AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 1
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a little black girl was born into a life of extraordinary privilege, and that privilege afforded her a life of even greater privilege…a life no one ever thought imaginable, a life reserved for fairy tales…a life as a queen.
This was the first night of that life.
My life.
And my heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was trying to crawl up my throat, and I was doing all I could to keep it in my chest. But every second felt like a dream, magic that left everywhere glittering, and I worried that at the stroke of midnight, it would be all over. That I would wake up alone in my bed in Seattle and it would have all been some fantastical figment of my imagination. That the crown on my head, and the jewels around my neck, and the servants who lined the walls all bowing as I walked down the red-carpeted hall under crystal chandeliers, were not real…that the prince…no the king who stood at the double doors, smiling at me was not real.
It could not be real…and yet, he took my hand and kissed the back of it.
“Your Majesty,” he said gently. “You are the very vision of beauty. Honestly, I’m speechless.”
It was all so much. Today was so much for me to take in.
“Gale,” I whispered breathlessly. Then I remembered all eyes were on us. So, while he still held my hand, I curtsied lowly in front of him. “Your Majesty.”
He chuckled, wrapping his hand around and bringing me closer, whispering into my ear, “We only have to get through this part, and then we can make our escape into our rooms for our real wedding night.”
“And the rest of our lives part?” I asked him.
“Are you trying to escape that?”
“I’m trying to brace myself for it.”
“We shall brace for it together,” he said, and we held each other for a moment.
Closing my eyes, I rested on him. I could hear his heart beating, and it seemed to beat just as quickly as mine. This was supposed to be the easiest night for us both, and yet it was the hardest to get through simply because of how big and new it all was.
“Are you ready?” he asked me.
I nodded, stepping back and looking up at him. “So long as I’m with you…yes. Are you?”
“With you, I feel ready for everything,” he replied and kissed my hands once more before we stepped apart slightly and turned to the doors.
He nodded to the two footmen dressed in their gold and black suits with the royal seal on their chests, who pushed open the doors, and as we stepped out onto the balcony of the ballroom, a loud voice bellowed, “Their Royal Majesties, King Galahad and Queen Odette.”
Below us, every person—from my mother, to his mother, to nobles I did not know, to the prime minister, the servants, anyone with a heart—stopped and either bowed lowly or curtsied to us. I did my best to once again swallow the lump of nerves in my throat as Gale led me down the stairs into the most beautiful and expensive ballroom I had ever been in. From the oil-painted ceilings surrounded in gold to the flowers covering all the walls and the crystals that hung off towering desserts and ice sculptures.
With each step, I began to remind myself…
Head up.
Shoulders back.
Do not trip.
Do not smile too much.
Grace.
Dignity.
I was a queen now.
And there was so much I had to live up to and prove. The very first was a dance. Our first official dance, the Ersovian waltz, and it would be in front of everyone.
Gale led me into the center of the ballroom. He lifted his hand, and I lifted mine to his shoulder, so he placed his other hand on my waist. It was then that the small orchestra began to play.
