Once Upon a Royal Wedding

by Laurie LeClair

  Peg snorted. “Dodged it this time. But I think I’m gonna need a lot of ice in that liquor later on tonight.”

  “Pajama party?” Rico clapped. “Here at the palace? How divine.”

  “Holy hot potatoes! Works for me, pal.” Peg leaned around Belle and held up her palm and Rico smacked it with his.

  “Vlog worthy.”

  Belle swallowed hard and swiveled to catch Stephan’s expression. Surprisingly, he contemplated it for a moment.

  “With some conditions, I don’t see why not.” Stephan drew another foot closer. “I’ll drop by your suite of rooms in the beginning and we can discuss the few limits.”

  “Nine?” Rico checked his watch. “Oh, how am I going to wait that long for a little sippy sip?”

  “Practice for now.” Belle swallowed hard at the flare in Stephan’s eyes. “Bowing. Curtsying.”

  “Of course.” Stephan bowed slightly with the utmost grace.

  Belle sighed. “You get a ten.”

  “Rating?” Rico chuckled. “How’s mine?” He proceeded to deliver.

  “Too much knee.” Peg gave them a dose of her own bow. “Straight back, bend at the waist, but only a few degrees, not in the I’m-going-to-hurl position like you’re so used to, bub.”

  “Very good, Peg.” Stephan’s praise caused a few moments of Rico and Peg sticking tongues out at each other.

  “Enough, you two.” Belle tried the official gesture and groaned. “It’s harder than it looks.”

  “Wait till you get a load of the curtsy.” Peg tried to balance as she put one foot back. “Holy cow, that smarts. My calves are cramping.”

  “Let me try.” Belle became concerned. She glanced at Deidre instructing her mother and tried to mimic it. All along the row, she noted how they all bobbed up and down, out of sync and rhythm, to replicate the exact movements.

  Stephan chuckled.

  “Don’t laugh.” But Belle’s lips tugged at the sight. “We’re trying.”

  “Nothing’s hopeless.” But he laughed outright now as Rico attempted the curtsy.

  She groaned, but continued for another twenty minutes until she was certain she’d gotten it down to a T. After all, she didn’t want to disappoint or embarrass Stephan.

  “Very good, everyone.” Deidre released a long breath. “That was…shall we say, a beginning.”

  “I don’t know about you but that physical stuff could be a workout all on its own—” Rico stopped himself. “Put it to music and you could have a dance. On the vlog.”

  Poor Deidre paled, took two steps backward, and then grabbed a nearby chair. “How…original…” She jerked her head to Stephan, obviously in distress.

  “Not happening.” He nodded to her. “Rico, no.”

  “That’s it? That’s all I get?” Her friend pouted.

  “It’s an order. How’s that?”

  Rico and Peg groaned.

  Belle nudged them both as they returned to their seats. “Don’t push it.”

  “Spoilsport.” Rico muttered a few more choice words.

  Stephan grinned. “A very colorful vocabulary, my friend.” He shook his head. “Not to be used outside of the confines of these walls in my wing.”

  “Yes, now that you’ve brought that up…” Deidre coughed to clear her throat. “There’s more to learn. Expectations, too, on who you can address and who you can’t—”

  “Like, rules? You can’t speak to certain people?” A slow burn low in Belle’s belly formed. She’d had her fill of this while growing up. Not history repeating itself. This person has more wealth and privilege than that one and especially me. That all boils down to who matters and who doesn’t.

  “It’s mostly dignitaries.” Stephan brushed it off.

  But the storm gathered inside her. “What about guards and servants?” Like her mother had been.

  Silence dropped in the room like a two-ton stone.

  “Of course you may.” He held her gaze. “Bella, you are free to talk to anyone you choose.”

  “You’re just saying that.” Somehow she sensed the lines weren’t crossed here at the palace—not in its entire territory.

  “I allow many things my father does not.”

