Page 41 of Fit for a King

“Of course, sir. I’m ready.”

He moved to the other side of the doors opposite me, and not a minute later the front door was opened and the first guests arrived.

One by one, politicians, dignitaries, royals, and friends of the family were announced. Men dressed in designer tuxedos, both classic and modern, and women draped in satin and silk, wearing jewels worth more than most people’s homes, began to fill the grand ballroom.

The chandelier sparkled above them all as they moved around the room greeting one another, the champagne appearing in front of them on trays, and when their first glass was finished, another magically took its place.

Nothing but the best for a royal engagement.

I’d just finished announcing the lord chancellor and his wife when the front doors opened for what would be the final guest tonight. Baxter eyed me, and I straightened my shoulders, knowing exactly who was about to step through those doors.

The Prince of Solterra. Or should I say, his party.

It was no wonder the downstairs had been buzzing about the prince’s arrival, because while everyone else merely stepped inside Montclair Palace with their escort for the evening, Prince de la Vega was preceded by a flourish of trumpets so loud it stopped all chatter inside the ballroom, and everyone gathered inside turned toward the doors.

As silence fell, the trumpeters stepped aside and a young man in black tails and a maroon satin sash stepped forward and, with a sweeping hand, gestured to the man who followed.

Prince Alejandro de la Vega.

He walked between his small entourage like he took them everywhere with him, then reached the young man at the front, who handed over a pair of gloves, which the prince slipped on, and a ceremonial sword.

The prince sheathed the enormous weapon like some swashbuckling pirate, then gave his aide a slight nod and continued through the main foyer to where I stood at the ballroom doors.

Oh my God. Talk about an entrance.

Handsome was too polite a word to describe the prince, with his tall leather boots and black pants that he’d paired with a loose white shirt and maroon vest with Solterra’s crest on the pocket. He wore his black hair swept back from his face, and when he stopped beside me, I noticed the light shine off a diamond in his pierced ear.

He was the polar opposite of Nicholas. Some might even say fire to ice, because when he turned and caught me all but staring at him, he gave a knowing smirk and my cheeks instantly flushed.

I swallowed and lowered my eyes, then said—in a voice I hoped projected confidence and not shock over the man who was about to make any memory of me vanish from Nicholas’s mind—“His Royal Highness, Prince Alejandro Rafael de la Vega, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Solterra.”

“DID YOU SEE the prince?” Violet said as I hurried into the kitchen with an empty tray in hand. This was the fifth—no, maybe sixth—time I’d run up and down the stairs for a refill of champagne glasses, and my thighs were burning.

“Yes, he was kind of hard to miss, since he walked right by me,” I said as I handed off the tray to one of the kitchen staff, who’d pour the bubbly and get it back to me in record time.

“That’s right.” She leaned up against one of the long counters that ran along the edge of the kitchen. “Is it true he arrived with trumpeters and a fire breather?”

I shook my head and barely managed not to roll my eyes. It was unreal how quickly the gossip around here changed every time the story was retold.

“No, it’s not,” I said with a little more bite than I’d meant. When her smile fell, guilt instantly washed over me. “There was no fire breather.”

She shot up straight, her eyes popping wide. “You’re kidding. He really brought his own trumpeters?”

“Sure did. Then whipped out his sword to show us all how big it was.”

Violet’s jaw fell to the floor. “He. Did. Not.”

“He did. The handle was adorned with emeralds and rubies.”

Her brow wrinkled, then the scandal in her eyes dissipated. “Oh, you mean a real sword.”

“Of course. What did you⁠—”

Violet raised an eyebrow, and I ran over my words and snorted.

“You thought I meant he flashed all the guests?”

“Well, it’s not like he has the most sterling reputation.”