Kingdoms Reign

Rows of roses lined the stone wall surrounding the estate.

Pink. Red. White. Perfectly trimmed and carefully arranged, as though even the flowers had been taught how to behave here.

I watched them pass through the car window, my fingers tightening around the strap of my bag. Most girls probably would have been staring at the mansion beyond them. I wasn’t.

I’d seen enough of it in photographs. Tall windows. White stone. Massive columns. More rooms than any reasonable number of people could possibly need. Everyone kept telling me how beautiful it was.

How lucky I was.

How incredible it must feel to discover that I belonged to a place like this. They were wrong.

The car rolled through the gates. My stomach twisted. I didn’t belong here.

I didn’t care what the blood tests said. I didn’t care how many people had stood in front of me explaining bloodlines, succession, or the circumstances surrounding my disappearance.

Twenty-two years of my life didn’t simply vanish because someone had found me.

I had a home. A life. And until recently, absolutely no reason to believe I was anything other than Eliza.

Now, apparently, I was Princess Eliza.

I hated how ridiculous that sounded. The car stopped. I didn’t move. The driver climbed out, circled the vehicle, and opened my door.

Cool air swept inside.

“Your Highness?”

I stared at him. He’d been calling me that the entire drive. It hadn’t gotten any less strange.

“I’m coming.” I took a breath and stepped out.

My shoes touched the marble walkway. Then I looked up. Three men were standing in front of the mansion. I froze.

Oh, right.

Them.

As if discovering that I was the long-lost princess of an entire kingdom hadn’t been enough, apparently there was another problem waiting for me.

I needed a husband. Not eventually. Not after I’d had time to adjust to any of this. I had been given two months. Two months to choose between three men I’d never met. Two months to decide which one I supposedly loved.

Two months to choose the man who would marry me and become king. Because apparently inheriting a crown didn’t mean I was allowed to make a single decision about my own life without someone putting a deadline on it.

My gaze traveled across the three men. Two looked enough alike that I immediately assumed they were related. Both had dirty-blond hair and bright blue eyes, though one wore his hair longer than the other. The third stood slightly apart.

Dark brown hair. Blue eyes. Hands tucked into his pockets. He wasn’t staring at me the way the others were. Actually, he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

Interesting.

The longer-haired blond looked me over.

A smirk appeared. “Damn. The lost princess is hot.”

My mouth dropped open.

Seriously?

“Jay.” The other blond elbowed him.

“What?” Jay asked.

“You’ve known her for five seconds.”

“Technically I don’t know her at all.” Jay shrugged.

“That’s worse.” The other blond rolled his eyes.

At least someone here had common sense. The shorter-haired blond turned toward me with an apologetic smile. “Welcome.”

“Thanks.”

The dark-haired man sighed. “Your room’s upstairs.”

I looked at him.

That was it? No hello? No name? Just your room’s upstairs? Fantastic.

The car engine started behind me.

I spun around. “Wait—”

It was already moving. My heart dropped as I watched it disappear down the long drive. The gates waited in the distance.

For the first time since I’d stepped out of the car, the reality of what was happening truly settled over me. They’d left me here. There was no going back home tonight.

No crawling into my own bed. No pretending this entire thing had been some elaborate mistake.

“What happened to the attitude?”

I turned. Jay. Of course.

“What?”

“You looked ready to bite someone’s head off when you got here.” He gestured toward me. “Now you look like somebody kicked your puppy.”

“Jay,” the other blond warned.

“What? I’m asking.”

“Don’t mind her,” The dark-hair man said. “She’s probably just upset she has to stay here.”

Something inside me snapped.

I turned toward them. “You know nothing about me.”

Silence. Good. At least I’d managed that.

I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and walked away.

“Well,” the dark-haired man muttered behind me. “She’s a brat.”

My steps faltered. I kept walking. I wasn’t going to cry. Absolutely not. I’d done enough of that already.

Instead, I crossed the lawn until I found a large tree far enough from the mansion that I couldn’t hear them anymore.

I lowered myself beneath it and pulled my knees toward my chest. A leaf had fallen beside my shoe. I picked it up and rolled the stem between my fingers.

A princess.

What a joke.

I’d spent my entire life believing princesses belonged in fairy tales. Beautiful dresses. Crowns. Balls. Princes.

Nobody ever mentioned strangers appearing one day and telling you that everything you knew about yourself was incomplete. Nobody mentioned being dragged away from the life you’d built. And they definitely didn’t mention being presented with three random men and told:

Pick one.

