The Prince's Bride (Part 1) - J.J. McAvoy Page 0,41

I heard Gale call up to me.

“Do whatever you want, Your Royal Highness, just don’t touch anything in the kitchen,” I stated, going into my bedroom.

I held my composure until the door closed and then ran into my bathroom. I nearly dropped to my knees at seeing my reflection.

“Oh, God!” I cried out, grabbing onto the edge of my sink. Not only was one of my eyelashes falling but the red lipstick I had worn was also smeared across my lips and the side of my cheek. My hair was a frizzy, tangled hot mess. My dress was nearly falling off me, and I think ripped. It looked like I had just been rescued off some deserted island. Why couldn’t I look like those women in the movies who woke up with their makeup still perfectly in place and their hair only slightly disheveled but still cute? Huh? Why wasn’t that my reality?

Then again, why was I so annoyed? So what if I looked bad? Who was I showing off for?

Oh, no one, just the Prince of Ersovia. I thought sarcastically.

Still, though, it’s not like I’d agreed to marry him—wait, did I agree to marry him? I thought back to the night before, and the memories of my storming into his room came back one by one.

I hunched over the sink.

“Why, Odette? Why are you so damn impulsive?” I groaned, reaching behind my back for the zipper...but when I pulled, it didn’t come down. “Oh no, you don’t.” I hissed and yanked harder, but it still wouldn’t budge. I wiggled, hopped up and down, sucked in my breath, but the damn thing wouldn’t move. “Come on!”

Rrriip.

I froze, sucking air into my lungs. Slowly, I twisted, looking into the mirror at the tear in the back of the dress. What was worse was it was under the zipper!

“Are you freaking kidding me?” I really liked this dress. And it was a gift.

I wanted a do-over! This morning was obviously broken!

“It was an accident. Do not look at me like that.” I already felt bad enough.

“I told you I would make it, Your Highness,” Iskandar stated as he walked around me, placing the bag of tomatoes on the stool. Then he stepped farther into the kitchen, glancing around at everything, expressionless.

“It would not be a romantic gesture if someone else did it for me.”

“It would have definitely been more romantic than this,” he replied, grabbing a cloth near the sink.

That is true. I stretched my hand toward him for the towel, and he glanced down at my hand before meeting my eye.

“You will clean?”

“Yes, I do know how to clean at least,” I spat angrily. Exhaling, trying to calm down, I finally just took the cloth from him. “I’ll clean. Could you have Wolfgang pick up breakfast for her?”

“I will call him now,” he said as he moved back, allowing me to step forward to deal with the mess. I was not exactly sure how to go about cleaning it. Rolling up my sleeves, I moved the foam-soaked pan into the sink and poured water onto it, cringing at the stench. Grabbing the sponge, I tried to remove the black tar from the bottom of the pan, but nothing seemed to work.

What the hell?

Scrubbing, harder pieces of the burn came off, but it looked nothing like the pan when I had first used it.

“Your Highness.”

“Huh?” Lifting my head to him, Iskandar handed the phone to me.

“Your family.”

Brilliant. Exactly what I need this morning.

Drying off my hands, I tossed the cloth onto the edge of the counter before taking the phone.

“Hello?”

“Gale!” Eliza’s voice caused me to wince.

I pulled the phone from my ear, and even still, I could hear her clearly.

“Is Odette there? Can I say hello?”

“Can I get a hello first?” I asked.

“Hello, Gale,” she grumbled. “Now, where is Odette?”

“She’s not here. In fact, I have not even seen her yet,” I lied, wandering over to the windows that overlooked the city. “Seattle is a nice city. I can describe the view if you would like.”

“What do you mean you have not seen her? Iskandar informed me that you spent the night talking to one another.” Arty’s voice startled me. They were all gathered for this call this morning as if it were some sort of sport.

“He did, did he?” I turned back to where Iskandar currently cleaned the kitchen despite my explicit request to leave it to me. Apparently, my orders really did not mean a thing to him. “Is he