All Chapters of The 200-Year Bride Swap: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

(Alicia)I wake with a start, the incessant buzzing of my phone against my thigh having done the trick. I ignore it, let it buzz to its little heart’s content. Whoever it is can leave a message.But now that I’m awake, I take note of my surroundings. Oh hell. What did I do?The room smells like old beer and too-much perfume and something warmer, darker. Six people lie scattered across the furniture, butt naked and asleep in that awful, sudden way that follows a lot of sex, too many drinks and too little care. I know two sets of breathing: Shannon and Phoebe, Ruben and Dimitri. The other two are strangers, unfamiliar weights and a human scent that doesn’t belong to our crowd.The two strangers worry me slightly more on reflection. They hadn’t been here when the night started, I’m fairly sure of that. And the state of everyone suggests things had escalated well beyond what any of us had planned. I have a vague, blurry memory of the music getting louder and the lights getting lower, of so

(Alicia)I encounter very few people as I’m escorted through the pristinely kept palace. Those who I do come across are all servants who readily stop what they’re doing and bow politely. Although I don’t miss the eyerolls directly preceding the act. Nothing new there.Dour-face and the heavies deliver me to the gilded doors of my dear father’s office, after a quick rap on the door. At the call to come in, dour-face pushes the heavy doors open and steps inside.“Princess Alicia, your Highness,” he says like a funeral director as he bows towards the figure sitting behind the massive desk.“Thank you, Miles. You may leave us,” my father says in his deep baritone, and the lackey promptly leaves the room, adding a bombastic side-eye as he walks past me. I’m tempted to giggle, but my loathing for being in this room stops me from acting on the temptation.“Took you long enough,” my father addresses me as soon as the door closes. His voice, as usual, drips with sarcasm.I look at him, the impo

(Alicia)The call from the woman named Chiara comes as I’m once again reduced to eating cereal. I ignore it, along with her next four calls and messages. I’m busy with training, and some part of my brain really wants to ignore the previous day and all its implications.The woman is pushy and clearly a bit miffed that I’ve been ignoring her. Womp-womp.She drones on about dress fittings and flower choices like she’s planning a human wedding. Am I getting married to a human? I only half-listen as she mentions how she’s got this schedule that she’s sharing with my email account and that I ‘better not miss any of the appointments’. But I’m fully awake when she ends the call with ‘Oh, and the King asked me to mention that Luka sends his regards’.A white-hot fury makes me almost sling my phone against the wall, but I rein that anger in quickly.Not here. Not now.Feeling like a naughty schoolgirl who’s been hauled to heel by a schoolmaster, I check my emails. Yes, there are all the neatly s

(Alicia)When I say nothing more Darren clears his throat, looking uncomfortable.“What is it? I know that look, just spill!” I say, not wanting to deal with his dramatics today.“Alicia, there’s something you need to know about this bride swap. Something disturbing,” he starts and I cock an eyebrow at him as a prompt to continue. He shifts uncomfortably on his chair and starts playing with the cocktail umbrella.“Throughout history, it’s never really ended well for any of the couples. Especially not when there was a werewolf-elf matchup.”Great, just bloody great. Why am I not surprised. Daddy dearest has obviously found the perfect way to finally get rid of me.I rub at my eyes, my elbows resting on the table. “What am I going to do, Darren? How do I get out of this?”He looks at me as if the answer is simple and I’m too stupid to spot it.“Just say no. Easy as that. When have you ever done anything that man asks of you, anyway? Unless you want the hunky Alpha King, of course.” His e

(Alicia)As the days blur into weeks, I throw myself headlong into training. Because what else is there to do when your life’s been handed to you on a silver platter by the gods?I practise hand-to-hand combat, the kind where rules are just a suggestion; modern warfare with enough firearms to make any gun enthusiast blush; and then the classics: bows and arrows, daggers, and my personal favourite, the sword. A girl’s gotta have a hobby, right? And all this just to appease Athena’s blessing.But the real challenge? That’s Aphrodite’s gift. I’m still not sure whether to thank her or curse her for it. About three months after I turned 18 and was just getting used to my gift from Athena, this extra marking appeared out of nowhere, signalling my second Elven blessing. Naturally, I freaked out and did what any sensible person would do. I told Darren. His blessing is from Marvi, one of those lesser gods who specialises in keeping secrets, so I figured he was the safest bet.Darren, being Darr