"Thank you mother." I smiled at her and took a sip of my tea. "What would you like to discuss with me?"
"Well darling I have told Jessica about the added guest and she informed me there is room for another table she only needs the names."
"I will give them to her when I see her. How are the preparations for the Christmas ball?" I really didn't want my mom do a background check on them not before she met them. I knew the security team would run one eventually since they always do that with guest at event my family organized.
"the staff should be decorating the ballroom today and also start on the exterior of the castle. Tomorrow they finish that and start on the hallway. Do your guest need a suite?" she asked me and to be honest I hadn't really thought about it.
"they can use the ones in my wing of the castle." I really didn't want the Cullen's and Whitlock's on the other side of the castle.
"I am sure that could be arranged. About your guest, you told us when your saw us last that you had found a love interest. I can imagine he will be among your guests that will arrive next week, but darling you know it can't really go anywhere with this man. You need someone by your side that knows what it all entails to be a proper king someone who can help you and be there for you when the time comes." She took a sip of her own tea and set the cup back on the table and readjusted her dark blond locks. She looked at me with an expression that told me she wasn't done yet and I already knew what was coming next. "Jacob would be perfect darling. Oh I forgot how was the stroll?"
"It was durable but mother I am not interested in Jacob like that." My voice came out harsher than I intended to but was starting to feel angry towards my mother. She probably meant well but that she assumed that Edward and mine's relationship couldn't work made me angry. She didn't even know him and I think Edward would be a great king if he wanted stay by my side. I knew he made me feel happier and I was fairly certain that he would make me a better queen someday.
"As I told you when you were in America, your father and I had an arranged marriage, which worked out wonderfully, I am fairly certain you will like Jacob you need to give him a chance. If not for yourself then for your country. The Spanish are great allies and it would make our countries stronger together. It did the same for France and Manovia when your father and me married." I wanted to roll my eyes at her. I was not her and Jacob was not father. I stood up and set my tea cup on the table.
"I respect your view on this mother but I don't want to talk about this all now. I have had a long journey so I am going to retreat to my quarters." I walked out of the door and hurried towards my room.
The next day wasn't better, my mother kept talking about me and jacob ever chance she got and the man in question kept flirting with me every time we saw each other. It made breakfast and lunch awkward for me and when I looked at my brother during those meals I could see him getting irritated on my behalf. I had to say it felt great to have someone on my side as it seems the rest of the occupants of the table were all for the marriage. After lunch my father wanted to discuss the Seattle trip and I told him about the Manovian citizens that thrived with their business and community in Seattle. At the end my mother came in and before she could begin talking Jacob again I dashed out of my father's office and ran through the hallways of the castle. I almost ran into Jacob and quickly went the other way. I wasn't in time around the next cornor and could her him call my name. When I saw Emmett on his phone I ran towards him and the look on his face was priceless when he saw me coming his way. His said something to the person he was talking to and held his phone to the side.
"Bells what are you running for?" he asked me with a goofy smile.
"I need some place to hide from mom and Jacob. He is just around the corner, they both are driving me crazy! All this talk about getting married and all the advances of Jacob. Please help me Em, you know all the good hiding spots here." I tried my best Alice eyes and waited for him to respond.
"Go to my room and I will meet you there after I finished this call." He said to me and quickly went inside the door closest to him. I began running again and thankfully managed to avoid both Jacob and my mother. Emmett eventually came into his room and plopped down onto the bed next to me.
"So mom is driving you crazy huh?" Emmett was staring at the ceiling and looked at me.
"Yeah as I told you she keeps pushing Jacob at me and is talking about an arranged marriage." I let out a frustrated sigh and pulled my hair with my hands. "I don't want that. Ever since I met Edward my view had changed of what I want. If I hadn't met him I probably would have agreed to all this nonsense."
"I hate to so say it but you probably would have. I am glad you found Eddie boy because I don't like Jacob and because of him you are finally out of the king and queens spell, it could be a fairytale." He dramatically at the end. I laughed.
