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

Chapter Five

Anevay

"Take this blasted thing off," I hissed, yanking at my corset.

"Lady, you must wear it. It is proper," Laef insisted.

Who decided what was proper anyway?

The king.

Or, as it were, the queen.

Which was me.

And I was going to say that I was not riding for who-knew how long, cinched so tightly that I could not breathe properly.

I had been willing to endure it for my marriage. Some part of me wanted as many layers of clothing between myself and my betrothed as possible.

But the fact of the matter was, I had never ridden before.

I rarely went anywhere to begin with, but when I had in the past, I had been in a covered carriage. Not on a horse's back.

Carriages were standard for a lady.

I was not sure if the men from the palace had simply forgotten that in their haste, or if there was some sort of logistical reason I should ride with my personal guard.

"Laef, I promised to make haste," I told her, trying to make my voice firm. "Remove it, or I shall find someone else who will."

And who can go to the palace with me was what I was not saying, but what Laef was understanding.

Nobody would turn down a chance to work at the palace.

So she made short work of my corset before helping me into the first gown we removed from my already-packed trunk.

It was rather simple in style and made of a dark green crushed velvet that would, I hoped, keep me warm on the journey back to the palace.

My palace.

Those words had my brain spinning once again, made me immediately start to feel unsteady, like I might, once again, faint.

But I could not faint.

So I pushed those thoughts away.

I imagined I would have plenty of time to process what was happening on the long ride back to the city.

"You should leave your hair plaited, lady. It would be more fitting for a queen," Laef insisted as I worked the braids free.

"No. It will be warmer with it down," I insisted, sliding on my gloves that would attempt to stave off the cold, then turning to let her pin my fur shawl up around my shoulders before helping me into my warm cloak.

"Yes, lady," Laef said, nodding, then reaching to grab my muff. "Your hat, and you shall be ready," she told me, rummaging through my trunk until she found it.

And then, just like that, I was ready.

To not only go to the city or to the court.

But to the palace.

My new home.

Shaking off the lightheadedness that thought caused, I made my way down the steps, calling out orders to Laef to have my things, clearly, sent to the palace instead of my betrothed's estate.

For the first time, it sank in that I would no longer have to marry him. Queens did not have arranged marriages. In fact, they did not need to marry at all.

All the worries that had been pressing down on my shoulders for more years than I cared to count fell away.

Sure, ruling would come with its own sort of worries, I was sure. But not the sort that would have me spread-legged for a man who repulsed me.