After weeks of hearing Mother scold me for not acting like a proper lady, Father announced that the following morning would begin my wedding day. I got no sleep that night. I paced the halls and cried into my pillow.

When the first few rays of dawn began to light my room, my servants brought me breakfast, but I was too upset to eat. The ladies helped me put on my dress and arrange my hair; then they put cosmetics on my face and bedecked me with jewelry.

"You mustn't cry, my lady." One of the older women lightly squeezed my hand. "The tears will leave streaks on your face."

"It's only marriage," another of the servants comforted. "You'll return to visit your parents often, and you're already used to living in a castle with a lot of people. If your new husband displeases you, then you don't even have to speak to him. He'll have his duties, and you'll have yours."

"Besides," the first woman added, "arranged marriages last longer than marriages for love. In an arranged marriage, both people know they have to work hard to make a good life together. In marriages for love, people forget that when their feelings toward each other begin to change, they'll have a lot of work to do to remain compatible enough to stay together."

I allowed them to escort me to the doors of the chapel. As soon as the music began to play, I was handed a bouquet, and the doors opened to reveal a large gathering of guests. King Adam waited at the end of the aisle with the priest and my groom, who remained facing the front rather than turning to me.

My fiancé wore a royal blue mantle embroidered with fleurs-de-lis and lined with real fur. His dark hair was neatly tied back, and his hands were covered with white gloves.

I stopped in the middle of the aisle. Try as I might, I could not force myself forward to wed this stranger. My father scowled at me, but I remained where I stood.

"Never fear." A beautiful woman approached. "Your groom has a gift for you."

I shook my head.

"Just hear him out first. You can do that much, can't you?"

I allowed her to lead me to the front of the chapel. After a few steps, I realized I recognized her voice and her hazel eyes that held the slightest tint of amber. Louvre had actually put on a dress and silk gloves, placing slippers rather than boots on her feet.

"Is he here?" I mouthed.

"My brother would never miss your big day," she whispered back.

By now, I was standing beside my groom, so I hesitantly took his hand. He turned to face me and immediately sank to his knees.

"Fairest one…!" He stared breathlessly. "Just when I think you couldn't possibly be more beautiful, you always find a way to prove me wrong!"

I felt a smile cross my face. "Louis!"

He stood and took my hands in his. "Louvre said I had a gift for you, and I do. My gift to you is the most precious gem in France, your own dear heart. Give it to another man or keep it for yourself. Either way, you are no longer forced to proceed with this wedding."

"Are you rejecting my daughter?" Father bellowed.

"Only that I am not worthy of her," Louis replied, "but now I finally have a suitable gift for her, the sweetest that could ever be given. Your fears are over, Lisette, for you shall now do as you please with your heart."

I was crying again, but now it was from joy. I was not being sent away to another kingdom to marry some stranger. My father had decided that the man who had brought peace to our kingdom was Louis Desbois, Duke of Schwarzwald and Forêtnoire, so he was the suitor who had been chosen, but now he stated that I would not be forced to marry against my will.

Louvre cleared her throat. "Do you have anything else to say to her?"

Louis dropped to one knee. "I will not force you to wed me on this day, but if, at another time of your choosing, you would consider me for matrimony, I could ask for no greater honor in France than that of being your husband, for you have transformed my life." He held out a pillow with a gold ring in the shape of a rose, the petals made of pink diamonds. "Lisette, will you allow me to spend the rest of my life bringing happiness to yours?"

For several moments, I was unable to speak. Everything was happening too quickly to seem real.

Finally, I managed to whisper to the priest, "You may proceed with the wedding."