The Prince’s Bride: Beginning Forever (The Prince's Bride, #3)

by J.J. McAvoy

Yet here I was. I never thought I’d be in love, either. And yet, here I was. My heart was beating faster and faster with sheer excitement. Why? I’d already made love to her. I’d already seen everything I could see of her. She had been mine for so long already, and yet…there went my heart thump, thump, thump. Plato once said, “At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.”

“Like what?” he asked, lifting his wine. “Like you want to eat me.” “I do.” “You did,” I reminded him. “Seconds, please.” He grinned.

“Taking care of the king. That is your duty, and I do not simply mean loving him. If Galahad is anything like his father, and he very much is, sometime in the early morning, he’ll wake and panic. He’ll be full of doubt and guilt and fear. That is the beginning of your real duty. Calming him, comforting him, making sure he doesn’t end up staying awake all night, worrying. Kings are fragile, especially the first year of their reign. Which is why so many people try to take advantage of them.”

I simply want you to remember that while he might be the ruler of this nation, you are the ruler of this palace, and this is the heart of the nation. You will see it clearly when I am gone.”

I’ve told you a thousand times, swans do not pay attention to the squabbles of chickens,”

facts

“Again, Arabella, what will you have me do? Lecture her on how to control my son? Lecture him on doing things our way? All that would serve to do would make them doubt themselves more. Or worse, cut me out completely…like we did to you. And I do not want to be banished to Donaè Castle.”

“My daughter wasn’t married to him earlier. Why would I set off a bomb before making sure my daughter

was in the shelter?”

Each touch, each kiss, made me grow harder, to the point I was throbbing in agony. “Odette, stop torturing me.” “There’s a lot of territory to mark, Your Majesty.”

“I’ve already warned Wolfgang. If I call you twice, and I don’t hear back in an hour or two, the next time I see him, I am shaving his head.”

“Many feel that the Reform Act is a bit nationalist...racist. Having an actual neo-Nazi and traitor as a supporter, does not look good for him.”

“Why in the world would he not accept me?” she questioned back. “Iskandar, it’s fine. Let her in.”

“Then get your past hoes in order,” she snapped. “For heaven’s sake, your wedding was just two days ago.” “How do you expect me to, as you say, get the hoes in order?”

“Wine, chocolate, vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles or M&Ms, and a romantic comedy. Followed by a hot bubble bath…or preferably all in a hot bubble bath.” I smiled.

“And when she is having a bad hair day?” “Never say it’s bad. Always say I like it, even if I don’t.” “And when she says something you’ve done is cheesy?” “Keep doing it because she loves cheesy.”

cute

At least I could trust two people to treat me like a normal guy, not just a king. Odette and her mother.

“Plus, she thinks there may be a chance between us, so she wouldn’t do anything to ruin that. I know it.”

“Go sleep on the couch!” I snapped at him, pointing to the piece of furniture in the corner. He looked at it, then me, mouth agape. “You cannot be serious right now.”

“Forgive me for dismissing your thought; it was wrong of me. You’re right. People change; I don’t know her. I’ll have people look into it tomorrow.”

She was truly amazing.

The king looked back to me and mouthed, “Lie just a little bit.”

Everyone was a bit territorial when it came to their positions and overly cautious now that word had spread that the queen wanted a full list of everyone who worked in the palace.

no my girl just wants to learn all their names and positions

“You bitch!” she snapped. “That’s Queen Bitch to you.” I shrugged and then tilted my head to think. “Or CEO Bitch, actually. Whichever way, it’s me at the top now. I promised you one day I’d get you back, right? Did you think I had forgotten?”

That’s what they mean when they say it’s not personal…it’s business. You ruin the fairy tale. So you’re out on your ass.”

HAHAHA YEAHHH

“He didn’t love you, either.” I smiled. “He loved this company. And when they tried to do this to him, when they tried to steal it from him, he ran back to you to save it.”

“Thank you.” I shivered. “I will have to see you even less if you are going to be nice. It’s creepy. Bye.”

