Amara Meadows has always placed her job first, but with her journalism career slowly failing, she seems lost.
Although when she ends up spending a month in the palace covering the coronation of White Bridge's prince, she finds more than herself.
F...
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I hold onto my dress as I walk down the steps and Xavier follows with my heels in his hands. Marie scowls as she watches me jump over the puddle, barely keeping the edges of the dress dry. A laugh from behind me and I know Xavier enjoyed the near-miss more than she did.
"You're going to make this day hard for her." He hums in my ear as he holds the door for me to get in. I smile. The hems of the dress push against my feet and I pull them as close as possible to make room for the door to close.
Xavier sits down next to me and hands me the sparkly devil heels. I bend forward and force the shoes onto my feet, being mindful not to mess anything up. I huff and a piece of hair falls from behind my ear. Xavier softly pins it back in place and I smile up at him. "You know X, you should really be glad that I love you." He scoffs.
"I could say the same, miss Meadows."
"I'm serious though, there better not be a lot of these things when you're the king." He laughs.
"There's more if you're the queen." I roll my eyes and fix the bracelet on my arm. He doesn't say anything else for a while and I only look at him when the car stops out of the blue.
With a slightly hidden gesture, he reaches into his pocket. He fiddles a bit longer and an awkward laugh leaves his lips as he struggles to find whatever he's searching for. My breath gets caught in my throat when he pulls out a ring unfolding it from his fingers. He clears his throat and looks down at the ring with me. It's not as much of a surprise as he probably hoped it would be considering he's been very suspicious lately. Not to mention all the times he and Marie have been talking secretly. But I have this feeling that this wasn't how he planned on doing it either, it's not quite as extravagant as a Xavier gesture usually is.
"I had a speech, it's not nearly as good as the one you helped me write, but it was good. I obviously had another plan to do this as well, but then you came into my room this morning with that cute little smile singing a bloody Beatles song and I just realized that waiting another day would be stupid. You're already my everything and I mean we're already technically going to do this anyway, so if you think about it the entire idea is unnecessary-" A hand on his knee is enough to stop his rambling and I nod down at the ring for him to get back to the point. He smiles shyly. "I have a ring and I have an empty spot in my bed so I figured it's the perfect opportunity. What I'm trying to say is, will you marry me, Amara?" His leg shakes slightly under my touch as he pulls the other hand through his hair nervously awaiting my answer.
I already know the answer, I knew the answer the second he asked me to move to Whitebridge with him. It was always going to be us and we were always going to do this. So the magical feeling spreading through me as my heart fills with joy is simply because I'm hearing it coming from his mouth. Because I've been waiting for this moment since the first time he told me he loved me.
"Yes." I lift my hand from his leg and reach forward. He hovers, not doing anything. "Put the ring on my finger, Xavier..."
"Are you sure?" He frowns. "I'm not trying to talk you out of this, but I just want you to be sure. I mean I love you and well you love me, but there's just so much that comes with this. And the shit with Irene..." He looks at the road behind me and sighs.
"Firstly, you've been spending too much time with me if you're talking like that. Secondly, we're going to solve the problem with Irene together. " I reach over to turn his face towards mine. "And thirdly, we've come too damn far for anything to stop us now. I love you and I want to marry you. Now put that gorgeous ring on my finger." We smile at each other before he gently slips the ring on. He kisses me quickly at first, pulling away slightly to see me before kissing me again and again. Trailing small kisses everywhere on my face until the laughter bubbling from my stomach interrupts him.
"We have forever to continue this, right now you have somewhere pretty important to be." He nods, taping the back of the seat to tell the driver to pull off and I blush immediately when I see the smirk on his face. Xavier pulls me into his arms and I lean into his shoulder. " So are you ready?"
"With you by my side. How can I not be?" The ride to the court hall wasn't that long and we found ourselves sitting in comfortable silence all the way there, with Xavier looking down at me every time the car slowed down at a traffic light.
The front stairs are packed with people. All kinds of royal names and important people and every time someone comes over to greet me I cling a little tighter to Xavier's jacket. But we finally make it inside where I take my seat next to his mother and father. Xavier is led to the front of the room where he takes a knee on a little red pillow, causing the room to fall quiet. A man walking towards him makes my heart race. He carries the royal crown and scepter on a pillow, nodding at the king and queen on his way to Xavier. Placing the pillow on a small table he gestures for everyone to sit down.
"Representing the monarchy we have Xavier Luca, claiming his given right to the throne." He looks down at Xavier as if to acknowledge him. " Xavier, do you pledge your life to Whitebridge and all her subjects? " The man looks down with a steady eye and I feel the tension building in the room.
With every eye in parliament on him waiting for a reply, I find myself clinging to the side of the chair. His mother inches closer to me and folds her hand over mine. A kind smile crosses her lips as she looks at me for a brief second.
"I do." Xavier breathes as he takes the scepter in his hand
"Do you swear to protect her and to withhold her sacred laws in times of wealth or poverty, in peace or war?"
"I do." He leans down and the golden crown is carefully laid on his head.
Xavier looks over the room after he takes a stand and nods towards his father who stills next to him. They shake hands, extending the first actual gesture of love and excitement grows. His mother also walks over to him and the three of them turn to face their people as Xavier places the scepter down again.
"With great honour, I present to you, Xavier Luca." His father pauses for dramatic effect and then smiles. " King of Whitebridge."
As a roar of cheers and shouts surround us his father beckons me to the front. I can't help but feel a little giddy as I stand still next to Xavier. He looks down at me with the largest smile folded into his cheeks before placing a kiss on my forehead and I smile. Allowing the warm, sensational bliss to overtake my body. My soul. My mind.
