The royal family of Gordova is a very traditional family. One tradition all of them has followed is to take part in an arranged marriage.
But what happens when Prince Lorenzo's marriage is arranged to a fiery, stubborn and out-spoken girl? Will she...
THIS IS THE FIRST PART OF A DOUBLE UPDATE, READ THIS BEFORE CHAPTER 12! 15/4/2020 (1200 words) Ariana’s POV
I stayed in my room for as long as possible the next day, but eventually the rumbling in my stomach became so loud that I had to go down to the kitchen and grab some food. On the five-minute walk down to the kitchen, I must have seen at least five or six guards, which was just another reminder of how much my life had changed and how crazy it was. Once I reached the kitchen, I managed to make some toast before anyone else appeared, then I pretty much ran back to my room so that I wouldn’t see the prince.
Once I got back into my room I settled myself back under the covers, turned Netflix on and started on my mountain of toast. About an hour and a half later, there was an unexpected knock at my door. I quickly paused my show and called out, ‘Who is it?’
The answer was definitely surprising. ‘It’s Lorenzo, can I speak to you?’
I muttered a quiet ok and opened the door, only to be startled by the Prince’s appearance behind the door. He was stood in front of me in probably the most cliché casual outfit, a pair of ripped blue denim jeans and a plain white t-shirt, but what shocked me the most was the new shoulder length dark hair, instead of his naturally golden and short wavy hair.
I must have been stood there for a minute or so with my mouth open, stunned at his new look, because he eventually waved his hand in front of my face with one of his smirks on his face.
‘Can I come in? I want to talk to you.’ he asked, and despite his outward confidence, I thought that maybe for a split second he sounded kind of nervous.
‘Yeah, sure.’ I replied quietly, standing aside for him to enter. As he walked in, he looked around and I found myself thanking my boredom from the night before that had forced me into tidying all of my things into the drawers and wardrobe. He took in the flung back covers on the bed with my laptop and plate of crumbs on the bedside table then turned back to me.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.’ He sounded quite formal.
‘Um, don’t worry about it, it was just watching Netflix, so, nothing important.’ I said, awkwardly standing in the corner by the bed.
‘What are you watching?’ Lorenzo asked, attempting some small talk.
‘Gilmore Girls.’ I replied unintentionally short, only increasing the uncomfortable tension in the air. ‘Didn’t you want to say something to me?’ I asked, trying to push the conversation along.
Suddenly, Lorenzo’s posture straightened up and he even looked a little excited. ‘Oh yeah. I wanted to ask if you have any clothes similar to what I'm wearing? And I need you to put this on.’ he opened a bag that I hadn’t noticed before and pulled out a wig. A dusty PINK wig.
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‘Wait, what?’ I was probably the most confused I had ever been in my life, even more so than when I attempted to do trigonometry in secondary school.
His smirk returned, though I could still sense some nerves. ‘Well I talked to my sister and she said this would probably be best colour because of your eyebrows or something like that.’ Ok, I had to admit that that was true, but I was still very confused as to why I had to wear a wig in the first place. Lorenzo seemed to realise this as he continued. ‘We are going out today, and I'm guessing you don’t want to be recognised’. That definitely explained his appearance.
‘Ok, I’ll get changed and I will put I wig on.’ I said slightly hesitantly. He put the wig on the bed and left to wait for me downstairs.
I quickly got changed and took the wig off the bed. I pinned my long hair up to my head and pulled the cap on before securing the wig on my head. I gave myself a once over in the mirror and I had to admit, I really liked the wig. I was dressed in a black Queen band t-shirt and some lightly ripped jeans. I hurried down the stairs and saw Carmelita and Lorenzo talking in the lobby. I was just about to step into view when I heard my name, which made me hang back.
‘When are you going to tell Ariana, your highness? You know it will change everything. She is going to have to know soon, so she can prepare herself, it is going to change her life.’ Carmelita said.
‘I don’t know Carmelita, I need to find the right moment, I have no idea how she will react and it’s not as if she is my biggest fan right now. If she thinks I'm interfering it could just bring back all of the hate she has for me in full force.’ Lorenzo responded, running a hand through his temporarily dark hair, which was something I noticed he did whenever he was really stressed.
Carmelita was about to respond when I decided to make my presence known by walking down the rest of the stairs with heavy steps, acting like I hadn’t heard anything. Both of them whipped their heads towards me, shuffling their feet guiltily.
‘I’m ready to go.’ I said, not sounding nearly as confident as I would have liked to. Lorenzo gave me a strained smile and led me to a small red car parked outside. He opened the front passenger seat and I lowered myself in while avoiding his gaze. I heard him huff in frustration then shut the door firmly before he walked over to the drivers’ side and slid in.
We were making our way down the never-ending driveway when Lorenzo spoke. ‘Aren't you curious about where we are going?’ he asked, his frustration carrying on into his words.
‘I guess.’ I responded. If he was going to keep things from me that would hurt me, I wasn’t going to co-operate and just sit there happily. He huffed and ran a hand through his hair again before silence fell on the car. He continued to drive for just under an hour and a half when we reached a more populated area and Lorenzo pulled into a car park. I got out as he went to retrieve something from the boot, and I looked around to see if there were any landmarks that could tell me where we were. As I turned around, I froze. Right in front of me was the Colosseum. The FREAKING COLOSSEUM! In that moment I forgot that I was annoyed with Lorenzo and I bounded up to him, almost jumping with excitement. ‘Are we going there, have you really brought me to the Colosseum?’ I asked with a massive goofy smile on my face.
‘Yes, then we are going to the Trevi Fountain and tomorrow is the visit to the Vatican.’ he said, echoing my excitement.
Hi lovelies! Today I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you for all of the support I have been getting recently. Most of it has come through notifications of people adding this book to their reading lists but it honestly means so much. Please don't be so silent though! It would be great to get some more comments and get your thoughts on how the book is so far.
