My leisurely days in the palace were over. With the wedding so close, everything was down to the wire and both Al and I were forced to be involved.
Last minute fittings, practicing what to do during the ceremony so it would go off without a single flaw, and endlessly greeting the visiting dignitaries as they arrived took up every ounce of available time.
After our excursion to the kitchen, the only time I saw Edmund was when he brought Adele—who was allowed to attend the wedding after promising to remain perfectly silent throughout it—for a short, scheduled visit.
I was so happy to have a taste of her sweetness and adoration again that I scooped her into my lap and held her close. She happily remained there during the entire tea party. Since the group consisted only of my siblings and Al, no one cared enough to stop her.
Al watched our interactions with an amused smile on his face, later telling me during yet another ceremony practice that Adele was a lot like me. I think that was supposed to be a compliment.
He had to go take his place at the front of the room before I had the chance to ask what he meant by it and by the time we were done, I forgot all about it.
For most of the week I had been too busy to breathe, let alone worry about plot progression, but I finally cracked the day before the wedding. I hadn't been able to get Al near the kitchens at all since our unofficial cake testing. Time had run out.
The easy way—running away without getting married—had become impossible. With all the foreign dignitaries milling about, security had increased tenfold. My chances of escape were less than one in a million.
It would be much harder to get Marcy to fall in love with a married man but what else could I do?
Being single since birth, I had never really thought about my wedding day. Abby was a romantic and had her entire wedding planned out using ideas from Pinterest but the closest I ever came to thinking about wedding ideas was the day my phone died when I was stuck in the waiting room of a doctor's office for 45 minutes and all they had to read were bridal magazines.
I read one from cover to cover as I waited and thought if I ever got married it would be nice to use peach and mint green for my colors and have a simple sleeveless dress with no lace.
That wasn't happening. My dress was enormous—imagine the biggest, frilliest, puffiest cartoon princess dress you had ever seen and magnify it by three. The puffed sleeves were as big as cantaloupes. Lace, pearls, and other various white adornments made the dress weigh over thirty pounds.
I had been forced to practice walking in it for hours because of the weight. If I had a choice between my wedding dress and a potato sack, I would choose the sack. Hands down.
The cathedral that was attached to the palace specifically for these sorts of occasions had been decorated with the colors from Annalaias' flag—red, royal blue, and deep green.
I assumed my bouquet would match those but hadn't seen it. The cake would likely be decorated the same way. I had never even seen pictures of an eight tier cake. It would no doubt be quite a sight to behold.
I couldn't put a stop to it. I was getting married.
The only wedding I had ever been to was my paternal aunt's when I was ten years old. It was pretty boring for a kid to sit through but I had fun dancing around with Abby and a few of my cousins during the latter part of the reception.
The one thing that struck me about that day was how happy Aunt Bella looked as she gazed up at her husband and vice versa. No one could doubt their love for each other. That was how brides were supposed to be. Me? I hadn't wanted to be a bride in the first place.
Despite my lack of dates, I always assumed I would fall in love and get married someday. We would buy a house somewhere near Abby's and our kids would grow up playing together.
My husband and I would have backyard barbecues, read books together, travel. All the things I had seen my parents do before we lost them to that storm. We would have a happy family, just like my first one.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be forced to marry someone I didn't love inside a fictional world.
Tears pricked my eyes as I sat with my arms around my knees in a tight ball underneath a blanket by the dying fire. I had shooed all the maids out, wanting to be alone with my mangled thoughts.
This might be the last time I was able to be alone for a very long time. Who knew whether or not Plan B would work and I would be able to get away? I might be stuck a prisoner of this palace for the rest of my life!
"Katie?"
I whipped my head around, startled, and saw Al in a pair of plain black pants and a loose white shirt quietly shut the door behind him.
Hastily wiping the tears off my face, I asked him what he was doing here. It had to be after midnight. Why was he still awake?
"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Can I sit?" I nodded and he joined me on the other side of the couch.
Firelight reflected the depths of his eyes as he looked at me seriously.
"I know this isn't what you wanted…and that it was unfair of me to drag you into my problems. But since I had to marry someone, I'm glad it's you. I promise I'll be the best husband possible so you won't have to regret it."
I buried my head in my arms, not knowing how to respond to him. I regretted it already. I regretted every decision I ever made that brought me to this point. Al was my friend but I didn't want to marry him.
After an uncomfortable silence he asked, "Do you not believe me?"
"I believe you," I mumbled into my knees. "You've been very nice to me since I've been here. I just…didn't think my life would turn out this way."
"Because you were planning to run away and live as a commoner?"