Chapter 53: Chapter 53

53 Chapter 53 : The wedding Julia paced the kitchen nervously, her mind was running wild and her heart was pounding against her chest. She had gotten the chance to slip out of the palace and noticed that the two knights she had left to keep lookout where not at their posts, neither were they at the inn. Had their identities been revealed, and if so, it was just a matter of time before she was caught too.

“Damn it all!” She cursed under her breath, the one chance she had gotten to kill Ella had slipped out of her fingers because of that handsome prince Nathaniel. And now she was running out of time. Her only other option was to somehow corner the redhead when she’d be alone and do away with her once and for all, only then would prince Adam be free from her spell.

On the other side of the palace, sitting and smiling sinisterly to herself, Juliet Aldos was twirling the silver dagger around in her hand. She deliberately didn’t attend the wedding service because she couldn’t stand the overwhelming stench of the two creatures who were about to be married. After paying a visit to her grandfather, she knew exactly what to do. It seemed that after all these years those creatures from the snowlands had made their move, there was no doubt that they were planing to overthrow the humans and take control of their lands.

Nathan and Ella must be a key part of their plan, deliberately posed as one of the humans most likely to scout out weak points. The queen stubbed the knife into the wood of the dressing table infront of her and growled angrily.

How dare those foul creature desecrate her body like that and have her give birth to one of them, it was insulting. They must have used some form of forbidden magic to make it happen, those vile beasts.

Juliet’s grandfather was far too old and far too frail to fight against these monsters, so Juliet would have to do it for him, she would kill them both before they got the chance to send word to their allies, starting with the weak one, that wretched little witch Ella Morrell, a filthy nosferatu.

The queen would keep a close eye on her during the after wedding party, and as soon as she leaves Nathaniel’s side, Juliet would end her, and then make a plan for the other monster, the laycan. Now all she had to do was wait.

Outside the royal palace, about a dozen men were hiding out of site waiting for everyone to return to the castle, they were members of the Gavarian royal guard sent by King James Burchard to retrieve their prince and his allies. Their plan was to blend into the crowd as they joined the wedding after party, and execute their orders, it would be a clean cutthroat operation.

*

.....

The entire congregation of royals and guests, especially the two princes, Adam and Nathaniel, had their jaws to the floor as John Morrell walked his stunning daughter down the isle. Even though veiled, her striking beauty radiating like sun rays of a beautiful clear spring morning. Her red hair was elegantly tied up in a bun and seemed to be changing hue between a brilliant orange and a vivid red as she walked passed the patches of sunlight that sipped in through the rose tinted windows. Her warm caramel skin looked like she’d been bathed in milk and honey, her beautiful hourglass figure was accentuated by the silvery white dress that hugged her body in all the right places.

The envy and awe that filled the room was so thick it was chocking. Men ogled shamelessly at the enchanting beauty, eyes never leaving her as she walked passed. Women envied her, not believing that the gods would be so unfair as to bless a woman so profusely.

Nathan who was standing at the front had mixed feelings of pride and possessiveness, he was proud that this goddess who was gracefully walking towards him was going to be his wife, but at the same time his possessive side was at peak because his sharp sense of smell could pick up the lust that was oozing from the men in the chapel.

Adam was filled with rage, a sense of possessiveness and so much love. Gosh, his woman looked so fucking beautiful, Nathan didn’t deserve her, her heart belonged to him and him alone. Next to Adam the three men, Ivan, Roland and Ozias were at loss for words, that was Guinevere?! Good lord! The men now fully understood why their poor prince was losing his mind trying to get her back, no man would want to lose a woman like that! Holy Moses this woman was gorgeous, was she even human?

