Loving a Prince Charming
By Danielle Monsch
Romantic Geek Publishing
LOVING A PRINCE CHARMING
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2013 Danielle Monsch
E-book ISBN
978-1-938593-02-4
Publication Date: April 2013
Editor: Rhonda Helms
Cover Design: Hot Damn Designs
Copyeditor: Eilis Flynn
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may
not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in
part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons – living or dead – is
purely coincidental.
To my Prince Charming – My Beloved Husband,
who is a blessing to me in every sense of that word and gave me the
greatest gifts in my life. I love you and am grateful every day
that you love me back.
And as always, Mr. Jim Garner.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Also Available from Danielle Monsch
“Prince Seth? Prince Seth! Will you
please
come back? Your tutor is waiting!”
Instead of responding, Seth gripped the hand
in his tighter and sped up in his mad dash through the stone
corridors of the castle. At an unexpected crossroad, he looked down
both paths while he tried to remember what was supposed to be
where. If he had been back home it would have been easy to lose
her, but here he was unused to the layout and she had
reinforcements. Getting away would be a challenge.
He chose the left hallway, but before he took
more than two steps the hand in his tugged hard and halted any
further forward momentum. “Maybe we should go back. Nana sounded
more upset than usual.”
“She’s stressed over my birthday celebration.
Like thirteen is a big deal.” Seth looked over his shoulder at his
companion. Kira’s green eyes were clouded with indecision and her
teeth worried her bottom lip. The sight of her mouth so plump and
shiny sent uncomfortable tremors through Seth’s stomach, a
sensation that was becoming common around her these last few
months. Maybe thirteen
was
a big deal. “If–” His voice
broke, and embarrassment and heat flooded through him when Kira’s
rosy lips turned up in a smile. He cleared his throat and threw his
chest out. “If we go back, it’s six hours of the Railen Convention.
The first thirty pages talk about the dimensions of the negotiating
table and the specifications it was built to. Is that how you
really want to spend your day?”
Before Kira could answer, the pounding of
footsteps got louder, now from the opposite corridor. “Run,” cried
Seth, and he shot down the corridor with Kira behind him, her hand
still in his.
The loud clatter of footsteps behind him had
Seth making turns without thought. Before long, he was in an
unfamiliar part of the castle.
Kira squeezed his hand, her palm damp in his.
“We’re not allowed to be here.”
“I won’t let them find us,” he said, with
perhaps more bravado than truth. His father had been very firm that
he was not allowed in this wing of the castle. If they were caught,
the consequences would be more severe than what was usually
reserved for a childish prank. “We just need to not panic and let
them pass us.”
Speaking of, the steps were getting closer
again, the shouts more urgent. They too were worried about the
king’s reaction if the prince was found here, and their raised
tones and quicker pace reflected that fear.
A huge, heavy door lay at the end of the
hall. Seth pointed to it. “We’ll hide in there.”
Tension shot through Kira’s frame as she eyed
the door warily. “I don’t like it.”
Neither did he, but with ever-growing voices
at their back, what choice did they have? “What is going to happen
to us in my father’s closest ally’s castle?”
“You have obviously forgotten several stories
Nana has told us—”
“I doubt we’re going to find a minotaur or
anything like that there. Now, we enter, or we admit to my father
where we are. Which do you choose?”
Her eyes narrowed, and he could almost see
the words that passed through her mind
You’re the one who led us
here, not me.
But the damage was done, and his father would not
accept that excuse. She would be in the same amount of trouble as
he was. So with a huff, Kira nodded. “Let’s go.”
The door was heavy and hard to open, and it
took both of them pushing to open it, but there was no squeak of
hinges to give their position away.
They entered several feet into the
pitch-black room, far enough to ascertain that there were no
windows lighting the cavernous space. Kira let go of his hand and
turned toward the door, saying, “I’m going to grab a torch,” when
the door slammed behind them.
Not a speck of light shone in the room.
“Kira,” Seth called, swinging his arms in wide circles to find
her.
“Seth, I’m over here.”
Her voice was farther away than it had even a
moment before. He walked toward her. “Keep talking.”
“Seth, where are you? You sound like you’re
all over the place.”
So did she. Seth beat down the panic racing
across his skin. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we are fine.
Just stay where you are until I can find you.”
“I
am
staying still, but your voice is
getting distant.”
Seth stumbled, but instead of hitting the
floor he kept falling – wind not stone at his back.
He flailed, grabbing onto nothing.
“
Kira!”
he yelled, but no voice answered, and he landed, not
on hard floor but a feather bed.