"Did you know that Jacob wants to be King of Spain with me by his side?" I saw Emmett's eyes widen as I turned on my side to face him.
"what! No! Doesn't he have two sister that are in line before him?" he sounded like a gossiping teenage girl.
"Well yes he does and as far as I know he still isn't next in line. I am not sure how he sees it. I have told him I am not going to do that. I won't leave you here alone Em."i teased him. "Or maybe I should move to Seattle and resign from being next in line and you will be king!"
"You better not. You would make a better ruler than me even I know that I am not the right person to lead a freaking country. Manovia would turn into a shit show!" he laughed and I joined him.
"I think you could be a great leader if you wanted to Emmett." Deep down I really believed that he could be an amazing king especially with someone like Rose next to him. "But don't stress as I said I am not going to do that."
"phew lucky me." He bumped me with his shoulder. I am not sure how he did it but it put me of balance and I fell on the matrass on my back and laughed. I had missed these moments with my little brother.
~~~~~Two days later, the day of the Christmas Ball ~~~~~
I was getting ready with Angela by my side. She was doing my hair while I layed the final touches to my makeup. The only thing we had to do after was getting me in my midnight blue gown. The top was of lace with thousands of diamonds sown on to it, the skirt was reaching the floor and was made out of fabric that made the dress flow as is moved and the slaves were made out of the same lace as the top but that part was see through. It was elegant but didn't scream royalty which I loved. Whe put the dress on after Angela sprayed my hair with a lot of hairspray so it would stay for the rest of the night. When the dress was on we carefully place the royal Sach and my tiara in place and put on my heels or death traps as I like to call them. The room was covered in Christmas decorations and trees. Every year the staff out did themselves and made it more magical than the year before.
About half an hour later there was a knock on my door and when I opened it Victoria was standing there with her hands on her hips. "It's time to go Your Highness we are running late."
We quickly moved through the castle towards the ballroom and saw my family waiting for me. Emmett had an expression that told me he was up to something and my parents both looked impatiently at me.
"Let's get this show on the road." Emmett said excitedly. I looked at him confused and a bit shocked since he never was excited for these kind of things. He Winked at me and stood in place behind our parents offering his arm. My parents were announced first and a minute after I could hear the announcer call out our full names and title. I took a deep breath and forced a smile on my face. Emmett guided me into the ball room on top of the balcony and we gracefully descended the stairs, apart I hated with these kind of shoes. That I have never fallen flat on my face in front of everyone was still a miracle. Emmett squeezed my arm with his hand when he let go of me as we both stood on either side of our parent. We all got a glass of champagne and my father walked towards our guest and raised it.
"I like to begin this evening with a toast. My family and I are all happy to see each one of you here celebrating Christmas with us. We are also very happy that Isabella has returned home in time to join the festivities this year. To family and friends and that we may have a wonderful evening." Everyone in the room raised their glass. We made our way towards the table we normally sat down and began to eat the feast that was prepared by our wonderful kitchen staff. Unfortunately for me the Spanish royals were sitting at our table and had to hear of the plans they had for me and Jacob. Even though I was sitting next to them they talked about it like we weren't there. To make matters worse my mother announced the first dance after dinner. Normally my father and her would open the night but of course this year it had to be different.
"As tradition the first dance would be opened by my husband and me but this year I would like to give the honor to Princess Isabella and Prince Jacob of Spain. Of course you are all welcome to join." I put a fake smile on my face as Jacob guided me towards the middle of the dance floor. We stood in position as we waited for the music to start. The sounds of a waltz sounded through the room and Jacob began to lead me and pulle me closer than necessary. We twirled around the dance floor and soon more couples began to dance with us. I could hear the music coming to its end soon and I felt relieved.
"You are a magnificent dancer Isabella and I have to say you fit perfectly in my arms." Jacob smiled at me as he twirled me around some more. I wished that I was in Edward's arms instead of his.
