The Queen Slave (14 page)

The next couple of months went by in a blur for Neenah. She spent most of her time planning the wedding and since the next school term had not yet started, Nylia and Keera spent most of their time her helping out. Max tried to convince Neenah to hire a wedding planner so that it would be easier on her, but she refused, saying that it was her wedding and she wanted to plan the entire thing on her own.

The doctor finally gave Neenah a clean bill of health, so the wedding was scheduled to take place in two months. Wedding invitations were sent out to all of Max’s business associates and family, and Neenah had managed to track down some distant relatives that had not lived on the planet, Anthar; therefore, they had not been captured and sold into slavery with the rest of the planet’s small population. She had also managed to track down the whereabouts of her hand maiden and convinced Max to buy her from her owner, emancipate her, and then hire her to be Neenah’s hand maiden once again.

Nylia and Keera arrived the morning that they were to go shopping for dresses, chattering excitingly in the hall while waiting to be let into Neenah’s apartment. They walked in on Max and Neenah having a discussion about the day’s planned activities.

“Neenah, are you sure that this is how you want to shop for dresses? You know that you can just have one of the tailors from my design company come in and design and make the dresses for you.”

“Yes, dear, I know that we can do that, but it is not as much fun as actually going shopping and trying on different dresses.”

“I know, but you know how much I hate you being out and about without me.”

“You worry too much. You have already assigned more security than we need. I will be perfectly safe the entire time.”

“Oh, all right. You win; just promise me that you will stay in sight of the security detail at all times.”

“I promise. Now, you need to get on to work and me and the girls need to get going. We have got a full day ahead of us.”

The women met the security detail at the launch and headed off for their first stop of the day.

They walked into the boutique and were immediately surrounded by salesgirls who could smell a huge sale the way sharks could sense blood in water. “Can I help you?” asked an older lady who was obviously the store manager.

“Yes,” said Neenah. “We would like to see what you offer in wedding gowns and bride’s maid’s dresses.”

“Absolutely, if you will come have a seat in the viewing room, my sales girls will get your sizes and then we will bring different outfits for you to see.”

They spent the next hour watching as the sales girls brought dress after dress, first the bride’s maid’s dresses and then the wedding gowns. They laughed and giggled at some of the more outrageous styles and oohed and ached at the more beautiful ones. After making a few selections, they took turns trying on the different outfits and making notes of the ones that they liked the best.

They repeated this at several shops throughout the day and then sat down for supper in a fancy restaurant to discuss and decide which of the dresses would be the best choice. For the dresses for the two bride’s maids, they decided that the deep blue, off the shoulder velvet gown was the best choice.

Choosing the bridal gown was a bit more difficult. They finally decided that they had to go back and give a second look to three of the gowns, two being in the same shop, before they could choose which one they liked best. They arrived at the first shop and decided to have Neenah try one of the dresses on while Nylia (who was closer to the same body build) would try on the other dress so that they could see them side by side to compare. They studied the two dresses for a good bit and Neenah decided that she did not have to go see the third dress again because she really loved the one that she was wearing. After deciding upon her dress, they took several minutes to pick out a gorgeous matching veil and shoes.

Once they had purchased the wedding gown, they returned to the shop that had the blue bride’s maid’s dresses and purchased them along with matching shoes. Their shopping done, they piled back into the launch and headed home, exhausted from the long day of shopping and giddy over their beautiful purchases.

Max knew the moment they arrived back at the apartment because they entered laughing uproariously over a joke that Nylia had heard at a bar the night before. They laid their packages on the bed and collapsed on the floor pillows in a fit of giggles. After they had composed themselves, Keera excused herself for a moment and went searching for Max.

She knocked on the door of his office and entered when invited. “Max… man it feels weird calling you that.
Anyway, I know that you said you would not be depositing any extra money in our accounts aside from your monthly one, but I wanted to ask a favor of you. Nylia and I would really like to buy Neenah a wedding gift, but even with both of our money pooled we are a little short. We are not asking for extra money really, more like an advance on next month’s installment. I know that you are going above and beyond already in what you do for us, but we really want to get Neenah something special.”

