Loving a Prince Charming (11 page)

She reached out and grabbed one, her
intention to start the destruction clear.

Seth’s father grabbed her wrist with such
force that redness was visible underneath his fingers. “Do
not—”

Seth jumped and grabbed his father’s wrist in
return, squeezing to loosen the man’s grip on Rosamund. “Let go,”
he said in his lowest voice. His father dropped her arm while he
stared at Seth.

Kira walked over to Rosamund, separating her
from the men and whispering into the princess’s ear. They sat, Kira
putting herself between Rosamund and both kings.

The tension now between the three men was so
heavy it beaded on Seth’s skin, pulling it taut and making him
itch. His father cleared his throat. “This is a very delicate time,
and I reacted poorly.”

“We’re not getting married.” And now he
finished what Rosamund started. “Sign any papers you wish, but
there will be no marriage between our kingdoms.”

His father looked murderous for a moment but
apparently thought better of another display of anger. Instead, in
his most diplomatic voice, he said, “I know you are very protective
of Rosamund and desire to grant her every wish—”

“I love Kira,” Seth cut in.

Kira’s gasp was loud in the tension-filled
room. He was doing this all wrong, saying it in the wrong order to
the wrong people. Seth turned away from his father and looked at
her beloved face.

“I love Kira,” he said again, but this time
his eyes were locked with hers, his body moving toward her. “I love
Kira. I have loved her as far back as my memory allows me to
remember, and I’m sure I loved her before that. I love that she’s a
warrior. I love her compassion. I love that with her support, I can
be the best man and the best ruler I’m capable of being.”

She was within touching distance now, and he
stroked his thumb over the line of her cheekbone. She looked up at
him with shining eyes. His beautiful Kira, as she always was—strong
and resolute, ready to follow him no matter how hard the road he
chose to take was. He talked to her now, not his father or the
others surrounding them. “You say I’m good, but don’t you
understand? The reason I can stand so firm is because I know you
are always behind me. I’m never alone, and I’m never scared that
something I say or do can drive you away. How can it? You’re braver
than I’ll ever be.”

“No, not braver,” she replied, tears welling
in her eyes but her smile bright and shining. “Just aware that no
matter the price, it’s worth paying as long as I’m with you.”

He leaned close and laid his forehead against
hers, taking strength from her. “He’s going to disown me,” he
whispered.

“We’ll think of something,” she whispered
back. “I’ll hire myself out as a bounty hunter or a tracker and
lead manhunts, and you can watch everyone’s kids until we get
back.”

Seth laughed, and the sound was bright and
airy. He was free. He could live his life with her. “Deal.”

He leaned down to kiss her, but Matthias’s
voice stopped him. “Seth, Kira – King Thomas and I have something
to say.”

Seth looked at the men. It struck him then
how old they both appeared, how worn, and the barest brush of
sympathy for them rushed over him. It wasn’t just he and Rosamund
who had survived the curse. It had eaten away at these two men as
well – was in part what turned them into the hardened rulers they
were.

Matthias held his head high and looked
straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with all of them. “I make no
apologies for what I have to say,” he began.

He felt Kira’s movement beside him and turned
to look at her. Kira’s eyebrows drew hard together and she gave a
questioning look to Seth. He shook his head. He had no idea where
the king was going with this either.

Matthias continued. “I loved my daughter and
I loved my kingdom. I did what I felt best, and I stand by that
decision.”

Rosamund stood now as well, her look of
confusion as vivid as Kira’s. Matthias did not look at her. If
anything, his movements suggested he was avoiding her most of
all.

Seth glanced at his father, and his
father…his father looked resigned. Whatever this truth that
Matthias was about to reveal, his father knew about it.

No, not just knew. His father was
involved.

“Long ago, there was a servant in the castle,
a young, unmarried woman. She died in childbirth the same night my
queen gave birth to the princess. No one claimed the babe.”

Rosamund’s arms wound around her waist, the
already pale skin ghost white.

“I knew there was a possibility of something
happening during my daughter’s naming – I knew enough of the Elf
King’s pride to make plans against it. I decided to present that
child instead of my daughter to the kingdom.”

