Chapter 4
1982 Words
Four
Back in our dorm room, Everly kept on looking at the necklace around my neck. “What, exactly, happened?” she asked.
“He took me into a room, and he told me that I needed this necklace because it declared that I was protected by him,” I said, “then seemed very insistent that we had to dance. In front of everyone. That one I don’t know about. The necklace kind of made sense, because it is a college campus, with horny teenage guys but…”
She laughed. “Oh, he didn’t give you that necklace for your protection.”
“No?” I said. “What does the necklace actually mean?”
She opened her mouth to tell me, then quickly closed it again. “If I tell you, Rose, you have to promise me that you won’t murder my brother even though I would completely understand why you would. But you have to let me talk to him first.”
The necklace now seemed even heavier. “What does it mean, Everly?” My voice was frantic now, there was no hiding it. What if what I had seen as a nice gesture was actually the Prince declaring war on me or something? What if tomorrow, when classes started, I was going to get treated like a terrorist?”
“The necklace that he gave you is a promise necklace,” explained Everly, “all of the families in Coleum have one. The boys all get one, and it has their family symbol on it. If you’re given one to wear, and you accept it, it means…well…”
“Well what?” My voice was high pitched now.
“It means you’re his, Rose,” said Everly, “as long as that necklace is around your neck, it means you belong to the Crown Prince of Coleum. I’m so, so, sorry Rose.”
“I don’t…I mean….can’t I just take it off?”
She made a face. “Technically, but if you take it off after he made his declaration so publicly, it would be an insult to the Royal family. And cause a huge scandal, which we want to avoid since…. well…”
I groaned. “Since you’re funding my scholarship.”
She squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry.”
“What about the rule in the contract?” I said. “We’re not supposed to date.”
“Again, another technicality. Because he gave you his necklace, it’s like an engagement without an official announcement.”
“Oh my god!” I groaned, and I collapsed on the bed. “He has c**k blocked me for the next four years.”
“Basically, yes,” said Everly, “and you’re not going to like why.”
I sat up, suddenly curious again. “This wasn’t just about making my life miserable?”
“No,” said Everly, “look, I’ll be the first to admit my brother can be cruel, but he’s not that cruel. He doesn’t know you, you just happened to be involved.”
“Involved in what?” I asked.
“Involved in his little pissing contest with my brother,” Everly answered, “if you’d met him first, he probably would have flirted with you, and been annoying. But you were there, with---”
“With Orion,” I said, with a groan. “Oh, he’s a petty, f*****g bastard.”
“Watch it!” Everly called. “He’s my brother.”
“I know, but your brother is a f*****g bastard.” I was standing, and pacing now, thoroughly incensed by the whole thing. “Not only is he c**k blocking me, but he’s doing it to piss of his brother. He’s made me into an object. Everly?”
Everly winced. “Yes?”
“Where does your brother live?” I demanded.
She raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t going to murder him, are you?”
“No,” I said, “I’m not an i***t, and I don’t think I’d do well in prison anyway. I’m going to talk to him, and I’m going to force him to take his stupid necklace back.”
She sighed. “Alright, but I’m coming with you.”
“Fine,” I said, “you can record me rejecting him so that if he tries to get out of it, it will be framed, forever, in the f*****g cloud.” I ran from the room, as much as the dress and heals would allow. Everly meanwhile told her bodyguards where we were going, and they went on ahead to bring the car around.
I fumed silently during the drive, until finally, we reached his dorm.
“Which one is it?” I asked.
“First one on the left,” Everly answered, “with the equally tall, equally intimidating security guards. Jacques and Gus. Let me talk with them before you storm them like a crazy person and they shoot you.”
“Fine,” I grumbled.
Sure enough, there were two security guards standing by the door. Guards that might as well have been replicas of the ones that guarded Everly. The Princess whispered with them politely, they both beamed as she talked.
I saw them glancing at me, and I tried hard to not scowl despite the anger chorusing through me.
One of the guards laughed, then they both moved away from the door. Everly smiled and walked over to me. “Alright, it’s okay for you to go in.”
