The Heir Apparent - a historical why choose, rh, poly, MMF, spicy romance ✅

Chapter Two

Anevay

I woke up from violent dreams.

Bloodshed and screaming.

I figured they were manifestations of my unhappiness as I forced myself to climb out of bed, to strip out of my nightdress, and slip into the warm bath my maids had brought up.

This would be the only pleasant part of my day, I realized as I rearranged the floating herbs and flowers over the surface of the water.

A few moments of peace before the chaos would ensue. Before my groom would arrive. Before my life was handed away.

"So sad for a bride," I heard one of the maids utter on their way out the door from helping me to dress and braid my hair.

My husband-to-be did not like my blonde hair long and loose how I liked to wear it.

It does not suit a married woman, he had reminded me the last time I'd been forced to endure his company.

A stubborn part of me wanted to wear it free for my wedding just to spite him.

It was Laef, the lady maid who would accompany me to my new home since she was the only unmarried one, who informed me that it was not wise to upset a man whose temper I did not yet know.

He can hurt you in ways you have not experienced yet, she had told me. And I knew just enough about the ways of men and women to understand her meaning.

If I'd been unhappy and nervous before, that warning put terror into my heart and soul as well.

So I did my hair the way my betrothed wanted.

I slipped into the white dress I'd allowed the dressmaker to design with no input from me because I did not particularly care about it, the ceremony, or my future. It was tight around the bodice with a long skirt covered in white flowers. I was resentful about how beautiful it was for a day that felt more like a prison sentence than a wedding.

After dressing, I sat and waited for Algerone to arrive.

Then I waited some more.

Then longer still.

Long enough that I finally decided to go down below to see if anyone had gotten word from my husband-to-be.

"Laef," I called, seeing her standing with several of the other house workers. "Has anyone heard from Father Brooks?" I asked.

After my father's death several years before, my uncle, the king, had decided to entrust my care to Father Brooks until my marriage, instead of coming to get me, and bringing me into the city with him.

I had resented that decision ever since.

If he had come for me, I would have gotten the opportunity to enjoy life in the city, in the court, before I had to marry. The memories might have made my future more bearable.

"Father Brooks was needed for a deathbed confessional," Laef explained, reaching up to tuck some of her short, dark brown hair behind her ear. "He should be here shortly."

"And my... my betrothed?" I asked, swallowing past the bitter taste of that word on my tongue.

To that, I got a head shake. "I do not know, my lady," she said.

A wicked part of me hoped he had fallen off his horse on the way. But what would become of me if Algerone died before we married?

I was cautiously sure that, whatever it might be, it would be better than an arranged marriage to a man like Algerone.