They ascended to the second floor, where the less formal rooms were. There were two living areas that centered on entertainment. There were all sorts of odd devices, maybe games, in one room. The other room had groupings of chairs everywhere, so she surmised it was used as a gathering place.
As they moved on, they came to a less formal, but nonetheless grand, dining room and then a kitchen that was quite large. Next to the kitchen was a smaller dining area that was much more informal compared to the others. There was also a huge exercise facility filled with all sorts of strange looking booth-like contraptions. Rayn explained it was all exercise equipment and offered to show it to Maddie later. Finally, they entered a smaller, more comfortable sitting room, and they discovered the entire family there.
Rowan came forward to greet Maddie, and she felt her heart thump with anticipation. He was the ultimate gentleman with her, but she had the distinct impression that he was trying not to laugh.
Rowan began, “Maddie, how nice to see you in more congenial circumstances. I was just speaking to Therron, and he tells me how much you enjoy driving Rayn’s sports car.”
Now, Maddie understood. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Therron and then Rayn. Obviously, no one had told Rayn what she had done to his precious Reventon.
“Er, I see Therron has been filling you in. What else has he told you?”
“Let me see. Oh, yes, I understand your culinary talents are unforgettable and incomparable.”
“Thank you, Therron. I hope to someday return the favor,” Maddie said dryly.
“Maddie, when did you become a fan of driving my car?” Rayn asked when he overheard them speaking.
“Um, yeah, well Rayn, there’s something I need to tell you, and afterwards, I am going to kill your brother.”
Rayn gave Maddie a questioning look.
“A few days ago, I took your car out for a ride, and I had a little accident.”
“Were you injured?” Rayn demanded to know.
“No, not at all, but I’m sorry to say your car didn’t come out as well, nor did the garage.”
She explained what went wrong, and Rayn looked at Therron with a thunderous expression and growled, “You let her take out my car without an escort? You actually allowed my female to venture on the road alone? Once again, your appalling lack of reasonable judgment astounds me. Therron, have you lost your mind? Tell me you have so that I do not have to kill you.”
Therron stood stock still, his mouth agape.
“Rayn, it was my fault. I left...” Maddie began.
He cut her off. “No, Maddie. I gave them strict instructions that you were to have an escort
at all times
. They failed once, and you nearly died. What happens next? I find, accidentally mind you, that they allowed you to drive a car, a very dangerous car I might add,
alone
.”
He turned to Therron. “Therron, Rykerian! Outside,
now
!”
The three men left the room. Moments later, Rayn’s booming voice could be heard, and then Therron and Rykerian’s joined in.
“Should I intercede?” Maddie asked to no one in particular. This was becoming quite awkward for her.
Then Annalise came forward and linked her arm in Maddie’s. “Maddie, Rayn is an overly protective male, and he will have to work this out with his brothers. Do not worry; they will resolve this. In the meantime, this will give us an opportunity to chat.”
She escorted her to another room down the hall.
“At last, I finally get to talk to you. I have wanted to talk with the female that has stolen my Rayn’s heart. I was so heartbroken for him when we thought it would be impossible for the two of you to be together. Rayn is a very serious man, and I knew he would never enter into a relationship with any female lightly. So when we heard about you, I knew his heart would be yours forever. Please, Maddie, accept my apologies for not showing excitement about the two of you before, but we are so thrilled. And the rest of the family cannot stop talking about you, my dear.”
“Thank you, Ma’am, but they have captivated me in return. I just love being with them. Rayn has stolen my heart as well. I was so thrilled to find out about my bloodlines. I didn’t think I could stand to be away from him another day.”
“The stories I’ve heard from all of them tell me that you are very brave, and we look forward to you and Rayn being united.”
“Your family has made me feel as if I’ve always known them. They’ve made me feel like one of them.”
The two women talked for a while, and then, they made their way back to the family where Sharra intercepted Maddie and latched on to her.
“Maddie, let me show you to your room now. I didn’t know if you wanted to freshen up or anything,” Sharra suggested. “I’ve had your things taken up already.”
