Page 23 of A Royal Arrangement
And I’m going to hate every second.
Everyone paired up. Addie stood to his right, teamed up with a young boy from a nearby town. And Rosalie stood to his left…as his partner. The music began playing again, and they turned, facing each other, palms pressed together, as they started moving in a circle.
This wasn’t what he’d expected their first dance as husband and wife to look like.
Colin’s eyes locked with hers as they moved together as one. He sucked in a breath when he realized he didn’t hate dancing with his wife as much as he thought he would.
Chapter Eight
Rosalie
Rosalie turned in a circle, her right hand pressed against Colin’s. She dared a glance up at him to find him staring right back at her with such intensity that she nearly stumbled. An instant later, his eyes were focused on something off in the distance again. That was where they always seemed to be when she was around. Anywhere but onher.
She could overthink this whole interaction later. Right now, she was buzzing with nervous energy from stepping in and finishing the speech for Colin at the press conference.
He had stopped talking, and she had seen the internal battle raging inside him—one she didn’t yet fully understand, but one she intended to help him work through over time.
There hadn’t been even an ounce of hesitation in her body when she’d stepped in to finish his speech. Yes, Rosalie had faced her greatest fear of public speaking, but she had been doing something even greater than that—she had been helping someone in their time of need.
Rosalie didn’t know what feelings or thoughts Colin was battling, but she wanted him to see her as the person who would go to war with him. He needed to know he wasn’t alone in this fight anymore. All she could do was repeatedly show up for him and Addie and hope for the best.
She dropped her hand to wrap it around Colin’s waist just as his hand settled around hers. Rosalie inhaled a sharp breath at the feel of his fingers on the dip of her waist. Dancing with her husband felt so natural and right that she wondered if he could feel it too.
As they continued through the motions of the dance, Colin finally broke the silence. “How do you even know the Edgemont Freedom Dance?”
“I had a little under a week from when I found out about our impending marriage until we left to come here.” She stepped apart from him, turning in a circle with a larger group of people. When she was at Colin’s side again, she continued, “I spent that week learning everything I could about Edgemont. Common traditions, the national anthem, culture, history, and customs celebrated here. And this dance.”
Colin’s eyes finally found hers. A rush of feelings spread through her at the kindness she saw in them. His cold and distant expression was gone. Instead, he gazed at her with a look that seemed to contain the smallest bit of admiration.
She took a mental screenshot to save that look for later when she would be doubting if Colin could ever actually love her. Because that look right there said they were gaining a new level of understanding and respect for each other, and if that could grow, surely love could grow too.
The song came to an end, and Addie ran back over to her and Colin. They greeted their people, shaking hands and waving at those who were farther back in the crowd, calling out to them. When they were ready, their bodyguards escorted them back to the carriage where the footman was waiting for them.
Addie was helped up into the carriage first, and Rosalie followed after her, accepting the footman’s hand and stepping up. As she reached the final step, her heel slipped. Her arms flailed as she fell backward, but instead of landing in the dirt, she landed in the arms of a strong and sturdy man—Colin. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist while the other was under her knees.
People in the crowd near them gasped as the scene played out, but Rosalie’s breath was completely stolen by the feel of his muscular arms wrapped around her.
When she finally had regained some semblance of control, she turned her head to look at him. “Thank you,” she whispered, looking up into his eyes, wondering what it would feel like to brush her fingertips over the scruff that now covered his face.
He grunted in response. “You should watch where you step.”
“Or you’ll just have to stick around to catch me.” She winked at Colin, holding her hand to his chest.
With her hand pressed against him, Rosalie could feel the racing cadence of his heart. Even though his words seemed nonchalant, she knew being this close to her had some type of effect on Colin, and that kept a giant smile on her face the rest of the parade.
It had been over a week since the press conference and parade, and things weren’t much different around the palace.Colin had asked her a few surface-level questions each day, like how she was doing or her opinion on selections for tonight’s upcoming ball. But otherwise, he had gone about his business as usual, and Rosalie had been left to her own devices.
She spent most of her time exploring the Edgemont Palace, trying to find secret passageways or rooms she had yet to see that could make this place feel more like home to her. While her search for hidden passageways came up short, Rosalie successfully found a few spaces that filled her heart and made her feel more at ease.
One small side room housed merely a sofa and matching chairs, but it led to a balcony with a beautiful view of the ocean and mountains, showcasing both the beautiful sea-blue waves and a forested mountainside. The stunning view brought her a sense of peace and calm she hadn’t felt since moving to a new country—a country where she had yet to find her place.
The other spot she found was a small auxiliary library with a corner dedicated to chess. A chess board was built into a quaint, square table with two chairs, ready for a match, and the walls were covered in pictures depicting game pieces.
Rosalie had spent multiple afternoons there playing against herself. It took her right back to evenings growing up in Findorra. When she was younger, her parents had traveled constantly while her older brother was off at a private military boarding school. Her family’s butler had played chess with her every night, teaching her everything he knew about the game.
Playing chess had become so dear to her, a reminder that she was never alone. Even when life had gotten hard and she’d felt like she had no one left, Rosalie had always hada game of chess with her butler waiting for her each night without fail.
Maybe she would be able to convince Colin, or even Wes, to play a game with her soon. It was much more satisfying to beat someone else in chess rather than always losing to herself.
