by Madison Faye
My friends were shit at lying.
“Disappearing the other night, turning down dates?”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Dude, you need some sleep or something. We found some people we knew the other night. Hell, you were off fucking around with—”
“You’ll watch how you finish that sentence,” I growled.
Adams grinned. “Sorry. You know what I mean. You disappeared and we found other ways to amuse ourselves.”
“And Princess Jin?”
Shane snorted. “Sorry, is us turning down the dates you passed on a crime in Bandiff now?”
I frowned before I sank into my desk chair, sighing. “Fuck. Sorry. I do need some sleep.”
“Up late?”
I glanced at Shane’s grinning face, pointing a warning finger at him. “She’s going to be my Queen, asshole.”
“Hey, hey.” He threw his hands up before he came over and clapped me on the back. “You know we’re just giving you a hard time. Honestly, I’m fucking proud of you man. And I’m happy for you. If she’s as incredible as it sounds like she is, even coming from living in a basement under that stepmother of hers, we can’t wait to meet her.”
“Thanks, my friend.”
Adam glanced at his watch. “Alright, we gotta go.” He nodded at Shane. “That thing.”
“Right, that.”
I scowled. Yeah, these two were definitely up to something.
We all stood, and we were heading for the door to office when I frowned, my eyes narrowing on the back of Adam’s head.
“The fuck is that?”
He whirled, his hand coming up to brush at his head, knocking some of the powdery white dust that I’d spotted there away.
“Nothing, man,” he shrugged. “No idea.”
I brought my fingers to my face and wrinkled my nose. “Is that fucking baking flour?”
The two brothers froze, glancing at each other.
“What, uh, what do you mean?” Shane muttered.
“It’s baking flour.” My eyes narrowed on the side of Shane’s head. “Dude, you’ve got some in your hair too. Were you two fucking around in the kitchens or something? Suddenly into baking?”
They glanced at each other again, and I was still trying to figure out that look before suddenly, something else clicked. My eyes darted to Shane and narrowed.
“…And I never mentioned that Emilia lived in the basement.”
There was silence for a second before Adam cleared his throat. “Can we, uh…can we discuss this later?”
“We can discuss this right fucking now.”
He glanced at Shane, who finally just sighed.
“There’s a girl, alright?”
“Yeah? Well who are they, and how does that make you know where Emilia liv—”
“I didn’t say girls plural,” Shane said quietly.
I frowned before suddenly my brow shot up.
“Whoa, what?”
Adam clapped me on the shoulder.
“Buddy, we’re proud of you, and we’re happy for you. And of course, we’ll be there tomorrow. But for right now?”
“For right now we gotta go find our own princess,” Shane said quietly. “Or rather, our own not-a-princess.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” I growled. “Because this sound insane.”
“Oh, it is,” Adam chuckled, whistling under his breath. “Trust me, it’s fucking crazy. We’ll fill you in tomorrow man, I promise. Now go get ready for that wedding huh?”
The two of them left, and I shook my head. One girl, with the two of them? Well that certainly sounded like a story. But they were right, it could wait. For now, I had more important things on my mind.
Like marrying the woman I loved, and making her my Queen.
Chapter 13
Emilia
I winced, pulling the phone away from my ear as Vi’s shrieks exploded out of it.
“Whaaaaaatt?!!” I could hear her screaming through the phone. A huge grin spread over my face as I gingerly brought it back.
“Tomorrow? You’re fucking marrying King Rian tomorrow?!”
I nodded eagerly, not even able to stop the giggles as Vi screeched into the phone again.
“This is so crazy!”
“I know! I just…”
“You just know.”
I nodded. “I know I don’t really know him, and I know this seems so sudden, but…it just makes sense, Vi. It clicks.”
She went quiet, and I could almost hear her grinning through the phone. “Trust me, I get it.” She took a deep breath. “Em, I’m so fucking excited for you! And so happy for you!” She snorted. “Oh my God, Marta and the bitches must have lost their shit earlier when he came to the house and left with you.”
I laughed. “Well, you tell me. How were things after I left?”
Vi went quiet a second. “Uh, I’m not sure.”
I frowned. “I mean like for lunch or dinner yesterday. Were they extra awful to you?”
“Oh, yeah, I…” Vi cleared her throat. “I called out of work yesterday. Mrs. Smith took over meal prep.”
I raised a brow. “You don’t sound sick.”
Instantly, there was a flurry of the fakest, most forced sounding coughs ever. I grinned. “Vi?”
“Yeah?” her voice has this ridiculous “rough” edge to it suddenly.
“That sounds super fake.”
I could hear her swallow. “I’m not faking it.”
I sighed. “You totally ditched for the guys from the other night didn’t you?”
My normally bubbly, over-talkative friend cleared her throat but didn’t say anything.
“Why is this still such a secret with you, Vi?”
“Because…” she said quietly, trailing off.
“Because you made out with two guys at the same time the other night?”
She laughed quietly. “I mean, yeah. Maybe.”
“It’s still going on, isn’t it? I mean it wasn’t just some random making out was it.”
“Emilia—”
“Tell me, Vi,” I said gently.