“Oh, I didn’t even know we’d be staying here.”
“Well, we came prepared just in case, so you’ll have everything you need.”
Maddie followed Sharra up another flight of steps, and they went down a corridor that was filled with marble busts of many men. “Who are they?” Maddie wanted to know.
“Oh, those are all of our past Leaders; well, not all of them, only the ones we had room for up here,” Sharra said with a laugh.
She turned down another corridor and then stopped in front of a door, pushing it open. She ushered Maddie into a bedroom that was fabulously appointed. It was elegant with rich fabrics and soft rugs scattered everywhere. The bed, of course, was massive with sheer gossamer fabric draped all around it. There were beautiful oil paintings and artifacts everywhere, and the furniture was intricately carved and inlaid in gold. It took Maddie’s breath away.
“Sharra, this is so lovely. I am truly overwhelmed.”
Sharra scoffed, “Maddie, it is just a room. Come over here so I can show you the bath. The shower is a bit different from the kind on Earth.”
The bathroom was massive, with every amenity one could possibly need. There was a huge tub, which looked like a whirlpool, but the shower was quite strange. It was a big glass enclosure, but it didn’t have a shower head.
“So, this is what you do. When you get inside, slide the door until it clicks. Then, you see those buttons in the corner? Just push the top one, and you can voice command the rest. If you want it hotter, just say, ‘hotter,’ and if the pressure isn’t hard enough, simply say, ‘more pressure.’ Any questions?”
“What about towels?”
“Oh, right. We do not use towels after a shower here. On the corner by the slider, you will see another button. Just push it, and it will produce an airflow that will dry you that way. Let me know if that does not suit you. We can always arrange for you to have towels. Oh, one other thing: when you are dried, on the opposite corner from the drier is another set of buttons that will dispense body moisturizer. It comes out in a vapor, like a cloud. And I must show you one last thing.”
Sharra pulled her back down the hall that led to the bedroom and stopped in front of a series of controls on the wall.
“This is where you come if you would like some refreshments. You just tap this button and then select what you want, food or beverage. The compsys will ask you what exactly you want. Watch,” she explained as she started pushing the buttons.
“You have ordered a large coffee with sugar and cream. Would you care for anything else?” the computer asked.
Maddie, mouth agape, yelled out, “You have got to be kidding me! Is this for real?”
“Yes, truly, it is for real. Watch this.”
“I would also like a fruit split.”
“Um, Shar, I think you might mean a banana split.”
“Yes, well that too.”
Suddenly, in a slight indentation in the wall, a large coffee and a banana split appeared.
Sharra left Maddie to herself, so she disrobed and headed for the shower. It took a little bit of adjusting, but she got the shower exactly right. For the life of her, she could not figure out where the water came from. It hit her everywhere, but there wasn’t a single nozzle. Totally bizarre! Then when she dried herself, she couldn’t figure out how the drier worked. She didn’t feel any airflow, but in seconds, her skin was completely dry. The same thing happened with the moisturizer—it came out of nowhere like a cloud.
She loved this technology; it was awesome! Now, she didn’t have a robe. What could she put on? Aha! There was a black silk robe hanging on the door, so she grabbed it and was enveloped in the scent of Rayn. Yum, she thought. But his robe shouldn’t be in here; this was her room.
Maddie walked out of the bathroom, and Rayn was in the room waiting for her, smiling.
“Oh my gosh! Is this your room? I’m confused. I thought…”
“No, Maddie. This is
our
room. Is that okay?”
“Seriously? We’re sharing a room here?”
“Oh, I’m going to be sleeping in the guest room until we are united. Then, we will stay together here. I would prefer for us to be together, but it isn’t proper. By the way, you look beautiful in that robe.”
“I knew it was yours. I could smell you. I didn’t have anything else to put on. I don’t know where my clothes are.”
“That is just fine with me.” Rayn liked the idea of Maddie wearing his things, and she looked perfect in them too. In fact, she did the robe much more justice than he could ever hope to.
