Ironically, Gwen was nowhere to be found. I asked around and no one had the slightest idea where she could be. I tried not to worry too much. Perhaps she was napping or trying to get some time to herself before she had to face so many strangers. Or perhaps she’d had a change of heart and was frantically researching plane tickets, desperate to get out of this situation once and for all.
For the first time in ages, the four Alliston brothers were together in one room. Devon, ever the agreeable son, had brought along the daughter of a British baron. He was the type who refused to rock the boat. Well-bred, well-dressed, and well-behaved, he would always make Dad proud. I wondered what he would decide to do once his schooling in London was over.
Adrian, on the other hand, was a little more rebellious. He had chosen to come home from Brazil without a date, and as a result, he was stuck with the snotty daughter of a royal advisor as his date. I could tell my brother wasn’t pleased with her company, or this event in general. He played in a rock band, hated formalities, and was known for his sense of adventure and lack of decorum. On the other hand, he was a brilliant guy. I think we all assumed he would eventually calm down and grow up.
Blake’s date was a lovely young noblewoman who resided outside Medralla. I sensed that those two had some genuine romantic chemistry, but I didn’t want to ask. Blake and I talked about everything except women. For some reason, we were both extremely private when it came to our relationships.
“Blake,” I said, pulling him aside, “did you get a chance to go into the vault?”
He gasped. “Yes! I did. I even found the document you were talking about.”
“And do you have it with you?”
Blake froze. “Damn…I left it in my room.”
“Well, what did it say? Did you read it?” I asked excitedly.
“Uh…no.”
I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t even curious to see what it said.
“Are you going to get it or what?” I asked impatiently. “I really need to see it.”
He sighed. “Fine, fine.” Blake turned to his date. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. Don’t go anywhere!”
I patted him on the back as he walked away. “Thanks, bro. I owe you one!”
At that moment, Dad came over with a few photographers. My father was dressed in his royal robe, and he was even wearing a golden crown encrusted with emeralds and rubies. He looked like he’d stepped out of an ancient painting.
“All right, boys, everyone line up for a photo,” Dad said, ushering Devon and Adrian over to the small dais behind the orchestra. “Wait. Where did Blake go?”
“He went to…um…play a game at the palace arcade,” I said quickly.
“We have an arcade now?” Devon asked.
Dad scratched his head, puzzled. “I wasn’t aware of that. I need someone to give me an updated map of the palace. Anyway, we’ll deal with the photos later. I think it’s time for the first dance of the evening.”
My brothers found their dates and my father gestured for the conductor to cue the orchestra. As the ballroom floor filled with men in tuxes and women in colorful gowns, I began to panic. Where the hell was Gwen?
I scanned the periphery of the room until I found someone who might know. I hurried over to the maid who was standing next to one of the banquet tables.
“Dahlia!” I cried, rushing over to her.
“Yes, sir?” She curtsied deeply, and when she stood up again, her face was flushed. Dahlia still probably couldn’t get the image of my shirtless body out of her head. I tended to have that effect on women.
“Do you have any idea where Gwen is? I haven’t seen her since this morning.” I gulped. “She didn’t leave the palace, did she?”
Dahlia tried to retreat a few steps, but she was backed against the wall. “I don’t know, sir. I haven’t seen her either. I’m…I’m terribly sorry.”
She seemed to be cowering in fear, perhaps afraid that I would accuse her of lying and yell at her for insubordination. But I sensed that she was telling the truth.
“Thanks,” I sighed. I anxiously searched the room again. This time, I ran into someone I had no desire to see.
“Are you enjoying the festivities, Carter?” Jasper asked, physically blocking me from moving forward. “I hope your lovely bride-to-be is enjoying herself…wherever she is.”
The evil glint in his narrow eyes filled me with rage.
“What did you do to her?” I muttered under my breath, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him an inch off the floor. I would kill this man if he he had done anything to hurt Gwen.