“I think, just this once, I can bend my rules a little bit. How about if I go ahead and deposit next month’s full installment in your accounts a little early? Will that be enough to cover what you want to get her?”

“Oh yes, that will be plenty, and we both have already figured up a budget for the next month so that we will not run out of money. Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.”

“Okay, I will take care of that immediately so that the money will be in your accounts and available to you by in the morning.”

Keera ran excitedly out of the room, bursting to tell Nylia the good news but knowing that she would have to wait so as not to spoil the surprise for Neenah.

Chapter Nine

The next morning, Max informed Neenah that they would be having visitors for the day.

“Visitors?” inquired Neenah. “Who?”

“My parents are coming to visit. They want to meet my bride to be.”

“I wish you had given me a little more notice Max! I could have used some time to prepare for this. I am not sure that I can do this Max. I mean, think about it. What is your family going to think about you marrying a former sex slave?”

“Don’t worry about it my love. I mean, think about it for a minute. I never rented you out to anyone, so you actually weren’t used as a slave.”

“Except for the Droigoirds,” scowled Neenah.

“They do not count! You were abducted and held against your will. My parents are not going to judge you for that. They will love you. I know it. I can guarantee that they are tickled pink that I am marrying someone with royal blood.”

“Huh,” Neenah scoffed as she hurried into the bathroom to get ready for the visitors. She wanted to look her best. She spent quite a while making sure that her hair and make-up looked just right and then took at least half an hour to decide on which outfit to wear. Max finally picked an outfit out of the closet and handed it to her saying, “Wear this; you look absolutely stunning in it.”

Neenah was ready only minutes before the buzzer sounded, alerting them to the arrival of Max’s parents. “We will entertain them in the living area,” Max said. It was a room that they almost never used. Neenah preferred the more comfortable bedroom to lounge in when Nylia and Keera came to visit and for spending quality time with Max.

Neenah perched nervously on the edge of the sofa, waiting for her hand maiden to bring Max’s parents into the room. Within a minute, they were entering the door and Max moved forward to shake his dad’s hand and hug his mother. He then introduced Neenah, and she stood as both his mother and father shook her hand.

“It is so nice to finally meet you Neenah,” said Max’s mother. “We have heard so much about you.”

‘I bet you have,’ thought Neenah.

The next couple of hours were spent with Max’s parents chatting with him about business and asking Neenah questions about Anthar and what it was like to grow up as a Princess and become a Queen. Neenah was pleasantly surprised at how Max’s parents were treating her. They did not seem bothered by the fact that Max originally bought her as a sex slave (she wondered if they were aware of the reasoning behind it) nor by her abduction.

Lunch was served and talk turned to the wedding and honeymoon plans. “Where are you taking her for your honeymoon?” Max’s mother asked.

“I can’t tell you that right now, Mom. It is a surprise for Neenah. I will fill you in later.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent in pleasant conversation and then his parents left with promises to see them at the wedding the following weekend. Neenah was very happy that his parents acted so accepting of her and hoped that they were not putting on an act to please their son.

“See, that was not so bad now, was it?” teased Max.

“I guess not. It went rather painlessly, I have to admit.”

The next seven days passed rather quickly, Neenah seeing to last minute wedding details and Max taking care of business and finalizing their honeymoon arrangements.

The morning of the wedding dawned bright and glorious, and Neenah was awakened by the sound of the buzzer. A few moments later, Nylia and Keera came rushing into the room, giggling and hollering, “Wake up, it’s your wedding day!!”

“What time is it?” Neenah groggily asked.

“It is almost nine, get up!” replied Keera.

Neenah rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to take a quick shower in order to get woke up. She strolled back into the bedroom a short time later, more alert and conscious of the fact that she was getting married today. Neenah’s hand maiden breezed into the room from the kitchen and informed them that breakfast was ready and that they had better hurry up and eat because the beauticians that were coming to do their hair would be there soon.

