Page 1 of Last Minute

CHAPTER 1

Ellie

Bash stands up and paces, outrage blatantly apparent on his face. It takes him three steps to cross the length of the informal sitting room that we’re gathered in. The late afternoon sun bathes the stones of the palace’s exterior in a warm light that reflects in through the east-facing window.

“What do you mean they’ve canceled the marriage arrangement?”

Father looks decidedly unruffled at Bash’s outburst. He and Mother remain in their comfortable wingback chairs opposite mine. This room is for our family’s private use, and when I walked in and found the rest of my family waiting for me, I knew whatever Father had called us here for was not going to be pleasant. “I mean that it’s been rescinded. Chastain’s legal team sent over the documents today.”

Canceled. Rescinded. Retracted. Revoked. Withdrawn. Called off. However Father worded it, the meaning remained the same. I am no longer engaged to Prince Alden of Chastain.

Bash drags his hands through his reddish brown hair, mussing the strands he usually keeps perfectly coiffed and in line. As Crown Prince of Brysard, he has an image to uphold.

“What is that going to mean for Ellie?”

Yes, what is that going to mean for Ellie? Just because I take the news in stride—at least on the outside—doesn’t mean that I have all the answers for the future. In one moment, my five-, ten-, and twenty-year plans disintegrated. Went up in flames faster than a hydrogen-filled balloon.

In all honesty, my eerie calm, juxtaposed with Bash’s fiery vehemence, is probably the result of me genuinely not knowing what comes next.

And that never happens. Not in my life.

As the second child of Their Majesties King Edward and Queen Genevieve of Brysard, my life has been planned from before the moment I took my first breath. Never in a smothering, oppressive way—I’ve had many privileges that others haven’t—but I’ve always known what I’d grow up to become and what I’d be doing for the rest of my life. The marriage arrangement with Chastain sealed the deal—I’d leave my life in Brysard behind and become Prince Alden’s queen consort when he took the throne.

I went to university to study chemistry, but I knew I’d never use my degree. The shiny diploma I’ve hung in my private study is mostly a back-up plan. A contingency. For what, I don’t really know. I’ve been tutored in all manners of state and political things since I was old enough to make public appearances, and that’s the training I’ve relied on the most in my twenty-seven years.

I tune back into the conversation after silently mourning the loss of my carefully laid plans. Plans I made two years ago when Chastain first approached the royal family of Brysard about a marriage contract between myself and Crown Prince Alden.

“What do you think of it all, Ellie?” Bash asks, facing me for the first time since Father dropped the news.

I study Bash’s face for a moment before speaking. His eyes are wild and full of panic. His hair is uncharacteristically messy. Stress lines his mouth and forehead, aging him well beyond his usually youthful-looking thirty-three. “I think you’re overreacting.”

As someone who is engaged to marry the love of his life, Lady Juliana Langdon, in eight months, he shouldn’t be this worked up about my failed engagement.

Bash squares his shoulders and looks down at me. “Ellie,” he says sternly, but not unkindly. Excellent qualities for the future king. “You need to be a little more serious about this.”

“You don’t think I’m serious?” I ask incredulously, the smallest hint of the emotions I’m keeping locked behind my cool facade leaking through. My back straightens and I pin my older brother with a glare. “Just because I’m not storming about like you doesn’t mean I’m not taking this seriously.”

“But all of your plans, Ellie.” Bash’s eyes soften, and I can see his genuine sadness at the loss of my plans. He knows how I love my plans. And if I were him, I’d probably be expecting some vehemence from me as well, but the family only needs one hothead right now.

I raise my chin and look him in the eye. “Plans change, Bash. Lives change. And we are not impervious to it. In fact, as the royal family, we should embrace it and what it means for our country.” I look over at Mother and Father, who are watching my disagreement with Bash with approval. Father dips his head in a shallow nod as if granting me permission to continue. “We need to look at this in a new light. Instead of only seeing the negative—” I shoot a look at Bash. “—the trade agreement and marriage arrangement falling through—we need to assess the positives. I’m staying. I can continue to help Father and you, young padawan, with things here in Brysard.”

“I’m at least a Knight, and you know it,” Bash mumbles to me as I pause to take a breath before continuing on my tirade.

I roll my eyes before fully facing Mother and Father. “Despite what Anakin here says, this is a good thing. Everything will work out all right in the end.”

My throat tightens as I finish my spiel. I wholeheartedly believe what I’m saying, but what I’m not saying, what I don’t want my family to know, is that I’m scared.

My brother won the lottery when he met Juliana—a titled woman from our own country who would be completely eligible to become Queen when my mother and father pass away, many years down the road. As the second-born, I have the luxury of not needing to worry too much about succession and whether or not my partner will be the next King, but as a member of the royal family, I am aware of how…difficult…it may be to find a love match.

Practically all my life, I’ve been paraded in front of “eligible bachelors” from here, there, and everywhere, but none of them have had that spark. That instant attraction that screams at you to pursue a friendship, maybe even a relationship.

When the King of Chastain approached my father two years ago, I was more than eager to accept. I’m not getting any younger, and my prospects haven't changed in years. And of all the men on my parents’ Potential Suitors list, Prince Alden is—was—at the top.

Prince Alden is attractive. And sporty. And smart. And funny. He ticks all of the boxes, including the princely one. I’ve met him several times before at other official events, since our two countries are neighbors. And every time, I’d note his objective perfection, but there was still something missing. I always told myself it was because we had never “hung out,” or whatever kids do these days, outside of an official capacity, where we were both required to don our professional facades. I always hoped the walls would come down after the “I do”s and all those checked boxes would transform into a love to rival the storybooks.

Sure, we didn’t have wild, off-the-charts attraction now, but I was sure it would show up if we were ever given the chance to take off the royal masks.

I hoped.

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