"You are a great dancer Jacob but I don't agree with the last part of your statement." I saw his smile fall a bit but he quickly showed me a Colgate smile.
"I think I could change your mind on that." He said in a cocky tone. I was relieved the song came to an end but when I wanted to step out of his hold he kept me in place.
"Jacob let go." I said through gritted teeth.
"what is one more dance Bella?" his hold on me tightened and I looked around me to find Emmett. I knew he would be the only one that would help me with this. When I found him my eyes widened he was dancing with Rosalie as the new song started. It took a while to register my head whipped his way again and there was Rosalie dancing with my brother. Her eyes met mine and she smile brightly at me. When I didn't return the smile her she frowned. I tried to make clear with my eyes that I really needed someone to cut in even if it would be her. She winked at me and kept on dancing . A familiar voice asked from behind me if he could cut in and have a dance with me. My breath hitched in my throat and as I whirled towards his voice I heard Jacob reply.
"She already had a partner so move along pal." Jacob said possesifly and I could feel his hands that were now on my wrists tighten even more.
"Edward what are you doing here?" I whispered excitedly at him as I tore my wrist out of Jacob's hold. I could hear him grumble behind me and saw Edward glare at him. I could see people began to watch us and I quickly grabbed a hold of Edward's hand and guided him out of the ball room into a room that was connected with it. I jumped in his arms to hug him. It took him a while before he relaxed in my hold and wrapped his arms around me. I could feel him take a deep breath and let out the air slowly. I looked up in the green eyes I had missed these four days and smiled brightly at him.
"I am so glad you are here." I said and he pulled me closer in reply and kissed my lips. It was a passionate kiss that made my legs weak and my heart flutter like the wings of a butterfly. "How did you get here.?"
"Well we have to thanks your brother for that one." He said as he let his thumb caress my face. I leaned into his touched as I hummed in reply.
"I have to thank him then." I gave him a quick peck on his lips and stepped out of his hold.
"We should probably head back before my parents send someone to look for us and I think I owe you a dance."
He nodded and offered me his arm. "You look truely beautiful Bella."
I blushed and whispered a thank you at him. I looked at his appearance and had to admit he looked very handsome in a tuxedo and his usual wildish hair was tames for once, although I prefer his hair how he has it styled normally.
"you clean up pretty good yourself Mister Cullen." I teased him. We walked inside of the ball room and I could see my mothers eyes squint at me. I decided to ignore her and we made out way towards Emmett and Rose. I let go of Edward and gave Rose a hug.
"I am so glad you guys are here!" Rose and me let out our inner Alice and jumped up and down in excitement. I moved to Emmett next and jumped in his arms and whispered in his ear. "Thanks Emmett."
He caught me and laughed. "I knew you would like your Christmas present."
"Best surprise ever! " I whispered excitedly.
"I know I am the best brother right." He set me down and wiggled his eyebrows and had a boyish smile on his face.
"As if you don't know it." I winked at him. He pulled Rose to his side and kissed the top of her head affectionately. I was happy my brother had finally found someone and I could see how happy Rose was. Edward took a hold of my hand and caressed the skin with his thumb. I smiled up at him and stood a bit closer to him. I heard Emmett swear underneath his breath and my head wiped towards him and followed his gaze. Our parents were coming this way and even though they looked all smiles for our guest I could see in their eyes they weren't happy at all.
Author notes:Hello lovely readers!Thanks for sticking with me and this story! I love your reviews and thanks for the likes and follows! I had hoped to post this sooner but I got sick.Anyways I hope you enjoyed this second part of the chapter. I could have written a lot more but I think 3 parts are a bit much. So you will have to wait for chapter 14!If you have suggestions or things that could be better in this story please let me know so I can fix it. I don't have a beta and wrote everything on my phone so mistakes can happen and I am not a native English speaker so that doesn't help either sometimes.Have a great day/night when ever you read this well until the next chapter my friends!