by J. J. McAvoy
“You’re really making it hard not to start falling for you,” I whispered back, trying not to look at him. Instead, I reached for my phone.
“So are you.”
I looked at him, and he was staring back at me.
I think we would have just stared at each other if not for the drop of water that fell from the sky and hit his cheek—then another that hit my nose.
“No.” He gasped, looking at the sky. “They said it was supposed to be clear today!”
“Welcome to Seattle!” I laughed as the skies opened up, and all the water in heaven began to fall on top of us both.
He rushed to the steering wheel.
“What should I do?”
“Make it stop raining!” he called out, and even though I knew he was kidding, I felt too good, so I started to dance. “What in the world are you doing!”
“You said to make it stop raining. Here is a rain dance!”
“Isn’t that what you do to make it rain?”
I paused.
And he broke into hysterical laughter, his head going back before yelling at the top of his lungs against the rain. “Odette Rochelle Wyntor!”
“What!” I yelled back.
“I’m going to marry you!”
I froze, and then my heart started to dance, and soon, I could not stop myself from yelling out, “Galahad Fitzhugh Cornelius Edgar!”
“What?”
“Marry me!”
He nearly slipped and fell. He was shocked, so I reached out to grab on to him, and he grabbed on to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Did you hear what you just said?” he asked, completely unbothered by nearly falling overboard.
I nodded.
“Say it again.”
“Marry me.”
He gaped at me. “Are sure you?”
“Let’s get married,” I repeated, my heart twisting, but I wasn’t sure if it was panic or excitement.
“Odette, I am going to ask you one more—”
I closed the distance between our lips to shut him up and then backed away. “Let’s get married, Gale.”
He nodded, grinning. “Yes. Let’s.”
“Right now.”
“What?”
I nodded. “If we wait, I’m going to get scared and chicken out.”
“Odette!”
“Are you saying no?”
His mouth dropped open. He ran his hand through his hair, once, then twice, and just sighed. “You are going to drive me crazy, do you know that?”
“At least you know that now!”
He held my face before pulling me close and kissing me hard. Because of the rain, the clothes between our bodies felt thinner. I could feel him, all of him, holding on to me.
When he broke away, he rested his forehead on mine.
“We’re going to have to stop at home to get the ring,” he said.
He kissed me one more time and ran back to the sail. I just stood there, shaking. This was crazy. I was marrying him so I could keep dating him.
I was marrying him because everything felt good.
I was marrying him because I liked him...a lot.
Chapter 24
For a royal to get married in Ersovia, you needed the blessing of the sovereign. Once given, the press would be told a month after the proposal, and the wedding would then take place seven months after that. The sons of the reigning monarch needed to be married in Brauenburg Abbey by the Archbishop, and the day would be a public holiday so everyone could watch the bride come down the abbey road in a red and gold carriage, surrounded by six royal guards on horseback. The bride of the Adelaar had a train fifteen feet long, and she wore a golden crown. The wife of every other prince could have a train of no more than eight feet, and her crown would be made of white and silver diamonds. There were no surprises. There were no spur-of-the-moment decisions. Everything about that day would be planned to the last detail.
It would be the exact opposite of today.
Sitting at a round table in an empty courthouse because we were late, there was a licensed notary still there who offered to help us. All we needed was the sixty-seven-dollar fee for the actual marriage license that went to the county auditor and to fill out the marriage license application.
“Sir.” Iskandar’s grip on my shoulder was like iron. “Please wait until we hear from your brother.”
“Isn’t this the news he’s been waiting for anyway.”
“Yes, however—”
I looked back at him. “You are ruining my wedding day, Iskandar. Passport.”
He stared at me, begged me, but I just held out my hand, waiting. He looked to Wolfgang, who was still on the phone. He shook his head, meaning he could not get hold of my brother.
“Iskandar, have you ever heard the saying it is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission?” Odette spoke to him with such a calm and steady confidence when the woman left our table to get her stamp.
“Iskandar, passport,” I said again.
Frowning, he begrudgingly reached into his suit jacket and gave me the Bordeaux-red passport, and I flipped it open, writing down the numbers.
“Edgar DeLacour?” Odette read over my arm.
I nodded, whispering, “It wasn’t a complete lie. Edgar was one of my names, and DeLacour was my mother’s maiden name. We use different names if we are traveling under the radar, but it is legally me.”
“It fits your formal accent, at least.” She giggled, signing her signature at the bottom.
I shoved my elbow into her, and she shoved back.
“Good, you both are finishing,” the older woman said, coming back to us. “When the legal part is done, we can do a small ceremony. Do you have any vows you would like to say?”
We both looked at each other.
