever from now, which I supposed for a little boy like him, it was.
It ward my heart that Emberly and Sulien loved each other so much. They were constantly together, inventing gas and getting into mischief.
I took Sulien’s hand. “Alright, we can go outside for a bit while we wait for her,” I told him.
Sulien was practically bouncing as he pulled through the garden. “It scared and Emberly while we were playing,” he explained to . “Don’t worry though, Mommy. I’ll protect you.”
I raised an eyebrow in amusent but allowed Sulien to lead through the plants.
“There’s the monster,” he whispered, pointing ahead of us.
I followed his gaze to the dragon statue we had in one of the many gardens. I giggled inwardly before deciding I had better play along.
“Oh, no, Sulien,” I said, making my voice tremble and tugging on the hand he held. “I’m afraid. Maybe we should go back.”
Sulien dropped my hand and jumped forward, getting into a fighting stance. “I’ll protect you,” he said, lowering his voice a bit.
He shot a gust of wind at the statue. I thought about stopping him, but the amount of wind he was producing really wouldn’t do much harm. The air flowed around the statue harmlessly.
“You go back to where you ca from!” Sulien yelled, aiming another strike at the supposed monster. “I will protect my kingdom from you!”
I couldn’t help but giggle with delight as I watched my son engage in play. He was an imaginative child. I marveled at how different he and Emberly were. Their personalities really were like night and day.
Sulien ran around the statue, using his powers over and over again. He was doing so well in his magic-wielding lessons, even though he just started them a couple of months ago. It was a bit difficult to get him to focus on the calr aspects like learning control. He was much more interested in learning how to let his ability run wild.
Control was vital at the early stages, but teaching a young child control was no easy feat. As I had predicted, Kryzen insisted on being our son’s main instructor. Sulien had a couple of instructors visit the palace once a week to help him when Kryzen was too busy.
Pride for both of our children swelled within . It was still hard to say which one of them would assu the throne when the ti for Kryzen and I to step down ca.
What I knew for certain was that Kryzen and I would always be proud of both of them, no matter what.
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