How Not to Marry a Prince by Megan Derr

Author:Megan Derr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: queer, bisexual, fairy tale, prince, king, transgender, royalty, queer romance, pining, queer fantasy

It took him a couple of tries, but he finally found the section labeled Blue Garden, and crept through the archway. Convincing his bodyguards to remain behind, and where they wouldn't be seen, took a good deal more work, but when he explained who he was meeting and why, they finally relented.

"Psst! Here! No, the cherry trees!"

Like he could tell one trees from another when it was so dark. He was lucky he hadn't dumped himself in another pond. He finally caught sight of a madly waving fan and followed it and Marcellette's imperious summons to a pair of cheery trees fronted by shrubs that came up to his hips. "If your Vladlena catches us huddling together in the bushes…"

Marcellette laughed. "She'll demand to know what mischief I'm up to now and why I'm dragging poor innocent you into it. She has no room to talk, though, because she's even more involved in this particular mischief than I am. I think we're close to midnight now, shouldn't be long."

"I am most intrigued," Amador replied, and lapsed into silence.

True to Marcellette's pronouncement, they didn't wait long.

Two figures crept into the garden, speaking quietly, but their words carrying anyway. "Why do you keep doing this if you're never going to say anything? I'm telling you, if you just told him—"

"Not this again," Léonce said. "Stop it, please. I'll say something… eventually."

Vladlena snorted. "I don't know why you're so scared. I promise you that you'll get exactly the reaction you're hoping for. You'd have already gotten it if His Highness ever managed to stay awake to catch you, which clearly he does not."

"He always falls asleep reading or writing," Léonce muttered, then added, "I'm a gardener. He's a prince. Even if he didn't care about that, the entire rest of the palace would, including his brother the king. Now can we stop having this conversation for the thousandth time and get on with it?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Vladlena replied.

"You're so funny."

They stopped on the far side of the garden… below the balcony of a square turret. "Nazaire's chambers," Marcellette murmured, able to pitch her voice to not carry in a way Vladlena and Léonce were obviously trying to do but not really succeeding. "You smell nice, by the way. Sweet orange suits you marvelously, darling."

"Thank you. Sorry, I forgot."

Marcellette waved her closed fan in dismissal.

Across the garden, just visible in the lamplight Vladlena had brought along, she braced her hands for Léonce to step into and heaved him up onto her shoulders. From there, Léonce grasped two of the balustrades and pulled himself up, then deftly over, the balcony railing.

Once he was up, Vladlena tossed something into the air. Roses. An entire bouquet of roses, probably incredibly beautiful, given Léonce's skills.

Taking the roses, Léonce headed for the door of the balcony and pressed his ear to it. Satisfied with whatever he did or did not hear, he opened the door and slipped inside.

Amador almost laughed. Really? That's what he had to work with? This was going to be even easier than he thought.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.