Royal Mistake #6 Page 21
We finally make it to a small antechamber near the ballroom, and when I turn to pull the door shut behind us, I realize Reginald has followed us.
“This doesn’t concern you,” I tell him.
“Are you daft?” he says. “Of course it does. This concerns all of us, and you damn well know it.”
“Then perhaps you should go speak with your father about it,” I counter. “I suspect you’ll find a better reception there.”
Before he can argue further, I slam the door in his face, then switch the lock closed behind me. Yes, this conversation does concern him and his family, but my emotions are high enough already without having to deal with that bastard. I need to speak candidly with my brother.
I pause for a moment, waiting to see if Reginald will pound at the door and demand entry. Instead, I hear him mutter something—so low, for a moment I wonder if I’m imagining things.
“This isn’t over, Andrew.”
My fist clenches, but I don’t respond. A few seconds later, I hear his footsteps retreating down the corridor.
Once I’m sure he’s gone, I turn back to face William. He meets my gaze levelly, his jaw set.
So you’re going to be stubborn about this, Brother. I take a couple of steps toward him.
“I want to know exactly what’s in this contract you’ve so recklessly signed,” I say.
“I’ve told you the gist of it,” he says. “But I can certainly get you a copy. Never fear—I had the Senate review the terms before I signed it. And Mother, too.”
“Our mother knew about this? And she agreed?”
“She wasn’t…happy, exactly. But she understood.” William’s gaze locks on mine. “I did what I had to do, Andrew. And I’m honored to do it.”
“Honored. Ha.” I run a hand through my hair. This is madness. “You haven’t thought this through. We’re talking about marriage—”
“You were considering marriage to Justine only a short while ago.”
“But I’m the heir. And you…” I shake my head. “I was raised believing I would marry for the good of my country. I was mentally prepared…” I glance over at Victoria, and my heart fills with joy at the sight of her. “Life threw me a few surprises. And I realize now that the sacrifice would have been too great. But you… I don’t think you realize. I don’t think you have any idea what you’re giving up.”
William is silent for a long moment, and I shift my gaze from Victoria back to him.
“You always hated the idea of marrying a noblewoman,” I remind him. “And this isn’t just any noblewoman—”
“I understand that,” he says. “And I know you think I haven’t thought this through… Maybe you’re right. But I’ve made my decision. This is my chance to do something great for this country, Andrew. And for you. You’re not the only member of this family who gets to make sacrifices.”
“I’m the heir—”
“And you think I love this country any less than you do?” He straightens. “What else should I have done with my life? You’ve always had a purpose, Andrew. But me? My life is just an endless stream of dinners and fencing practice and the occasional Senate meeting. It doesn’t matter whether I’m here or not. But if I marry Justine, if I do this for Montovia…my life has a significance it didn’t before.”
I never thought of it like that, but his argument still doesn’t convince me. I start to argue, but then I feel Victoria’s hand on my arm.
“William’s already made his choice,” she says. “You have to trust him. He’s not a fool, Andrew.” She glances over at my brother. “If anything, we should be thanking him.”
She’s right, I know, but I can’t bring myself to say the words. Part of me still refuses to let him do this.
William has stepped closer.
“You’ve spent your entire life making sacrifices for other people,” he says quietly. “Let someone else make the sacrifice for once.”
It’s harder than it should be. But my brother’s gaze remains steady. Victoria is right—William is a strong, intelligent, capable man. I need to trust that he knows what he’s doing.
I extend my hand to him. “Thank you, Brother.”
He clasps my hand, a grin finally spreading across his face. “Thank you.”
I still have plenty of doubts, but now that I’ve accepted William’s decision, the hope I’ve been suppressing comes fluttering back to the surface. Victoria and I have nothing standing in our way now. We can be together without putting Montovia at risk.
I turn and look at her again, and I can see by the look in her eyes that she’s realized the same thing I have—that there’s hope for us after all.
“I…uh, I’ll leave you two alone,” William says, still grinning.
“You don’t have to go,” I tell him. “We should go find Mother and—”
“And we’ll do that later,” he says. “Right now, I should probably go find Justine.” He rubs the back of his neck, suddenly looking awkward. “She…uh… Well, she wasn’t exactly privy to the discussions between me and King Maximilian. And she didn’t exactly look that pleased just now to hear that she and I would be getting married.”
Victoria’s eyes widen. “She didn’t know?”
William shakes his head. “As I said, it all happened very quickly.”
Well, that explains why she disappeared so quickly after William’s surprise announcement.
“Good luck,” I tell him.
His grin has fallen, and for the first time, I see a little worry behind his eyes. “I’m going to need it.” But his expression brightens when he looks up at us again. “I hope your night is better than mine.”
Before I can say another word, he’s out the door, leaving me alone with Victoria.
