AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Would you retrieve my things from the Prince’s chambers?” I asked.
The head servant smiled kindly and bowed her head, still silent in the night. I nodded and walked through my sitting area and directly back to my room. I grabbed a towel and almost rushed to the shower. The main bathroom was luxurious, with smooth marble countertops, ornately designed tile floors, and gold fixtures. The shower was a large open area, and I stepped underneath the waterfall of hot water, breathing in the steam.
I washed my hair and my body, taking an unusual amount of time to scrub the layers of makeup from my face. As if washing was just another distraction from my mind, I continued until my skin was red and warm to the touch. The luffa fell from my hands, onto the tiled soapy floor. The water continued to cascade over me, and an empty feeling filled my chest. It was as if all the magic of the day was over and had completely left the room, leaving an uneasy reality in its place.
That reality infiltrated everything for the next couple of weeks. I did my best to stay out of the way, out of the Queen’s chambers, and out of my own lonely mind. Milos was gone, nowhere to be seen. I knew he had traveled somewhere, since his plane was no longer in the hangar.
The servants were kind, but I found no comfort in their words or actions. I was shown the stables,
where I was given my own horse. That kept me going during that long period of silence. I would take my horse, Nelly, out into the countryside, riding for hours, not paying any attention to the time of day. At first, it was hard to get used to the constant following of the guards, but after a while, I didn’t even notice them. Instead, I filled my time with the Silesia countryside and taking walks through the town. I found the people of the country warm and inviting.
Two weeks had passed since our wedding day, and I still had not heard from the Prince at all. I checked the papers to see if the media had followed, but I found nothing there, either. The Queen was gone, tending to the business of the Kingdom, and I was left alone to my own devices, something I didn’t mind much.
During the day, I had taken Nelly out for a ride, but the dark storm that moved over us in the afternoon forced me back to the castle. I laid in my bed that night, listening to the rain through my bedroom windows, unable to find sleep. Finally, I decided a warm glass of milk was what I needed to help me fall into a dream world. I dressed and decided to get it myself. A walk through the castle to clear my head would give me something to think about, other than Milos and this whole ridiculous debacle I had gotten myself into.
As I rounded the corner into the main area of the castle, I looked up to find Milos staggering through the hall. He was obviously drunk and couldn’t seem to find his way to his own wing of the house. I shook my head and sighed as I approached him, putting my hand under his arm and supporting some of his wobbly weight. He smelled like whiskey and cheap perfume, and a strange tinge of jealousy pierced my chest. We said nothing to each other as he stumbled toward his chambers. The guards opened the doors and shut them behind us.
“You are so sweet,” he slurred.
He grabbed my arm before I could turn and leave. I felt anger rise in my throat, and I slapped his hand away, feeling nothing toward his advances.
“How dare you,” I said. I choked back angry tears, wanting to appear strong. “You’ve ignored me for weeks, and now you think you can stumble into the castle and have whatever you want?”
“What did you expect?” He pulled back, an irritated look on his face. “You do remember this is a fake marriage, right? You signed the contract, and there was nothing in there that said I had to spend time with you.”
“Why did you seduce me that first night, then, if you didn’t feel anything toward me?”
His actions were astounding, and I was completely taken back by his rough self-absorbed demeanor.
“It was all part of the plan, my dear,” he said drunkenly. “I knew you were too dewy-eyed to resist my charm. I wanted to drive the nail in and fuck you, so you would have no qualms about saying yes to my proposal. Besides, if I was going to be stuck with you for an entire year, I wanted to try you out first.”
Those words wounded me like a knife. Even though I knew it was a sham all along, I didn’t realize that Milos was such a cold-hearted asshole. Tears burned at my eyes. I reached back and slapped him hard across the face. He reached up, put his hand to his cheek, and peered at me angrily.
My heart skipped a beat. He pushed me hard up against the wall, pointing his finger in my face. I kept my face composed, so I didn’t show fear, but at that moment, I felt like I needed to get the hell out of there before things turned ugly. Before he could even speak, I kneed him hard in the balls and added one last slap for good measure. He leaned over, grabbing his crotch and groaning. I turned and bolted from the room, not even looking at the guards as I passed.