His voice was as flat as anyone else
discussing the weather. Seth’s head spun. Rosamund was cursed
during the naming. But the baby at the naming was not the king’s
daughter, which meant Rosamund…

Rosamund.

I’m so sorry
.

Betrayal etched itself deep into Rosamund’s
features, her body bowed in pain. She was a small, broken thing, a
little bird left alone in the highest branches of the tallest tree
and no idea how to fly. “Are you saying,” she said, her voice a
whispery bloodletting, “me? I’m not your daughter? I’m a
sacrifice?”

“I never expected this curse,” Matthias said,
a defense against the indefensible. “I never thought it would end
like this.”

Rosamund didn’t speak. He saw her again as
she was when they were children, the longing in her to see a tree
and feel grass under her feet, the emptiness she fought from
consuming her.

She had no words, so Seth spoke them for her.
“No, you didn’t expect this,” he snapped, and any empathy he felt
for the king was forever ended. “You expected her to die that day.
At the time, all you worried about was how to reintroduce your
daughter later without gaining the Elf King’s attention.”

Matthias’s color was high, his jaw clenched,
and he said nothing further. Seth rounded on his own father. “What
did you know of this?”

His father denied nothing. “It was best for
the kingdom.”

Of course that would be his father’s
response. Everything for the kingdom. His life, his marriage…wait.
Wait. Why the frenzy about the marriage contracts? They never would
have said anything if they were planning for Rosamund to remain the
princess. That they told meant he was never going to marry
Rosamund, and now with the curse over, they were going to
reintroduce the real princess. “Where is the real princess
now?”

Both rulers answered not with voice, but as
one as their gazes locked on Kira.

Kira’s eyes flicked between the two men, and
with every pass they grew wider. Shock was not immediate, but when
it hit finally, Kira’s legs buckled. Only luck that a chair stood
nearby saved her from falling on the ground.

“Me?”

Of course it was her. The obviousness of it
had traces of embarrassment coloring his mind. Why else would his
father have demanded she always be around him? His father, for all
his faults, was not a stupid man. He had observed Seth’s feelings
for Kira. Where Seth had assumed anything from indifference to
outright cruelty in his father’s machinations to keep him and Kira
always together, it was instead merely a way to ensure a smooth
merger of the kingdoms.

Matthias looked at Kira then, a hesitant hope
on his face. “You were safe with Thomas. It was the best I could do
at the time.”

Kira turned to him, and the truths of this
day were writ large on haunted eyes and unsmiling mouth. Truths
that would take time for all of them to absorb.

Rosamund had been still and silent through
the exchange. Seth looked at her. Her eyes were shuttered, but he
saw the connections being made behind them nonetheless.

Her strength awed him again, only the latest
incident in a long line. She survived the crush of the curse, and
she would survive this betrayal.

With a straight back and pride in every line
of her body, Rosamund walked toward Matthias. The king had the gall
to look impatient, as if he wanted this discussion done with now.
He opened his mouth, but before he said anything Rosamund balled
her hand into a tiny fist and with all the energy in her small
body, she punched him flat in the nose, so hard she was probably
imagining pushing it through the other side of his head.

Matthias howled in pain, grabbing at his nose
and bending double at the waist. King Thomas was dumbstruck, the
first time Seth had ever seen that expression on his face.

And Kira started to smile. At Seth’s raised
eyebrow, she said, “What? If she hadn’t done it, I would have.”

Rosamund nodded in satisfaction, though she
was rubbing her knuckles with her other hand. She came to stand
before Seth, and he tensed but stood ready to take the blow. She
deserved this and more.

But she did not land another punch. She
grabbed his one hand in both of hers. The smile she gave him was
bruised at the edges, but it was genuine. “You are my dear, dear
friend, and I am always yours, no matter where this life takes
me.”

“Rosamund…” He didn’t know what to say. She
had everything taken from her, and still she gave. Finally, he
settled for, “Ask for it and it is yours, always and forever in
this life, my friend.”

She stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on
the cheek. “Be happy and be blessed. I’m not going to stay for your
wedding. I don’t know where I’m going, but I want to live life now.
I don’t want to hide anymore. Know I wish nothing but happiness for
you.” And with a final squeeze, she walked away.

