A Royal Elopement

by Emma Lea

  “Christophe James Alesandro Kostopolous.” Meredith spoke my name haltingly as she read it from the marriage license. No one had spoken my full name in ten years and I had to force down the shiver that attempted to take over my body. Hearing my name fall from her lips did unimagined things to me. “That’s certainly a mouthful.”

  I grinned over at her. We were in the back of a limousine that I had ordered to pick us up from Father Felipe’s chapel. We were both drinking from the chilled bottle of champagne that had been waiting for us. We were, in fact, on our second bottle.

  Neither one of us felt like going back to the suite, but neither did we want to go to a club or bar. We opted for having the limousine drive us around the island. We drank our champagne and talked about inconsequential things as we each came to terms with what we had just done. I had sent a text to Benjamin, letting him know that I had found Meredith and then I had shut my phone off. I didn’t want the world to intrude on this time with her. We so very rarely got time just to ourselves, and I wanted to keep real life at bay for as long as possible.

  “And now you are Missus Christophe James Alesandro Kostopolous.”

  She screwed up her nose adorably. “Meredith Kostopolous,” she said.

  Something bloomed inside me when she added my name to hers. I leaned over and kissed her. I could do that now. She was my wife.

  “So now you understand why I go by Jamie Kosta,” I said.

  “It certainly rolls off the tongue a lot easier,” she said. “Does that make me Meredith Kosta?”

  “It makes you Princess Meredith Kostopolous of Kalopsia,” I whisper in her ear.

  “Mmm,” she hummed, nuzzling my cheek. “Princess huh? Are you my prince come to rescue me from the evil dragon?”

  “No,” I whispered, breathing in the scent of her as I held her close. “You are the fair maiden who has rescued the exiled prince and given him the will to claim his birthright.”

  I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to tell her about my father and about my country and the island that I called home. I wanted to share every part of myself with her.

  “I like that,” she mumbled against my throat. “I like that I am the one rescuing you.”

  If I was honest with myself, I did too. I closed my eyes and gently manoeuvred us so that it was more comfortable. Meredith leaned against me, her head nestled on my shoulder and her face turned into my neck. My arm was around her and I liked the way she fit beside me. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat, my body relaxed and content.

  “I grew up on a small island nation called Kalopsia,” I said quietly. “I know you’ve probably never heard of it. Most people think we are part of the Greek Isles. Our island is not big, but it is beautiful.” Meredith snuggled closer to me and sighed. I reached up and wound a strand of her hair around my finger. “My father was the king. I lived in the castle with my parents and my two younger sisters. My childhood was idyllic. I knew that one day I would rule my small country and I was eager to learn all I could from my father in order to be the kind of ruler he was. The people loved my father and my mother. Or that’s what I thought.”

  “Is this the part where I rescue you?” she asked, her voice soft and thick with weariness.

  I smiled. “No,” I said. “That comes much later.”

  “Okay,” she breathed.

  “I thought the people loved us, but I was wrong,” I went on. “There was an uprising. I remember the day the General came to lay charges of corruption against my father and his advisors. It got ugly. My mother and sisters were killed. I somehow escaped and watched from a hiding place while they led my father away in chains. I didn’t know who to trust or where to turn. Father Felipe helped me. He got me off the island on a small fishing boat. It took days to reach the coast and then more hiding and travelling by night across the land. We crossed borders in the dead of night and stole food when we needed to eat. It was a long and arduous journey and I don’t remember the half of it because I was so out of my mind with worry and fear. I had seen my sisters cut down. Their bodies bloody and lifeless. I don’t know how I managed to survive and I would have willingly given my life if only I could bring them back.”

  Meredith’s hand gripped on the fabric of my shirt, but she didn’t speak. I turned my face, my eyes still closed, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. I breathed in her scent. The turmoil that had risen inside me as I talked about my past eased as I inhaled the very essence of the woman in my arms.

  “Father Felipe brought me to your father. He organised to keep me safe and hidden in Merveille. I owe him my life.”

  As I spoke the words, I realised just how true it was. And then I was hit with remorse. What would he say when he found out that I had married his daughter?

  Meredith murmured something and I opened my eyes, looking down at her. She was asleep. She hadn’t heard anything I had just told her. Secretly, it was a relief.

  Chapter 11

  Meredith

  I was hot. Someone must have turned up the heat while I slept because I was seriously sweating. My mouth was dry and I knew, even before opening my eyes that I was going to regret whatever happened last night. The details were sketchy but I knew there was alcohol involved. A lot of alcohol.

  I groaned and rolled over. I froze. There was another body in the bed with me. A big, solid, strong body.

  I took a couple of deep, calming breaths. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was. His scent was familiar to me. The feel of his body next to me was familiar. The rhythm of his breathing was as familiar to me as my own. The temptation to roll closer to him was strong and I almost gave into it, but my rational brain caught up with what was happening and I was out of the bed and standing, looking down at him horrified, before I could even realise what I was doing.