Slowly, I turn back to her. My arms slide around her, pulling her close to me.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispers. “I can’t believe any of it.”
“Neither can I,” I murmur, running a hand over her hair. “But I want to.” I want to believe that she and I have a future together, that we’ve finally made it past all of the obstacles.
“Victoria,” I say slowly. “I know I’ve already asked you this, but I feel like it must be asked again.” I stare down into the depths of her eyes. “Will you marry me?”
She’s silent for a long moment, staring up at me, and my stomach seizes, thinking she might refuse.
Then, after an eternity, she nods. “Yes.”
Ecstasy fills me, and I lift her up off her feet. “You will?”
She laughs. “Yes. Yes, I will.”
I spin her around, laughing myself. Victoria is going to be my wife. Now and forever.
When I’m too dizzy to spin her anymore, I set her back on her feet.
“You’ve made me the happiest man in the world,” I tell her, weaving my fingers in her hair. “And you’re going to be the best queen Montovia could ever ask for.”
Uncertainty flashes in her eyes. “I’ll try, but—”
“You don’t have to try,” I murmur. “You will be. I know it in my heart.” I kiss her gently on the forehead, and when I pull back I see the hope in her eyes again. “But let’s not think about Montovia tonight. Tonight, let’s just celebrate us.”
She smiles. “I’d love that.”
I return her grin. For the first time in my entire life, I feel like I have the entire world at my feet.
Epilogue
Justine
The only thing I can think as I run from the ballroom is…no.
I’ll be the first to admit that I was unhappy at first with the idea of marrying Andrew. But it wasn’t a decision that was forced upon me—coming to Montovia to participate in his auditioning of potential brides was a choice I made myself. When I found myself the frontrunner, I wasn’t disappointed. Not exactly. Andrew is refined and honorable, and I found we had a great deal in common. But William… While he’s closer to me in age, he couldn’t be more unlike me. And he’s made his distaste for noble
women clear, saying as much at every encounter I’ve had with him.
I’ve never liked the idea of an arranged marriage, but I suppose I’ve known it was always a possibility. It makes no sense that William, of all the princes of Montovia, would avail himself of such an arrangement.
And while my father has made it clear that I exist only for the good of our country, he’s always made me aware of the plans he’s making for me. I’ve always been given some amount of choice in the matter. And a decision like this—giving someone my entire life, for the rest of my life—seems like something I should have had some amount of freedom in making.
I’ll run away, I think as I return to my room to gather my things. No one can force me to marry if they can’t find me.
I rush into my room, throwing a few essentials into a bag as I remove my ball gown. I rifle through my clothes, trying to find something—anything—casual enough to make a quick getaway, but almost everything I’ve brought with me is formal attire. I was only in Montovia to make a match with Andrew, after all, not to lounge about. I have my pajamas, of course, but I can’t imagine wearing those out in public, even if I do mean to run away.
I decide on a simple black cocktail dress—it is still far too formal for a getaway, but it will have to do. Perhaps I can stop somewhere and purchase more casual clothing before I reach my final destination.
Where is my final destination? I could return to the United States where I went to college, though I suppose most of my friends there would report my whereabouts to my father. No, I’ll have to find a place where I can just disappear. I’ll get on a train tonight and go wherever it happens to be going. Perhaps a destination will reveal itself to me if I just get on the train…
I’m not finished throwing my essentials into my bag when there’s a knock on the door of my suite. It’ll be Reginald, I think, trying to talk me out of leaving. Trying to talk me into doing what is right for our country. Or at least doing what our father thinks is right.
I have no time for this—no time for Reginald or being argued with. I’m not going to stand for this treatment. I’m no longer going to live under the thumb of my father or my brother. I’ve had enough of the antiquated rules of our country, limiting the rights of women wherever they can. If I can just get out of the palace, I can be out from under all of this forever.
The knock comes again at the door and I decide to answer it. Reginald is a twat, and no doubt he’ll try to stop me from leaving, but he’ll not physically restrain me. He wouldn’t hurt a woman…
Of course, he did punch Princess Sophia right in the face not three nights ago…
A misunderstanding. I know my brother, and it must have been a misunderstanding.
I swing open the door of my suite, ready to list all the reasons why my brother needs to let me pass—needs to let me leave this godforsaken continent—to allow me to live my own life for once. But it isn’t Reginald on the other side.
It’s William. And relief washes over me for a moment at the notion that I won’t have to argue for my right to refuse an arranged marriage, but then I remember that William is the one who arranged it.
I try to slam the door in his face, but he stops it with his foot. “Justine…Princess.” He clears his throat. “Please, allow me to explain.”
I straighten. “There is nothing you could say to me, Prince William. Nothing at all.”
“I know this isn’t ideal—”
“You know this isn’t ideal? Then why would you make such a decision without discussing it with me first?”
