AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cassie
As soon as I see my friends, I know I’ve made the right decision. Their anxious faces greet me as soon as I step into the room and as the guards retreat and leave us alone, they rush across, looking worried and fearful.
“Cassie, are you ok?”
Lauren is the first to reach me and I smile, trying to push away the real fear I’m feeling from showing.
“I’m ok, what about you, what happened?”
Natalia shakes her head. “As soon as you left, three men appeared and told us to follow them. We thought they were taking us to be with you, but we found ourselves here instead. What’s happening, did he…”
Eloise’s gasp of horror confirms their worst fears as she points to my finger. “No way, oh my god, Cassie, he didn’t–you didn’t, what the fuck is happening here?”
She lifts my finger as my friends crowd around me and gasp at the huge diamond, reminding us all who is really in charge around here.
“It appears I did.” I hear the defeat already in my own voice and Lauren places her arm around me and pulls me close, whispering, “I’m so sorry, Cassie.”
The others offer their own touches of sympathy, and for a moment we all huddle together as the enormity of my situation sinks in.
After a while, Lauren pulls back and I hate seeing her eyes laden with sympathy because we all know I have no choice in this and my friends are fearful for me.
Sighing, I look around with interest at a room that I hate to admit is fit for a queen.
Blue silk edged in gold appears to be the theme, from the hand painted wall coverings to the soft pile carpet that looks brand new. Gold dainty furniture holds amazing floral displays, all color coordinated to match the room. Heavy silk drapes disguise huge gothic windows and the lighting is soft and intimate. Ordinarily I would be super excited to explore a room like this, but all I can feel is my life stretching out before me like a prison term.
Lauren drags me over to a pale blue couch dressed with gold cushions and tosses them across the room one by one, which for a moment makes us giggle as she says roughly, “Fucking king, who does he think he is?”
She knocks a vase that wobbles precariously on the side and for a moment we all watch it with morbid fascination as it struggles to right itself before spilling its contents to the floor.
As the liquid pools on the carpet, Eloise gasps in horror and whispers fearfully, “Lauren, oh my god, you’ve broken an antique, you’ll hang for this.”
Despite our situation, we all burst out laughing and some of the tension leaves the room as we stare at the mess on the floor before us with a mixture of satisfaction and horror.
Natalia is the first to recover and rushes across and picks up the vase and exhales sharply, “It’s ok, it’s not broken, just a little disrupted.”
Feeling a lot like that vase of flowers, I sit on the couch and put my head in my hands.
“What am I going to do?”
The others sit around me like mother hens and Natalia says wistfully, “If I wasn’t so horrified, I’d be blown away to be honest. Don’t you think it’s, well, romantic?”
“No!” Three loud voices shoot her down and she shrugs. “Well, I think it is. I mean, what’s not romantic about a handsome king locking eyes with the mysterious princess across the room and deciding on sight he has to make her his queen. You know, movies are made about things like this, just saying.”
“And horror stories.”
Eloise shakes her head. “Have you forgotten that Cassie had a plan? We all had a plan and first thing tomorrow were going to wave goodbye to this history lesson and join the real world.”
Natalia nods, looking miserable as Lauren sighs. “The men who escorted us here told us we were to attend to you. That you would be marrying the king in three days’ time and our job was to help you.”
“They told you that?” I look at her in surprise because it strikes me that Maxim knew I would say yes. There was never any doubt it seems and I feel murderous thoughts as I think about my new husband to be.
Feeling suddenly angry, I think badly of a man who has no regard for anyone’s feelings but his own. Even his own brothers, it seems, and I sigh and lean back on the couch and shake my head. “Does anyone have a plan because I could sure use one right now?”
“No.” My friends shake their heads and, spotting an ice bucket on the side with another bottle of champagne in it, I say with resignation, “We may as well get this party started then.”
Reaching out, I grab the bottle and disregarding the glasses, uncork the champagne and take great delight in watching it hit the chandelier above our heads. Hearing the glass crack, I laugh as a small droplet falls to the floor and Lauren says with a giggle, “We are in so much trouble.”
“That’s the least of your problems.” Natalia shakes her head looking worried for me and Eloise sighs. “Cassie’s right. This is a disaster. What about her career? How can she become a doctor now?”