He opened his eyes to illumination. Still no
windows, but this room had rows and rows of candles. It was a large
bedroom and sitting room, all pink and frills and books in every
available open space.
‘Hello.”
The voice was soft, hesitant. Seth brought
his attention to the corner closest to him.
Sitting there was a girl a little younger
than he. She was so tiny his first thought was she had to be five
or six, but something in the way she watched him, the way she
reacted, made him rethink that. Probably closer to Kira’s age, with
big blue-gray eyes and blond hair and such pale, pale skin that
there was no way she had ever gone outside. “Hi,” Seth answered
back, unsure what else to do.
“How did you get here?”
Should she be this accepting of a boy falling
into her room from wherever? He looked again, but there were no
holes in the ceiling or doors in this room. “I was running from my
tutors and I got lost in this huge, dark room, and I just fell
here. How do people usually get in and out of here?”
She shook her head, but otherwise the
placidness of her features remained unchanged. “I don’t know. Only
my father comes, and I’ve never asked him.” Her mouth twisted for a
moment. “Well, sometimes he brings his advisor. I heard James once
say they needed to find another stone, but I never asked what that
meant.”
Shock held Seth immobile for several moments.
Yes, she was the right age. He only knew one person here who had an
advisor named James. “Your father is the king? Are you Princess
Rosamund?”
Now her placid mask was gone, replaced by
dread. She brought her hands up to cover the sides of her face.
“I’m not allowed to tell anyone. He told me no one could ever
know.”
Instinct had Seth holding out his hands the
same way he would to a trapped and growling animal. “It’s okay. You
mean your father? I won’t ever tell him. Besides, it’s okay if I
know. I’m Prince Seth. You’re my fiancée.”
Fiancée.
He knew the word – he’d grown
up with his father’s voice in his ear, talking to him about duty
and a far-off future bride whom he would not meet for years, but
until this moment the word had never crossed his lips. He didn’t
want to think about how a stranger would become the most important
person in his world. How with her arrival, he would be forced to
leave Kira.
Rosamund studied him long moments before she
lowered her hands, moving closer to him and sitting at a desk that
was only a few feet away from the bed. “You’re Seth?”
“I promise you, I am.”
She relaxed further at those words, this lost
and cursed princess who was his intended. “I wasn’t sure if you
were real,” she said, her voice halting on the words. “I sometimes
thought Father made you up, to keep me occupied.”
Occupied. If it was him, he didn’t know if he
could ever be occupied with anything but thoughts of the curse. He
smiled in what he hoped was a teasing way. “Afraid I’m the real
thing. I can understand if I don’t quite live up to what you might
have hoped for.”
“I didn’t mean it like that!” In her
embarrassment her voice had a little more life to it, her face a
little more color. “You seem very nice. I am very happy I can
finally meet you.”
“Me too.” And he was. He probably didn’t
think about her as much as she thought about him, but he was still
curious about her.
The situation was weird. He was engaged to
the daughter of his father’s friend and closest ally, but when
people talked about the engagement, it was more akin to how people
spoke about funerals than weddings. It was a situation to be
mourned, not celebrated. It was spoken of with pats of
understanding on his back and shakes of their heads when they
thought he wasn’t looking.
She looked nothing like he imagined. Her
family lineage didn’t have a single blonde that he was aware of,
though every other shade was represented. She was also tiny and
delicate where all the other members of the royal clan were robust.
But she’d been given several magical gifts before the curse had
been placed on her. Where magic was concerned, nothing was ever as
one thought it would be.
That was why a princess who should have had
everything was alone and awaiting the moment her life would end in
endless dreams.
“You didn’t mean to meet me though. This was
an accident?”
“Yeah, but it was a good accident. Me and
Kira were running away…” He stopped.
Kira.
Was she all
right? He gave a quick turn around the room but she was nowhere to
be seen. Was there another room she could have fallen into?
“Kira?” echoed Rosamund. “Who is that?”
He ran damp palms against the leg of his
trousers, willing the panic down enough that his voice didn’t
shake. “My friend. She’s the daughter of the captain of the guard.
She didn’t fall with me, so do you know what else might have
happened to her?”
Rosamund shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t
know much. I do think she’s fine, though. My father would never
keep anything bad in the castle. He has enough to worry about just
with me.”
Shame had Seth lowering his head, breaking
away from her too-direct gaze on him. Kira knew how to take care of
herself. Taren, Kira’s father, had taught her so well she could
probably beat most of the royal guard. Seth shouldn’t be worrying
about someone else in front of this girl who had more problems than
all of his friends put together. “So,” he said, determined to steer
the conversation someplace nicer. “What do you do here?”