My whole body trembled. I had never been with a man before and now I was supposed to sleep with this complete stranger that became my husband out of nowhere.
The attendees stood one by one to say goodbye to the bride and groom. Their smiles and good wishes felt like daggers to my stomach. Andrew walked towards me and hugged me, I could see in his face that he was mad and that he wanted to stop this, so I knew I had to stop him instead before he did something reckless.
“I am fine, I wish I did not have to go, I will miss Lerene, but this is a good thing. I will be queen,” I whispered to his ear. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” is all he said in return, he was confused by the fact that I kept on reassuring him and Edward that I was fine, so they had no idea how to act or what to do.
Gregory offered me his arm, as he did before, so we would follow the servant that was going to take us to our bedroom for the night.
We walked in silence. My legs felt weak the whole way to the guest room that my uncle had prepared for King Gregory and me. My heart accelerated the second we reached the bedroom. I walked in with wobbly steps feeling I was about to faint.
The servant closed the doors before leaving. Now we were all alone. I gulped as my eyes fixed on the bed.
Gregory closed the balcony curtains and walked towards me, I was standing by the door like a cornered animal, and as soon as I felt him approach I looked down at the ground. I had never been so afraid of someone. I was alone and trapped. He took my hands in his and kissed them, then he began to kiss my neck slowly. A shiver ran down my spine as I felt his lips on my skin. I noticed how he untied the laces of my corset and I filled with anxiety. As soon as he finished, my skirt fell to the floor and I was left in the nightgown I was wearing under my dress. Gregory made a sign for me to sit on the bed, I had the urge to flee, but I was doomed, I had no choice but to do what he told me. My husband knelt in front of me and took off my shoes and stockings with delicate movements, almost as if he were afraid of hurting me. Then he stood up and took off his shirt, revealing his impressive torso. I blushed violently, affected by the beautiful sight he presented. He was in very good shape, all the muscles in his body were well defined. I closed my eyes for a moment, until I felt Gregory take a seat next to me. Then he leaned over me and began kissing my chin before slowly moving down to my neck. I held my breath, mortified by what was about to happen.
To my relief, Gregory stopped.
"Am I hurting you?" He asked in a sweet tone I was not expecting from him.
I fixed my eyes on his.
"No," I replied with a squeak.
“Your face seems to differ, you look like you are in pain,” he remarked.
"I am nervous," I explained with a trembling voice.
Gregory's face did not flinch at my words, it was as if he did not hear me. I wondered if I should repeat what I said or not. Seconds later, he took a sheet and covered me with it.
“Maybe we should postpone this for a few days. I have no problem waiting for you to be ready,” he finally said, without losing the sweetness in his voice.
I could not believe what I had just heard. Was this heartless man really going to wait until I was ready to consummate our marriage?
I nodded energetically, wishing he wasn’t joking. Gregory winked at me and then rolled onto his back to his side of the bed.
“Very well, in that case: go to sleep. It has been a long day.”
He then curled up next to me and closed his eyes. Instead of closing mine and trying to get some sleep, I stared at him for hours wondering how my life changed so much in just a day.
At first, when I woke up, I did not recognize where I was. I felt rested and happy, and there was a pleasant scent in the air. I took a deep breath as I smiled until I felt movement next to me, I freaked out and screamed. It was my husband, who was also awakening by my side. I then realized that the pleasant scent was Gregory’s lotion.
“Is everything all right?” he asked before yawning and stretching his long arms.
“Yes. I am sorry, I got disoriented for a moment,” I said.
Gregory pulled me closer to him and placed his arms around me. He closed his eyes and dozed for a few minutes until we heard someone knocking on the door.
“Your Majesty, it is time for us to depart,” a male voice announced on the other side.
I drew my breath in. The time for us to go to Dranda had come. I was going to leave everything I ever knew behind, including my beloved brothers.
To my surprise, I discovered that someone had brought my grey dress to this room. I put it on immediately, glad that I did not have to wear Kendalia’s dress any longer. Gregory also got dressed and once we were ready, we joined the six knights who were waiting for us. My family was there too.
There were many horses and a carriage ready for us to depart.
“Try to be a competent queen. Do not embarrass us, you are the face of Lerene now, remember that,” my uncle said coldly instead of saying goodbye.
Kendalia was not warmer, she simply said: “Do as you are told,” and turned around.
My brothers, on the other hand, were holding back tears. I was holding them back too. I was going to miss them terribly every day until we could meet again.
“I don’t want you to leave, how can we stop this?” Andrew whispered desperately.
“We can’t, but you must not fear for me. I will be fine, my husband is a kind man with a good heart,” I lied. “I am certain I will be happy with him.”
“He does not seem that way,” Edward muttered looking daggers at Gregory who was talking to his men while I said goodbye.
“You can’t tell just by looking at him, he has a tough exterior, but trust me when I say that he is capable of unexpected sweet gestures,” that part was surprisingly true.
