Maid For You 4

Chapter 67

The next day was Lady Madeline and Lord Roiben's wedding rehearsal in the large Wethercross Cathedral; both Coleman and I were in the wedding party, so we rode to the cathedral together.

"My parents were married in Wethercross Cathedral," Coleman told me on the limo ride there.

"Were they really?"

Coleman nodded. "Royalty and high nobility of Aregano are often married there, and our coronations take place there as well."

"Is that where you'll get married then?"

"I suppose so. Once mother makes me marry someone."

I shook my head. "Maybe you'll find love, Coleman, and no one will have to make you do anything."

"Perhaps."

When we arrived, I once again was filled with the same sense of awe at its grandeur that I had felt when I'd gone to the cathedral in Nikoto for Nikolas's coronation. It made me think of the King of Nikoto, and I wondered how he was doing. We walked through the cathedral entrance, and Coleman led me through the cathedral until we found the main chapel where a few people were gathered. Madeline, who had been talking with another one of her bridesmaids, smiled when she saw me and came over to us.

"Hello Cassie, hello Coleman. I am glad you two could make it." She turned to me. "Especially since you were just travelling."

"Of course!" I said. "I don't know what I'm doing, so I'm definitely glad to be here!"

"Wonderful!" she said. "I need to go talk with the Bishop, but we'll chat more later, alright?"

"Okay." I watched her as she walked towards the front down the long aisle, and stood beside Roiben who was already talking with the Bishop.

"Are you Roiben's best man?" I asked Coleman.

"No, I am just a groomsman," he answered. "Roiben's younger brother is his best man."

"Cassie C!" a familiar voice interrupted.

I turned to the side to see my golden-haired friend walking towards me with his arms wide open. "Mercucio François."

He bowed. "In the flesh." He came up and rested his arm on my shoulder. "Coleman's right, Roibey's little brother is the best man, but it really should have been me. He was just obligated to choose his brother, that's all."

"Oh sure," I drawled.

"I mean it!" Mercucio said. "Roiben and I may have different personalities—"

"Only slightly," I teased.

"But he and I are thick as thieves."

"If only he didn't have a brother," I sighed dramatically.

"I know." Mercucio clicked his tongue. "Highly inconvenient." He clapped his free hand on Coleman's shoulder, looking ahead towards the alter. "I'll just have to be the best man at your wedding."

"My wedding? A bit presumptuous, aren't you?" Coleman teased.

Merc smiled widened at the corners of his lips. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to my dear friend Cassie." He looked at me. "I'll be the best man at your wedding."

"At my wedding?"

"But of course," he said, stepping away from Coleman and I to face us.

"Unfortunately, I choose the maid of honor, not the best man."

"I can settle for maid of honor," Mercucio shrugged. "You should see me in a ballgown."

"If you wear a ballgown, you might outshine me on my own wedding day!"

"True. We can't have that. As your Maid of Honor, I'll choose a rattier dress to deflect attention."

"Well, that's very kind. Unfortunately, that position is already promised to someone, but I'll keep you in mind."

Mercucio gasped. "Who else could be your Maid of Honor other than me?"

"My best friend Lydia," I said.

"Oh yes. The McDonald's girl," he mused.

"Okay, that was just one post where we were at McDonald's," I defended. "She's hardly 'McDonald's girl'."

He rolled his eyes. "Well tell the little red head, then, that I am coming for her position and that she ought not to be too upset when I replace her as Maid of Honor."

"I'll warn her," I said.

"Though who knows." Mercucio tilted his head to the side. "Maybe Coleman will vie for Maid of Honor as well."

"Oh please," Coleman scoffed. "You're quite outlandish."

"In all seriousness," Mercucio said to me. "I'll bet Harry would make me best man at your wedding if I convince him that it was I who brought you two together. Afterall, you did meet at my pool party."

"So I'm marrying Lord Harry now?" I asked, amused.

"Don't worry, Coleman," Merc said, winking at him. "I can convince Harry to make you a groomsman, too, since bridesmaid might not be your style."

Coleman glowered at him, but Mercucio didn't seem the least bit perturbed by his glare—if anything, it seemed to strengthen him.

"Just imagine," he lilted. "The two of us right there to support our dear Cassie on her special day. Well, right behind Harry, but close enough."

"Cassie has eaten dinner with him once. That hardly constitutes an engagement," Coleman said darkly. "If that were the case, she and I would have been betrothed many times over."

Mercucio laughed. "You're taking this all too literally, Coleman. We're just having fun."

I saw the little flex in Coleman's jaw. "All the same," he said. "It's more likely that Lucas will return and marry Cassie than that she'll marry Lord Harry."

Mercucio looked at me. "What do you think, Cassie? Would you marry Lucas or Harrison?"

"Um...I really don't know how to answer that. I hardly know Lord Harry enough to make a judgement call on whether or not I would marry the man."

"Fear not, Miss Carmichael!" Mercucio pronounced. "For if Lord Harrison is not to your fancy, Lady Madeline and I shall do our very best to find you an eligible match."

"That's very kind," I chuckled.

"I'm sure Coleman would help, too." Mercucio looked at the Prince with almost sharp eyes. "I'm sure the crown prince's efforts would go a long way. You will help us find someone for Cassie, won't you?"

The seconds of silence before waiting for Coleman's answer felt too long to me, and I was surprised by the anticipation rising in my chest as I awaited to hear what he would say.

"What makes you think that Cassie is incapable of finding someone for herself?" Coleman responded coolly.

Mercucio let out the softest of chuckles, as though conceding some sort of victory to Coleman. "That's fair. We only want to introduce her to people."

"Then you may introduce her, but I for one trust in Cassie abilities enough to choose for herself who she would like to marry and subsequently the kind of life she would like to lead. It's hardly your choice nor Madeline's choice to make."