The Wizard's Queen

Chapter 44

The wedding day soon arrived, much to Riley's dismay. Michael had waited until the last minute to move the wedding party to their location in upstate New York, some fancy old Wizard's inn near the famed Marblehead academy. Riley didn't like the close proximity they were to one of the few Wizard boarding schools. She knew the war was coming and didn't want to risk any students that hadn't returned home for the holidays to be caught in the crossfire. Ever since Luke had wandered off with Wren after the man's return, Riley hadn't seen much of either of them. Mainly, she had been kept under the close eye of Bethany and the rest of her female wedding party as they pulled her a million directions getting all the details in place. It was a good thing that they were wizards or planning a wedding in four days of such a grand scale would have been near impossible.

Riley lucked into having her own hotel suite, but she knew she didn't have much privacy. Just on the other side of the wall was her biggest enemy's room. That, and his constant rotation of guards outside her hotel room to make sure she didn't try to pull a runaway bride on him. Not that Riley would risk it with the news that her friend, Rachel, was in custody.

Things weren't looking good for the Resistance. Riley heard the news that with the Fairy King joining the fight, her friends had been trapped on all sides. By the looks of it, it may just be her and Luke fighting this final battle against Michael Noble. The Dimensional travel was still cut off so her friends were trapped in the elf realm while the others were both at war with forces at both the Irish and Canadian bases with no hints of either side gaining the freedom to join them in battle. She really hoped Kenny and the rest of her friends were alright.

They brought her breakfast in bed that morning, her hair and makeup team swarming all around her as soon as she got finished eating barely giving her a chance to breathe. As a wizard, she wished they would just mutter a spell to do her hair and makeup instead of insisting on doing it by hand. Her bridesmaids gossiped around her completely unaware that trouble was near. Riley on the other hand barely said a word, her stomach a nervous wreck fearing what was to come. Her body still felt off since she awoke from a coma. Her magic wasn't at full strength, and it was nowhere near being fully recovered anytime soon. If she were to fight, she feared she wouldn't last long unless her friends were there to back her up.

"Riles?"

Riley jumped at the sound of her name, glancing over at Adele's worried gaze.

"Hmm?"

"Are you ok? You look ill."

Riley forced a smile on her lips as she turned her attention to the youngest girl in the wedding party. "Just nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Kenzie suspiciously raised an eyebrow, turning from her conversation with Sophie to glare at Riley.

"Who wouldn't be, she's getting married to that devil." Leona came to Riley's defense, glancing up from putting on her lip gloss.

"I'm pretty sure you're the bigger monster," Bethany said. Leona bit the inside of her cheek, glaring at the woman and former classmate.

"I think it's lovely they are getting married." Sophie clapped her hands together, whirling around with a smile.

"You're always the optimist," Kenzie grumbled in response.

Riley tuned out their bickering, turning her attention to the window, watching the white snow fall. The weather hadn't called for snow the night before, but since early this morning it had begun to fall in inches with no sign of stopping. Leona came to stand beside her at the window, glancing outside too.

"It's him, isn't it?" Her voice came out in a whisper that only Riley could hear. Riley simply nodded her head, pressing her palm to the glass.

"When did you two get so chummy?" Bethany asked from across the room.