Sophia's POV
"Miss, the prince is here. He asks to see you." I didn't sit up as Tiffany gave the message. "Miss?"
I shrugged. "Whatever."
"Yes, miss." She said and rushed out the door. It was only a moment of seconds before the door produced a light knock and opened. His strong cologne filled the air. I didn't need anyone to tell me the scent was an original. It was surprisingly delightful. Ans just the thought of it angered me.
He cleared his throat. "Hello, Sophia." Even his greeting was proper. Ugh.
"Go away."
He sighed angrily. "The guests are already flooding in. More are being attended to at the gate by secret service, I don't really think they would take it as a pretty sight or fashion if you show up in jeans and wool sweater."
"I don't care what anyone says. They can go to he—"
"My mother is among those guests. My father couldn't make it."
"Oh, well in that case—I still don't give a hoot!"
"You're not going to embarrass I and my family, do you hear me?!" He sounded angry. I rolled my eyes, slowly lifting depressed self from the bed.
"Why me?"
"What?"
"There are literally a lot of girls who would consider themselves lucky that you looked at them, why did you decide it have to be my life you chose to ruin?"
"I thought we were past this."
"Well we're not! Why?"
"I told you, my father fancies himself in love with your work. He also thinks you're... Well." He hesitated.
"What?!"
"He thinks you're beautiful and that we would make a beautiful couple."
"What? That's all it took for him to decide I would make a fit princess? For crying out loud, I know nothing about royalty. I cried when I was offered valedictorian in high school. I hate leadership. Somehow, here I am being offered a whole village to rule. I am going to jinx things up!" I exclaimed and he scoffed.
"You have no disagreement over there."
"Well, you hate me. Why don't you help make him see how terrible this whole arrangement is?"
"Because he is the king of England. Of great Britain. Of Scotland. You want me to defy him?"
"He's your father for crying out loud, what can he do to you?! Chop your head off?"
"You may have had the option to say no to necessities like this, but I was born to follow orders especially when given by the king." He said and this time it was my turn to scoff.
"You sound very stupid."
"I will not tolerate your arrogance. I have not said any mean word to you and I will appreciate it if you extend that same respect to me."
"Okay so when you told me that I was nothing but a spoilt brat, you didn't consider that an insult?"
"I merely just stated facts. Everybody knows you are quite ill mannered. In America and in England."
"Get out! Now!" I was pretty sure smoke was escaping from my ears. He only shrugged, then pulled a green clothe from the shopping bag I had chosen to ignore until now.
"Here, wear this. You'll be my wife so it is my responsibility to make sure you reflect my principles." He said and stalked out of the room before I could utter another word. The door closed shut behind him and I took a few deep breaths. Then screamed as loud as I could manage. I could've sworn I heard a chuckle from the other end of the door.
***
The dress made me look like a young, responsible ruler. I hated it. I hated how the it managed to hide all my alluring features. When I stepped out of the room, clenching my jaw, I saw Jordan's eyes widen but only for a few seconds. He quickly maintained his calm countenance back.
"You look beautiful." He stated rigidly.
"Don't mock me, please." I said and quickly plastered a smile on my face as a guest swivelled past the hallway. It had to be one of the Brits. Her smile was just as rigid as Jordan's.
"Jordan dear, I thought you said she was not drop dead level gorgeous. It is not what I see." She said stopping infront of me.
Jordan looked mortified. "I... Um... Sophia, this is my aunt Jenna. Aunty, this is Sophia."
"The bride to be!" She happily announced to the hallway and took both of my hands in hers. "We cannot wait to have you at Buckingham palace tomorrow." Her accent was just as thick as Jordan's.
"I can't wait to be there. Jordan has told me good things about his home. It's an honor to see it with my own eyes." I tried as hard as I could to match her excited tone.
"You look very beautiful." She said once again before walking towards the bathroom.
"She's not as lovely as you think." Jordan said as the door behind his aunt.
"Excuse me?"
"She's only acting this way because she's in your father's residence."
"Well, she called me beautiful so I'd say she's pretty nice." I shrugged, letting go of his arm.
He studied me for a while. "We're about to make our way outside, it'd be best if you placed your hand in mine."
"Everybody knows we're being forced down each other's throats, why do we have to pretend that we're crazy about each other?"
"Because it matters to my people, alright! You Americans might be cavalier about these things but to us it matters!"
"Excuse me?"
He held out the crook of his arm for me. "Your arm, now." He ordered.
I did as he asked, just as the caller started announcing is into the party: "HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, PRINCE JORDAN AND HIS BRIDE TO BE, MISS SOPHIA HARPER!"
The applause that filled the room left me filling nauseated. Everyone was standing. Some people were smiling genuinely. While others glared at me from under their smiles. My heart was thudding.
People started walking up to us. Their hands outstretched. Some kept their hands to themselves. They started talking all at once.
"Oh, my prince, she is very lovely." An elderly woman said, smiling down at me.
"She's not that beautiful. He would have found a worthy and mannered bride in my Rosetta." Another woman muttered.
"A red haired American?! This is going to be a failure, I can tell." A man declared to his wife who gently slapped his hand.
"I hear she pours coffee on her staff. Too bad she's more beautiful on the outside than she is on the inside." Another man angrily whispered, all the while smiling at me. I released a shaky breath. The only thing that was holding this people back from pouncing on me was Jordan. And we'll... The queen.
The people hastily stepped aside as she majestically made her way to us. Her face held no emotions. Her eyes boring holes into mine.
Jordan immediately bowed low. So did everyone. Except my father who stood only a few feet away from us.
Jordan reached for my hand and dragged me down. "You will curtsy to the queen!" He whispered.
"I thought that only happened in movies." I whispered back.
"It does not."
When everyone straightened again, her eyes were still on me. "You must be Sophia."
"Yes... ma'am." I said, looking around for any glare around the room that might have suggested that was not the right thing to call her. I found many.
"You will refer to me as mother. After all, you are going to be marrying my son." There was something about the way she said it. I didn't need to be told twice that it was just the king who'd wanted this union.
"Yes, ma'am... I mean, yes mother!" She stared at me for a while then started walking towards Daddy. I then released the breath I'd been holding on to. Jordan escorted me to the two red elegant chairs they'd set up very close to the Queen's residing area. It was high up here, so thankfully I could see Dakota amongst the crowd. Her eyes hekd pity.
"I can't believe you didn't curtsy. Everyone saw that! Did you do that on purpose?" I didn't understand how he could sound so angry and also manage to keep a pleasant smile. I was marrying into fakedom.
"If you're asking if I meant to embarrass myself on purpose the answer is no."
"Everyone bowed! You should have done so too."
"Yeah well, she was staring at me. I thought it was kind of rude to look away."
"It is respectful to look away when the king or queen talks to you. That's lesson number one."
I was about to say something but it was immediately forgotten as I watched the queen pick up her wineglass and tapped it with a spoon. The chattering across the room quickly died down. Her eyes found mine. They weren't kind.
"I just wanted to say to Sophia; game on." Wait. What?