  I looked down at myself. I was still wearing the clothes that I’d worn last night. Jamie was also dressed. My heart rate slowed somewhat at this discovery. We hadn’t crossed the line. Okay. That was okay. We had a few drinks and…

  I couldn’t remember what happened after that. I knew that I should. I knew something had happened last night, it was niggling in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t remember what. I paced silently around the bed. I didn’t know what to do. Should I wake him and demand an explanation? Would his memory be any better than mine?

  I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I was in the dessert bar. Jamie came in and we fought. He kissed me. He kissed me! Right there in front of everybody. I sighed at the memory. He’d done it to shut me up because I wouldn’t listen to him. I thought he was going to tell me it was over between us. But that wasn’t what he wanted to tell me at all. He’d come to explain about Danika.

  I let out a long slow breath and opened my eyes. Okay. I had jumped to conclusions when I’d walked out and saw him with his arms around her. I’m sure she had orchestrated that. I had the insistent and perhaps premonitory feeling that she was trying to come between us. I did not like her.

  I reached up to run my hands through my hair and they tangled in the knots. I was sure it must look like a rat’s nest. I couldn’t wake up Jamie looking like this. I padded into the ensuite and grimaced at the mess of my reflection. My makeup had smeared - not that I had worn much in the first place. Mascara ringed my eyes and I had pillow creases in my cheek. My hair was a tangled mess and my clothes were rumpled and askew.

  I ran some water and washed my face before tackling my hair. I should just have a shower but I couldn’t do that while Jamie was asleep in my bed. I blushed at the thought. I grabbed the brush and lifted it to my head. Using my other hand I separated pieces of hair out so I could untangle it bit by bit. Something glinted in the light and my hands froze. What was that on my finger?

  Slowly. So, so slowly I brought my left hand down in front of me. I watched my own eyes in the mirror, not yet willingly to look at what I knew would be there on my finger. I took a deep breath. My reflection looked back at me and she was not afraid.
She looked at me like she wanted to say something, like she wanted to reassure me. I blinked my eyes a couple of times and then looked. There was a plain gold band on my left ring finger. I knew what it was. In a rush, the memories flooded back in. The hilltop chapel. The sunset. The priest with his kind smile. The words Jamie and I said to one another.

  My stomach turned over at the enormity of what I’d done - what we’d done. I rushed to the toilet and threw up whatever alcohol was left in my stomach. Tears streamed down my face, but I refused to sob. I breathed through the panic attack that threatened and swallowed around the lump in my throat. Confident that my stomach wasn't going to revolt again, I walked back over to the sink and quickly brushed my teeth. I washed my face again and took a few deep breaths.

  Jamie and I were married.

  Married.

  I married Jamie Kosta. Except…his name wasn’t really Jamie Kosta. It was something else. Christophe James…something…Kostop…something. My brain tried valiantly to remember the mouthful moniker that was now mine. I didn’t even know my own married name. Sobs threatened again, but I forced them back. It was okay because it wouldn’t stay my name for much longer. As soon as Jamie woke up we would undo this. We could get an annulment. Simple. Le Beau was notorious for its quickie, drunken marriages. Surely they had some quickie, buyer’s-remorse annulments too. There should be a thirty day cooling off period. Something to ensure that what we had done last night wasn’t permanent.

  Except…what if? I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes remembering how it had felt to say the vows that had tied me to Jamie. The ceremony had been perfect. I wouldn’t have changed anything except maybe have my friends and family there. When I had stood up beside him and looked into his eyes, I had meant every single word. If it weren’t for the fact that I knew how disappointed my father would be in me, then would I take this chance to be with Jamie?

  I wished it could be that easy. I wished I was in a position to tell everyone else to butt out of my life. I wished we could just hide away from the world forever. I turned to look out the ensuite door to where Jamie still lay sleeping in my bed. What would it be like to wake up beside him every morning?

  I forced myself to look away. I couldn’t do that to my dad. He was counting on me to take up that title and support the initiatives that he and Alyssa were trying to get through Parliament. I would do anything for my father, even if it meant walking away from Jamie. So. An annulment it was.

  Now that the panic wasn’t pressing down on me I could take a moment to remember how it felt to stand in that outdoor chapel and marry the only man who had ever meant more to me than my job. I closed my eyes. Mrs. Jamie Kosta. If only we weren’t who we were. If only it could be possible for us to actually make this work.

  My eyes popped open and I looked at my reflection. There was a sadness in her eyes as she looked back at me. It didn’t matter how much I might want to fantasise about Jamie and me, there was just no way it could possibly work.

  Jamie

  “Jamie.”

  “Jamie.”

  “Jamie.”

  The persistent whisper finally pierced through the fog of sleep I was in and my brain registered that someone was trying to get my attention. Years of being a member of the royal guard had me arcing up off the bed and crouching in a battle ready position before my eyes even opened.

  “Jamie.” Not a whisper this time.

  I opened my eyes to see Meredith standing in front of me, her arms crossed and her foot tapping. What was she doing in my room? I straightened and took a slow look around. Correction. What was I doing in her room?

  “Meredith?”

  “What do you remember?”

  I closed my eyes briefly as I tried to think back over last night. I grinned. I remembered. I remembered everything. I stalked toward Meredith and she uncrossed her arms as she took a step back. I rushed her then and picked her up, swinging her around before I kissed her. A big smacking kiss on the lips.

