Surprise Royal Wedding of Princess Arianna to Prince Finn de Bara
Ethan, acting as wedding officiant, watched as his father, dressed in full Vallerian military regalia, escorted his sister Arianna, clad in a classy dress and veil, down the aisle towards him and her almost-husband, Finn, the Crown Prince of Brazenbourg, a small country well north of Valleria.
Under Vallerian maritime law, as a Captain in the Navy, Ethan could technically marry people in Valleria. Anyone authorized to perform marriage ceremonies in Valleria could marry a member of the direct royal family, meaning he could officiate Arianna’s wedding. Though lawyers had confirmed this to be true, a second ceremony officiated by a Brazenbourg judge would also be held as part of tradition but also to ensure everything was legal.
Arianna only had eyes for Finn as they moved down the short aisle. The small church had four pews on each side, filled with Ethan’s family since Finn had none.
Well, that wasn’t true; Finn now had all of them. As much as they all annoyed one another, they’d do anything for each other, and that loyalty and unwavering commitment now included Finn, who had become an honorary Santoro.
Ethan married them in the quick ceremony, awed and honored to have officiated over the first of their siblings to be officially wed. The whole bright, beautiful day had been filled with love and excitement and hope. Brazenbourg adored their new princess and, as Ethan stood on the balcony beside her and his newest brother later that day, he only had one thought.
He wished Anda was there beside him.
Christ, he missed her.
It would be months before he saw her again. Months of secret messages and phone calls in the long hours of the night, months of wishing she were sleeping beside him, and months of yearning to feel her surround his cock as he moved inside her.
For now, he set his yearning aside and kept his smile bright and wide, to ensure no one saw the ache he felt inside.
He vowed to see her again, and sooner than expected. He didn’t think he wanted to wait a few months before seeing her again. Hecouldwait, but he didn’t want to. Did she feel the same about him?
5
Now
ANDA
Present day…
Grand Valentia Theatre & Ballroom
Backstage area
After breaking free of her rescuer, Anda had made her way backstage without any resistance.
In fact, she’d made it to the back almost too easily, which set her nerves on edge.
Spying was never easy. Mostly, it was tedious. Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. Whether waiting for intelligence or a meet or the next mission, there was a great deal of waiting involved. Even with her actress cover taking up some time, there was still significant lag time, followed by a burst of action like she’d had tonight.
Easy, though? Rarely ever.
She moved around discarded equipment, stage dressings, and sets. The first half of tonight was to be the charity auction, followed by the official dinner while a band played, and ending with a few performances from various plays. She’d been meant to perform a piece fromDelirious, a play by a well-known sixteenth-century Vallerian playwright remembered for his quick wit.
Even now, she was running lines in her head. She was to be alone on stage, reciting the famous monologue from the play. Her costume was a sumptuous yet seductive dress that covered her more than her current dress but was revealing in other ways. It wasn’t bragging to say her performance would have been the highlight of the evening, not just because of that costume but because she was a fucking great actress. She’d trained extensively for that, too.
She wasn’t supposed to play the part tonight, wasn’t supposed to be here at all. It had been last minute, barely thirty minutes after the program started that she’d heard about the bombs and forced her way into the evening.
Prince Marcello would not be happy with her, but she couldn’t focus on that now, couldn’t focus on how she got here and everything she’d done to get to this point. There was only the mission, only the future…she hoped Ethan made it out.
She brushed her fingers along the edge of her set, the simple painted backdrop and vanity that would sit on stage during her speech, moved past all that to dive further into the bowels of the backstage area.
Whenever she heard someone approaching, she hid in darkened corners or behind abandoned sound or lighting equipment. She cursed wearing a glittering dress; though she looked fabulous in it, it caught any light in its vicinity. As an actress on stage, it made her dazzle; as an agent in a darkened corner, it made her too visible. Still, she made it backstage unscathed and unrecognized.
No one she’d come across seemed familiar, nor had she sensed anything suspicious about them. Emergency personnel, other potential agents—none that would recognize her, however, as she didn’t recognize them—perhaps searching for survivors. She wished she’d known even one of them. She wouldn’t have minded the backup.
She made her way towards the dressing rooms and edged closer to her own. She’d started in this direction because, if she was caught, the excuse that she needed something from her dressing room would go far better than the truth. The dressing rooms were also near enough to the stage to provide excellent hiding spots; if a member of the terrorist group were here, it would be one of the easiest places to hide in plain sight. Dressing rooms were often left unlocked and opened, people coming and going with ease and without being questioned. Even if she wasn’t in her own dressing room but someone else was, they weren’t likely to be questioned about it. Actors had distinct boundaries, definitely, but they didn’t really exist where dressing rooms were concerned.
As she approached the hall leading to the rooms, she heard more footsteps and picked up the pace, glad she’d abandoned her shoes. Gorgeous though they were, quiet they were not.
