Chapter Thirty-One

                                    

                                          
Only when the sun shone through the paneled windows of the stable did Alera and Jere final rouse to being their day. She was thankful for Jere's forethought with additional blankets, and though she was in his arms for warmth throughout the night, she made note that lying naked on the wooden floor of a stable would not be her ideal sleeping space in the future. Occasionally, she would not mind it, but definitely not as a permanent resident. And by the way Jere groaned and stretched, his naked sking and beautiful muscles basking in the dawns light... it seemed he had a difficult night sleeping as well. Not that they slept much.
And as thoughts of their night together continued to run through her mind, Alera was quick to dress and have Jere bring her to his cottage nearby, now vacant with his father remaining in the forest village, where the continued their private engagement celebrations with a bath for two, breakfast and an additonal round of lovemaking before they decided they needed to remove themselves from the cabin or else nothing would be accomplished. Reluctantly she agreed, especially since she knew her father was awaiting her— and Jere— for his announcement to the kingdom.
She may have left out the detail about her father wanting to name him Captain of the Guard, but she was distracted and rightfully so. She knew Jere would understand.
Once Jere was finally dressed in a clean white shirt and black pants and boots, and Alera controlled herself from tearing off his clothes again, they retreated to the palace, through the back doors as she always used when she was trying to sneak out to the stables without anyone marking her absence. The halls of the palace were quiet, and she hoped it was because everyone had already gathered outside in preparation for the announcement rather than fearing to return to their place in the castle. For the moment, however, she didn't mind it. It allowed her and Jere to maneuver through the castle without interruption or questions or blessings or thanksgivings, and all she wanted to do was get dressed and have this ceremony over and done with so that she could return to beginning the rest of her life with the man next to her.
She dressed in a simple dress of black velvet, in memorium for the lives lost or altered because of Nicholas' cruel acts. But the clasped her red cloak around it to promise the hope she would bring to her people, and knew it would need to be a staple as well as a symbol as she came into her rule over Palazia.
It was strange, not having her mother's locket around her neck, and she touched the bare skin of her chest where it had rested so often. But the glimmer of the ring Jere had given her reminded her that it was in a better place now, and she glanced over to see if it was hanging around his neck instead. She smiled as her glance caught his eye, and the look he gave her in return, the same one that glanced down to admire the ring on her finger, had her toes curling in her shoes.
But she linked her arm in his and led him from her room, down the hall and towards her father's quarters where, she realized everyone had already gathered. Servants and guards and everyone else huddled outside of the door, but they parted and bowed once they saw Alera and Jere make their approach. But no one shied away. There were even a couple who took her hand in greeting, which was an odd, strange and new sensation for her. So often had she had been feared, shied away from, and avoided— this new change was going to be something she would need to get used to, but she wouldn't mind it. To finally be perceived as normal as anyone else. Even Jere sensed the change, squeezing her arm with reassurance.
Once they were in the room, Alera had a better view of the balcony where they would be presented to the people, and she could see from her vantage point that it had already been decorated with the familiar green vines she thought she had torn away during her fight against Nicholas. Even in the darkest of times with the most desperate of reasons, life does find a way to continue on...