“Nothing!” he gasped, squirming like a cockroach. “Let go of me.”
I released him and he backed away from me. “Then what do you know?”
“I know that if she doesn’t show up, then I have a very important speech to make,” Jasper said, smiling mysteriously.
At that moment, the first dance of the evening ended and all the guests applauded. I took the opportunity to get away from Jasper. I had no idea what he was talking about. All I could do was hope that he hadn’t hurt Gwen in some way.
“Carter!”
I spun around and there she was, fighting through a crowd of people. Gwen was as gorgeous as ever in her form-fitting gown, her hair piled on top of her head. She lifted her massive skirt and rushed over to me as fast as she could. Other royal guests glanced at her curiously and whispered amongst themselves. I realized suddenly that she wasn’t wearing shoes.
Gwen flung herself into my arms, and although I didn’t know what was wrong, I wanted nothing more than to keep her safe and happy.
“What happened?” I murmured, kissing her on the cheek.
She was breathless. “Everyone here must think I’m fucking crazy,” she whispered, her eyes darting to the right and left. “Look…they’re all staring at me!”
“Um, that might be because you aren’t wearing any shoes,” I commented helpfully, pointing at her feet.
Gwen playfully poked me in the ribs. “They were too painful. You may have noticed I suck at wearing fancy shoes.”
“You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” I said. “No joke. You don’t even need shoes to look good.”
“And you look incredibly handsome as always,” she purred, running her fingers over my jacket sleeves. Then she snapped back to reality. “Carter, I almost left. I had my bag all packed up ready to go…”
“What?!” I asked, incredulous. “You need to tell me when you’re leaving so I can buy your plane ticket. Remember?”
“I know, I know. I was going to go back to Medralla and hide out in that hotel for a while. I just didn’t want to stay here.” Gwen seemed ashamed. “Carter, something terrible happened. I wasn’t going to come down to the ballroom, but I knew I had to say something, so I ran as fast as I could. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
I was confused. “What do you mean? What the hell is going on, Gwen?”
Just as she was about to tell me, Dad approached us with a man I’d never even seen before.
“Gwendolyn! Thank you for gracing us with your presence,” Dad said, squeezing her hand affectionately. Fortunately, her billowing skirt hid her bare feet.
“No, thank you for having me, sir,” she said, ever-polite and graceful in the face of grave danger.
Dad gestured toward the man at his side. He was a peculiar-looking middle-aged fellow with bushy eyebrows and large, flappy ears.
“I’m sure you two need no introduction, Henry. Gwendolyn just flew in from New York, along with Carter,” Dad explained.
Gwen let out a little squeak of terror. “So good to see you, Henry!” she said, her voice a little too enthusiastic.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Henry said, his caterpillar brows moving up and down in confusion.
Gwen chuckled nervously. “Oh, come on, Henry…we may be distant cousins, but we’re still related! It’s been ages, hasn’t it?”
“Urghhhh…” he said, s
troking his beard as he tried to figure out who she was. “Yes. It has been ages. You look nothing like the last time.”
“Really? What did I look like the last time?” Gwen asked, obviously amused by his confusion.
“Come on, Gwen,” I said, clenching my teeth. “Let’s go get something to eat.”
I pulled her away and led her to the other side of the room before Duke Henry figured out that they weren’t related. Gwen was clearly agitated. She stuffed an entire piece of bread into her mouth.
“I think he bought it!” Gwen mumbled.
Okay, now she definitely looked a little crazy. “Whoa, slow down there with the snacks…anyway, can you tell me what the fuck is going on?!”
Before she could reply, the orchestra filled the room with song and we turned to watch Dad walk up to the front of the ballroom, grabbing a microphone to address the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to thank all of you for joining our family tonight. This is a wondrous occasion for a few reasons. First and foremost, all four of my sons are here.”
Everyone in the room burst into applause. No one seemed to notice that Blake was still missing.
