THE ROYAL ENEMY

CHAPTER 13- THE DOMINO EFFECT

"I don't get high, but sometimes I wish I did. That way, when I messed up in life I would have an excuse. But right now there's no rehab for stupidity." -Chris Rock

THREE HOURS EARLIER

JULIA

I was on my way to meet Princess Beauty, she was getting married in an hour and demanded that she meet her guests. She kindly agreed to lend me a dress for the wedding. Leo was also coming by later to say hello.

The corridors were long and all the doors looked the same, I followed the instruction, Lia, the hand servant gave me, and ended up in front of a brown door. The door was the same as every other, with one exception, it said, in big bold letters across the front, 'Soon to be married.' I Found her.

I knocked lightly and a smooth velvety voice answered, "Come in." Walking in cautiously, I was met with the sight of a room fit for a queen. The windows were large; they covered almost half the walls on either side of the room. The bed was even larger and had drapes hanging from the ceiling. The wooden floor had more than one royal rug that was blood red. Did they actually use blood to get it that red?

"You must be Lady Julia," a voice said. Whipping around so fast I almost toppled to the ground. "Hi," I said shyly. The girl in front of me smiled reassuringly.

"Well hello to you too, I'm Princess Beauty," I nodded stiffly and smiled back. She was tall, too tall, with brown murky eyes and very dark hair colour, it didn't look brown and it didn't look black, it just looked dirty. She's doesn't exactly fit my expectations, but I'm sure she's nice.

She stepped in front of me and took in my appearance, "I'm so glad you could stay for my wedding, I have a dress that would be perfect for you," her enthusiasm made me nervous, so I kept quiet.

She rummaged through her wardrobe and pulled out a dress. It was gold silk, a short dress that would reach my knees; it had long arms and an intricate design across the back. I loved it. She must have noticed the look in my eyes, because she laughed. "It's the bride maids dress, you can keep it too," I thanked her and went to try on the dress.

LEO

I was on my way to the Princesses royal chamber. I was giddy to get the business transaction over with, so I could go home and tell dad how I managed to actually accomplish something for once. I crossed my fingers, please God, and don't let me mess it up.

I knocked lightly on the door and entered. If I was lying, I would say the first thing that caught my eyes in the room, were the intricate designs of the ceiling and the famous art pieces hanging on the walls. But the first thing I noticed where the two girls standing in front of the mirror, modelling their dresses. Two maids stood off to the side, ready to help the bride, if need be.

They must have not heard me enter, because they continued to laugh loudly. I cleared my throat to get their attention and they turned to me.

The girls watched me cautiously, and then the Princess spoke, "Prince Leonard, I'm glad you could make it," she said and I smiled politely, "Call me Leo," I said.

She nodded, "Of course, I am Princess Beauty, Beatrice if you may, but my friends call me Tris."

She sent a sideway glance to an uncomfortable looking Julia and smiled, "She's rather admirable in her clothes; the gold dress flatters her, does it not?" The princess said.

I said nothing, my words leaving me, how am I supposed to respond to that? Julia did look breath-taking; it was very rare to see her in a dress and even rarer to see her in make-up. She hated dressing like a girly-girl because, and I quote, 'Men do not take me seriously when I dress like a girl, and the dresses are hard to fight in anyway.'

I averted my eyes, realising I had stared for too long, Princess Beauty didn't like my silence and tried again,

"She's quite a beauty, isn't she?" She said, trying to get a reaction out of me.

I nodded stiffly, my jaw clenching, "She always is," I muttered, loud enough for them to hear me, but not loud enough for my words to echo across the hollow room, regardless, what I said lingered In an awkward silence.

"Um-Princess Beauty looks great in her wedding gown, does she not Leo?" Julia said awkwardly, trying to divert the attention away from her.

I looked to the Princess and frowned, "You're wearing that?" I said sceptically, not meaning to sound insulting.

The Princesses eyes welled up and she looked down at her dress, "It's not nice, is it? Oh my god, I should have listened to Riana and got a traditional white dress instead of a red one. Oh my god, it's too late to change it now. I look hideous in it! Oh my god, I don't even look like a bride! George isn't going to marry me like this," she said hysterically, the maids tried to calm her down, telling her that her make-up was going to get ruined. She ignored them and continued to cry.

Julia looked to me in alarm, the Princess chocked back a sob," That's it, the wedding is cancelled, I can't get married like this!"

She lifted her gown with both hands and marched towards the door, "I'm telling father."

Julia, the maids and I, hurriedly followed her out the room and into the royal chamber, where the king sat, laughing happily. Upon seeing his daughter in tears, he stood up worriedly, embracing her in his arms.

"What's wrong sweetie?" He said nervously, looking around the room at the dozens of people watching.

"IcantgetmarriedlikethisbecauseLeosaididontlooklikeabrideandiknowhewontwanttomarrymelikethis" she said in a jumbled mess, I was surprised the King understood her as he looked up at me, with rage in his eyes.

He motioned for the hand maid to comfort his daughter, gently giving the Princess to her. Then he began to stalk towards me. Nervously, I took a few steps back, then a few more, the King continued to advance, and I seriously considered ditching Julia and getting the hell out of there. Considered it, I didn't actually plan on leaving her.

JULIA

The King was furious, the Princess was in tears, the maids and servants were worried, Leo looked scared and I waited anxiously for the tension to elevate once the King spoke.

I honestly didn't think Leo's words would have such an effect on the Princess. She wants to call off an entire wedding just because a boy she had never met before told her she looked ugly?

The King continued to advance on Leo, who continued to move back with every step the king took forward. That's when it happened, all in slow motion.

Leo had walked back into a table the caterers had set up for the wedding. Food decorated it, as well as a huge ice sculpture of the castle. The table sat on wheels, easy to move, and as Leo fell, his elbow sharply hitting the table, his body weight flung the table forward and it went crashing into the King who was only steps away from Leo.

The food went flying in the air, the King fell to the ground, his scream as the table came crashing down onto him made the room grow quite. The last thing to fall was the ice sculpture. It hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces, the sharp edges cutting the King in multiple places. The table had fallen on the king; his leg was bent in an awkward position. I was sure it had broken. At once the people began cleaning the mess, helping the King, who wincing sat down on a chair a servant provided him with.

Leo came to stand next to me, the colour of his face had drained, completely pale, he turned to me. I looked into his eyes and saw the grief they provoked. He had messed up big time and he realised the seriousness of the situation.

The King growled lowly, his anger radiating off of him in waves. His face was red hot and his dishevelled clothing made him look like a mad man as he screamed out, "YOUR KINGDOM WILL GET NO HELP FROM ME. FROM NOW, WE ARE NO LONGER ALIES!"

Yep, Leo screwed up bad.