Chapter 2
Jaq
Five years prior
We were T-minus ten minutes until my dear brother walked down the aisle in order to marry a man he had been betrothed to for fifteen years or eighteen.
I never bothered to keep the timeline straight.
It was a long-ass time. Long before he or I could even say the word betrothed.
There wasn’t a time in our lives when we didn’t know that someday he would marry into the royal family of Swena.
Honestly, I didn’t know how he could ever put up with such a thing—to have your fate decided for you, locked in before you even had any say.
Then again, how was my own lot in life any different?
As the bastard child of the king, my lot in life had been decided for me at conception.
I couldn’t hold a title. I couldn’t get an education.
I couldn’t even hold down a job. No one wanted to employ the king’s bastard son because they knew that the king’s consort loathed me.
Thankfully, I had my brother, Thomas, the only person who had ever fought for me in any way.
He was the only reason I was wearing a tux, standing at his side, putting up with this insanity.
The pomp and performance that came with royalty, especially a royal wedding meant to solidify an alliance between two nations, was downright ludicrous.
The fanfare and money spent all for what?
To show the world that they could? I didn’t get it.
I was here for Thomas. That was the important thing.
I was relatively safe knowing that not much could go wrong.
In public, my father—I hated even thinking of him like that—would never risk a scene.
He would simply look right through me should I ever dare cross his path.
His husband, however, would seek to embarrass me at every opportunity.
At the reception, there would be plenty of opportunity for the king and king’s consort to corner me somewhere and remind me that I was in their debt since they were so gracious and kind to open their home to me.
Except they hadn’t done it out of the kindness of their hearts, they did it because Thomas had thrown a fit and refused to cooperate with anything until they gave me a room.
He even refused to eat and threatened not to follow through with the treaty.
We had been eight years old at the time.
He didn’t even know what the treaty was for, but he knew it was important to them.
Then there was my dear old stepdad. I had no choice but to bite my tongue whenever I was near him. I would not embarrass my brother on his day. Even if I did not enjoy it, at least he looked handsome.
“Jaq.”
I looked up to see one of the future king’s brothers standing there, holding out his arm. He was the one I’d be walking down the aisle with. Erich was his name.
Even though I cared little for the whole affair, I did my homework. Thomas and I had spent countless months learning about each member of the royal family. We studied the history of the country and their traditions. We probably knew more about Swena than they did.
“We’re almost up,” he said. “Time to look alive.” His smile was kind as he looked at me. The whole family that my brother was marrying into was kind. I hardly knew what to do with them.
“I’m sorry. I must have spaced out for a minute.
It’s been a long day.” I forced a smile.
I wanted to be happy for my brother, I truly did.
I only wished he could be getting married for love and not…
whatever this was. He deserved to be happy, and so far, Prince Cort whatever-the-fuck his full name was, hadn’t proven to me that he was going to make my brother happy.
I hated that my brother might be entering into a marriage where he could be cheated on. No one deserved that.
“I don’t blame you. This music always puts me to sleep. In fact, I missed my cue at Augustus’s wedding.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that, imagining a prince like him having such a faux-pas in public.
“Oh, no. How did you survive the scandal?” I said, with a little more snark than I should have.
He laughed loudly, having people turn and look at us.
“I am so sorry, Your Highness. That was incredibly inappropriate.” Fuck, I was going to cause a scene if I didn’t rein it in. The last thing I needed was for Thomas’s parents to tell Cort’s parents to throw me out of the country or whatever.
“Accurate, though. Still, let’s get this show on the road.”
“Indeed,” I said.
I slipped my arm into his. The prince was a handsome man, all of them were.
I was shorter than him by at least four inches and slimmer.
His broad shoulders looked like they belonged to an American linebacker rather than a prince.
He was definitely the most muscular of the five children in the royal family.
And as far as I could tell, he was one of the quieter ones, but when he did speak up, it was usually with a lighthearted joke.
His hand was warm where it covered mine.
Even though I was terribly nervous to walk down the aisle in a place where I felt as if I could never belong, somehow Erich made it seem as if I did belong.
Or I was just too preoccupied by the heat of him against me that I didn’t have time to process the fact that I was walking amongst royalty as if I was one.
The short walk was over before I realized, and then thankfully, all eyes were on Thomas as he walked down the aisle.
I couldn’t help but shed a tear. He was handsome in his suit, and Cort was as well. The two of them looked at each other… not with love, but with hope maybe? Perhaps I was projecting. I hoped to hell this marriage was a happy one.
I would hate to cause an international incident if I had to rescue my brother from a cheating spouse. I would do it, though. For Thomas, I would do anything.
Even standing here in a tux, dodging the glares from his parents and ignoring the stares and whispered words of everyone else. Yes, I was the bastard son of the King of Asach. No, I would not hide and become smaller just because it made others uncomfortable.