Wedding.
Wedding.
Kira had a huge
smile, echoing his own. He was a prince, and Kira…

…Kira was a princess.

“Princess Kira, it’s a pleasure to finally
meet my fiancée. I am Prince Seth,” he said, bowing to the laughing
woman.

It took a moment, but the giggles stopped and
Kira gave a curtsy, a funny-looking move when the female was
wearing trousers and not a dress. “Prince Seth, I am happy to meet
you as well. I am determined to do right by my kingdom and honor
our engagement.”

His light, his life, his love. Seth swept her
up in his arms and spun her around, the happiness in him needing
the physical outlet. “I would have married you no matter what.”

She looked over at their fathers, both men
quiet and still. “I think I’ve had enough unhappiness today. We’ll
deal with this later. Right now, I want to go celebrate.” She
leaned up and placed her lips on his. It was a quiet kiss, loving
and tender, and exactly what he needed after so long apart from
her.

“Yes, celebrate,” Seth agreed. His best
friend. His beloved companion. His protector. “After all, gifts
like this can’t be expected every day.”

“So, question,” said Laura, watching from
above as Seth walked out the door with Kira in his arms and told
the two kings not to bother them until the wedding day. “Why
couldn’t we just tell Seth and Kira about this little turn of
events instead of letting them suffer these last few days of
angst?”

“You need to take a longer-term view of these
things,” Sara told the other FG. “Yes, these last few days were not
pleasant, but they prevented lots of ugly questions from rearing up
in the future. Questions like, did Seth truly love Kira, or was he
just transferring his duty from Rosamund to her? Without that
little declaration, a tiny part of Kira’s heart would always
wonder.”

Laura nodded. “Plus it led to Seth doing a
little soul-searching—”

“Which will ultimately make him a better
king. Precisely,” Sara finished, giving Laura a glance of approval.
“Also, we can’t forget Rosamund. We had to let her start to come
into her own. These last years have done a number on her, and it
will be a long road for her.” Sara looked toward the young woman
who sat alone, staring at a large, old tree outside of a window. “I
really would have hated it if she fell under the curse. Her life
has been ruined enough. I want her to only have happiness now.”

“Would she really have slept forever?”

“Not that long. Actually, it would only have
been about a year.” Sara laughed at the surprise on Laura’s
face.

A sheepish smile replaced the surprise. “I’m
sorry. It’s just there had been such a build-up on the misery and
fear. I wasn’t expecting it could end so easily.”

“Yes, well, her potential HEA is a very
determined young man. A year, I think, and I’d be surprised if it
takes that long now that she can meet him halfway.” Sara stopped
and began muttering to herself, flicking her fingers in the way
someone does when they are counting. Her eyes widened after she
folded the last finger. “Dear me, that soon? Laura, I hope you like
Rosamund.”

“I do, Godmother. Very much,” the younger
woman assured her.

“Excellent, because I’m going to need you to
continue your association with her for a bit longer.”

A folder appeared in the air, the red HEA
stamped on the cover bright and eye-catching. With a lazy,
unhurried movement, Sara grasped it and opened it to read.
“Perfect. All is as it should be. Now my dear—” Sara grabbed
Laura’s hand and stood, “—Let’s get you to your next assignment.
Not a moment to waste.”

“Lead on, Godmother Sara. Lead on.”

The End

Note from Danielle Monsch
: Hi there! I
wanted to take a moment to thank all my amazing readers. My
Fairy Tales & Ever Afters
series is doing better than I
could have hoped, and it’s all because of your support. It’s very
gratifying to know I’m not alone in enjoying reimagined fairy
tales.

As a token of my thanks, I’d like to give
away some books! Yay, right?
Here’s the deal: Leave a review of this book (or
Loving a Fairy Godmother
or
Loving an Ugly Beast
)
anywhere reviews are to be found – Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, even
your blog. Email me at
[email protected]
with a link of where you left the review, and to show my
appreciation of your help, I’ll send you a free copy of the next
book in this series,
Loving a Perfect Princess
(Snow White’s
story!) when it releases in late June. And for all news about my
latest releases and what’s coming out, check out my website
www.DanielleMonsch.com
.
Happy reading!