by Madison Faye
I frowned, glancing around the room as if I’d find whoever I was sure had been in there with her. But the place was empty — no other doors, no closets, nothing. Maybe I had imagined it? Maybe I’d really just heard Lola smacking her shin on the desk and just imagined it was something much more sordid than that? Maybe recent events with Sven had my mind in a very dirty place?
“Okay, whatever.” I shook my head. “We have to go.”
“And where are we going?”
“Callie’s getting married.”
Lola gave me a funny look. “Yeah, no shit. It’s her wedding da—”
“Not to Milton,” I hissed.
“Are you seri-ooh,” she coughed, clearing her throat. “Are you serious?”
“Very.” I frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Mhmm!” She nodded quickly before she frowned. “Wait so who the hell is Callie marrying then?”
I glanced around. “King Hayden,” I whispered heatedly.
This time, I knew I hadn’t imagined the sudden thumping sound that came from under the desk Lola was sitting at. My brows raised, but Lola just coughed loudly, clearing her throat again in that over-the-top way.
“Sorry, stubbed my toe. Wait, Callie is marrying King Hayden? Today?”
“Yeah, like right now,” I was staring at the desk as I spoke to her, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “So let’s go, okay?”
“I’ll, uh, I’ll meet you there okay?”
I stared at her, my brow furrowed. “Dude, are you feeling okay?”
She nodded.
“Are you high or something?”
Lola blushed. “No, I just have to do something, and I’ll meet you there.”
“You don’t even know where…” I shook my head. “Will you just get off your ass and follow—”
And then my eyes landed on the arms of the chair she was sitting in, and something hot tingled through me. Lola’s wrists were tied to the chair, with these two deep royal blue pieces of cloth.
“Okay what is—”
I suddenly noticed the little gold crests on the two scarves tying her wrists, and my jaw dropped.
…The crest was that of the Duke of Bandiff — as in, Duke Xavier, Lola’s much older, very stern, very gorgeous guardian.
Oh holy shit.
My eyes dragged back to hers, and this time, I knew what I saw in her face. This time, I saw the same flush, and the same heat, and the same nervous giddy excitement that I knew had been on my face ever since Sven had put his hands on me, and kissed me.
“I’ll see you there,” she whispered again, her eyes wide and her face bright red. And this time, I just grinned at her as my eyes darted back to the desk.
“Yeah, uh, I’ll see you there,” I mumbled, grinning away at her.
“TELL ME LATER,” I mouthed at her, watching her blush get even redder as she nodded quickly.
I slipped back out the door, closing it behind me as I let the air out of my lungs.
Okay, what the hell was going on at this wedding? Callie was running off with not the man she was supposed to marry. I was being carried away by the dominant, gorgeous King Sven instead of the sleazy prince my parents had set me up with. And I’d just walked in on Lola looking like she’d just gotten laid, tied to a chair with her guardian’s scarves.
…I mean what was in the water at this damn palace?
I turned and ran down the hall, determined to find Faith and then get to the library in time for Callie’s real wedding.
“Riley!”
Shit.
I winced at the sound of my mother’s voice, coming from behind me the second I stepped foot into the main ballroom. I knew I never should have shown my face in there, but I had to find Faith, and I’d figured the actual wedding party was probably the best place.
Yeah, whoops.
I turned to smile thinly at my mother, wearing every single piece of glittery jewelry she had, a cosmo or something close to it slushing around a martini glass in her hand. I’d always been standoffish when it came to “acting the part” of being royalty, but my mother — both my parents, actually — were the exact opposite. My mother lived for shit like royal weddings and functions — any place where she could rub elbows with others of means and titles and maybe get her picture taken for a gossip magazine. And my father was no different — only getting drinks at “the” places to be seen having a drink with the king of wherever, or the prince of who-cares.
It’s not that I ever wanted to disappoint them, I just could never get behind that whole vapid, money-flashing world of royalty that they subscribed too. You could be royal and not be a fake, preening, shallow asshole. I mean look at Sven.
And I knew they weren’t trying to punish me or anything by wanting me to marry Prince Franklin. In fact, I knew they thought they were giving me this amazing gift by setting up a marriage with someone higher up the royal food chain. But they also weren’t listening to me. They weren’t getting that I really didn’t want this.
“Where have you been?” my mother hissed. She reached out, grabbing my arm tight and pulling me close as she glared at me.
“Hey!”
I tried to pull my arm free of her sudden grip, but she held on tight.
“You can’t just run off, Riley!”
“Um, yes, I can. I had to get some air, and—”
“You were so rude to Prince Franklin, dear!”
Oh, that.
“Mom—”
“This whole day was for you and him to get to know each other—”
“See I thought today was about someone else’s wedding.”
My mother set her jaw, glaring at me. “You blew him off, dear.”
“I did not, I just had to—”
“You blew him off and ran off with…” Her face paled, and she actually fanned herself as she sighed. “With King Sven, dear? Do you know how that looks?”
I rolled my eyes. “I mean he is a king, mother. I would think you’d be happy for me.”
