Page 9 of Royally Matched
“Fairy tale,” he replies with a smile, surprising me. “But then you are a princess, so I suppose it goes with the territory.”
I lift my chin. “Fairy tales end with a happily ever after, if I’m not mistaken, and that’s what I’m hoping for tonight.”
He opens his mouth to say something, and I hold my index finger up. “Don’t remind me that some of the brothers Grimms’s fairy tales were often rather gruesome, because I don’t want to hear it.”
“Disney fairy tale?”
“Disney fairy tale.”
“Let’s get this story underway then,” he says. He nods at the herald, who is brandishing a large stick, ready to announce my arrival to the ballroom.
“Wait. Where’s Maddie?” I ask.
I’m stalling.
Don’t judge me. Tonight is a big deal.
“My fiancée is waiting for us in the ballroom.” He’s got that goofy grin on his face, the one he always gets when he talks about the woman he loves.
“You love saying ‘fiancée.’”
“Perhaps you’ll be saying it someday soon, too.”
Nerves zing through me like an ostrich across the African plains.
That’s the plan.
The heavy red curtain is pulled back and all eyes in the ballroom turn to look up at us, standing at the top of the grand staircase. The herald bangs his stick on the ground, and even though I’m expecting it, it makes me jump.
“Princess Sofia of Ledonia, escorted by her brother, Prince Alexander of Ledonia!”
I clutch onto Alex’s arm like he’s a lifebuoy. I pull my lips into a serene smile, as though Father throws a ball for me to find a husband every day of the week.
Inside of course is a different story entirely.
There’s a sea of men in dinner suits before me. Dashing men. Young men. Single men. Men who are all looking at me, waiting to see what I do.
“We’re walking down the stairs now,” Alex murmurs, and I grip onto his arm even tighter as we take one step at a time, our footsteps echoing the banging of my heart as I present the world with my Princess Sofia face, a pleasant smile and polite incline of my head.
The room is lit by chandeliers, the music soft and elegant—a string quartet, of course—and through the big windows, the lawns and trees are glowing in the setting sun.
It couldn’t get more romantic if it tried.
At the center, my parents are all smiles, watching me with pride. I know that me finally getting married will bring them so much joy, and I so want that, both for me and for my family.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs we’re immediately surrounded by my siblings, Max, Amelia, and my soon to be sister-in-law, Maddie.
“You made it down the stairs! Great start, sis,” my brother and the youngest sibling, Max says. He’s teasing me, but it’s gentle. He knows how much this means to me.
Everyone does.
“You look absolutely beautiful tonight, Sofe,” Maddie says as she grips my hands and kisses my cheeks. “You are lucky red is your color. It goes so well with your dark hair and eyes. Just like Alex’s.” She gives her fiancé a goofy grin, and he beams back at her.
Love. I look away.
“We have no choice in the matter,” Amelia says, her mouth twisted. “It’s red or red or red in this family. When you’re King, Max, you need to tell them we’re allowed to wear whatever color we feel like.”
“I think everyone looks wonderful,” I exclaim as I look around at them all. We’re all in in red, other than Maddie, who is in Malveauxian blue. The women are wearing tiaras, and the men look appropriately regal in their red jackets with gold buttons and blue sashes.