“I will try to persuade our uncle to let us visit you as soon as possible,” Andrew promised.
“I would love that,” I said as a tear run down my cheek.
I did not know how long it would be until I saw them again. My brothers and I had been together every day of our lives and now I was starting a new life that did not involve them, it felt empty and wrong.
“Tuckere to go!” Gregory said as he pointed to the carriage.
The three of us embraced and then I used all my strength not to crumble the second we pulled back.
I climbed inside the carriage. Gregory was not going to travel with me, he was riding his horse along with his knights. It was a good thing that I was traveling alone, that way I did not have to hold back the tears any longer.
I cried and cried as we marched outside Lerene, far from home and everything I ever knew into the unknown.
The light coming from the fireplace reflected on Gregory’s perfect silhouette and probably on mine too, although I would not know, because I was only looking at him. My eyes followed his every move, taking in everything he did, fascinated by his sight. I was so happy to have him with me, after everything we went through, all the hardship and pain.My husband was lying on the soft rug by the fireplace next to me, we were both exhausted by the journey and overjoyed to be back at home. There was nothing to worry about, we could be happy, enjoy the moment carelessly.We were finally at peace and safe, the Trobetians were at last defeated, they were no longer a threat to our existence. Anthony was now Lorene’s new crowned king and I was sure he would do a great job. Queen Kendalia and Constance Labelle had been made prisoners, they were now in a place where they could not hurt us anymore.Gregory rested his strong chin on the palm of his left hand, while he brought his right hand toward m
I was dumbstruck looking at Gregory in the distance. I held my breath, as if I feared that breathing the image of him would vanish. Waves of different emotions attacked me at the same time, I felt my heart overflowing with joy, but my stupefaction prevented me from moving or even speaking."You are the spitting image of your father…" Sable Morgan muttered, his face contorted by shock."Let her go and I will show you that I am nothing like my father," Gregory threatened.“So you finally decided to confront me,” Sable Morgan asked, narrowing his eyes.“No, I'm not here to confront you, I'm here to kill you,” Gregory replied firmly.“You can certainly, Gregory Dominis," Sable Morgan said with a smirk.“Let go of Addison first. Then we'll settle thing between us, I'll even make you believe for a momen
I walked in circles inside the tiny cell I was kept in. I wanted to tear down to walls to escape or at least I wanted to find a way to contact Gregory to tell him that he had to choose Dranda over me. I knew that meant I would die, but I did not care as long as the kingdom was saved, I was not going to be able to live with myself knowing Dranda fell because of me.Something gave me hope, my uncle said that my cousin Anthony was the one leading the Lerene army and I knew he was nothing like his father, maybe Anthony would refuse to attack Dranda if my brothers manage to contact him beforehand. I did not really care about what would happen to me, as long as everyone I loved was safe.A couple of days went by, I tried to find a way to escape my prison but it was impossible. On the third day, the warden dragged me out of the c
During the next few days, Edward and Andrew helped Gregory plan the attack against Lerene. I was overjoyed to have my brothers here with me, I finally felt like I had everything in this world. Even though I was so happy, part of me was afraid of the war that was coming, I feared that I might lose one of my brothers or my husband but I tried not to think much about it and instead concentrate on the present and how happy I was to have them here with me.Since Edward and Andrew spent a lot of time with Gregory and the knights making strategies and talking about the war that was coming, I had a lot of free time in my hands. It was not that they did not invite me to their meetings, they did but I did not wish to be part of them because every time they talked about attacks and military strategies I got anxious thinking that the life of the men I loved was going to be at risk.
(Addison’s P.O.V.)My husband stayed by my side the whole following week, little by little my strength came back and I was able to get out of bed with help.“It is time to appear before the kingdom. I already feel strong enough to show myself in public,” I declared as soon as I was able to get out of bed.“You are just winning a battle against death and all you can think of is the welfare of the people. This kingdom does not deserve you, and neither do I,” said Gregory while his eyes reflected the love he felt for me.“It is too late, I am the only queen they have,” I said, smiling. “Help me, I need to look presentable.”Gregory and Cora assisted me to get dressed and fix my hair, it was impossible to fight my paleness and my obvious loss of weight, but they tried hard to make me look as hea
(Addison’s POV)I had almost no strength to stay awake, but I could not sleep either. Despite the fact that my physical pain was practically unbearable, any discomfort in my body languished compared to the sadness in my heart. I always knew that my uncle and aunt were not nice people, but I never imagined what they were capable of. The idea of my brothers being killed was too much to bear. I had to cling to something to cope with the pain that overwhelmed me, that something was my kingdom. The people of Dranda were terrified believing that the Trobetians had murdered me, and I was not going to allow these disgusting beings to break the will of my people.I did not know what time it was when I opened my eyes, the light was bright, streaming through the closed curtains. I found Gregory sitting in an armchair next to my bed, fast asleep. My handsome husband was not his normal self, his face was drawn, his hair messy and his clothes disheveled. I was grateful to have him close to me, his p