“Oh don’t be smart with me, young lady,” she hissed back. “That man is not a king.”
“No I’m pretty sure he is.”
“Not in the real way, dear. Not in the way it matters.”
I barked out a laugh. “You mean because his father earned the title and it wasn’t just handed to him through fifty generations?”
“I mean exactly that,” she snapped. “And you running off with him, well, my God, Riley. Can you imagine what people might think?”
I wanted to say that I very much doubted their imaginations could even compare to the reality, but I bit it back.
“Now you listen to me,” my mother said tightly. “You are not going to ruin this, okay? Your father and I worked very hard to set this up for you, and you are not just going to—”
“Well no one asked you to set it up for me!”
She sighed dramatically. “You are a duchess, Riley.”
“Yes?” I muttered. “And?”
“And does duchess sound like princess to you? Does it sound like queen?”
I groaned. “Mom—”
“Well does it?”
“And what if I don’t want Prince Franklin?”
“Then you make do.”
I shook my head at her. “Is that what you did, Mom? Make do?”
“It's what we all do, honey. It’s part of being in the royal class.”
“Well, it’s not what I do.”
She sighed, smiling a little at me as she squeezed my hand. “No, you’ve always been my wild child, Riley. But, it’s time to settle down.” She gave me a sharp look. “It’s time to think about your future.”
I looked away, and all I could think of was Sven, and the way I felt even just thinking about him.
“Mom,” I said quietly. “What if there’s, you know…” I bit my lip. “What if there’s someone…”
“Someone else?”
I nodded.
“Dear, there might be. But duty is duty.”
“Duty?”
“To move up, dear.”
I shook my head. “Was there ever anyone else for you? You know, before you married Dad?”
My mother bristled, but she just shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, dear.”
“Well, what if you’d followed your heart instead of duty?”
“Then we’d be quite poor,” she snapped, blushing as she took a large sip of her drink. “He was a painter, and not a very good one.”
I smiled.
“Look, can you just drop it for now, and we can talk about ‘moving up’ and Prince Franklin later?”
Time was ticking, and I had a friend’s secret wedding to get to, after all. That and all I wanted after all this talk about me “marrying who I should” was Sven’s arms around me and is lips on mine.
My mother’s look hardened, and her lips pulled tight.
“I’m afraid we can’t, dear.”
I frowned. “What?”
“What she means is…”
I whirled as my father strolled up behind us, his stern eyes narrowed at me. “What your mother means is, we’ve already decided to fix what you almost broke today. I mean honestly, Riley, running away from Prince Franklin today? I mean what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I didn’t want to marry someone that you guys picked out for me!”
“You will warm to the idea, I promise you,” he muttered. “Now let’s go.”
“Uh, go where?”
My father pursed his lips as he turned back to me. “As I said, your mother and I have fixed what you almost broke. We’ve smoothed things over with Prince Franklin.”
“Yippee,” I muttered dryly. “What’d you do, send him flowers?”
My father’s sharp gaze held steady on me.
“No, Riley,” he said thinly. “But we did move the wedding up.”
A chill tingled down my spine.
“What?”
“We moved the wedding date up. To speed this whole thing up before you do something to jeopardize this family.”
“What?” I hissed, yanking my arms back from both of them and shaking my head at my parents. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m completely serious,” he said icily, glancing at my mother before turning back to me. “I won’t watch you ruin your future!”
“This is insane!”
I was starting to yell, but I didn’t care.
“Lower your voice, dear!” my mother hissed.
“So when is this stupid fucking wedding, huh?” I hissed, not even caring how loud I was being.
“Riley—”
“No! You tell me exactly when I have to pretend to—”
“Right now.”
My father’s voice hit me like a slap to the face. I blinked, my mouth moving but no words coming out of it for a second or two.
“What?”
“Right now, Riley,” he said quietly. “We’ll have a formal party or ball later, but for the immediate, you’re going to marry Prince Franklin, and you are going to do it immediately. He’s actually waiting for you right now in King Milton’s chapel, along with the palace priest.”
“This…” My whole world spun, and suddenly, I couldn’t breathe.
Sven. The words we’d said. The things we’d done. The future we’d whispered about, and the future I saw with him. It suddenly felt like all of that was dashing to the ground around me like glass.
“This is insane,” I croaked out, my head spinning along with everything else as I staggered on my feet. “You— you can’t just—”
“I can,” my father hissed. “And I will. Now move.”
Chapter 11
Riley
This isn’t real.
Except, it was. Everything about it was real — the room, my parents standing there nodding like I needed encouragement. Prince Franklin. The priest. All of it right there in front of me like some sort of living nightmare.
The man I loved — the man I really loved, as quick as it’d happened and as hard as I’d fallen — was off watching my friend and his friend find true love. And here I was, about to be shackled to a man I had no interest in. I felt like I was being sold off — the fate that’d awaited Callie before King Hayden had apparently swooped in to save her. My knight in shining armor didn’t even know I was being taken from him though, and by the time he found out, I had the feeling it’d be too late. By then I might be “Mrs. Smothers,” Princess of Purn.
