Page 27 of Coral Prince Conundrum
Layla approaches, almost as dumbfounded as I am. “Um, what…?”
“Layla Fischer. I would like seven of your finest rooms for one night, please,” the king says in his regal tone. He shakes her hand, then looks at us. “After all, it is not every day that my son gets engaged to be married. Come, let us celebrate! Take me to your finest eating establishment.”
The guards flank us, all cheers and laughter as I’m whisked away. Seero has his arm wrapped around my shoulder while chattering with the guards. I’m forced to walk forward with him, my bare feet nearly dragging on the linoleum floors.
“En…en…engaged?” I whisper to him.
“I’m so sorry. It was all I could come up with,” he whispers. He has a manic grin as he waves at his fellow Corali.
“Who are you engaged to?” I try to mentally process everything that’s been happening. I cross my arms, still shaking with fear and cold from wearing no clothes.
“You.” He grins and rubs my arms. “You are my fiancé now,” he mutters.
Oh.Oh.
He did this to protect me. The guards don’t want to kill me anymore because they think I’m engaged to the freaking Coral Prince—things just went from weird to worse.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Seero
The next twenty-four hours are a blur, shrouded in a web of lies of my own weaving. Father insisted on having several private meals with the Corali guards and Daryl. I spoke Corali the entire time, and Daryl played the part of the quiet, demure fiancé. Fortunately, Father brushed away my stint of running away from my great global survey, now thrilled and fixated on my betrothal. Daryl has said almost nothing to me in private as I apologized incessantly. With our meals complete, it is time for me to escort my now fake-fiancé back to my kingdom.
I finish placing the last of my belongings into my knapsack and gaze around at the hotel room. This small space has been my home for months, and now it’s pristinely clean, ready for another hotel guest to take my place. While the quarters are small compared to our many palaces at home, this was no prison; it was freedom. I had the liberty to start fresh, to not be the Coral Prince, to meet surface-dwellers, and to do what I pleased.
I was also granted the opportunity to make love to Daryl Tishman.
I shake my head and close the door. I would not blame that handsome American man if he despised me from now on. Butthe Corali royal guard was ready to make an example of him, to harm him. In a snap decision, I saved him in the short term, only to ensnare us both in a whirlpool of deceit.
I walk to the front desk where my fiancé?I mean, Daryl?is waiting. Before I can round the corner, I hear the sound of his friend, the coworker from the café.
“So like, you’re, what, a princess now?” Justice asks.
I stand by a wall, unwilling to announce my presence or walk away.
“Man, it’s not like that. I mean, I don’t think.” Daryl clears his throat. “Are you going to watch my car or not?”
“I’ll park it at my place. But who’s going to cover your shifts?”
“Layla knows what’s going on, and she informed Sam I’m going on a work sabbatical.”
“A work sabbatical? Daryl, you’re going to a foreign country! And not one of the nearby kingdoms, like Icedonia, but like, an overseas country!”
“Hence the sabbatical. You don’t need a coffee maker like me.”
“But why does the Coral Kingdom need you? And cut the crap.” Justice lowers his voice, but my hearing is stronger on the surface than the average man’s. “Why are you engaged to him? He’s hot, but you’ve known him for like what, a month? What is with everyone I know getting engaged so quickly for political reasons?”
I can hear Daryl huff. “It’s…complicated. There are things at play that I can’t explain right now.”
My heart gets heavy. Daryl is still protecting my privacy despite all the complications I’ve brought into his life.
“I just need to…be with him for now. Please say nothing to the press, or anyone.”
“I won’t. You know how it is, man,” Justice replies. “No media allowed at Renversé Plaza. Plus, Layla will have my head if I talk about any of the secret royalty here.”
The two friends snicker, and even I must smile. I have met a surprising number of fellow royals from around the world and beyond since working here.
“Just promise me you know what you’re doing,” Justice says quietly. “No one knows anything about the Coral Kingdom. And all of a sudden, you’re on track to be part of the royal family? I’m getting real sick of royal weddings.”