“It’s scandalous.”
I grinned. “Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know.” My voice softened. “It doesn’t mean I don’t want to help you talk it through if you need.”
She sighed.
“Look, you don’t have to tell me, but if you want to, you know I’m not gonna judge.”
“I know, I know,” Vi said quietly. “And thank you. But later, okay? Soon, I promise.”
“Whenever you want.”
“For now, can we go back to talking about how you’re going to be Queen of Bandiff tomorrow?”
We stayed on the phone for over an hour. I’d already made arrangements with one of Rian’s assistants to have a dressmaker head over to the house and fit Vi for something amazing, and Rian had made sure to send one of his guards with her to make sure Marta and her girls didn’t intervene. I think we both knew that there was a chance at some retribution from them on Vi if she actually came to the wedding, but screw it. If Marta fired her over it, she could just come live with me at the palace. Heck, I wanted her to do that anyways.
Rian was still tied up in meetings and appointments until later that afternoon, so eventually, I made my way out of his quarters to explore the castle.
….My castle.
A sizzle of excitement charged through me as I mulled that thought over. Holy crap, tomorrow, this castle was going to be my home. I was going to freaking live here. I mean, I was going to help govern the entire freaking country. It was dizzying to even think about, but I knew I had nothing to worry about.
Not with Rian next to me.
I made my way into the gorgeous palace gardens, my heart singing as I strolled through the manicured rose bushes and hedges until I found myself along a stone path that surrounded a little koi pond. I sighed, breathing in the afternoon air and just loving everything, when suddenly, footsteps approached.
I turned to se
e a beautiful blonde woman, probably my age, with deep blue, somewhat stern looking eyes. She was staring at me, this odd look on her face that sent a shiver through me.
“Hi.” I smiled, walking over to her. She must be one of royal ladies of the court, or one of Rian’s advisors or something, I thought.
“I’m Emilia.” I put my hand out, and she took it slowly. Her grip was really tight, and I swallowed as she shook my hand before pulling her hand back.
“Kim, hi,” she said, her whole frosty look suddenly melting as she seemed to relax. She brushed her hair back, sighing as if noticing the sunny weather for the first time. It was…weird.
“So do you work at the palace?”
Kim turned back, a strange smile curling the corners of her lips as she looked at me.
“Work?” She laughed, a sound that would have sounded melodic if it didn’t sound so practiced.
“No, dear, I don’t work here.” She smiled. “I live here, obviously.”
“Oh, sorry!” I smiled back, trying to ignore the weird vibe I was getting from her.
Kim scoffed. “Don’t you recognize me?”
I made a face, blushing. “No, I’m so sorry but I’m pretty new here. Actually, I don’t know if you heard, but tomorrow I’m—”
“Well, you should probably know me, hun,” Kim said, smiling but with a little edge to her voice as she fixed her eyes on me.
“I am the Queen, after all.”
I froze, my eyes blinking as I felt my heart skip. Wait, what?
“I’m sorry, what?”
She grinned at me, bringing a finger to her lips. “Look, it’s a big secret because Rian doesn’t like it to be big news for, well, whatever reason.” She flipped her wrist. “You know, kings and their secrets.”
I reeled, sucking for air but finding none. This was a lie, right? She couldn’t actually be telling the truth.
…But who the hell would lie about that?
“You’re….you’re…”
“Queen of Bandiff, hon,” she smiled, giving me this patronizing “oh poor you” look. “But like I said, it’s this whole big state secret thing.”
“How…how…”
My lips felt like they were moving like a fish’s, like I was floundering out of water.
“How long?” She smiled. “Oh, years. I know, I know, he just had that whole ball for a wife thing, but it’s all this big publicity thing for the papers. I was gone this past week, but I am so glad to be back. That man…” She sighed. “Well, you certainly miss all that when you’re gone, if you know what I mean.”
She winked, and I felt my stomach churn. The world started to spin around me.
Kim smiled, her eyes narrowing at me. “And I’m sorry. Now, who exactly are you?”
I don’t remember saying a word. I just remember turning, hoping to God that I didn’t faint, and just running away, tears rolling down my cheeks.
It’d all been a lie.
Lines.
Bullshit.
And I’d eaten up every bit.
But now, it was time to forget all of this. For now, it was time to get the hell out of there, away from Rian, and figure out what the hell I was going to do.
Chapter 14
Rian
Rage burned like fire through me. My teeth ground together so tight I thought my jaw might break, and I was pacing the room like a caged animal.
“Fuck this,” I finally snared, whirling and storming for the door. Oren, cementing himself as either the bravest or dumbest man I knew, stepped between me and the door, shaking his head.
“Move,” I hissed.
My captain of the guard tensed, but he didn’t budge.
“You know I can’t do that, Sire.”
“Goddamnit, Oren, I’m leaving this room, and I’m going to find her!”
“Sire—”
“Move or I swear to God, I’ll— what?!” I roared as I whirled at the hand on my shoulder, glaring at Shane.
“C’mon, man,” he growled. “You know he can’t let you out of here and you know he’s just doing his sworn job.”
“Shane—”
“You’re going to get her, man,” Adam said quietly from across the room. “Fuck, we’ll help you.”
