Chapter one: A Clause

"There is a virginity clause in your marriage contract with Prince Kincade, Noah. Are you aware of that?"

I paused, my hand going to my forehead as I stared at the plain ceiling in frustration, fighting the urge to throw up - it's been a day already, I should have heard from my doctor.

It was probably the flu or something.

The air was thick and heavy, making it hard to breathe. I could hear the distant sound of servants bustling about, the clang of pots and pans from the kitchen, and the muffled voices of the courtiers in the courtyard…for a castle, it was awfully loud.

Ugh!

It felt like the sun was baking the old 16th century castle walls, making every step I take feel like a trek through a fiery oven. I'm a princess, for goodness' sake! I'm supposed to be elegant and refined, not a sweaty, bedraggled mess!

"Is the air conditioner working?" I asked Eva Belle, marching to the window to open it. The warm breeze that wafted in was a slight relief, but it didn't alleviate the nauseating feeling that had been building up inside me.

Eva Belle followed behind me clutching a bunch of documents in a file, she handed a tiny rechargeable hand fan to me and in return, I tossed it out the window. A thousand tiny bitty hand fans wouldn't do justice to me right now.

"Noah! Noah! Did you hear what I just said?" Eva Belle's voice had a constipated tone to it, one could never guess she was only two years older than me and from a prominent family like the Icarus.

There was a running joke in the household that managing me had aged Eva Belle fifty years. I disagree, I was a ray of sunshine.

"I said that the marriage contract with the crown Prince of Essex has a virginity clause in it. Are you aware of this?!"

I stopped pacing and looked at her.

"It's the twenty first fucking century, why would a marriage contract to an asshole I have never met before have a fucking virginity clause, Belly" I asked her feigning ignorance and a little outrage.

I took off the shirt I was wearing and threw it on the floor, leaving me in just my bra.

"Don't cuss" Eva Belle admonished "It's conduct unbecoming"

"... unbecoming of what?" I asked her.

"Of a fucking princess!" She yelled out loud. "Urgg!!!"

Eve Belle finally allowed her frustration to show, her face twisting up like she swallowed a gigantic frog. It made me laugh.

"You should cuss more often, maybe you wouldn't be so upright like a grumpy old man, Evie-Belly"

"You are so annoying" Eva Belle yelled at me and flung the file at me, I got the hell out of dodge and the file crashed near the window.

"Do you feel better now that you've committed treason by trying to take the head of your future Queen, Belly"

I chuckled, picking up the chocolate bar on the glass table and taking a bite. The rich, velvety texture melted in my mouth, providing a brief distraction from my nausea.

"I do feel better. And you shouldn't be eating that, you will get fat" Eva Belle slipped to the bare floor, her hair all over the place, she looked like she just escaped the asylum unlike the mostly put together person she mostly was…when she wasn't my party hard best friend.

"Do you want some?" I offered her some chocolate, she snatched it from me and took a bite out of it.

I came closer and sat down beside her.

Coming back home to the Island country of Avalon wasn't easy for both of us. Trying to fit into the predetermined role we had been assigned to - me as heir presumptive to the throne and Eva Belle as the put together personal manager, advisor/ lady's maid to a mess that is me wasn't very easy when in reality, we were just two girls barely out of our teenage years with enormous responsibilities on our shoulders.

"Did you know about the virginity clause in the marriage contract, Noah?" Eva Belle asked me one more time.

I exhaled.

"I did" I answered "Why do you think I'm the only eighteen year old kid in college who's still a virgin?" I looked at Eva Belle and bit down on my lips. "I'm scared, Evie-Belly. What if he has a smelly breath or old man's feet? Or God forbid, grunts during sex. I can not be married to a grunter!"

Eva Belle took another bite from the chocolate and handed it back to me, I guess she realized I needed it more.

"Why didn't you tell me, Noah?" she asked more seriously.

I stood up and started pacing again. I can not be serious today, if I become serious…if I suddenly take my life and my predicament seriously, I would break down and cry. It's much better to be the sarcastic, easy going girl who joked about everything.

"Because you would have been a perpetual pain in my ass, trying to dictate how proper it was to make out with hot guys at the back of their vans. It's fucking college"

"Wait what?! You didn't!" She screamed in my face.

"Just kidding" I laughed out loud. "Princesses don't make out with hot guys at the back of vans…" She took a relief breath and then I added "...they book an expensive hotel room obviously"

When she threw me a glare, I chuckled. It was so easy to drive her crazy.

"What about that party three weeks ago? You snuck out….when I found you were pretty out of it. Did you have sex then with one of the frat bros there?"

I thought about it.

That party was pretty much a blur to me…I couldn't for the life of me remember what went on there, all I remember was waking up to Eva Belle's worried face in a strange room, half dressed and in pain. How I got there eluded me but there was no need to upset my uptight best friend and so, I said

"Of course not. And sorry about that" I apologized. "I guess finding out that the years-long betrothal was finally coming to an end and knowing that any moment from now, I will be forced to marry a sanctimonious doll head, unleashed my wild side…I guess I went a little bit nuts"

I was quiet for a while before I spoke again.

"It's so fucking difficult being the savior, Evie Belly"

"I know" Eva Belle nodded. "It's a damn thing you are doing for your country, Princess. If it's any consolation, you are saving a lot of lives"

I thought about it.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" It was a question that needed no answer yet I looked at her.

I looked at Eva Belle, hoping my duty oriented best friend would give me permission to blow off my engagement and be just a regular eighteen year old, permission to be free.

"You don't" She answered as a matter of fact.

"I thought as much. Let's get me engaged then"