“You’ll see, my love.”
I blinked, slowly focusing on Prince Franklin, standing in front of me with this smug, cocky, obnoxious smile on his face.
“This is bullshit,” I hissed at him.
“This is how things should be,” he smiled. “How princes and princesses should be matched. You’ll be mine, and birth my heirs. You’ll warm my bed—”
“The fuck I will,” I spat, my hands balling to fists.
“Riley!” my mother hissed from behind me. “Manners!”
“You’ll see,” Prince Franklin said with a dismissive sigh. “You’ll be happy, dearest. I know it.”
“No I won’t,” I said quietly. I knew what happiness was, and this wasn’t it. Happiness was his arms. Happiness was Sven, and his lips on mine, and his heart beating against mine.
“You will, eventually. You’ll see how much you’ll like being my dutiful queen.”
I cringed.
“Well then!” The priest, an older man with a greying beard, stepped forward, beaming at us like this was a happy occasion. “Shall we begin?”
“No,” I spat.
“Yes,” Prince Franklin chuckled, as if I’d made a joke. The Priest gave me a sidelong glance, his brow furrowing before Prince Franklin cleared his throat. “I believe I said yes, father.”
The priest cleared his throat. “Of course, Your Highness.”
This was it. I’d come so close to touching real, actual happiness. And love. I’d held it in my hands for one day, and now it was over. Now, the reality of what was expected of me in life was coming up to drag me down — that it was my “duty” to “marry up.” I wanted to run away, but I knew deep down there was no running from this fate, not in the world I’d been born into. I wanted to scream, too, but I knew it wouldn’t do anything but slow things down.
“Ready to be mine, dearest?” Prince Franklin said cheerily.
Never, I thought bitterly. Because I’m already someone else’s.
“We’re gathered here today,” the priest began. Prince Franklin reached out and took my hands, making my stomach knot as my heart sank.
“To join in union these two—”
“Like fucking hell you are.”
It was like someone had come in swinging, smashing the walls down of this prison I was being pushed into. It was like his voice alone had torn the roof off the whole thing, letting the sunlight shine in and chase away the shadows.
I whirled, my heart in my throat, to see him standing in the doorway, eyes blazing, jaw clenched furiously, and muscles rippling.
Sven.
My heart.
“What is the meaning of this!” My father roared, jumping to his feet and jabbing a finger at Sven as he marched into the room.
“You!” Prince Franklin screeched at the big king, grabbing my hand forcibly and trying to yank me behind him. “What in the hell do you think you’re—”
“Let go of her.”
Sven’s voice was like steel and fire, his eyes flashing heat as he leveled them at Franklin.
“Now.”
The Prince’s hand dropped from mine like I’d electrocuted him.
“And if your hand ever touches her again,” Sven growled lowly, moving right into the trembling prince and snarling the words into his face, “I will remove your hands from your person. Is that understood?”
Franklin nodded quickly.
“Say you understand.”
“I— I understand, okay!?” The words squeaked out of the arrogant prince’s mouth.
Sven pushed him aside, and suddenly, like a dream, I was melting into his arms again. I gasped, falling into him and holding him so tight as those big, powerful, protective arms circled me, pulling me tight.
“What is the meaning of this?”
King Sven turned towards my parents — my mother white-faced horrified looking, holding a hand to her mouth, and my father looking beet-red and furious, a finger jabbed at Sven.
“And just what in the holy hell do you think you’re doing!” he snapped at the man holding me.
“Taking her with me,” Sven said plainly, standing tall and unblinking.
My father sputtered. “She most certainly is not—”
“She is.”
I gasped as he pulled me around, whirling me in his arms as my heart sang.
“This might sound crazy, but…” He grinned as he pulled me close, my body melting into him and eyes locked with his. “Would I be as in love with you as I am if I didn’t like a little crazy?”
“Just a little, huh?” I bit my lip, my heart racing as I held him tight.
“Lots. I like a lot of crazy.”
“You sure about that?” I breathed, my skin tingling and my pulse skipping as I lost myself in those eyes. “I’ve been told I’m hard to handle.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
He moved in, and when his lips touched mine, the whole world melted around us. I pressed my mouth to his, kissing him deeply, and hungrily, letting every single emotion I hadn’t said out loud flow through my lips to his. His arms circled me, shielding me from the whole world as everything else but him, and me, and that kiss melted away.
“Unhand my daught—”
Sven broke away, whirling towards my furious looking parents.
“You want you daughter married today? Right here and right now?”
“Wh— no, I— sir, this is…” My father stumbled and stuttered over his words, his face bright red.
“Well yes,” my mother threw back. “But not to—”
“Done.”
Sven whirled back to me, and my jaw dropped.
“Wait, you’re serious.”
“Completely serious, angel,” he growled, holding my hands in his. “Be my queen. Be my love, forever.”
It felt like everything else went still around us. It was like it was just him and me in this little bubble, the heat of my pulse hammering though me and my heart beating a mile a minute.