✔️ The Unwanted Bride (Book One) **UNDER EDITING**

Castle of Bridezillas

     Standing outside of my door are two guards wearing similar clothing to the guards in the underground passageways. One guard was a very short and stocky man. His hair was buzzed so short that it spiked out a little bit. His head was large and shaped like a square that just sits atop another square, his extremely thick neck. His nose, is almost flat against his face, as if he had ran into something and smashed it.

     The other guard was almost the complete opposite of him. Tall and bony looking. His chin is so pointy, I feel like it could poke a hole into something. His nose also comes to a sharp point. His hair is much longer than the other guards, but also very spiky.

     "Miss Burks," I turn to the tall guard as a rather high pitched voice calls my name. The tall one raises his eyebrow at me as the person speaking clears their throat and I realize it wasn't him. Immediately my head snaps to the other guard and he gives a slight nod. "My name is Bronson, this is my partner slash trainee McQueen." The pointy man does a bow with his head. "We will be your guards for this season. We will escort you-" his voice does a sharp squeak, and he clears his throat before continuing, "Ahem, we will escort you to and from outing, dining sessions, dates-"

     "Dates?" I asks and he clears his throat again while nodding."

     "Yes. Dates." McQueen says precisely. Each sound with a slight whistle and hiss. With each hiss he has an abrupt stop, like he is calculating the exact amount of effort he should exert to say the word.

     "May I continue?" Bronson squeaks out and I nod as I look back to him. "We will be spending a lot of time together, so I expect you to follow the rules, which you will be told at the introductory ceremony here in a few minutes." He and McQueen share a look before nodding and stepping forward on either side of me.

     "Are. You. Ready. Miss. Burks." McQueen says so formally and calculated I begin to wonder if he had planned all of his words out previously. I give a nod and he turns his head to look ahead. "Off. We. Go. Then." In unison, the step forward, guiding me to what feels like my impending doom.

With each step, my stomach feels like it's falling deeper and deeper. My throat begins to itch on the inside, and it feels like it's getting harder to swallow.

Am I dying? Am I actually about to die? No no... I must just be nervous. It has been a rather eventful day so far. I have met and talked to more people today than in all the previous years of my life. Now, I'm off to meet more. So many more....

My heart slams against my chest and I begin to breath quicker than before. I don't want to meet more people... it's been too many already... far too many. My head begins to pound along with my racing heart and it feels like it is shaking my entire body. Get out of your head, think about anything. Anything at all.

*pat. Pat. Pat.*

I look towards the ground and focus on the source of the sound. McQueen's shoes. Each step, he seems to move at exact same amount of space. I look at his legs and they too seem precise in their movements, like his words. As he steps, one leg bends only a slight angle. Then when he goes to move again, the other leg bends at the exact same angle. His arms move in unison with his legs, and his face is emotionless as he stares ahead.

*tip, splat. Tip, splat*

My eyes flick to Bronson. He stares ahead, bottom lip jiggling with each step, pulling his mouth slightly agap. His arms sway slightly and his bends his fingers into his hand, popping them as he does. His right knee pops out to the right, almost like he is hurt, and I notice the same thing with his foot. He barely placed the heel of his foot onto the ground before slapping the rest of his foot with a splat.