They rushed through breakfast and had just finished eating when the hand maiden entered the room, informing them that the beauticians had arrived. The next hour flew by as Nylia, Keera, and Neenah all got their hair styled. Neenah’s beautician went ahead and placed the veil so that it would not have to be done later, and she pinned it in place so that it would stay.

The women who were doing their
make-up arrived next and took care of that aspect, making sure that all three women’s natural beauty was enhanced and not covered up by what they applied. Afterwards, they gathered up their dresses and accessories and headed out to the launch pad to shoot off to the wedding location.

The wedding was being held in a beautiful church that was hundreds of years old. An anteroom up at the front was where Neenah and her maids would finish preparations. Neenah’s hand maiden was waiting to help her put on her wedding gown. It was a stunning gown, fabric of white silk. It featured exquisite Schiffli lace on the bodice, skirt, and short cap sleeves. The bodice was heavily embellished with pearls and sequins and displayed a modified sweet heart neckline.

The slightly dropped waistline and the hemline had a classy scalloped edge. The full A-line skirt was covered with a gauzy chiffon overlay that was decorated with embroidered silver and gold roses and extended into a cathedral length train. Covered buttons accented the back of the dress from the bottom of the neckline to the end of the train. Her head piece was a magnificent tiara adorned with marquise shaped diamonds, elegantly swirled silver rhinestone design, and white pearls, which were paired with a fabulous two tier elbow length chiffon veil.

The bride’s maid’s dresses were also stunning in their own way, though obviously not as majestic as the bridal gown. The off the shoulder gown was made of deep blue velvet and had a draping
A-line skirt with train detailing that gracefully puddled to the floor.

A flurry of activity surrounded Neenah as last minute preparations were taking place. Nylia was buttoning

Neenah’s dress and Keera was making adjustments to her veil. They looked at each other and nodded, knowing that it was time to give Neenah the wedding gift that they had bought her.

“Neenah, tradition says that on your wedding day, you should wear
something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. You borrowed a handkerchief from Max, so that took care of old and borrowed, and we have something for you that will take care of the other two,” said Keera as she handed Neenah a box wrapped in shiny silver wrapping paper.

“Oh, you guys, you did not have to do this!” cried Neenah.

“We know,” said Nylia, “but you did something nice for us and we wanted to do something nice for you in return. Besides, you are our friend and we love you.”

Neenah opened the box to find a spectacular set of topaz earrings and a matching necklace. “Oh wow, these are beautiful. Thank you so much!” said Neenah as she reached out to hug her two friends. Keera took the box from her and took out the necklace and then handed the box to Neenah so she could put on the earrings while Keera put the necklace on her.

One of the groom’s attendants knocked on the door to let them know that it was time to begin and that they needed to get in place for the processional. Neenah did not have a close family member, so she had asked her doctor to escort her down the aisle. She had become very fond of the little old man while he was taking care of her following her rescue, and she had come to think of him as the closest thing she had to a father. He grinned at her as she took her place beside him in the processional line.

“You look absolutely marvelous, little lady,” said the doctor. “If I was forty years younger, I would marry you myself.”

Neenah chuckled and placed a kiss on his wrinkled forehead. “You are just too sweet.”

Neenah drew in a shaky breath as the processional music began. The past year of her life had been filled with emotional upheaval with the attack of her planet and her subsequent selling into slavery and then her abduction by the Droigoird and the rescue by Max, but she felt that she had come full circle. She was about to marry a wonderful man and one that she loved very much. She was looking forward to spending the rest of her life with him.

The ceremony went off without a hitch and many of those attending said that it was the most beautiful wedding that they had ever attended. The media representatives were there in full force, every one wanting the story of the Queen who became a slave and then the wife of one of the richest and most eligible bachelors in several galaxies not to mention also wanting pictures and video of the majestic couple’s nuptials.