“What did you tell them was going on?”
“Lovers quarrel,” she said with a grin.
I glared at her. “I know where you live, Everly. I might not be able to kill you, but I can torture you.”
She laughed. “Forgive me for enjoying this. I’ve never seen Apollo do anything so reckless, it’s actually entertaining, and I like you, so I think you would be a good sister-in-law.”
“Do not encourage this craziness,” I hissed.
She said nothing, only smirked impishly, then knocked on the door. It opened, revealing a tall stranger, with curly, dark hair, who wasn’t wearing a shirt. He had a fleur-de-lis tattooed on the left side of his chest, and wore low, slung pajama pants.
“Everly,” he said with a grin, “to what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Move, Darien,” she hissed, “I’m not here to see you, I’m never here to see you as we’ve established. I’m looking for my brother. Well, actually, my roommate is.”
“Ah,” Darien said with a knowing look in his eyes, “Apollo did mention you might be storming in at some point. Yes, I’ll go get his Kingliness. Come on in. Have a seat.”
He glanced once more at Everly, taking in the sight of her in the pink dress, then went to go find Apollo.
I looked between the two suspiciously. “Who is that?”
She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “The Lord of Crescent Valley,” she explained, “or he will be, once he inherits. His real name is Darien Drake, he’s my brother’s oldest friend. I’ve known him for forever.”
“He’s in love with you,” I whispered.
“I know,” she said softly.
“So?” I said. “Why hasn’t anything happened?”
“Because he’s too loyal to Apollo, and he thinks that my brother will kill him if something were to actually happen between us. In case you haven’t noticed, my brother can be a tad bit controlling.”
“Oh, believe me, I’ve noticed,” I said, stroking the necklace around my neck. It weighed heavily on me.
Apollo came out, and he was wearing a blue shirt, with boxers. I expected him to apologize, but he only stared at the necklace against my neck. And smiled. “I see you figured it out,” Apollo said.
“What are you thinking?” I demanded. “I am not an object. You can’t buy me. Take it back!”
He walked forward towards me without saying a single word. His golden eyes had darkened somehow, looking more like a flickering flame. “No.”
“Why not?” I said.
“Because, Rose James, I have never been more certain about anything in my entire life. I’m so certain that I already called my Mother to let her know what I had done, especially since you reacted the way that I thought that you would.”
I stepped back. “What does it mean?”
“It means that at any given point, paparazzi are outside of my dorm. Paparazzi who are going to see you coming here and leaving here in the same dress that you wore tonight. They’re also going to see you wearing my promise necklace. Which means within hours, the worlds media will know that I have given it to you. Which means everyone will know something very, very important.”
“What’s that?” I whispered.
He reached up and stroked my cheek. “They will know, Rose James, that you are mine. And that to touch you means to defy me.”
I swallowed. “Couldn’t you have asked me out for a cup of coffee first?”
He laughed. “I’m not a man who waits. I’m a man that takes. I will do what I want, when I want. What I want is you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. You don’t even know me.”
“It’s quite brilliant, really. Our country has been caught up in a revolution for too long. You are exactly what we need, who we need. You’re going to help me create a love story for the ages. The simple, normal girl who got introduced into the world of royalty through her best friend and swept off her feet by the Prince. You are going to be our very own Cinderella.”
“Cinderella,” I whispered, “your highness, I’m not---”
“Call me Apollo,” he whispered, his voice husky, “please.”
His eyes were pleading, and it made my heart clench.
I stared at him. “I didn’t think you knew how to say the word.”
“I do. I do know how, especially when it is something, someone I want.” He reached up, and grabbed the necklace, holding the sun charm in his hands. “Make no mistake. Regardless of what the Queen agrees to or doesn’t, you are mine.”
He kissed me on the cheek, then pulled away.
I felt Everly pulling me away, and the two of us left the dorm room.
On the drive home, I asked, “What the hell just happened?”
Everly smiled at me. “My brother just declared he wants to make you his Queen.”
“But…but….”
“Welcome to the family, Rose. You’ll love it.”
- Writer
