Blazing Bedtime Stories, Volume V: A Prince of a Guy\Goldie and the Three Brothers by Leslie Kelly & Jennifer LaBrecque

Author:Leslie Kelly & Jennifer LaBrecque [Kelly, Leslie & Labrecque, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Anthology
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-04-30T23:00:00+00:00

8

THE DAY OF HIS CORONATION dawned bright and clear, and from within his badly decorated, stuffy room, Rafe could hear the maids singing and the guards whistling like they were all part of some movie made by Walt Disney.

Oh. And Wes Craven.Because though it was cheerful, it was also shaping up to be pretty damn scary.

Rafe no longer had any doubt Olivia was right about Queen Verona’s plans. The woman had all but admitted it, daring him to challenge her intentions for his wedding to a princess named Bumblebee or Butterfly or Bambi or something, a young woman who lived in a neighboring kingdom and had the personality of a freshly pulled turnip. He had no doubt she would be easy for Verona to control once she managed to get rid of him.

The queen hadn’t gone as far as accusing him of being an imposter. But she had talked about arranging a “proof of lineage” ceremony before the coronation. All so he could show his bare, totally not birthmarked backside to a bunch of people who would immediately realize he wasn’t the prince of the realm.

My kingdom for a purple Sharpie.

Rafe didn’t fear that Olivia wouldn’t return. Honestly, his biggest fear was that she would—alone. Ruprecht was a stubborn man. If he still didn’t want to come home—even knowing it could cost Rafe his life—the prince would probably do everything he could to escape her.

She’d come anyway. Of that, he had no doubt.

And the queen would be waiting for her.

Ever since Olivia had leapt out of his window, Verona had been making ominous comments about her “unreliable” captain of the guard. Rafe had said she’d received some urgent message from home and had to leave, but the queen hadn’t really bought it.

Still, she hadn’t ordered Olivia’s arrest. She had to fear Rafe would back out of everything if she did. But he knew it was only a matter of time. Once the crown was on his head and a ring on his finger, Olivia’s name would be on a death warrant. No doubt about it.

“Are you ready, Your Majesty?” asked one of the tailors who’d made this awful, ugly coronation costume. With the amount of gold and precious jewels on the thing, it should have come from Tiffany’s.

“I’m fine,” he barked. “When do we have to go?”

The tailor bobbed his head, bowing. “Within the hour.”

Which meant, in Earth time, about fifty minutes.

He had that long to figure out how to remain single, not to mention alive, throughout the night.

Soon enough, that hour came to an end. Two armed guards—men, not Amazons, who might be more loyal to Olivia—came to his door to escort him to the great hall, where rulers from all the kingdoms were waiting to see him take over as king of Grand Falls.

Including his so-called mother. Not to mention his so-called wife.

His head up, he walked down the long stone corridor, hearing the ominous click of his fussy shoes on the floor. The two guards clomped along behind him.

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