The Bride

Chapter 6

     The whole palace was bustling around, getting ready for the royal wedding. Who's royal wedding? It was my wedding. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Out of all the girls he could've chosen, he chose me! I couldn't help the smile that was etched on my face the whole day.

     "Miss Arielle, I was wondering if you had any preference for the flowers?" Arabella catches me outside on the balcony.

     "I've always loved roses," I tell her. "But I can't decide on either red or white."

     "Well, I suppose I can arrange the bouquets with both types. I can make it very pleasing to the eye, it would be no trouble at all," she bows, and doesn't quite look me in the eye, like she's afraid of what I'm going to say.

     "Oh Arabella, that'd be absolutely wonderful!" I gush. Her head perks up as she looks at me with a suprised expression.

     "It would?" She asks, totally shocked. "Well um...thank... thank you, miss" she says, a bit flustered. I hug her, which seems to catch her even more off gaurd.

     "Arabella, I wanted to ask if..." I trail off and smile at her.

     "Yes, miss? Anything."

     "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to be my maid of honour at the wedding," I say, then bite my lip to try and contain my smile as I see her face light up. Suddenly, her expression changes, as her face turns pale. My own face, I am sure of this, had a look of confusion before I realized she was looking behind me. I turn around.

     "And what are you two ladies talking about?" Prince Ethan asks us with a smile as he steps out on to the balcony.

     "Oh, I was just asking Arabella if she would like to be my maid of honour!" I tell him as the wraps his arms around me yet again. I swear I could see the Prince's eyes harden for a milisecond before he breaks out into a smile.

     "Well?" He asks Arabelle. "What'll it be? Will you be my bride's maid of honour?" He says the last part almost more like a command than an option. I swear my brain sure thinks of the funniest things! Of course there was no such tone in his voice, right? Right.

     Arabella looks from me to the Prince and back again. She stands up straight as she says, "I would love to, miss,"

     "Your Highness," Prince Ethan corrects. I open my mouth to protest, but Arabella had already mumbled an apology and skittered away. I look at the Prince questioningly.

     "Well, you will be Alanderia's next Queen. I just want to make sure that our subjects know of that." He begins to kiss my neck, and I find that I can't argue with him. He's just so sweet.

     "I hate to kiss and run, but I have some important matters to attend to in my chambers," he smirks at me. "Soon to be our chambers" he pinches my ass, and I can't help but jump and yelp a little bit. I giggle, he's so cute when he wants to be. I blush.

    "Okay, sweetie," I say as I wrap my arms around his strong arms. "See you soon?" I kiss his cheek.

     "Anything for my Queen," he tells me before he goes back inside. When inside, I hear him call out to Bruce, the butler.

     "Bruce, tell that handsmaid... Arabella is it? Tell her to join me in my chambers. We have some... important matters to... attend to." He says, and I can't help but think about what the important matters are. Maybe he just wants to talk to her about the wedding? I hope he's not talking to her about anymore of this 'your Highness' business. I'm fine with just being miss! I laugh to myself, then begin to head back inside of the palace. There's still a lot of planning to be done for the wedding.

°°°

     For the wedding, it was decided to take place at the palace, in the courtyard. The courtyard is huge. You could easily fit five hundred people in there, and maybe more still! Plus, since it was early spring, the many types of flowers skattered across the courtyard where in bloom. We lined the place with white, lace-covered chairs, all connected by streams of fabric. The fabric had little sequins embedded in it, which I thought was absolutely lovely.

     The reception would be held in the ballroom where Arabella has put the most beautiful bouquet of roses on the railings. Red and while roses line the ballroom. Arabella had also scattered rose petals on the same sparkling fabric that lined the chairs.

     As it turned out, I didn't even have to choose my wedding dress as I saw that Prince Ethan had gotten one for me already. He really thought of everything! The dress was long and white, with the neckline down to my waist. The dress even had a little slit up the side of it. It was as pretty as it was fashion-forward. It was a bit reavealing, but beggars can't be choosers. Besides, it really was beautiful, picked out by the Prince himself! I couldn't wait to wear it, the fabric felt so soft.

     The palace was still pretty busy with the wedding planning, so I didn't get to see much of Prince Ethan. This somewhat disappointed me, as I missed his presence. But that's okay, since I'll be marrying him in forty-eight hours. I couldn't help but twirl around in my dream state. Everything was perfect.

     Nothing could ever go wrong.