Footsteps crossed the grass. I stared harder at the leaf. Maybe if I ignored them, they’d go away. A pair of shoes appeared in front of me. No such luck.

“You okay?”

I glanced up.

Short-haired blond. He crouched in front of me. Jay stood several feet behind him, and the dark-haired man had apparently followed too.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled, looking back towards the leaves by my feet.

“You’re sitting under a tree by yourself,” he pointed out.

“I like trees.” I shrugged, which technically wasn't a lie.

Jay snorted.

I glared at him.

The man in front of me rubbed the back of his neck. “You don’t look fine.”

“Where should I start?” I met his eyes. Blue just like the other two.

His eyebrows lifted.

I pointed at Jay. “He called me hot before I’d even gotten out of the car.”

Jay opened his mouth.

I held up a hand. “No.” His mouth closed. “And then all three of you decided you knew why I was upset without actually asking me.”

The dark-haired man’s gaze dropped.

“And one of you called me a brat.”

He winced. Good.

The man crouched in front of me sighed. “You could’ve told us what was wrong.”

I stared at him.

“Right. Because that wouldn’t have been awkward at all.” I rolled my eyes.

“What do you mean?”

I smiled sweetly. “Hi. My name’s Eliza. Apparently I’m a lost princess, and I’ve just been dropped off at a mansion with three complete strangers because I’m required to choose one of you to marry next month.”

His face changed. The amusement disappeared. “What?”

I frowned. “You didn’t know?”

“No.”

I looked at the other two. Jay wasn’t smirking anymore. Even the dark-haired man looked confused.

“You seriously didn’t know?”

The blond shook his head. “We were told you were coming here so we could get to know you.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” I sighed.

“What exactly were you told?” the man in front of me asked.

I dropped the leaf. “That I have two months to choose which one of you I’m going to marry.”

Nobody spoke.

“And,” I added, “whoever I choose becomes king.”

His eyes widened. “King?”

“Surprise.” I put my hands in front of myself and started wiggling my fingers.

He sat back on his heels. “So you have to marry one of us?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Do you at least get to choose?”

I stared at him.

He blinked. “Right. Stupid question.”

“A little.” That got the smallest smile out of him.

Then he looked down at the grass. “Two months isn’t very long.”

“No.” I sighed.

“Especially to decide if you love somebody.”

Something in my chest loosened. Finally. Someone had said it.

“I don’t even know your names.” I frowned.

He laughed. It was quiet and nervous, but genuine. “Okay. We should probably fix that before the wedding.”

“That would be helpful. I’d hate to stand at the altar and say I choose the blond one.”

“That still gives you two options.” The man chuckled.

“Exactly my problem.” I rolled my eyes while holding back my own smile.

His smile widened. “I’m Jacob.” He pointed over his shoulder. “The idiot who called you hot is my brother, Jay.”

“Hey.” Jay waved.

“And that’s our cousin Drew.” Jacob pointed towards the dark-haired man.

I looked toward the dark-haired man. Drew. He met my gaze for half a second. Then looked away. So much for brat.

Jacob shifted until he was sitting in the grass across from me instead of crouching. “So…”

“So?” I shrugged.

“If we’re apparently supposed to convince you to marry one of us, I guess we should start by actually getting to know you.”

I groaned. “Please don’t phrase it like that.”

He laughed. “Fair.”

For the first time since the car had passed through those gates, I smiled. Only a little. Jacob noticed.

He was polite enough not to mention it. “So, Eliza—not Princess Eliza.”

“Definitely not Princess Eliza.” I was gonna stop that nonsense before it started.

“What do you like to do?”

That question I could answer.

“Read. Draw. Take walks. Anything that doesn’t involve being told I’m secretly royalty.” I numbered the answered off my fingers.

“Very specific hobby.” Jacob smirked.

“It’s new.” I rolled my eyes.

Jacob laughed again. “What do you read?”

“Mostly fantasy.” I smiled.

His eyes brightened. “Really?”

“Why do you sound surprised?” I questioned.

“I’m not. I like fantasy too.”

And just like that, for several minutes, I wasn’t a princess. There wasn’t a crown waiting for me. There wasn’t a kingdom expecting something from me. There wasn’t a wedding looming two months away.

I was sitting beneath a tree talking about books with a man named Jacob while his ridiculous brother occasionally interrupted us and his quiet cousin watched from a distance.

It almost felt normal. Almost. Then my eyes drifted toward the mansion. Toward the life waiting inside it.

Two months.

Three men.

One crown.

And somehow I was supposed to decide which one of them deserved to stand beside me when I finally put it on.