  There, right before her, she witnessed the dagger of truth. Little things and much bigger, scarier things came into focus. They were up against a staunch society.

  Yes, her Stephan had been born into royalty and yes, he did carry on century-old traditions; however, he clearly resented many of the suffocating obligations.

  Now, he would break them, even if it were one by one.

  And even if that meant smashing the dearest-held royal legacy by marrying a commoner—her!

  Could she fit in? Could they ever belong together here?

  Chapter 6

  Stephan slept little, pacing through his bedroom, down the short hall, and then out to the parlor and back again. His mind raced with the day’s events and evening. Thankfully, it had ended early due to the jet lag of his future in-laws and Bella and her friends’ pajama party.

  The main reason he could not rest was alive and fraught with tension humming through the walls of the palace. Not once did his father acknowledge his own son’s presence, even after such a long absence. No note. No message. No invitation to join the man to talk. Nothing.

  To shun his guests—Stephan’s soon-to-be wife, family, and friends—seemed petty and mean-spirited. And it went against etiquette on all levels. However, to dismiss his own blood spoke volumes of his immense displeasure.

  His father’s lack of communication fueled the lifelong game of the invisible tug-of-war between them.

  Never once did the son bow down to the pressure over the years; Stephan lived his life on his own terms—his businesses, his charities, his choices. All guided by the sweet, haunting memory of his late mother and how she would want him to carry on with honor and dignity and integrity to serve his country and people.

  But how to convince his father to concede on this point—Stephan’s chosen bride—proved more than difficult. Maybe impossible.

  The burden in Stephan’s chest grew.

  His duty to his royal legacy or his Bella.

  Not everyone would be happy in the end no matter what he decided.

  Now, in the early morning hours, he softly knocked on Bella’s door. He heard some commotion, scuffling. Certainly there appeared some grumpy noises from Rico and Peg.

  He glanced at Oscar off to his left and shrugged. His trusty guard did the same, adding a quick smile.

  Yes, who knows what Bella would be up to?

  The door handle rattled and slowly turned.

  Stephan waited expectantly. But when the door cracked open, there was no one there.

  “Um, down here…” Bella, on her knees in pink pajamas with little lavender crowns and yellow half-moons on them, rubbed her eyes and then covered her mouth as she yawned.

  Chuckling, Stephan knelt to her level. “Good morning.”

  She sat back on her heels and blinked. “What time is it? And you’re dressed—very nice in that silver-gray suit and crisp white shirt. No tie today? Wait, why are you so handsome? I mean handsomely dressed?”

  His lips twitched until he couldn’t hold back his grin any longer. “Drunk? Hangover? It’s six o’clock, by the way.”

  “I had one drink, but it went straight to my head and… And what?”

  “Come with me?”

  “Now? Like this?” She plucked the fabric on her top and let it go. It billowed up and then settled back down again.

  “If you’d like. Or I can wait for you to get ready.”

  “Where to again?”

  “My real home—”

  “This is it, isn’t it?” She shook her head, her dark hair long and disheveled.

  Something stirred inside Stephan at the soft pink on her cheeks, the darker color of her lips, and the tangle of her hair. Images of her in his arms sparked to life, heating his blood. “You’re beautiful in the mornings, do you kno
w that?” It came out low and husky.

  It took less than a second for Bella to respond with a flare in her green eyes, striking him square in his gut. “Sexy talk? Gosh, Stephan, I’m a mess.”

  “A beautiful mess?”

  She held up her hand. “Now sweet-talking me? Give me twenty minutes.” Bella, still on her knees, scrambled around and crawled away.

  He had an incredible view of her cute backside. He must have groaned out loud; she halted, turned around quickly and then came back.

  “Not fair.” She eased the door shut.

  Rising, he grinned, shaking his head.

  Life would never be dull with his Bella.

  Stephan assisted Bella into the back of the royal limo—bold gold family crest on the door glimmering in the early morning sun and with the unmistakable flags flapping in the chilly air.

