Princess of Illéa

Chapter 30 - Happily ever after

The first thing I feel when I wake up is the comfort of a bed, which I immediately recognize as my own. The second thing I feel is someone holding my hand. I open my eyes slowly to get used to the brightness. I turn towards the person sitting on the edge of the bed, holding my hand.

I smile slightly, still a little groggy from the sedation, when I see that it's Celeste.

"The surgery went well." is the first thing she says to me. "They removed the bullet from your arm. You're going to be fine."

She comes closer and kisses my forehead. I breathe a sigh of relief that it's finally over. My heart starts racing as I remember what happened.

"Maxon?" I ask. "Is he all right?"

Celeste nods, leaving me relieved. "He's recovering in his room, but..."

"What?" I ask, still worried.

"The king didn't survive." she says at once, without looking me in the eye.

I go into shock. I feel so many emotions at once. I feel Celeste squeeze my hand even tighter. "What about my mother?"

"Your mother is fine." Celeste replies. "She even came by to visit you, but now that the country is completely in her hands, and after I insisted that I would stay with you, she's gone back to her duties."

I start to laugh. Maybe out of nervousness, maybe out of sadness, no, definitely not out of sadness. Celeste looks at me as if I've gone mad.

"What's wrong?" Celeste asks worriedly.

"Isn't that funny?" I say. "I spent months dreaming and dreading this day. The day the Selection would end and the two of us could finally announce our relationship to the country and the world. Dreading the day that my mother would divorce Clarkson, the king of Illéa, since that has never happened in the history of the country, but my mother was willing to do it for me, for Maxon, for herself."

Celeste remains silent.

"And then fate makes it unnecessary, she doesn't have to divorce the king because the universe seems to be in my favor this time." I finish saying. "I should feel terrible for not feeling bad about someone's death, the king's death, my father's death, but I don't feel that way at all. I feel free at last."

Celeste doesn't speak back, she simply moves closer to kiss my lips.

There's still a lot to come. The announcement of my relationship with Celeste, Maxon's coronation (which won't be long, since Mom only intends to rule the country until my brother gets married), my wedding, America and my brother's wedding, but right now I'm thinking of nothing but my fiancée, and how well everyone I love is doing.

The announcement is made after Maxon has recovered, during the Illéa Capital Report. Mom, Maxon, me and America are sitting, listening to Gavril speak, when he turns to me, I know it's time.

"Your Highness has an announcement to make to Illéa tonight, doesn't she?" says Gavril, with a smile on his face.

I quickly turn my head to my mother, who smiles at me and holds my hand as a form of support. I look at Maxon and America, both with smiles on their faces. And then I turn to Gavril, giving him a smile.

"Yes, Gavril." I say, standing up and moving towards one of the cameras. "I'd like to announce to the people of Illéa that I'm engaged." If the program had an audience, I'm sure I would have heard several gasps from people surprised by the news. "I want to say that the person I'm engaged to may be different from what you're all expecting, although I'm sure you know them." I turn to the backstage, where Celeste is waiting for me to call her. "Come in, my love."

For the first time I see Celeste nervous. She enters with less confidence than she usually has. I hold out my hand for her to take and then kiss her lips for the whole country to see.

"My brother's Selection was certainly very intense for all of us." I say, turning to the cameras again. "I never thought I'd have a relationship with one of the Selected, and Celeste certainly never thought she'd have a relationship with the princess either." I take a deep breath to continue. "We had to hide our relationship from practically everyone until the Selection was over, and I'm happy to finally be able to express my love for Celeste Newsome in public."

Our wedding takes place only a few weeks after the announcement to the public. We've tried to reconcile a more private ceremony, just for the people closest to us (but still televised for the whole country to see), with a more extravagant party, just the way Celeste has always dreamed of. Maxon is responsible for walking me down the aisle to Celeste. My bridesmaids are America, Leah and Veronica.

Maxon and America's wedding takes a little longer to take place, but it's a gigantic party. America's mother drinks so much that she ends up dancing with my aunt Adele in the fountain in front of the palace. Weeks after their wedding the coronation takes place. Mom has never been so proud of her children, now she's stepping down as queen and passing on all the royal duties to Maxon and America.

Things happened unexpectedly. The death of America's father, Maxon's abrupt decision to end things with the Selection when he announced his engagement, the rebel invasion and all the victims we had during the attack, but I think it all worked out.

It was only after all the major events that Celeste and I were allowed to have a honeymoon and enjoy our happily ever after.