“No, it’s okay—”
“Actually, I do,” I said. Looking at her, she stared at me with her brown eyes wide, and she shook her head. Leaning closer to her, I whispered into her ears the truth, “Odette, because of you, I laugh, I smile, and I dare to dream of a future that is worthy of poets. The reasons that brought us together weren’t the best or the most romantic, but I am glad for them nevertheless, and I swear to you that from now until the day I die, your dreams are my dreams. Your joy is my joy. Your pain is my pain, and I will never betray you. You are now my body, my mind, my soul, and my heart. You are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars.”
I kissed the side of her cheek before moving my head back.
“No fair,” she whispered, resting her forehead against mine. “What can I possibly say back to that?”
“Promise me you will be patient with me on the days I am not so romantic.”
“I promise,” she said gently, her lips just above mine, but just as I was about to kiss her, the woman beside us both spoke.
“Then, by the power vested in me by the great the state of Washington, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
Holy hell.
Holy blood hell.
I didn’t know what to think. We just grinned, then thanked the woman and left. Odette was silent as we entered back into our car. Her hand was still in mine, and she was right beside me. But I got the sense that her mind was reeling based on the dazed look in her eyes. If not for the fact that I was so captivated by her, I was sure my mind would be spinning, too. She was holding me together, and a part of me was wondering when we’d both snap out of it. Every few moments, she turned her hand over to stare down at the ring I had given her—the ring my mother had hidden in the fold of my bag to make sure she would get it. The diamond was red and in the shape of a teardrop, set in a gold band, surrounded by a dozen smaller white diamonds at the bottom end of it. It was a two-part ring, and the second half was normally given during the wedding ceremony, but seeing as no one thought we would elope, that part was still back in Ersovia. I would explain all of that later, but right now, I was letting her process. I looked up at Iskandar, expecting him to be calling my brother ag
ain, but he was just staring blankly out the window.
Ignoring everyone, I reached for my journal. Odette tried to pull her hand away, but I held on, flipping to where I had left off. It was then that I could feel her eyes on me. Normally, I did not like it when anyone read over my shoulder, but she was no longer anyone.
NOVEMBER 27
Today, I married Odette Rochelle Wyntor, the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on...
“Are you really writing that down?” Odette laughed.
“This is the biggest event of my life, so how could I not?” I grinned, looking back on at the page, adding:
She put up a good fight, but in the end, my God-given good looks, charms, and overall personality proved too much for her to deny.
“Oh, God.” She yanked her hand out of mine. “I thought journals were supposed to be accurate.”
“Where is the lie?” I turned the book for her to show me.
She took my journal and my pen writing.
What truly happened is that I, Odette, came to the realization that I enjoyed Gale’s company and needed my inheritance, so I chose to kill two birds with one stone. —Odette.
I wanted to complain about her little confession, but I was more amused by her handwriting again.
“So, you truly do write like this?” I laughed.
She frowned, looking back down at the page. “Yes? What’s wrong with my handwriting?”
“Are you a vampire?” I asked her.
She frowned. “What?”
“Why do you write like you come out of a different century? Not even royals write like this.”
“The same reason you talk like you fell out of a different century. This is how I learned.”
“Who taught you, Jane Austen?”
“Who taught you how to speak, Charles Dickens?” she snapped, glaring at me. It was so amusing seeing her annoyed.
I wanted to kiss her, but instead, I poked her nose since she had it up so high. In return, she poked my side, and just like that, a war ensued in the back of the car with both of us trying to get at each other.
I had just spun her arms around her and locked mine with them, holding her steady, her head and curls brushing up against my chin, when a short cough reminded me we were not alone.
“Your Highness.”
I glanced up from my journal to see Iskandar’s stone face staring back at me. The phone attached to his hand was waiting for me. “The Adelaar.”
Sighing, I let her go. “Could you not have at least waited to rat me out, Iskandar? It is barely morning there. If not for my sake, then your Adelaar’s?”
“It would be better if my brother worried about my sake.” Arty’s voice was on the other line.
I glanced over to Odette as she adjusted her coat and sweater before hitting the speaker button. “Arty, say hello to your new sister-in-law.” I grinned, speaking in English.
Odette’s eyes widened, and she shoved my shoulder, but I could not help it.
“He just married you, and now he is seeking to use you as a shield. Ms. Wyntor—no, sister, please, forgive my brother. He was dropped on his head as a child.”
All the humor fell from my face, but it was picked up and carried by her as she leaned over to speak. “Was he dropped by you? Because I could sort of understand if that were the case. Younger siblings are a pain.”
“Excuse me, wife. I do believe you are on the wrong brother’s side.” I pouted.
She made a face at me before leaning over again and speaking on the phone. “Please don’t lecture Gale or get mad at him. It was more my fault than his. I’m sorry for breaking whatever rules there are.”
“You are fine, Odette. Welcome to the family. However, please do not speak a word of this to anyone. No one else can know.”
“Not even my mother?”
He was silent for a moment.
And she went on. “She can keep a secret if I tell her to. Even now, I still don’t know how long she has been in contact with you or how she ever was.”