Down the corridor, I flew with my bare feet slapping against the marble floors. I heard the servants trotting along behind me, but they slowed as I ran into my sitting area. I heard the doors shut behind me. I had never been so disrespected in my entire life, and the feeling became very overwhelming. Tears flooded my eyes, and I fell to my knees on the plush Persian rugs. I pulled my hands up to my face and sobbed gently into them.
The pain in my chest deepened, and I no longer knew what to do. I felt truly hopeless, and I wondered how I could possibly endure an entire year in this place. I was alone, and I’d never felt more alone in the world.
Chapter 12: Milos
My eyes stayed clenched as my alarm blared across the room. I had to get up. I had been gone two weeks, and everyone was starting to get suspicious. My head pounded from the copious amounts of whiskey I had drunk the night before. However, as I opened my eyes, my mind was distracted from the throbbing headache by the horrible, pulsating pain in my balls.
I reached my hand down and cupped them, curling into a ball from the stomach ache everything had given me. I reached over and grabbed my phone from the side table as it buzzed noisily. I pressed the button, and a text from Zlata, thanking me for last night, popped up on the screen. I cringed when I saw it. Not only was she my best friend’s little sister, she was a complete rich bitch. I had zero desire for her in my life, though it seemed I had given her some sort of attention the night before.
I tossed the phone to the side and pulled myself from the bed. I looked for my robe that seemed to be missing. The shower called to me from the sleek marble walls, and I tripped through the doorway, stubbing my toe and cursing under my breath. I climbed into the hot water, and I felt my senses start to re-emerge, which would have been good if the memory that popped into my head wasn’t a terribly cringeworthy one.
I had been a complete and total asshole to Adriana the night before. I mean, I was an asshole all the time, but usually, it was masked with some sort of royal charm. This time, however, I could remember not holding back in the least. My throbbing balls and red cheek made perfect sense, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at Adriana’s verbosity and strength.
The truth was, I felt terrible about what happened, but I had disappeared on purpose. Between the romantic and nostalgic feelings I had felt during the wedding, well, fake wedding, and the peace I had in my chest while making love to Adriana that night, I feared waking up to her would be the end of life as I knew it. Her beautiful smile and early morning hair would have been the end of all of my freedom, so I fled.
I took the jet and flew off to the city, ignoring her, and drowning thoughts of her beautiful face in liquor and strippers. But no matter how much I indulged, no matter how many shots and lap dances I got, I couldn’t get Adriana off my mind. None of the sexy voluptuous broads I paid to distract me did anything for me. It was miserable. So, I returned to Silesia and, apparently, had blown the entire thing.
The water was beating down hard over my body, like my conscience had been doing the entire time. Visions of my outburst and terrible words whirled around in my head. I leaned forward, hoping the rushing water could wash it away. Adriana was a stripper nomad who came from a broken home in Liverpool. There was no way she was right for me. Even if she was the right girl, I had blown that to smithereens last night. I had no idea if there was any hope that it could be fixed at this point.
However, seeing that I was going to be dealing with Adriana for the next year, I figured that I should probably make an effort to fix what I did last night. I breathed deeply as I turned off the water and jumped out of the shower. I quickly dressed in something comfortable and casual and called to one of my servants. I ordered them to make sure that one hundred dozen roses were delivered to Adriana’s room while she was out. I had seen her ride out of the stables as I dressed, so I knew she wouldn’t be back for some time. I also ordered them to send me word when she had returned so that I could be in her chambers when she arrived back.
I sat impatiently waiting for her return for several hours before a guard stuck his head in the room and nodded to me. I pulled on my shoes and ran through the castle, wanting to get inside before she saw me. As I entered the room, I was overcome with the smell of roses. The bright red flowers filled every crevasse of her sitting area. It was incredibly romantic, and I was even impressed at the thoughtfulness I was capable of at times.
