Royally Interested

Chapter 24

" But why aren't you saying what you actually want ? This is your day too Avalon ." Rysand said softly while Darla poured tea for me.

"I don't know. What if what I want isn't 'royal enough' ? "

"Royal enough ? Avalon , I didn't ask you to marry me because I wanted you to change or to fit into my lifestyle . I asked you to marry me because I love you just the way you are. "

"I know you mean well , but you can't fight the fact that I don't know what is acceptable in your culture ." I said pulling back defeated , sipping on my tea. I watched as he took a deep breath , scrunching his brows together and then meeting my gaze once again.

"I admire you for doing this for me. You're a remarkable woman. But know this ; I would never expect you to become someone you're not. And I certainly wouldn't want you to be miserable for the rest of your life because you chose to love me either. "

"I... don't understand what you're trying to say here. " I said uncertain as he reached his hand out to me, rubbing small circles on the back of my hand.

" I'm saying that ; I always want you to be able to talk to me about these types of things. I want you to make a home here and be happy with where you are in life. So go , go plan the wedding you really want. Whether we end up eating Caviar or burgers at the reception. I'll still tell you you're the most beautiful one there and stand in front of everyone we know and say ' I do ' because I love you Avalon and nothing will ever change that. " By the end of his heart felt speech I was nearly at the brink of tearing up. To thought that I had him all wrong... he didn't want a stuck up , know-it-all princess , he just wanted me . Nothing special , down to earth , an ordinary girl like me. And that right there, might just be the single most heart-warming thing he's ever said to me.

"I love you , you know that ? " I said with a smile standing towards my feet again.

"uhm... I think so but feel free to remind me. " he teased as I playfully rolled my eyes and placing a peck to his lips saying "I love you very much." as I walked out of his office with my cheeks a tinted red colour, but not before hearing him call behind me ; " You can't tease me like this !" making my smile only grow and my heart flutter like crazy.

By the end of my second meeting with Ira I felt this sense of ease and comfort as I now knew that no matter what I ended up picking , it wouldn't make a difference to Rysand . He just wanted me to be happy and I think that in itself made everything go a lot smoother this time around. And contrary to what I believed to be true ; Ira didn't mind my changes as I much as I thought she would. Infact , she encouraged and welcomed it saying something along the lines about "how refreshing it is to plan a royal wedding that's different than all the rest " I of course didn't know whether or not I should've been honoured or offended . Though she soon reassured me that something different might just be what these people needed , that they were all growing too comfortable with how things worked around here. I didn't bother to respond or make any comments since it would definitely reflect bad on me as a future queen , but I never thought about how people could so easily gossip about what the royals were up to.

"That's great ! anything else happen ? " Rysand asked relieved as we sat next to the fire .

"uhm... no . Nothing comes to mind. " I tried to say as reassuringly as possible. I mean , of course I wanted to share with him all of the ridiculous things everyone thought to be true about this place , but I also knew he wouldn't understand or see the humour in it. Besides , I knew Ira meant no harm in any of it she... might just be the kind of friend I needed around here. Someone I could talk to about these type of things and not feel like I'm breaking every law possible for a future queen and wife to break.

"sure ? well , I'm happy that you're finally starting to enjoy everything Wedlyn has to offer. I just want you to be happy . " He said placing a kiss to the top of my head , while I only smiled and whispered a "me too "

The rest of the week fly by effortlessly. Rysand of course wanted to make this official as soon as possible. On the one hand I understood where he was coming from ; taking the time to plan a wedding required a lot of hands on decisions , but I also saw it as his way of integrating me into his royal circle as soon as possible. I didn't mind it , in fact it made me happy to see him this happy and passionate about something , about someone. I just wish I could've gone without the drama...

That's it ! Thank you so much for reading. Sorry for the shorter chapter , I'm a little slow on writing with working during the day but I hope you're enjoying it as this will soon come to an end . Until next time , keep howling my wolves. ❤🐺