As Ella walked gracefully to the music, her eyes darted from side to side trying to find a familiar face in the crowd. Was he here somewhere? Had he come? If she could just see him and maybe send him a telepathic message, she would be at peace. She couldn’t do this thing with Nathaniel anymore, this wasn’t love it was endurance, she was with him because she thought she didn’t have a choice, but now she knew that Adam was her Jillian, the man who her heart actually belonged to. They could escape together and go somewhere far away, and live out their dream of having children and growing old together.

“Who gives this woman away?”

“I do,” Lord Morrell spoke proudly. He leaned over and gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead, “I wish you all the happiness in the world my beautiful little princess.” He whispered before giving her hand to Nathaniel who took it excitedly.

The silver haired prince helped Ella up the podium and stood beside her, not once loosening his grip on her hand.

“Many have searched the earth but only a few have found this elusive thing called love,” the celebrant spoke to the masses, “and it is with great joy that I stand here before you all, to join not just two hearts, not just two souls, but two families as well.”

Every word that the celebrant spoke were like a spike to Ella’s heart, gosh, what was she doing? Was it too late to just ran away? But then what? Where would she go? What if Adam was not even here? She’d wind up right back here in Nathan’s arms without a proper escape plan. He was a powerful prince who would soon be made king, she couldn’t escape from him on her own even if she tried.

The couple turned to face each other and Ella hadn’t failed to noticed the happy expression on Nathaniel’s face, while hers was one of worry.

*Are you nervous my love?

[I guess you could say that]

*Don’t be, this is the beginning of the rest of our lives together*

“Do you, prince Nathaniel Aldos, Take Ella Morrell as-”

“I do..” the prince responded without hesitation

“Well alright then,” the man spoke with a chuckle, he sensed that the prince felt like he was wasting time and not marrying them quick enough, “a little too excited for the honeymoon aren’t we your grace?”

“More than you know,” Nathan responded with a sly smile.

There were giggles heard from the crowd, while Adam was glaring daggers at the silver haired prince.

The celebrant cleared his throat and faced Ella, “and do you lady Ella Morrell, take prince Nathaniel Aldos as your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to hold, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

Ella parted her lips to answer but no words came out, her heart was at war with her mind, urging her to just turn Nathan down and run, run as far as her legs could carry her.

*Ella..*

She looked up at Nathan who was stroking her hand lovingly.

*Breathe Ella, I’ve got you.*

The woman took a deep breath and glanced at the crowd, the words ‘Adam where are you?’ echoed in Adam’s head, he knew it was her voice, she was calling out to him for help.

“I.. I do” Ella lied.

“At this point in time,” The celebrant added on, “I will ask the prince to remove the betrothal necklace and replace it with the necklace of unity, of which afterwards, the couple shall exchange rings.”

Nathan gently reached for Ella’s necklace and took it off, he then took the unity necklace from a cushion his brother Clovis was holding and secured it around her neck.

Ella turned to her mother who was equally holding a cushion with a neck piece, she picked it up and secured it around Nathaniel’s neck.

“And now the rings...”

Nathan picked up the beautiful golden ring from Clovis and took Ella’s hand, “with this ring, I pledge my undying love to you, I will love you all the days of my life, you will never be cold, because I will be your warmth.”

After Nathan slipped the ring on her finger, Ella picked up the ring from her mother. “With this ring, I pledge my undying love to you...”

Adam grit his teeth and tried to stand from his seat, luckily Ivan had anticipated his move and pulled him back down. “Your grace it’s not yet time, please calm yourself!” He whispered under his breath.

“But-”

“Be logical prince Adam!” Ivan interrupted him, “We have a plan.”

Adam took a deep breath and settled down on his seat, he looked back at the beautiful redhead. *I’m here my love, I have come for you, just be a little patient*

Ella heard Adam’s voice in her head and accidentally, the ring slipped out of her fingers as she was about to place it on Nathaniel’s hand. The gold ring landed on the ground with a clinking sound that echoed across the quiet chapel, drawing gasps from some of the occupants.

Dropping the ring was considered a bad omen, it meant the marriage would most likely fail.