Page 9 of This Prince Is Not Charming

I sighed heavily. I wanted to tell her that that was how Cillian coped with everything—by joking about it. That he was probably nervous and that he probably wanted to be a good husband, but that he was also self-destructive and tended to sabotage every good thing he had. That the best way to cajole him into opening up was by making him laugh. But I was not about to get into the middle of their betrothal. Cillian and Siobhan would have to work that out on their own.

Instead, I turned to her, put my hands on her shoulders, and said, “Let’s finish getting you ready for your wedding.”

CHAPTER 5

Cillian

“Cillian Wolfgang, you are an hour late,” Mother screeched as I walked into my chambers.

Wolfe and Nevan stood there, both of them shrinking back as my mother yelled, arms flailing.

“Don’t anger the beast,” Nevan mumbled.

“Your own wedding day, Cillian. Of all the days to not be late, this would be the one.” She wrinkled her nose. “And you smell awful.”

“Thank you,” I said, striding past her and into the attached bath chamber, out of view.

My coat stand waddled over, taking off my jacket and unbuttoning my shirt. It yanked it off my arms a little harder than necessary. It was Castle’s magic at work, all these items brought to life by its powers. Though as the high prince, I’d think these sentient objects would be a little gentler with me. Then again, I’d always had this feeling that Castle was disappointed with its choice, that it didn’t particularly want me as its ruler.

I wasn’t sure why it had crowned me high prince in the first place, but it had, and now I got to live in a sentient home that turned against me every chance it got. That was exactly why I was embarking on this ill-fated marriage. Castle had brought together every other high prince and queen in its history, and they’d always been well-matched, perfect for each other. But not me.

Castle had never given me a queen, so I’d had to do it myself—after one of my excursions outside Fairwitch a few weeks ago, I’d been horrified to see our barrier was weaker than ever, exposing us. So I’d gone to the council and told them I was choosing a queen. Except I didn’t choose Siobhan. My council did. And she seemed to have very little interest in me. She was much more excited by the idea of being queen than my wife.

I wasn’t all that excited either.

“Thank you, Coat Stand.”

It waddled away with my dirty clothes, throwing them into a woven basket as I sank into the steaming tub.

“Are you in the tub now?” Mother called.

I was tempted to sink lower and drown out her voice. “Yes,” I said back.

“Good.” She barged in, then looked behind her. “Are you two coming?”

My brothers both groaned but followed Mother, standing as far away from my tub as possible.

“You didn’t feel like inviting Father to the party?”

“He is already at the temple, where you should be,” she shot back.

Wolfe shook his head behind her in a warning to shut up.

“Can I have a little privacy?” I asked as a bucket dumped hot water over my head, nearly drowning me.

I glared at it as it dove into the water to get more.

“That’s enough,” I said. “I can wash my own hair and not get waterboarded in the process.”

I lathered soap in my hands and started scrubbing.

Mother waved her hand. “Cillian, today is your wedding day. You’re finally getting married, and you don’t seem to care at all.”

Wolfe and Nevan shot each other looks, and my mother’s sharp greyish blue eyes homed in on them. “What was that look?” she asked. “Do you two know something I don’t?”

Nevan spread out his hands helplessly. “All you’ve wanted for us is marriage, and now your youngest son is finally getting married, and you just seem so . . . huffy about it.”

My eyes bugged out at my older brother.