Chapter 25

We walked in the double doors to a standing ovation. Jam and I started to hang back thinking that this ovation was for Roger. He stepped to one side with Angela. Both were smiling. My fiance and I walked forward to the King who had motioned us to his side.

We reached the middle of the room and he embraced each of us. He said, “Your Graces, Landers thanks you for your service. I am looking forward to your wedding. The two of you make a beautiful couple.” He smiled at us and waved us to seats being held by members of his staff. We sat down.

The King then called Prince Roger to come up. Roger kept Angela’s hand in his pulling her along. Roger said, “Angela, I love you.” He went to one knee. “This makes it official.” His father handed him a box containing a large diamond ring! He slipped the ring on her finger. “Angela, please confirm your agreement to marry me?”

“Yes, Roger. I’ll marry you and be your wife.” They kissed.

King Marcus announced, “Angela has agreed to marry Prince Roger here in Landers. We look forward to that event.”

He smiled. “They will be in the wedding of the Duchess and Duke who will be in their wedding.” He smiled. “Finally, my daughter, Princess Anna, will wed Mason Anderson. That wedding will also be here in Landers though they plan to live in the US.

With that, everyone sat down. The six of us and the King and another couple were at one large table. The other couple who I didn’t know were about King Marcus’ age or a little older. They weren’t involved in the conversations much. When the meal was finished and everyone stood, King Marcus led Jam and me to them and said, “Countess Agnes, I don’t believe you have been formally introduced to the Duchess and Duke of Meuse. Jar, Jam, the Countess is a cousin of mine.”

Jam gave her a slight bow saying, “Countess, it is a pleasure to meet you.” My fiance has a deep, friendly voice that is pleasant to hear. He is also very handsome. It would be difficult for a woman to ignore him. I don’t.

Countess Agnes was polite but ignored me. That suited me since I figured she might have helped in throwing young women at Roger. If she knew the hand I played in Angela’s meeting with Roger, she would like me less. I simply smiled. Her escort, who wasn’t introduced, did lean forward to kiss my hand. He smiled into my eyes though looked at little hungry. I had no intention of satisfying his appetite. Jam and I quickly returned to our hand holding.

Many other people came to speak to us and congratulate us on our upcoming wedding. We were asked to let the King’s secretary know when the date was set. We said that we had that plan since Anna, Roger, and the King were all going to be in the wedding.

When polite, we left for the sitting area. Since we were the first ones there, Jam and I took possession of the love seat. We sat there and made out a bit. Just Before the others entered, we had stopped to rest and get our breathing under control. When they all had entered, I asked, “Does anyone know the plan for tomorrow?”

Anna said, “Yes, after breakfast, we will take our prop plane to Brussels. We will have lunch there before getting on the jet for Atlanta. A limo is supposed to meet us and convey us to the Anderson’s house. I believe there are vehicles there for everyone to get to their homes. If not, we’ll work it out then if needed.”

In the morning, I dressed for traveling and packed. I had my pistol under the waistband of my pants in the small of my back. I would give it up when asked. I felt safer with it though hoped not to need it. I pulled my case into the sitting room and was joined by Angela pulling her case almost immediately.

“Good morning, Ange. I see you’re ready to go, too.”

“Roger and I talked about it. I figured it would be easier to coordinate the weddings if we’re all together. People here are only a phone call away. Also, I need to pack and talk with Mo so she can make plans.” I nodded. I heard a little noise outside the door.

Jam and Mason walked in. They weren’t pulling their cases so I figured that was the noise outside the door. Jam moved to my side and hugged me kissing my lips. “Let’s go down and eat breakfast. It’ll be our last time here for a while.” I nodded. We left holding hands followed by Mason and Angela. I saw that I was right. Their cases were in the hall.

We met Anna and Roger on the way to the dining hall. King Marcus was there. We all sat down for another great breakfast. King Marcus said, “I know that all six of you will be leaving this morning. I will miss each of you and look forward to your return. Anna and Roger’s weddings will be here and all of us will participate in Jar and Jam’s wedding in Georgia. I look forward to each reunion of this group and hope there will be plenty of times for all of you to get together in the future.”

We all hugged or shook hands with the King. Jam and I were last. Jam gave him a guy hug as they shook hands. I gave him a full body hug and kissed his lips. He was breathless. “Jam, how do you handle her?”

“I don’t. She handles me. It’s good.”

As we walked out, Captain Maes was there and I gave him the same goodbye hug and kiss. His usual stern countenance changed to a smiling one. Jam chuckled.

We gathered our cases and rolled them outside to waiting limos for the short ride to the Landers air field. The prop plane took off for Brussels landing there quickly. We then boarded the Landers jet which would fly us to Atlanta. We were served a great lunch on the jet. The flight was long and boring though very comfortable. I never like flying because I had always flown coach. The seats in coach are not made for adults but for skinny midgets. I’m not a midget nor skinny just an adult. Given a chance, I drove. If I could fly like this though, I would do so daily without complaint.

We landed in Atlanta late but had no trouble with customs. We were met by limos that took us to the Anderson’s home. Mason was, of course, home. Roger and Anna would stay there, too. That left the three of us.