MILAI had only been at my parents’ house for a week and I already wanted to leave.I was responsible for all of the cleaning, yardwork, grocery shopping, and general errands, while Nadine insisted on ordering food every night instead of letting me cook. I was constantly sore, sweaty, and tired, and
MILAI spent the rest of the day in bed.As I fell in and out of sleep, all I could see was Felix’s face the last time I saw him. The haunted eyes. The deep frown. The heartbroken slump of his shoulders.And although he was now only a few miles away, he felt farther away than ever.Towards the end o
MILAFor a moment, I could not move or speak. It was all of my dreams and nightmares coming true at once.His face–that face that had haunted my every thought for the last week and a half–was now only a few feet away. I could reach out and touch him if I wanted.I had spent so long convincing myself
FELIXAs it turned out, finding Mila was the easy part.Getting her to forgive me? That was going to be much more difficult.I could feel her hesitance and worry in my gut. Our magical connection had not faded, despite our fight. The good news was that I could tell that she was torn, and did not out
FELIXMila’s breath caught in her throat as I said those words.“I love you,” I said again, hoping to drive the point home as much as possible.“You don’t mean that,” she said softly, but even I knew that she was simply trying to convince herself as much as me. “You don’t have to say that.”“I do,”
MILAIt was extremely satisfying to walk down the stairs from the static and inform my family that Felix was picking me up in fifteen minutes for a date.Nadine looked like she was about to vomit, and my parents both looked like they were going into cardiac arrest.“Where did you get that dress?” my
FELIXAs soon as Mila said yes, the dark clouds that had been shadowing my heart immediately dissipated.I would have made love to her right there in the middle of the clearing, but the last thing I wanted was to put any sort of pressure on our relationship. We had started our companionship with sex
MILAFelix and I sat on our hotel room bed, holding hands and breaths. I stared at my blank phone screen in anticipation.DING!And there it was: the headline of the century.PRINCE FELIX OF FRESONIA ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT TO AMERICAN CHEF MILA BENSON.Underneath the bold title was a large picture of
MILAOur baby boy, Samuel, was born in April, a few days after Felix’s 31st birthday. He was named for the first King of Fresonia and to commemorate the love that had brought his parents together. As the future King of Fresonia, he had an official naming ceremony in front of the entire kingdom, and
CHARLESLife in exile was surprisingly calm.Despite our conversation before being sent to this remote island, I’d had a harder time adjusting to a relationship with Isabella than I once thought. Perhaps it was the sadness I felt at being away from my home kingdom, or maybe I did not like the vulner
FELIXWhen I was growing up, I never imagined that I would enjoy being King.The whole thing looked dreadfully boring to a young boy. Although I knew I was the heir to the throne and would someday take over for my father, I always had far more interest in hanging out with Ignatius and running around
MILAThe last few weeks had been a blur. Meetings, ribbon cuttings, speeches. I spent countless hours in the countryside of Fresonia helping to relocate people who had been displaced by either the war or the dissolution with Abernathy. I cooked meals for homeless shelters and taught magic to young c
FELIXThe King of Abernathy had been placed in a highly-protected magical prison deep in the Dragon’s Teeth mountains, locked away with no hope of escape. His advisors and various family members were locked away with him, all facing sentences for their crimes against magic.The leaders from the othe
FELIXThe King was clearly shocked by my challenge. He slowly put down his wine glass, his eyes darting between me and Mila. I could tell that the idea intrigued him, as much as he wanted to seem disgusted by the offer.The curse might have been broken, but I could still feel the panic and tension s
FELIXIt was time for me and Mila to travel to Aberenathy. We could delay it no longer–although the magic across the kingdoms was safe and protected, time was still of the essence when it came to the civilians in Abernathy.We were concerned about what the King was doing to his citizens. Based on Is
At the nearest chance I would ask Mila to take me to that famed Library of Magic so that I could learn about the powers that now flowed through my veins. Although I was thrilled, I was also terrified. I had gone twenty-six years of my life without magic.What would change now?I was exhausted, ready
ISLAI had been waiting in the war council room with Joseph when the magic came surging back into the kingdom. In case anything went wrong, we were instructed to stay in the below-ground chambers and monitor any potential problems with the magic.I had no idea what to expect when the magic returned,