She could not be serious. “Odette!” “What? You look really good. Like one of those Calvin Klein underwear models.” “I am not an underwear model; I am a king. I don’t like people seeing me like this.”

“Odette, you must be tired. Go ahead, I’ll be there soon.” I stared at him because I was a little bit too shocked to move. He was dismissing me.

who does this fool think he is… oh right the king 😭🤭

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, I am tired. Excuse me,” I said and even curtsied to him. When I rose and saw the frown on his face, I ignored him and looked at the others.

He opened his mouth, then closed and then opened it, and it was sort of funny because he looked like he was glitching.

The closer I looked, the more I realized they were all dated up to the wedding. Some had sketches he had drawn of me; others were poems he’d addressed to me. Reaching up, I gently took one off the clip, and it was dated from months ago.

I stared at the door where she’d exited, hoping my mind was playing tricks on me, and she didn’t really sound angry. I mean, why would she be angry?

men

What was even worse was the look on both Balduin’s and Iskandar’s faces. They looked rigid and uncomfortable but said nothing.

you did just dismiss you’re wife

“The room is soundproof, too, so you can keep screaming my name like that.” I winked.

I think some people are afraid that when they see me, it erases them. That we cannot co-exist equally. That in some way, I am taking something from them. When truthfully, I want to add to people’s lives.”

“That’s how I ended up falling for him. He’s very good with his words.” “I have my moments.” I winked before laughing. All right, so this wasn’t the worst.

“…The king…he ugh…he had Sabina brought here.” Immediately I felt sick. I felt like I’d been kicked out of heaven and dropped face-first in a pile of dog shit. My mouth went dry, and I…was hurt really badly. Very badly.

he should’ve told her

She looked up at me, and for the first time, her stare looked void of anything. Her eyes weren’t shining, she wasn’t smiling, she sat there with her hands upon the keys nearly lifelessly. Without a word to me, she focused her gaze back on the keys.

“I don’t care!” She stood up, facing me. “I don’t care what you said to her. I care that you went at all.” “How am I to stop her if I—” “Did seeing her stop her? What made you think she’s just going to agree? She wanted to see you. Prove you cared enough to see her. You gave her what she wanted. Your attention. And if that wasn’t bad enough, you lied to me in the process.”

facts

“I didn’t betray you in any way. I swear, Odette.” “You just made me feel like I can’t trust you. No matter what anyone posted anywhere. No matter what anyone said. I always felt like I could come to you and talk to you, and you would tell me the truth. That finally, I’d found someone else I never had to doubt. You knew how important that was to me, and you broke that trust, Gale.”

“The Reapers would be going to Eliza to let her know she’d be Queen, as I would be dead. Very dead…extremely dead.”

“If I have influence, so do you!” I snapped, looking him in the eye. “You keep saying you don’t have an opinion. You only do as you are told. Sometimes doing nothing and watching him make a mistake is not a good choice.”

yup

“The king is the monarch you serve—” “Her. Side,” I repeated. “Like the king put me here to be. If he doesn’t like that, he may fire me.”

period

One day I was going to be confident enough to give him one of those hits.

cant wait

One talked about how my broach was a throwback honor to some medieval female swordswoman, and it showed my deep-rooted thoughts on feminism. When I asked Gelula, she looked back at me and said it was just the best one for the outfit…as I thought.

“Can’t you two be late some mornings?” Gale asked, his tone annoyed. “I’m sorry, sir?” Balduin questioned, completely lost as to why he was angry. I giggled. “It’s fine, Balduin. We were just talking. What is it?”

“All we know is that if we go, people will follow. So we have to go with confidence.” My father’s voice entered my mind. He was right.

“You are a really bad singer, King Galahad,” the first magi said to Gale as we talked with them. The look on his face was so funny.

“The company for her and Augusta’s silence.” My eyebrows rose. “She took the company hostage.” “Pretty much.” She made a face. I laughed. “I think I should hire your mother as one of my advisors.”

“Don’t say it.” “I think we might have been too loud for them.” He grinned, and I put my hand on his face. “Oh my God!” I gasped, only for that to echo, too. He laughed. “That was exactly what they were hearing.”