By Royal Order

Prologue

(Copyright) © 2011 Candle_Ice

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Prologue

Tatiana Daae believed in fate.  She believed in destiny and she believed in karma. But most of all, she believed in true love.

How could she not, when her parents’ love story was proof enough that true love exists? Not to mention the fact that her best friend just so happened to stumble upon her soul mate: online! Yes, it was fate. The universe’s age old custom of putting two people on Earth, and then having them find each other.

Leonidas and Elise found each other by chance, as it was their destiny. Her parents found each by accident, as that was their destiny. Her mother’s untimely death? Well, that was a drunkard’s fault that was somehow connected with the universe’s plan.

But she didn’t dwell on that. It made her sad, but such was life. Everything always happened for a reason. But for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why the universe was throwing her in constant company with that prick of a prince, Stefanos!

He was the definition of annoying; a far cry from Prince Charming! And she was stuck with him. At least until the Royal Wedding was over; the Royal Wedding that was almost a year away.

She didn’t always dislike him so. No, there was a brief time- a very brief, minute time- a time way before she had actually met him, when she thought he was a handsome guy. Then at His Royal Elder’s ball, she finally met him, across the garden they smiled at each other, and then he asked her to dance.

He was charming... that is, until he opened his mouth. Then he became annoying. Annoying and obnoxious and pig headed and stubborn and idiotic and pig headed... wait! Did she already describe him as pig headed? She couldn’t remember. He got to her so much, she ran out of adjectives to describe how much this guy got to her.

How can someone be so well packaged and then open their mouth and be such a prick? Call it disdain at first word, but there was no way in hell Tatiana would ever survive the months leading up to the royal wedding without wanting to kill the Young Prince Stefanos.

***

The universe hated him, he was sure of this. There was no other reason for him to be trapped with the most unbelievably stuck up person in the world, if not for the fact that the universe hated him. He was the Young Prince of Elyria, yet he was not excluded from the moments in life that really makes a person tick.

Stefanos de van Wells was not a big believer in the universal plan, but there were times in a guy’s life that he was convinced that someone, or something, was out to get him. Considering he couldn’t have pissed anyone off enough for them to send the blonde tornado that was Tatiana Daae into his life, he just chalked that one up to bad luck.

The fact that they were both stuck in the same bridal party as best man and maid of honour was just the universe’s way of sticking it to him. She rubbed him the wrong way since the day they met. He simply said one thing and she turned it into a whole other story, going all tornado-like on him; hence the reason he nicknamed her ‘blonde tornado.’

Why, on God’s green earth, did he ever think she was cute was a seizure moment he didn’t want to relive. But no, due to his weakness for a pretty face in a nice dress, he had asked her to dance, and lived to regret it.

Thankfully, after the Royal Wedding, he never has to put up with her again for the rest of his royal life.

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Queen Lucilla paced in her chambers from wall to wall. King Grisham sat reading the papers on a lounge chair, but ever so often glanced up to look at his wife’s thoughtful expression. She was up to something. He knew this for sure. He could practically see the wheels of her scheming, meddling mind turning as fast as a runaway train.