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“Mother—”
She held up her hand. “Did you really think you could fool us? What were you thinking?”
“Sweetheart.” King Petr laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “I know you’re upset. I am, too. But we aren’t the ones who were the most hurt by this.”
With that, the king and queen, as well as Maisy’s parents, turned their gazes to Maisy. She was still sitting on the chair, her head in her hands, and Xander felt incredibly guilty. Now, she was going to burst out with all the anger and betrayal he’d tried to shield her from. Taking Niko’s place had been a terrible mistake.
The tension in the room grew as everyone stood in silence, waiting for Maisy’s well-deserved outburst. But when Maisy raised her head from her hands, she looked surprisingly calm.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I just want to know what this means. I… well, I know that Niko was having second thoughts. He came to me last night and said as much. I guess I’m not entirely surprised that he wasn’t here today, although the fact that Xander was masquerading as him is a whole separate issue. Which”—here she turned a venomous look on Xander—”I’ll be getting back to later. What I need to know now is what this all means from a legal perspective. Surely, now that the wrong person has signed the papers, this isn’t a legal marriage.”
Xander and Maisy both turned their attention to Xander’s father. King Petr let out a long sigh.
“I know that’s what it might seem like, but actually, Aenicean law is very clear on this matter. The exchange of the wedding vows creates a legal marriage between the two people who exchanged them. The papers are just a formality.”
“What?” Cold rushed through Xander’s blood. “But the papers said Niko’s name, didn’t they?”
“Oh, you foolish child.” The king shook his head. “The papers refer only to the married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Galanis, which could just as easily be you. And the important part is the vows. This was established as law hundreds of years ago, when much of the country was still illiterate. The king at the time declared that the vows carried the weight after there were a few cases of people being tricked into marriage after signing certificates that they could neither read nor understand.”
Now Xander was the one who sank into a chair. His blood had turned to ice and his legs were no longer able to support him. All he’d wanted was to help his brother and Maisy avoid embarrassment and trouble. Instead, he’d ended up actually, legally, married to his brother’s fiancée. And a glance at Maisy showed that she was no happier about it than Xander was.
“Maisy, I swear, I had no?—”
But Maisy held up a hand to silence him. Slowly, she got to her feet.
“I cannot believe this.” Her voice was low and dangerous. “I seriously cannot believe this.”
“Maisy—” Maisy’s mother began, but Maisy shook her head.
“All the planning that went into today, all the years of my life, and some stupid prank means that I’m married to Aenicea’s biggest playboy?”
“If I may interject,” King Petr began. Xander expected Maisy to cut him off, but she bit her lip instead. Apparently, interrupting a nation’s king was a step too far, even for the level of fury she must be feeling. “It wasn’t a prank. At least, not exactly.” He held up a neatly folded piece of paper. “Just after the ceremony, we received a note from Niko. Apparently, he, well, he elected not to attend the wedding. I’m so sorry, dear.”
“Niko deciding not to marry me is a far step from Xander deciding to take his place,” Maisy said. “And where exactly was this note when I was marrying him?”
“It must have gotten delayed in all the hubbub before the ceremony.” The king looked apologetic. “I’m sure Niko meant to send it earlier.”
“Note or no note, what were you thinking?” Maisy turned back to Xander. Her hands were clenched into fists. “Did you know this would be a binding marriage? Did you really think no one would notice that you weren’t Niko?”
“No, I didn’t know it would be binding. I swear. I didn’t think this through — I just knew that Niko was nowhere to be found. I assumed he’d been… waylaid, somehow, but that he meant to be here. I thought I was helping him. And yes, I really didn’t think anyone would notice. Niko and I masqueraded as each other dozens of times growing up, and no one was ever the wiser.”
“I can’t believe this,” Maisy repeated. “I can’t believe you thought lying to everyone would be helpful!”
“I didn’t want you to be left at the altar,” Xander blurted. “Sorry for trying to save you from public embarrassment.” He knew he was at fault here and that he should just absorb Maisy’s well-deserved anger, but he had to defend himself a little. It wasn’t like he’d acted selfishly. Right?
“Yes, because being married to you is so much better than being stood up.”
“Okay, okay.” Queen Karina held up her hands in a placating gesture. “I understand tensions are running high right now. And I’m sure there will be a lot to sort out in the coming days. But for now, we can’t have the entire royal family cloistered in a room that’s little more than a broom closet. Sooner or later, someone will start to suspect that something is wrong.”
“Something is wrong,” Maisy’s mother pointed out.
“Yes, but it isn’t too late to fix it. Niko made a mistake, clearly, but that doesn’t mean we should give up on the marriage. It’s important to both our families, and Maisy doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. What we need to do is buy ourselves a little time to sort this out.”
“What do you propose?” Maisy’s father asked. Xander couldn’t believe that his parents and Maisy’s were deciding their futures right here in front of them, like they were three years old, but he was too much in shock to protest.
“We send these two on the original honeymoon, as planned. The jet is ready to depart, and the reporters and farewell crowd have gathered. Xander will continue to pose as Niko, since he seems so willing to do so. By the time they’ve returned from the honeymoon, we’ll have had time to speak to Niko and decide what can be done to sort out this whole mess.”
“That seems like as good a plan as any.” Maisy’s mother nodded slowly. “Maisy, dear, is that all right?”