Gwen had grabbed onto my arm and was clinging to me desperately.
“Words cannot describe how pleased I am that my eldest son, Carter, has returned to Ocauria. And tonight, I am happy to announce that he didn’t return alone.” My father cleared his throat. “Allow me to present Prince Carter Alliston II and the future princess, Gwendolyn Elisabeth Beckett, the distant cousin of Duke Henry of Medralla!”
Loud cheers erupted and Dad urged us to join him. We slowly made our way over to him.
Standing at his side, Gwen and I smiled and waved at the crowd. I noticed Jasper standing nearby, partially obscured by shadows. He was smiling at Gwen in a strange, ominous way. It was then that I began to understand what was going on.
21
Gwen
“Carter, would you like to introduce Miss Beckett to the royal court and all of our guests?” Dad asked.
Jasper was silently urging me to speak. One of the reasons I’d been so terrified to come to the ball was because I knew that he would be waiting for me, ready to destroy both me and Carter in one fell swoop. But if I hadn’t come here, then I wouldn’t have been able to control the narrative. This was my one chance to turn things around. I whispered to Carter, “Let me do it.”
Carter, smooth as always, told the crowd, “As you may have noticed, Gwen is not a traditional noblewoman. I think I’ll allow her to introduce herself.”
He stepped back to give me room, passing me the mic. Everyone clapped politely, even the king. That is, everyone except Jasper, who was nodding his head slowly in my direction, silently urging me to admit my wrongdoings.
“First, I’d like to say thank everyone for giving me such a warm welcome,” I said, my unsteady voice betraying my nervousness. I coughed delicately as I thought about what I should say next. “I’ve been here for less than a week, but I already know that the Ocaurians and the royal family are good, kind people. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion. And it would be, except…” Here, I paused. The ballroom was so quiet, I could hear my own heart pounding like a tympani.
I turned to Carter, hoping for guidance. He was stone-faced and expressionless. Behind him, his father grinned and nodded, urging me to continue.
“It would be a joyous occasion, except I lied. I’m not who I said I was.”
A few murmurs of confusion rose from the audience.
“I’m not the cousin of Duke Henry. In fact, I have no ties to Ocaurian nobility whatsoever,” I said slowly. “I’ve betrayed you all by pretending to be someone I’m not. And I’ve betrayed Carter, too…I’m sorry, Carter.” The only thing I could think of that might soften the blow was pretending that Carter wasn’t in on the scheme. “For this reason, I think it’s best that we cancel our engagement.”
I retreated from the mic, and the crowd, agitated, began to talk amongst themselves. From my perspective, I had done everything I could to protect Carter from this scandal. Sure, I could have told them the whole truth. However, I knew that I had the option of going home and never facing any of the Allistons again. He was stuck with them for life.
The king looked shocked and disappointed. Jasper, on the other hand, was smugly satisfied. I imagined that Duke Henry was out there somewhere muttering to himself, “Ohhh, that makes sense! I knew she looked nothing like any of my relatives.”
Suddenly, Carter stepped forward. He grabbed the microphone from the mic stand and said loudly, “I have something to say. Before anyone blames Gwen for what happened, I need to make a confession: this was all my idea. The fake identity…the fake engagement. Oh, by the way — we were never actually engaged. And that’s a shame, because if Gwen and I had met under different circumstances and spent more time getting to know each other, I probably would have asked her to marry me.”
He turned around to look at me, as if to confirm that I’d heard what he just said. I nodded slightly at him. I was incredibly surprised that he was willing to take the blame; he could have easily let me go and carried on with his life as a royal. I was also tickled by the fact that he considered me marriage material.
