AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wasn’t sure if I managed to look disinterested and disdainful as I leisurely took in my surroundings, searching for her, but that was the goal. I didn’t want anyone to see any weakness in me. Besides, Allera had said not to react, and she’d gone through this before, so she should know. But goddamn…
My one true love was right here. In this room. I needed to be with her. Pretending she wasn’t close felt all kinds of wrong.
“Ah. Princess Allera. Prince Urban. Royal son and daughter of the house of Bjorn from the southern realm of High Cliff. Welcome.” The man seated at the main throne stood and smiled amiably before he hurried down the steps to approach us, his hands outstretched. “We have eagerly awaited your arrival.”
Well, he was certainly a friendly sort. Father never stood and went to his visitors to receive them. He usually remained seated at his throne, waiting with a stony expression until they bent the knee and bowed first. Then and only then did he deign to even acknowledge whoever was in front of him.
Not that I really cared about the differences in the two kings at the moment. I was too busy hoping the chain mail hanging off my sword belt was efficiently covering proof of my desire for my one true love.
“I’m Caulder of Donnelly.” The young king shook with Allera first, clasping her single hand with both of his. He didn’t look much older than us, which settled my mind a bit about his younger brother. At least my sister wouldn’t be bound to a man three times her age. She would hate that.
King Caulder had a head full of thick, dark hair that held a fashionable wave and agreeable features. If Prince Brentley looked half as decent as him, I had a feeling Allera would be satisfied with at least the visage of her new spouse.
The young king turned to me next, giving me t
he same open, amiable greeting he’d given my sister.
I nodded, or at least I hope I nodded in greeting, but I couldn’t focus on him. She was looking at me. My one true love. I could feel her studying me, weighing my appearance.
It was the most discerning sensation I’d ever felt in my life, almost like a physical caress, and what was worse, I couldn’t tell if she liked what she saw or not.
Great. Now on top of everything else, I was nervous about whether she was pleased with me or not. I’d never been self-conscious before. I didn’t much like it.
“And this is my brother, Prince Brentley of House Donnelly.” Caulder stepped aside to reveal a shorter, portly version of himself.
I spent a few seconds blocking the roaring urges in my blood in order to study the man who would become my brother-in-law. He looked even kinder and more naïve than the king, which actually eliminated many worries I had about him. I certainly didn’t want a cruel, arrogant, strict tyrant for Allera. She was much too free-spirited to be tied down. If she was being forced into a marriage, this guy might actually do perfectly for her.
Honestly, the only thing that wasn’t easing my mind was this damn mark pulsing against my eye. It kept sending jolting, electrical pulses through me, making my body heat irrationally and my cock thicken like a motherfucker.
Was it going to do this every time she was near? That would drive me batty. How did all the marked couples who’d found each other handle it? Did they just spend most days fucking, or what?
At the moment, I could totally get behind a plan like that.
After Brentley greeted Allera, gawking and blushing and stumbling over his words because he seemed immediately smitten with her, he finally turned to me.
I put a tighter grip on this handshake than I had with the king, but my sister’s betrothed only grinned goofily as if he understood he was being put to a test. I had to respect that.
I gave Brentley a courteous nod. “Prince Brentley,” I murmured. “It’s an honor.”
All the while, I just wanted to shout, someone introduce me to my one true love, so I can tackle her against the nearest available wall and rut a dreamy smile onto both our faces.
I swear, keeping that demand in was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
Brentley laughed uneasily at my formal greeting as if embarrassed by such respect, his round cheeks turning bright pink. Bowing his head, he returned the sentiment. “Likewise, Prince Urban.”
King Caulder motioned to someone behind them. “Then this is our first cousin, Sir Soren, also of House Donnelly. He is my top advisor and closest friend.”
Who the fuck cared? Where was my woman, already?
But I stood patiently, every muscle in my body tense and alert as Sir Soren snapped to attention. With light hair that was long and tied back at his nape, Soren had a narrower, pointed face and more colorless, vapid features than his two cousins. He didn’t seem to be as openly friendly as them either.
Reserving his smile, Soren kept a ways back and merely nodded to both Allera and me, his gaze condescending and pompous. His demeanor told me the cousin/best friend/top advisor thought the same of High Cliff folk as I did about Donnelleans—that we were not to be so easily trusted. If my gut instinct was correct—and it usually was—I’d bet Sir Soren had advised King Caulder not to marry his brother off to Allera, alliances be damned.
So my first impression: Sir Soren seemed like a dick.
A more dickish dick than I.
But I didn’t care about him either. I just wanted to meet my damn one true love.