  “Good morning wife,” I said, a big grin splitting my face.

  “Put me down,” she said, slapping my shoulders.

  I let her slide down until her feet touched the ground, but I didn’t let her out of my arms. Meredith didn’t exactly look excited to be married to me. Had I gotten last night all wrong? Didn’t she feel about me the same way I felt about her?

  “Meredith?”

  She twisted in my arms, trying to get away, but I wouldn’t let her go.

  “Talk to me, Meredith,” I said. My voice brooked no argument and she stopped wriggling and looked up at me.

  “Jamie,” she said, “we got married!” This last bit was hissed in a furious whisper.

  “I know,” I said. “I still don’t see the problem.”

  “You don’t see the problem? Seriously?”

  I dropped my head so that our foreheads touched and I ran my nose along the side of hers. “Meredith,” I said softly. “Agapiméni gynaíka mou.” I tried to kiss her but she turned her face to the side.

  “Don’t say that,” she whispered, her voice thick.

  I leaned my head down into the crook of her neck and took a deep breath. The night before had felt so right. How could it feel so wrong now?

  “S’agapo. Se latrevo.” I whispered into her neck.

  “Jamie,” she whispered, “don’t.”

  I lifted my head and looked down into her eyes. “Why?”

  “We can’t do this.”

  “Again, I ask, why? Why not?”

  “Jamie,” she pleaded with me. “You know why. This - us - you know it’s not going to work. My mother—”

  “This has nothing to do with your mother,” I said, losing my patience. “Meredith, I love you.”

  “Jamie—”

  “No. You need to listen to me. You need to understand. I love you. I want to be with you. I want this. I want us.”

  Her eyes filled with tears and she rolled her lips together. She didn’t tell me she loved me. She didn’t tell me that she wanted what I was offering her.

  I dropped my arms.

  I turned away from her.

  I ignored the pain in my chest.

  I walked over to the window and stared out at the view, unseeing.

  “Jamie,” she whispered as she approached me softly.

  She laid a hand on my back and I closed my eyes against the need to turn around and gather her into my arms. I clenched my fists so that I wouldn’t reach for her. I clenched my jaw so that I wouldn’t kiss her until she forgot all her objections.

  “We were drunk,” she said. There was a wobble in her voice despite her attempt to sound reasonable. “We were both upset. I was looking for a way to escape. I wanted to get lost in the fairytale. Us getting married doesn’t solve any of the problems that I am facing. I am going to be a countess. I have responsibilities to the title and to my family, to my father and Alyssa. Maybe down the road, when things settle down, something could happen between us…” she trailed off.

  “Princess,” I said, turning around to her. “You are a princess, not a countess.”

  She furrowed her brow. “I’m not a princess,” she said and then shook her head. “It was a pretty fantasy. You filled my head with the fairytale, Jamie, but it’s not real. It’s not the truth. I am not a princess that can rescue you. You are not a prince in need of rescuing.”

  She didn’t remember anything I told her last night. She had fallen asleep in my arms, but she hadn’t heard anything I’d said. She still didn’t know who I was or what I was.

  “You don’t want to be my wife because I am a royal guard and you are a countess?” I asked.

  She lifted her hand and cupped my jaw. “I don’t care that you are a guard and I am a countess,” she said and I could see the truth in her eyes. “But my mother will. My father will. The queen will.”

  She had no idea what she was saying. But at the mention of her father and the queen, I had a moment of pause. They would care. They would not want me to bring Meredith into th
e storm that I was facing. As much as I wanted her by my side, I also wanted her far away from what I knew was coming for me. I would die before putting Meredith in danger. There was no doubt in my mind that General Anastas would use her against me if he ever got the chance. If he found out that she was my wife, it would put her in danger. I refused to have her dragged into the war that was coming.

  “Fine,” I said, resigned. “I will see what I can do to get it annulled.” The words hurt as they crossed my tongue. The last thing I wanted was to sever this tie between us. But I would. I would do it to save her. I would do it so that she would be safe. “It doesn’t change anything, though,” I said, pulling her toward me. “I still love you. If things were different…”

  She pressed up on her toes and slid her lips across mine. She may not have said the words to me, but her kiss told me all I needed to know. She loved me too, even if she couldn’t admit it.

  I stood at the registry office, Meredith beside me, and looked at the woman in shock.

  “Excuse me?”

  “There is a thirty day waiting period,” she said again.

  “Hang on a minute,” Meredith said. “We can get a marriage license in an hour, but to get our marriage dissolved, we need to wait thirty days?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Even if there are extenuating circumstances?” I asked, still not quite sure I was comprehending what I was hearing.

  The woman nodded. “Even then.”

  “I don’t understand,” Meredith said. “Isn’t this backwards? Shouldn’t there be a waiting period before someone gets married you know, in case it is a spontaneous drunken decision?”

  “The onus is on the officiant to decide whether two people are ready to get married,” she said. “We only issue the license, but it’s the officiant that decides whether to actually make it official.”

  I blew out a breath and ran a hand through my hair. Father Felipe could have denied us. He could have said no, but he didn’t.