The Prince’s Bride Part 2 (The Prince's Bride, #2)

by J.J. McAvoy

“You aren’t even a little bit jealous? Well, that is disappointing.” She pouted jokingly.

bitch

But this prince...he was sinking. And how was I to guard him against himself?

“Mom, I’m not Beyoncé—” “No, you are worth more. Why are you so loose with your safety? I keep telling you—”

“The Lal-et-Loire Hotel please,” I said in Ersovian, hoping my pronunciation was correct. I knew how the words should sound in my mind, but it was a different story when it came out. He nodded at me, grinning. “You speak, Ersovian?” “A little. Still learning.” I smiled.

cute

I looked at Annalena, waiting. She just stared at me. Her eyes shifted to her manager, who I could see was giving her the dirtiest glare imaginable. Annalena just nodded.

BLACK GIRL POWER

His eyebrow raised as he looked me over. “Why are you walking like that?” “Like what?” “Like you are trying not to run?” “How do you do that?” I gaped. “So, you are.” He stepped forward. “Why? What is going on?”

“Yes, because for you to receive word means you have been requesting word. And the only people you could request such information from is immigration. And you do not have the power to do that. So, either you were ordered to do so by someone who does, or you used your influence and took it upon yourself to break the law. Which is it?”

are u happy or not ?! 😭

“And now that I know, you have incriminated me as well.”

YOU ASKED

“That is it for you! For me, I must anticipate the needs of the royal family and make sure they are met!”

purrr

You are all asking me to set myself on fire to keep him warm and mad at me for not burning! No!”

“It is not my place to give my opinion. But we would be standing by him,” Iskandar answered. “Even if he did not listen to us. Even if he ignored us, we would stand by him, waiting, believing he would overcome this. Even if he did not call or write or send a smoke signal, we would not leave. That is what loyalty is. That is what I thought husbands and wives did, no matter how terrifying that may be. I see I was mistaken. So, enjoy the rest of your afternoon, ma’am.” He bowed his head, and as suddenly as they had come, they were gone.

HE ATE HER TF UP OMG

I was trying to save myself. And they were telling me to suffer for him. It wasn’t fair. Why were they making it harder?

sometimes in love you have to sacrifice

He was silent, and his eyebrows furrowed together like he did not understand Ersovian anymore. “Divorce papers? She wishes to divorce me?” he asked again.

What had happened? Was this not supposed to be bad news? Why did he seem grateful for it? I did not understand. I did not understand at all.

he knows his woman that’s all

“My wife isn’t in the palace. She is here, and I can hardly let her spend her first night here alone, now can I?”

marry me… oh wait

“I asked you, ‘Promise me you will be patient with me on the days I am not so romantic,’ and you said?” I hung my head. “I said, ‘I promise.’ But I promised to moments not months.” “Months are just a measure of time to record moments.” “Gale. I’m serious.” He frowned, sighing. “And I am serious as well.” “It’s been months. It’s not like we can just pick up where we left off.”

“Are you running because you are scared?” “I am not scared!” I said quickly, even though that wasn’t completely true. “Odette,” he whispered, frowning slightly, shifting to move closer to me. “I know you are scared because I am also scared.”

yes

“At least give me a chance to finish.” “Why, so you can lie to yourself and me?”

“They will rip me apart, Gale. I am not a queen.” I bit back the tears in my eyes. “They will try, but I will not let them close enough to do so,” he replied, gently lifting my chin back up. “Because you are my queen,”

I will not let you burn to keep me warm, but I will burn everything else so you can stay. So stay.”

“You have to say it, Odette.” He hugged me tightly. “I’m begging you; please say it.” Every time I wanted him to let go, he held me tighter. “I-I will stay.”

“No,” he replied, shifting his body weight above me. “I want you naked under me. I want to be in you. I want to feel you against me and hear you moan my name. I want...to make love to you until the sun comes up, Odette.”

“Fâlipüks,” she replied, calling me a scaredy-cat in Ersovian. My mouth dropped open. I could not help but smile. “What did you just say?” “Nothing—” “No! That was not nothing.” I grinned, rushing over to her as she tried to escape into the bedroom. “Say it again!” I laughed, wrapping my arms around her. “No!” “Please?” I held on tighter. “LäIrak meni.” Odette struggled in my arms telling me to let her go.

“So, you learned for me?” “I learned for me,” she corrected stubbornly. Frowning, I rolled off her and onto my side before sighing dramatically. “Is it so hard for you to inflate my ego a little bit?”

She smacked my chest. “Hey!” “Ah!” I pretended to wince. “You are hitting me more often than last time! This is abuse.”

