Page 24 of Mistaken as His Royal Bride

It really shouldn’t be attractive to her that he was so incensed by a tiny piece of jewellery, but Maddi found that it only made her want to push him more. To see him react. He was so cool. So sure. It was intoxicating to know she had the ability to affect him—even if it was just by irritating him.

Because irritating him was preferable to thinking about the fact that she was about to go out in front of people and be seen as a princess. Something she wasn’t ready for—not even when she was pretending to be Laia. A persona she could hide behind.

‘Princess Laia? The King is ready for you.’

Maddi’s insides plummeted with fear, but she turned around and forced a smile for Hannah. It wasn’t as if she had any reason toreallycare about this event, but she found that she was caring about making a good impression.

On Aristedes, whispered a sly voice.

As Maddi followed Hannah to meet the King, on wobbly legs she had to admit that, yes, she had a massively inconvenient crush on the guy—but she had to remember where her loyalties lay. With her sister. She wasn’t here for herself.

As the King had pointed out so brutally earlier.‘If you were Princess Laia...but you’re not.’That had stung far more than it should. But it was a necessary reminder. She was here under sufferance only, for as long as it took to ensure Laia got her freedom.

CHAPTER FIVE

‘THISISFORYOU.’

Maddi looked down at the small velvet box in the King’s palm. She looked back up at him, nonplussed. He emitted a sound like a frustrated sigh and opened the box, revealing a ring.

Maddi couldn’t help a small gasp. It was beautiful. A large round diamond, surrounded by smaller round emeralds in a gold setting, with more diamonds forming a V shape on either side of the centrepiece before tapering into a gold band.

It was intricate and it looked like an antique. She asked, ‘How old is it?’

‘It’s been passed down from bride to bride in my family for generations.’

Maddi dragged her gaze up. ‘But I can’t wear this. What if I lose it?’

‘You have to wear it. It’s the ring people will be expecting Princess Laia to wear. If it’s not on your finger, people will talk.’

The King put down the box and took Maddi’s hand. She wanted to pull away. Not just because of her reaction to his touch, but because suddenly this was becoming very...real.

The ring was heavy and, amazingly, it fitted. Almost like a mockery of what she and Laia were doing. As if they were doomed no matter what they did.

She shivered a little.

‘Cold?’

Maddi shook her head.

Aristedes said, ‘Good, then let’s go.’

Ari was ultra-conscious of the woman at his side. And for all the wrong reasons. She was dressed perfectly appropriately—exactly like a crown princess, elegant and sophisticated. But he felt the energy emanating from her—unpredictable and electric.

He realised, as they stood and greeted people, that she might very well do something to subvert the marriage pact, even though he thought he’d convinced her that it would be bad for Princess Laia and Isla’Rosa to do anything rash.

It was for that reason, he told himself, that he kept a hand on her elbow—so that he could move quickly if she dared to say anything out of turn. But after a moment he realised that she was trembling lightly. He slanted a look down at her and realised she looked like a deer in the headlights. Terrified.

He said something to his chief aide and suddenly the line of people waiting to greet them was diverted discreetly, leaving them alone for a moment. He turned Maddi to face him. She looked up, still wide-eyed.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘What’s wrong?’ she squeaked. ‘What’s wrong is that I’ve never done this before and I shouldn’t be here.’

Anger and irritation made him stern. ‘And yet here you are—precisely because that’s how you have engineered it.’

His conscience pricked. He took situations like this completely for granted. He’d been facing them since before he’d hit double digits. He could sleepwalk his way through a meet-and-greet and no one would even know. He might get some satisfaction out of Maddi squirming, but it wasn’t going to do him any favours if she didn’t at least look comfortable.

‘Just let me do all the talking. No one expects you to say anything. Just smile. But keep your mouth closed so the gap in your teeth isn’t so obvious.’

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