His mouth twists with something—it might almost be anguish, though I doubt that very much. “After we spoke the other day—”
“The other day? You mean after your brother jilted me on live television?” I glare up at him. “You were crass. You joked with me about how it was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“It was the best thing that could have happened to you.” His brow furrows. “Marrying my brother would have been a mistake on far too many levels to explain, not the least of which was how he is in love with another woman. Surely you can understand—”
“Surely you can understand that my participation in Andrew’s pageant was my decision. He did not go behind my back to my father to arrange a marriage without my consent.”
He frowns. “Well, I suppose you’ll have to get over it. The decision has been made in the best interest of both of our countries. We are going to marry. Whether either of us like it or not.”
William
Fury flashes in Justine’s eyes, and the emotion is so intense I find myself stumbling back a step in surprise.
“I don’t care if you chain me up and drag me down the aisle,” she says. “I will never marry you.” She tries to shut the door again, but I’m still in the way. “I refuse to be treated like some piece of property to be bought and sold as part of some sort of peace treaty.”
“You’d rather our countries go to war?” I barely contain my temper.
“That’s the problem with you men,” she says. “Everything is black and white to you—things are either good or bad, right or wrong. Either we go to war or everyone ends up happily ever after. The world doesn’t work that way, Your Highness. And God forbid you ever stop to ask a woman’s opinion on how to deal with sensitive diplomatic matters.” She moves toward me, and before I can respond, her foot comes down—hard—on my instep. Even though she’s only wearing dancing slippers, the pain shoots all the way up my leg.
I yowl and stumble back. She takes the opportunity to grab the door and pull it toward her.
“The next time you decide to plan someone else’s future, don’t.” She slams the door.
Pain is still shooting up my leg, but I manage to stumble back to the door.
“Justine,” I say, still trying to keep my temper in check. “Princess, if we could just discuss—”
“I’m done discussing this,” she says through the door. I hear the lock click.
I press a hand against the door, my chest aching with frustration. Does she think I actually want this? That I’m excited about sacrificing the rest of my life so that our countries might be at peace and my brother might be happy? Yes, what I told Andrew was true—I saw this as an opportunity, a chance to do something meaningful with my life. But I didn’t want this.
This is exactly why I usually stay away from noblewomen. The sense of entitlement is astounding.
I consider trying to continue this conversation through the door, but I know I won’t get anywhere.
Let her sulk, I tell myself. The agreement has already been signed. We’ll marry each other, and even if we’re both miserable for the rest of our lives, at least our countries will be allies again. That’s enough for me, and maybe, with time, it will be enough for her, too.
As I limp back down the corridor, though, I feel a bud of hope in my chest. When I agreed to marry Justine, I thought her a quiet, inoffensive, polite woman. Pleasant but rather dull. There are certainly worse traits in a future wife.
Now that I’ve seen her temper, though…my view of her has changed. She’s definitely going to be a handful, this one. And though that should worry me, instead I find it…excites me.
I always found Justine attractive, but in a detached sort of way. Pretty, but nothing to inspire any sort of great passion. After our encounter just now, though, my body has very different ideas. Very wicked ideas.
I smile to myself. I think I might end up enjoying my upcoming marriage very, very much. Either that, or I’m about to spend the rest of my life in a special sort of hell.
Sign up to join the Royal Heartbreakers Reader Team for notifications of future books, behind the scenes information, and other great (free!) things!
Royal Mistake
Royal Mistake unfolds over the course of six novels. Each follows the continuing story of Prince Andrew of Montovia and Victoria Simpson. Royal Mistake is the second of the Royal Heartbreakers Series. Royal Heartbreaker (Leopold) is available now.
If you loved this book, please leave us a review!
Royal Heartbreakers Reader Team
Sign up for the Royal Heartbreakers Reader Team
Be the first to know when new books are available
Character Interviews
Behind the Scenes information and excerpts
Deleted scenes
Free books only for our Reader Team!
Sign up now!
Also by Renna Peak
The MISTAKEN Series (Book One is free!)
ALL I WANT (Book One is free!)
No Questions Asked
Want to be the first to know when Renna has a new release?
Join Renna’s newsletter!
Find Renna Online:
Facebook
Twitter @rennapeak
Website
Email
Also by Ember Casey
The Cunningham Family Series
(Book one is free!)
The Fontaines Series
The Devil’s Set Series
The Billionaire Escape Plan
Want to be the first to know when Ember has a new release?
Want exclusive extras and freebies?
Join Ember’s newsletter!
(http://www.embercasey.com/newsletter.html)
You can also find her in the following places:
Facebook: http://smarturl.it/FBgen
Instagram: http://smarturl.it/IGgen
Twitter: http://smarturl.it/TWITgen
Website: http://embercasey.com