AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Every other conversation had carried easily throughout the room, but Fitz made a point of keeping his voice low as he spoke to Chantal. He didn’t want a single word to be heard by anyone. No warmth showed in his face. He told me things had ended badly between them, but I’d never seen him look as hurt as he did holding her hand. But the opposite of love wasn’t hate, it was indifference. If there were no feelings for her, then why did it hurt him so much to be near her?
Was he still harboring secret love? And why did that thought gut me?
Her laughter broke the tense silence. She pressed her hand against his chest as though he didn’t look repulsed to be near her. In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Yes, of course, Your Highness.”
Fitz dropped her hand, face stony and unyielding. Without another word, she crossed the floor to join the group that was larger than mine.
Corbin Snyder stepped from his place in the shadows to give his warning. “This is the final charm, Your Highness. Are you prepared with your choice?”
Michaela
Fitz dropped his head, only slightly, but enough that I felt the turmoil in his heart even from twenty feet away. “This will never be an easy decision. Keeping one of you means losing someone else. Someone who could have been the love of my life.” He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. “That being said, I’ve made my choice.”
I’d been in more pageants than I could count. Though I never went into the big leagues of the nationally broadcasted pageant everyone knew and expected, I’d still managed to pay for most of my college education on the money earned in those arenas. But the difference was, in pageants, you wanted to be in the slowly shrinking group of women on the stage. Every person who left the stage was one less obstacle between you and the win. But this was different. There was only one spot left.
My chances weren’t great.
Breathing slowly, I forced my racing heart to calm down. I focused on the merry boughs of green that surrounded the room, the faint sound of music that played in the background, and not the feeling of pending loss that threatened to overtake me.
“Lady Michaela, please step forward.”
Relief spilled out of me in one long exhale. If I were in pageant land, it would be fully acceptable to cry, laugh, or even squeal, but from watching the others, this was not that kind of atmosphere. In reality, I wanted to pump my fist and yell, “Yes!” at the top of my lungs like I’d just made the winning basket in a game, but also, that was probably frowned on in palace land.
I started to step forward, but a voice halted my steps.
“Are you out of your bleeding mind?“ Lilith took strides toward the prince, finger wagging with all the strength of a Karen out to find a manager. “You chose an American over me? A true lady of court, one who can trace her lineage back to the origins of the country? You have got to be raving mad at this point to think that—Hey! Get your blinkin’ hands off me!”
Guards wrapped their arms around her, trying to escort her from the room.
“My father will be informed!” Her refined accent had all but vanished as they yanked her from the room. “He won’t be happy. You’ll rue the day, Leonidas! I swear you won’t have—“ Her ranting was cut short by the sound of the doors slamming closed behind her.
I glanced over my shoulder at Fitz, his face more worn and tired than before. What repercussions would he face from the choices he made in this competition? But his gaze locked on mine, and a deep breath of relief followed soon after.
“Michaela?” His outstretched hand beckoned me and I was happy to comply. The warmth of his palm heated my chilled fingers as he took hold of me. “You have traveled the farthest. And maybe your presence looks out of place, but I am definitely interested in getting to know you better.”
“As am I, Your Highness.” A faint flutter in my stomach sent me off kilter. Somehow, I needed to train my body to understand this was Fitz, not a handsome prince who wanted to date me. He was my oldest friend and my confidant. He was… so handsome. Why couldn’t I stop staring at him like a dope? Was it the crown? Was it the uniform with the green sash and the medals that adorned it? Why did I find myself memorizing the angles of his face to remember later, as if I knew that at no point in my life would I ever be as happy as I was in this one?
Because the honest truth was I did look forward to getting to know him better. I knew my Fitz, the one from my childhood and from the letters we’d exchanged for years, but this Fitz, the prince I’d never been willing to believe, I didn’t know him, but I wanted to.
“Michaela,” his smile twitched as though it was hard to say my real name, “will you take this charm as a symbol that your heart is true…”
Check. My heart is here to help you, Fitz.
“… your intentions are pure…”
One hundred percent. I came to help you find a wife, and I plan to do it. Even when it makes you mad.
“… and you are willing to serve the people of Nolcovia as their future queen?”
Uh-oh. I didn’t have a way around that one. I had no intention of being a queen, but of course he knew that. It wouldn’t be a lie, just a roundabout way of thinking. After all, I was here to serve the people in finding the right queen.
I echoed the others who had come before me. “Yes, Your Highness.” I bowed my head to show respect not only for him, but for his country and their traditions. Fitz moved to grasp the last charm from the display. I watched his fingers work the clasp, carefully attaching—
A shriek of rage exploded behind me. The charm slipped from his grasp and hit the floor. I turned to face the sound, completely jarred by the interruption in the ceremony.
One of the contestants I didn’t recognize raised a dagger over her head and surged forward, wild fury burning in her eyes. “Death to the monarchy! Free Nolcovia!”
Fitz seized my waist and pushed me behind him. His hands locked around the display tray that had held the charms. In a swift moment of action, he raised it like a shield in time to capture the blade as it crashed down toward his heart. Wood splintered and cracked as the impact split the wooden base. She raised the knife again. I set my palms to Fitz’s shoulder to shove him out of the way, but guards rushed forward to intercept. More screams split the air. The other nameless contestants drew their own weapons. Chaos exploded to life around me.
