When Coco swept forward in her own gown of ivory—with flowers braided into her black curls—the warmth in my chest bloomed tenfold. Exertion flushed her cheeks, and her dark eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked to Reid and Beau, lifting the sunflower bouquet from my seat. “It’s time.” She dipped her chin to Beau. “She’s waiting.”

With a smirk, Beau straightened his jacket and smoothed his immaculate waves. “Finally.” He clasped Reid’s shoulder before turning on his heel. “My moment to shine.”

Snorting, Coco rolled her eyes and said, “No one will be looking at you.”

He arched a wicked brow. “You will be.”

She lifted a casual shoulder, speaking over it as she strode back up the aisle. “We’ll see.”

“Yes, we—” He skidded to a halt in his pursuit of her, his eyes falling on Jean Luc. The spray on the latter’s chair had loosened, and he was attempting to reattach it. “Honestly, Jean, what did I tell you? We want it to appear artfully strewn, as if the daisies sprang up from this very chair. You’re tacking them on too neatly.” When Jean Luc scowled, unimpressed, Beau elbowed him aside to do it himself. “Like tits on a boar.”

“Careful, Your Majesty.” With a wry grin, Jean Luc tossed a handful of fallen edelweiss at his head. The King of Belterra lurched away with a violent curse, finger combing his hair frantically. “You’ll muss those luscious locks.”

“I will kill you—”

Coco caught his hand and dragged him up the aisle before they could brawl. Grinning despite myself, I followed them around the bend, where Lou stood out of sight with Madame Labelle, Célie, and Manon. Beau shook his head when he saw her, whistling low and appreciative. “Reid is going to lose his mind.”

Lou winked and shimmied her shoulders. “That’s the plan.”

Madame Labelle fixed one of her soon-to-be daughter’s curls, arranging it artfully around Lou’s freckled cheek. “You look beautiful, fille. I shall see you soon. Come.” She motioned for Célie and Manon to join her, leaving Lou, Coco, Beau, and me alone in the shadow of a withered pear tree. The only one that’d survived. When Reid had suggested holding the festivities here, Madame Labelle had protested, explaining again how Morgane had torched these trees in a fit of rage. Reid knew that, of course. He knew how love could twist even the most beautiful of people, of places, into cruel and dark things. He also knew how special this grove had once been to his mother—to all the Dames Blanches.

Lou had agreed, and together, they’d made it beautiful once more.

When Coco extended the sunflower bouquet, Lou’s grin dimmed slightly. Her finger traced the curve of the frame. “Do you think he’s watching?”

Coco looped an arm through hers. “I think he wouldn’t miss it for anything.”