“The real story here is that I messed up and Gwen was willing to play along for my sake. You see, everyone, I’m not exactly a fan of decorum. I know a lot of you think that I’m a bad guy because I haven’t exactly been interested in following the rules. I never intended to come back on my own. My father asked me to, and I returned out of a sense of honor and duty. But when I got on the plane, I realized that I’d forgotten something very important. Gwen jumped on a different flight just to bring it to me. Coming to Ocauria wasn’t on her bucket list, but for me, she was willing to do it. And that’s how this whole thing began. This woman I hardly knew was kind and generous enough to look out for me…when I was so selfish, I could only look out for myself.”
I was in awe of Carter’s words. I fought back the tears that threatened to pour like rain from my eyes.
He spoke more boldly now that he knew exactly what he wanted to say. “Then, all of a sudden, we were on TV. People were asking who she was. They wanted to know what kind of trouble I was getting into. So I told her to lie, and Gwen went along with everything I asked her to. She pretended to be a different person. She pretended we were going to get married. She promised to stay here for the ball and face everyone, knowing that we were lying to every Ocaurian.” He spun around. “Gwen, I’m deeply sorry for bringing you into this whole mess.”
“That’s okay,” I mouthed. I reached over and rubbed his back gently.
From what I could tell, everyone at the ball had gone from confused to angry to sympathetic. Carter had managed to deliver his speech so effectively, the audience couldn’t help but support him.
“Dad,” Carter said, turning towards his father. “I know you want me to be king one day…perhaps someday very soon. And as much as I want to help you, I…”
“Excuse me! Pardon me!”
A man was pushing his way through the crowd. The sea of people parted for Blake as he hurried back into the ballroom, his face red, his tux covered in dust from the ancient piece of parchment he brandished in his right hand.
Panting, Blake joined us up front and asked, “Dad, when was the last time you read the rules of succession?”
The king, obviously shocked and appalled by everything that had just occurred, stammered, “I — I don’t know. It’s been ages!”
Nearby, Jasper fumed. Even though I didn’t understand the whole story behind that old document, I had a feeling that he was the one who didn’t want anybody to know about it.
“I just read it, and it says something very interesting,” Blake said. “Why don’t you read it, Carter?”
He handed the paper to his brother, who scanned it quickly. “Let’s see. According to this…” Carter began reading directly from the document. “The king may elect his eldest son as his successor…or, if he has multip
le children, he may elect all of them to share the crown. Should this occur, the siblings would rule the kingdom together, each taking on separate roles in order to ensure that every kingly duty has been fulfilled.”
It took all of us a moment to process this new information. I wasn’t exactly sure how this would work in practice, but potentially, it meant that the four brothers could rule in tandem. That would enable them to work together to make decisions while also maintaining some of their independence. And it was clear that these guys enjoyed having a little freedom. I barely knew Carter’s brothers, but I got the feeling they all had pretty distinct personalities, strengths, and interests.
“Does this mean that all four of you can rule the country?” the king asked incredulously. “Devon, Adrian…come up here and take a look at this!”
The two other brothers joined them and began to pore over the document. I knew that I was watching history take shape right in front of me, and I felt honored to be a part of it.
“May I say something?” King Carter asked his son, taking the microphone from him. He paused for a moment, perhaps trying to find the right words. “Things are not going as I intended tonight. However, I’m not concerned. In fact, I’m elated. Gwen…” He glanced at me briefly and I nodded in recognition. “You may not be of noble blood, but your presence was welcome here at the palace. Please know that should you ever wish to return here, we would be happy to have you.”
There were a few cheers of agreement from the crowd, which I hadn’t expected at all. I bowed before the king and muttered my thanks to him.
“Along with announcing Carter’s engagement, I had been hoping to give him my crown tonight. I was planning to abdicate the throne.” Here, the king started to choke up. “It’s time for me to admit that there are some dangerous elements within the royal family, and I have been far too generous and benevolent to quell them. I would like for things to change. And for that reason, I think it’s time for someone else to rule the country.”
Playboy Prince: A Royal Romance (The Brothers of Ocauria Book 1) Page 10
