The Sinful King (Naughty Royals 1)

“Yes.” I smiled. “In the meantime, enjoy yourself!”

As I watched him leave, I felt someone come up beside me and turned to see my mother standing there, wearing a similar dress to mine. We were all wearing similar dresses tonight. Mine was pale blue with ivory lace accents—the bodice, the sleeves, the skirt. Underneath the skirt, I had what looked and felt like a back pillow tied around myself and set on the small of my back to create an exaggerated bubble effect on my butt and make the skirt fuller.

“I can’t breathe in this,” my mother said beside me.

“Welcome to the club.” I looked at her gold and ivory gown. “You look great though.”

“Thank you, so do you.” She looked around. “Where’s Joslyn?”

“I thought she was with you.”

“Nope.”

“Hm.” I glanced around the large tented area. “I’m going to make sure the stage is ready for the performers. I want them to start as the guests are arriving. Please make sure the flowers are correct and that the people are already pouring drinks through the ice sculptures.”

I walked out of the tent and headed in the direction of the stage. The gardens were enormous. We had two tents set up with food and drinks in the four corners of the premises in hopes to discourage people from venturing off on their own. The pathway back to the cottages were lit up as well as the back of the palace. Even still, there were a few dark areas. I tried to block those dark crevices to keep people from falling into the fountains and keep them away from the woods that surrounded the gardens. Someone could easily get lost out here and I did not want to be responsible for anything going wrong tonight.

As it was, it was the first event in months that my company put together and I showed up to. We were far away from London gossip, but I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Thomas Evans was in attendance tonight. Still, the thought of seeing my ex-boyfriend didn’t compare to the nerves I felt at seeing Prince Elias again. I needed to keep my wits about me and remember what this party was for. It was a showcase of brides for him and after tonight, if everything went without a hitch, I’d be remembered as the person who planned the event where the future king and queen met. That was who I needed to be remembered for, despite the uneasy feeling inside my stomach every time I thought about it.

Chapter 15

“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

My head whipped to the person beside me. She was wearing a mask, the way all of us were, but hers had purple feathers, which meant she must have been Princess Pilar: Prince Elias’s youngest sibling. My mother, Joss, Madame Rose, and I agreed that the four of them—the Queen, Prince Elias, Prince Aramis, and Princess Pilar—would wear something purple on their masks to tell them apart from the rest of the crowd. Of course, their crowns and excessive jewels already did the trick in that regard, but it was an easy way for us to make the distinction in case anything happened and also for security, in case either of the princes or the princess decided to run off during the party without anyone in tow. I watched in horror as Princess Pilar placed a hand on her stomach and another over her mouth. We were standing directly over the food. If she threw up here . . . oh God. I grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the food and out of the tent, rushing over to the side of the hedges. Then, she bent over and started heaving. I reacted quickly, reaching out and holding her hair out of the way and making sure the small crown on her head didn’t fall off. It was probably worth more than my life.

“Thank you,” she whispered, yanking the mask over her head and holding it against the skirt of her dress. “I don’t think I got dirty.”

“Was it something you ate? Drank?” I asked. This was another reason I was glad we had nothing to do with the food or drinks.

“Drank.” She coughed as she stood. I let go of her hair as she stepped closer to me. “I am so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” I smiled. “It happens.”

“My mother is going to kill me.” She covered her face with one hand, bringing the mask back up and patted the crown on her head with the other. Even under the circumstances, she was beautiful. A beautiful Spanish princess, with long dark hair, dark almond-shaped eyes, and creamy white skin. She looked just like her mother. “Everyone told me to eat and I didn’t listen and then I got here and the music was so good and the dancers and the acrobats and I just kept drinking and drinking.” She groaned, lowering her hands. “I’m sorry.”