“As will I,” Oren growled. “Any way I can, Your Highness.”
I sighed, my shoulders slumping. I knew all of this. I knew Oren keeping me in that room was just protocol when it came to locking down the palace for an intruder.
Fucking Kim.
No one could tell me how the hell she’d gotten into the palace. Oren was actually furious about it, as it was his security that’d slipped up somehow, even if he swore there was no damn way they could have. But however she’d wormed her way in, she had. And she’d gotten to Emilia. The lockdown was a precaution. I doubted Kim had anyone else involved, but the royal guard had to be sure, and as King, I’d found myself locked in my own study until it was cleared.
Kim wasn’t saying anything. In fact, she’d refused to talk at all unless it was to me face-to-face, and that shit was not going to happen. But I could guess what sort of crazy shit she’d said to Emilia. She’d pulled something similar when I’d been on some date years before. The date had been a wash — both the duchess I agreeing that we’d only met due to political pressures from both our kingdoms. “Date” had turned into just friendly drink, but that hadn’t stopped Kim from figuring out where we were, storming over, and almost jabbing a cocktail skewer into the poor duchess’s face.
That time, Kim had claimed to be my wife. I knew from a friend who worked as an editor in on the larger tabloids that she’d tried to shop a story about “secretly marrying me” a couple of times. But without proof, even the trashier magazines wouldn’t print for fear of a lawsuit.
But I could only guess that was the angle she’d taken with Emilia.
Fuck.
I snarled as I whirled again, storming across the room and pouring a huge splash of bourbon.
Emilia had fled the palace. She’d told one of my drivers that heading back to her house was an errand I’d approved, and the poor guy couldn’t stop apologizing to me once he’d returned to the palace and been informed as to what was actually going on. I couldn’t blame him, much like I couldn’t really blame Oren for keeping me in that goddamn room while she was out there. Duty was duty, and I respected that.
But that didn’t mean I was fucking happy to not be running full tilt back to her, to bring her home and tell her the truth.
“I simply can’t understand how she got through security!” Tomilson was still seething on the other side of the room in his own way — sputtering and pointing fingers at Oren. “It simply won’t stand, Captain. This is totally unaccept—”
“That’s enough, Tomilson,” I muttered.
“Sire—”
“Enough.”
The room went silent.
“I’m sorry, man,” Shane growled, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Our chopper is primed and ready to go. The second you get the all-clear, I’ll fly you myself.”
“Thank you.” I shook my head.
Every second not with her was torture. And every second where she was out there thinking that Kim’s bullshit was truth was even worse.
“Tell me about your thing.” I nodded at my two friends. “The shit you were being cagey about earlier.”
“Not really the time,” Adam grumbled.
“I can be the judge of that.”
He cleared his throat. “How about you grill Oren instead?”
I glanced over to see the Captain of my royal guard stiffen.
“Oren?”
“I’m sure I’m unaware of what Prince Adam is speaking about.”
I glanced back at my friend who only grinned and nodded. “C’mon Oren, I know what I saw the other night. I believe that’s called puddin’.”
I frowned. “Puddin?”
Adam grinned. “Puddin your hands where they don’t belong, eh, Oren?”
Oren’s fa
ce darkened. “Your Highness—”
His hand suddenly flew to his earpiece, his other snatching up his radio.
“Copy that. Thanks.” He cleared his throat as he looked up at me. “Palace is secure, Highness.”
I was past him and out the door almost before he could finish, with the McDermott brothers, Oren, and Tomilson chasing after.
“C’mon, I’m flying,” Shane growled, yanking me towards the helipad at the west wing of the palace.
“Oren, I need you to follow with Tomilson and a few extra guards.” My eyes narrowed. “Kim is one thing, but this Marta woman and her two daughters are another. When we get there, they’re moving out.”
Oren smiled grimly. “My guard are excellent movers, Your Highness.”
Out on the helipad, sure enough, Shane and Adam’s chopper was already fired up and ready. The three of us jumped in, Shane grabbing the controls as I slipped my headphones on.
“Give me one sec!” I bellowed over the roar of the engine. “I’ll call up my driver and have him text directions to—”
The helicopter started to rise.
“Shane, I said hang—”
“Yeah I know how to get there, buddy,” he yelled back over the microphones.
I whirled, eyes narrowing at him. “What?”
“We know where Emilia’s house is, because we’ve been there,” Adam added. “In this helicopter. You wanna know where we went the other day? Well, that’s it.”
“To my bride-to-be’s house?” I hissed dangerously.
“She’s not the only one that lives there.”
My brow shot up as the helicopter started to fly off towards the horizon.
“Please tell me you two haven’t fallen for one of the stepsisters.”
Shane snorted, turning to give me a look. “Dude, baking flour?”
“Is that supposed to mean something?”
Adam chuckled. “You— you didn’t meet your girl’s best friend, did you?”
And suddenly, it clicked.
“No,” I smiled. “But I’m guessing you two did?”
The brothers exchanged a glance, grinning.
“Yeah, something like that,” Shane said quietly.
“Can we drop the cagey games, asshole?”