  The stoic driver and guard waited patiently at attention for their passengers. Oscar rounded the vehicle and entered on the other side, slipping quietly into the corner on the facing seat. Another car behind them was filled with four more guards for their protection.

  “Oh, I like an adventure.” Bella rubbed her hands together.

  On the long seat beside Bella now and with the sound of the definite click of the door behind him, Stephan gazed at her as she faced him, entwining her fingers with his. Her smile tugged at the corners of his heart. “How can you be so gorgeous with such short notice?”

  “I was late by two minutes.” She shrugged. “Quick shower—oh, did I tell you that pink marble everything is to die for in the bathroom? Even faster dresser. I learned that from all the alarms I missed before school. Just ask my mama. And the rest, I winged it.”

  “Well, you wing very well.”

  He chuckled and she joined in.

  Stephan took her in, from the top of her still damp hair gracefully pulled back in a high bun, every hair in place, to the light, skillfully applied soft makeup, and her fashionable navy coat over a matching sheath. Her wispy scarf contained muted hues of blue and lavender, with a touch of green sparkly threads throughout.

  “One of yours?” He touched the delicate material wrapped expertly around her neck.

  “Yes. I found this fabric and fell in love with it. The first chance I got, I made it for an extra credit project for design class.”

  “Amazing.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead as the driver drove the car out of the gates and onto the main street in front of the palace, picking up speed.

  “Ah, you missed a spot.”

  “Where?”

  “My lips.”

  A twitch tugged his. “As you wish.” He followed with a brush of his against hers and then back again.

  “Teaser.” She pressed a hand to his suit jacket and then drew it under so her palm was flush with his chest. Only the puny barrier of his white shirt separated them. “Your heart is beating so hard.”

  Heat spread from her palm and suddenly encompassed him. “Everything is, believe me.”

  She gasped.

  He quickly dove in, tasting every delicious inch of her lips and mouth. Stephan groaned when she returned the incredible, long, sensual kiss. In the background, he heard Oscar cough once or twice.

  Damn! He could get lost in time and place with his Bella.

  Slowly, he eased away from her mouth. He searched her dazed gaze. “Bella, do we have to wait such a long time for the wedding?”

  “No.”

  “No?” He’d never pressed her before—with the exception of the hastily suggested elopement—to suggest they throw caution and protocol to the wind. But after their lack of reception coming back to his country, Stephan realized they should be the ones to dictate what happened from this point forward.

  “I-I thought I would finish school, become a designer at King’s, help my mama retire, and go from there. Stephan, most of those things are already true. So, all right, I have classes and a degree to get still and I will. But why are we waiting to start our lives when all we want is to be together?” Her voice held a touch of desperation.

  “There’s no reason to…” Why indeed? To hell with everyone else and their expectations.

  Happier and more at ease than he thought he could be after returning to the palace on this trip, Stephan wrapped an arm around Bella’s shoulders and pointed out highlights of the countryside on the hour-long drive.

  She pressed against him as she gazed out the window. “That’s a really small cow in that field.”

  “It would be small if it were a cow, Bella. It’s a sheep. We raise many for their wool. And that’s a goat over there.”

  “I know my farm animals.” She poked him in the ribs with an elbow.

  “If you’re not careful, I will get bruises there.”

  Her smile spread and she snuck a peek at him from under her long, dark lashes. “I’ll kiss them and make them better, how’s that?”

  Stephan shifted to whisper low in her ear, “Be my guest. But just know where you’re leaning on my thigh—yes, that will require even more attention.”

  Bella sucked in a breath and jerked back. But there was a definite heat shimmering in her expressive eyes. “Not fair, Stephan.”

  “Why not? I will be delighted to direct you or even to display the necessary actions on you.” He longed for her, for that light and fire to build and burst, and for her to melt beneath him.

  “You are lethal, Stephan.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?”

  Her lips slowly lifted. “Now, I didn’t say that. But it has everything to do with timing.” She tilted her head in the direction of Oscar and then the occupants in the front.