“I talked to my father about our unification, and he said anything is fine with him. You need to decide what kind of ceremony and celebration you would like to have.”
“Rayn? Are you sure about all of this? I feel like I’m too young and inexperienced for this. Back home, no one gets married at my age. Well, at least they don’t unless they have to because, well, because they are pregnant or something.”
“That is not the way of things here. I am totally and completely ready for this, but, Maddie, I want you to be sure of things.”
“I’m sure of my feelings for you, and I know I don’t want to be apart from you ever again.”
Rayn wanted to make sure she was making the right decision on this. “Do you want to wait a bit before we do this?” he inquired.
“I don’t know. At times, I think I do, but then, when I think that, I feel myself wondering why. I guess I just want someone to make the decision for me.”
“Maddie, I want you to be happy, and any decision you make will be fine with me. So should we start planning this or wait?”
“I think we should plan it, but let’s not do it for several months. Would that be okay?”
Rayn tried to hide his disappointment. If he had his way, he would be joined with Maddie by tomorrow night. He could, however, understand her feelings about all of this, and he wanted their unification to be exactly what she wanted.
“We can do whatever you want. I believe this is what you humans would call an engagement, correct?”
“Yes, exactly. On Earth, we would be engaged for sometimes up to a year.”
“Do you want to wait that long?” Rayn asked incredulously.
“Ha! You couldn’t handle that, could you?”
“Maddie, even though it would test my, let us say patience, for lack of a better term, I would do anything for you, and that includes waiting that long.”
He’s so thoughtful
, she thought. But she would never do that to him. “I don’t want to wait that long, Rayn. I was just teasing.”
“Thank the Deity! I think I would go crazy being around you and not being able to be with you in every way. So, getting back to our original conversation. I want you to have the type of ceremony and celebration you want.”
“I don’t think I can do that. I don’t know anything about how it works here. On Earth, I would have wanted a church wedding and then a reception, but not too big.”
“We can get Sharra to help.”
“Only if she promises not to go overboard.”
Rayn headed for the door. “Shar, where are you? Are you up here?” He was banging on her door.
“Geez, can’t a girl take a nap?” Sharra came back at him.
“We need your help!”
It was decided that Sharra would be the wedding planner. The unification would take place in two months at sunset, and the celebration would be immediately following. There would be food, drink and dancing for all. Unfortunately, for Maddie, it would be a bit larger than she really wanted, due to Rayn’s station in life. It would be rude of his family not to invite a great many people, and the ceremony itself would be open to all who wanted to attend, befitting the son of the world leader.
Maddie would wear the traditional garments of Vesturon; she would wear a gown and no shoes, as was dictated by tradition. Her hair would be arranged as it was for the trial, and she would wear the gold armbands. She would have a tiara of jewels in her braided coronet, and her ears and ring fingers would bear the jewels of the family as well. Sharra took care of all the planning, and Annalise helped. The wedding would take place on the palace grounds by the reflection pools, overlooking the vineyards with the mountains in the background. The celebration would take place immediately after the ceremony, with plenty of food and wine for the guests.
That afternoon, Maddie and Rayn went to visit her grandparents. It was an emotional time for all, and Lysandra and Taruk couldn’t believe how fortunate they were. It was a sweet reunion, and they were excited about the upcoming wedding with Taruk agreeing to escort Maddie down the aisle in the Earthly tradition.
There was so much for the three of them to discuss, but Maddie was physically exhausted, as it had been a truly eventful day for her.
Rayn and Maddie rode back to the palace and headed to dinner. It was a bit frenetic, with bits of conversation flying everywhere. Luckily for all the Yarristers, Maddie didn’t have any accidents or catastrophes with her food. Sometimes she was known for having things fly off her plate and making a mess for the other diners.
Shortly after dinner, Maddie excused herself and headed up to bed. Rayn accompanied her, with the intention of chatting with her a bit. It was not to be. Maddie was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow. She had tried to stay awake, but the huge bed was so soft and comfortable. Besides, with Rayn holding her, she didn’t stand a chance.