“I came here to grovel. The only way groveling works is if she is in her comfort zone, or at the very least, in a place that she considers hers and can make a choice without pressure. If you had brought her to the palace and I had begged her there, she would have gotten further upset because she did not know where she could go or how to leave. Here, if she really wanted to, she could have thrown me out.”

i love him

I nodded. “Odette?” “Hmm?” “Breathe.” I nodded. “That is not breathing. That is nodding. Breathe, Odette.”

Today, looking at me, then at their prince, then back at me, they looked mortified, their faces pale and their bodies stiff. You would think they had died standing up.

As we walked, I leaned into Gale and asked, “Did I just break some rule?” “Yes,” he whispered back. “I am sure many other hotel owners will be upset at the new tourist attraction we’ve created. And the prices will surely go up here. However, since you do not know the rules yet, we might as well break them quickly.”

HE JUST LET HER DO IT!!? 😭

“Odette! When did you first meet the prince?” “Prince Galahad, why her?” “Odette, are you still going to sing?” “Prince Galahad, what about your rumored affairs with Sabina Franziska?” “What does the king think of this relationship?” “When is the wedding?” “Where is the ring?

“Odette, how do you feel about becoming the future queen?” “What do you even know of Ersovia?” “Odette, you will be the first black queen in Europe, any comment?” “Was money involved in this?” “Do you think the people will accept you?”

“Prince Galahad, are you happy Arthur is dead so you can be king?” At that, Gale stopped for only a second, but I pulled him away before he did what I knew he wanted to do—shove that camera down the throat of whoever had said it.

sometimes i hate ppl

“Every language has slang, Odette.” He smiled and held my cheek. “Do not worry. I will personally teach you...at night.” From the look in his eye, he did not seem to have teaching in mind. “Waskāds.”

“I’m good. I’m glad someone else yells at you. She is absolutely right,” I said louder, and when I spoke, everyone who was there, with the expectation of the guards, turned their eyes to me. Was I not supposed to speak yet? “And she is wise, I see. That is very good.” The queen nodded at me.

“I cannot change my skin color, so people will just have to get used to that. Everything else, however, I will learn and relearn because I can. Even though I am terrified, I won’t be intimidated. I am too stubborn for that. When someone tells me I cannot do something, it eats away at me until I prove them wrong. I know I can’t do anything except promise, but I do promise that you will see me diving headfirst into it with passion. So, these protocols I will get them, and I won’t be a burden to anyone. All I ask is for fairness.”

Your duty is simple, Odette—be an asset to the crown. Should you do this, not only will I be fair, I will be biased in your favor.”

Meanwhile, in my old world, I still had not called my mother. She was going to be pissed.

“In love.” I looked at my mother, who just watched me too, a small smile on her face. “What?” “You are madly in love with this woman.” “Madly is a bit of a stretch—”

“If you were in front of the great poets, Shakespeare, Frost, Neruda, Wilde, Browning, any of them, right now, would you wait to hear them recite something?” she pressed back. “Wow,” I whispered, putting my hand over my heart. “I have never been so complimented. Thank you.”

He frowned. “I see this is a conspiracy against me.”

I lifted my spoon and brought the soup to my lips. In the corner of my eye, I saw Elspeth nod. But to what? My eating?

used the right spoon 😭

“Sophia,” Elspeth said her name in surprise.

uh oh the drammaaaa

“But as you have brought it this time unknowingly, you may show us this evidence during Pašrévaka.”

Sophia would speak ever so softly and yet ever so coldly, chilling everything over again.

i’m sorry but can she leave 😭✔️

It was better than everyone knowing the wrong prince had died.

“Her first day within the palace, American singer and socialite Odette Wyntor tells Her Highness, Sophia De Loutherbergh, the Dowager Duchess of Elmburgh, to call her Adelina, causing Her Highness to burst out in tears.”

WHAT THE FUCK

“Galahad.” She only called me that when she was very pissed, and she had called me that twice now. “I understand that it is considered normal for couples to engage in marital actives in these modern times, even if they are not married. There are some things we can join the modern world in, and there are some things we cannot. Especially in this palace! Especially considering, as you know, it is bad luck for a prince to do this. So, I am not asking you, nor do I want to hear your defenses. When I turn, you will have returned to your room as I have ordered.”

NOOO

“Never, under any circumstance, ever raise your fifth finger to drink tea. It’s rude and connotes elitism.”

I did not know why until the tear came out of my eye. “Oh, my God,” I said, quickly grabbing a tissue to touch up under my eye.

no i’m about to cry

“Yes? Did I do something wrong?” She looked up at me in panic, and that was like an arrow through me because I knew for sure the crown had done what it always did. It chipped away at the person to make sure they fit.