  “True, my Bella.” He grinned. “For that, I think we’ll shave even more weeks off before the wedding.”

  “I hear Vegas is pretty cool.” She winked at him. “Elope? No fuss. No muss.”

  “That is very tempting…”

  She held up her hand. “I know. We can dream, right? Rico and Peg, not to mention my sweet mama, would be disappointed. And I want Lewis to walk me down the aisle.”

  “Good points.”

  “Also, I have this glamorous wedding dress—oops, you’re not supposed to know any of this—that is incredible and would look so out of place in a little white chapel.”

  “Decision made. Not Vegas. But sooner.”

  Stephan yearned for this to be over; however, he couldn’t rush this and ruin her memories of their special day.

  “The best of everything.”

  “No, Stephan, it doesn’t have to be the best. It just has to be with lots and lots of love and the people we love and who love us surrounding us.”

  She made it sound so simple and doable. And so enticing—a life with love in it.

  Strange how he looked at her and thought anything was possible, especially having a beautiful life together without obstacles in their way.

  Chapter 7

  The engine of the car shifted to a lower gear.

  Stephan glanced out the window and watched the rolling hills come into view and then the structures. Sweet memories tumbled in his mind. Home. His heart filled. “There, Bella—there’s my mother’s childhood cottage.”

  “It’s so beautiful and looks more like a castle with the twin turrets and the arch in the middle. All warm stone… And the surrounding gardens are gorgeous.”

  “I take it you like it.”

  “Of course. It’s perfect.”

  The clicks on the walkie-talkies snapped him back to the moment at hand. Fuzzy voices rushed down the lines. His guard in front answered.

  “What is it?” Stephan realized the royal limo following them had raced on ahead and had arrived first.

  “Sir, there’s cars and people lining the road ahead and near the gates. I’m sure they heard you were back in the country and assumed you’d come here soon after.”

  “Welcome wagon?” Bella grinned, slid across the seat, and then beckoned him to follow.

  He eased over to her. “You don’t mind us stopping,
do you?”

  “Can we?” She looked back at him expectantly. Her eyes were big and beautiful, and there was a hint of tears in them. “They’re so sweet to be here for you.”

  Everything in Stephan opened up and he thought he fell in love with his Bella all over again. “Thank you.” The words were low and husky, revealing the gripping emotions coursing through him at the return to this beloved place, the people who braved chilly weather to greet him, and to this woman who understood his heart.

  If he’d thought she’d stay behind in the still-running vehicle with the heated interior to avoid the ever-present paparazzi, Stephan didn’t know her fierce determination.

  “Oscar, stay with her every step of the way.”

  “Got it, Your Royal Highness.” His trusty guard shadowed Bella when she exited.

  Stephan held her small hand as they strolled and waved to the growing crowd, now cheering and applauding.

  He stopped now and then to shake hands with many of the residents he’d seen countless times before, calling them by name and accepting floral bouquets. “Thank you. You’re too kind.”

  Every time he came back, it remained the same touching scene. The aching memories of doing this with his mother when he was just a child rushed back and grabbed his chest. Bittersweet.

  Somewhere along the line, he’d briefly dropped Bella’s hand to embrace someone and take the colorful flowers. Now, he glanced back, thankful Oscar was by her side.

  However, Stephan watched as Bella stooped down to hug a little, dark-haired girl smiling up at her.

  As he retraced his steps, he stared in stunned wonder as Bella grabbed her beautiful scarf and removed it, only to place it around the little girl’s neck and wrap it nicely there.

  “Bella?” He helped her stand fully.

  Without words, Bella gazed at him with such incredible love in her shining eyes. “It’s perfect on her, isn’t it?” She turned and directed him to shake hands. “Lucinda, this is Stephan.”

  “Hello, sir.” She curtsied with grace and ease.

  “Look, you’re a natural.” Bella squeezed the girl again.