“Very well, but no one else,” he said.
“Okay.”
“Thank you. Now, brother, take me off speaker so I can speak with you.”
“More like yell at me,” I muttered before doing as he said and putting the phone to my ear. “Yes?” I switched back to Ersovian.
He sighed heavily. “Are you purposefully messing with me now, Gale? I allow you more freedom, and in return, you eloped with her! From her apology, I will assume she suggested it. I can forgive her for that since she does not know the rules. But you do! How could you do this?”
“You wanted us to get married. I did—”
“I wanted you to convince her to get married and get married here!”
“Things changed—”
“Not this!”
I winced at how loud he yelled.
Even he must have scared himself going by the long pause he needed to take before speaking again. “This is what is going to happen, Gale. No one will know about this. Do not write it down. Do not tell a soul. It will be your secret to keep to the grave. Today, you merely got engaged. So, I congratulate you both on your engagement.”
“Arthur, it is fine. We will do a ceremony back—”
“Gale, your marriage is a matter of state. A Prince of Ersovia cannot sneak off to another nation to get married as if it is some sort of shame. A prince’s bride needs to be at the very least introduced! Do you not think it is a big deal? If the people find out you did not get married according to tradition, they will think you abandoned tradition. And they will blame her for it.”
I glanced over to Odette to see her big brown eyes focused on me, worried. I shook my head, smiling even as Arthur forced reality down my throat.
“They will say she is making you American instead of you making her royal. Do you want the first thing people think about her to be that she did not care how we did things?”
“You’ve made your point.”
“Good, now please try to refrain from doing anything else for the evening. In two more hours, I have to be in Monelrene, and I would like to get some sleep. We cannot all spare time to have romantic getaways in America.”
“It was you who sent me.”
“With much protest from you if I recall. However, now that she is in your arms, you seem to be relishing your time there. I guess I did not condemn you to a loveless marriage after all.” He was gloating. Proud that his little argument had worked.
“Yes, I am so ecstatic. I was thinking of getting matching tattoos with her. What do you think?”
“You are not funny.”
I grinned. “I am a tad bit funny.”
“Be ready to come back within the week.”
The smile on my face dropped. “Arty...not yet.”
“What do you mean, not yet? You’re engaged to her. Mission accomplished. Now we need to prepare, so it would be good to get her here—”
“Give her more time.” I glanced over at Odette, who was once again looking at her ring.
“Her or you?”
Good question. “Both?”
He sighed heavily. “Fine. Two more weeks. Do try not to ruin whatever it is she sees in you before then.”
“I cannot make any promises, especially when I am not exactly certain what she sees myself.” He was silent for such a long time I thought he had fallen asleep. “Arty?”
“You really truly like her, don’t you?” He snickered.
Nothing witty came to mind. I found myself nodding. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Oh, how I cannot wait to meet her and see what she’s done to you in person.” He hung up on me, allowing me no room for comment.
“Is he mad?” she asked gently when I gave the phone back to Iskandar.
Stretching out my hand to her, she took it, and I brought her knuckles to my lips, kissing them. “He is happier we are together than not, I promise. Do not worry, wife.”
“I thought we were keeping it a secret.”
�
��Just because it is a secret does not mean it is not true,” I whispered, leaning over and kissing the side of her face. I could not stop touching her. I could not stop kissing her.
But I had to.
The last thing I wanted to do was smother her. The crown would do that soon enough.
Letting go of her, I picked up my journal, which had fallen to the floor of the car. Lifting it, I ripped out the page we both had written on, tearing it in half and then over and over again before tossing it in ashes out of the window.
I did it.
I married a man I barely knew, and for so many reasons that I barely understood. It was a marriage of convenience, and yet our time together had made it more than that. My racing heart made it more than that. I glanced down at the red, teardrop-shaped diamond, surrounded by several other small white diamonds that now rested on my finger. It was beautiful but heavy. Not physically but mentally. Like I could feel all the women who had worn it in the past telling me to brace myself.
Inhaling once, I glanced at myself in the mirror. I had let all my curls down and skipped the scarf just for the night. That was a conversation I would have at another time. I didn’t have any pretty lingerie or anything like that, but I also didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. I had on a satin top and short bottoms, which were at least two years old, but I had never worn them.
Knock. Knock.
“Come in,” I said, walking out of my bathroom.
When he did, he was dressed in long black satin pants and a simple gray V-neck shirt. His blue-green eyes followed the length of my legs all the way up to my chest, where they stayed for a moment before finally, his gaze met mine.
“I...I came to say goodnight.”
“What?” He wasn’t staying?
“I will be staying in my room tonight.”
Are you kidding me? I spent almost an hour fixing my hair alone, and he wouldn’t stay with me? Did he not know how much effort it takes to look nice for bed?
“So...um...goodnight,” he said to me.
“Wait,” I said, walking to the door.
His eyes looked glazed over when I neared him.
