The Prince's Fiancée | ✔

Chapter 1

This first chapter is dedicated to all of you, my lovely readers! Enjoy!
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Elizabeth's POV

Muffled voices drifted to me slowly as I ebbed the border between conscious and unconscious. I tried to open my eyes, and was met with a brilliant, white gleam of light. My vision was foggy. I groaned against a rising headache as I tried to make sense of what was happening around me.

Someone was talking to me, but their voice was warped by my dizziness.

I felt a warm sensation in my palm. I tried again to arrange my thoughts so that I could coordinate my movements, but my body didn't seem intent on obeying my mind. Instead, it was as if I was suspended in jelly, trying to move, but still stuck in one place.

"Elizabeth?"

"Liz, are you awake?"

"I'll get the doctor!"

After what seemed like an eternity, something cold pressed against my forehead. I winced at the uncomfortable feeling, but it was gone in a few seconds. I squeezed my eyes together and then tried opening them again.

The world around me was enveloped in white. I blinked three times, four times, and then even more after that, until the blurred shapes started to morph into coherent objects and the blinding brightness went away. A hospital.

I groaned, pushing myself to sit up and look around, but gentle hands quickly held me in place. Steady beeping sounds came back to me.

"Elizabeth!"

"Liz!"

Voices seeped in relief called out to me at the same time.

I quickly looked over in the direction of the familiar voices, ignoring the dizziness that made me feel queasy. Beside the doctor, three anxious faces stared at me. Kevin, Ashton and Bianca.

I managed a smile. Bianca was okay then.
Before I could say anything, a nurse appeared and ushered them outside despite their complaints and protests.

The doctor smiled down at me. "Good evening, Elizabeth. It's nice to see you've finally come around." He glanced back at the closed doors. "Your friends have been extremely worried about you."

He sat on the chair next to my bed and pulled out a clipboard. "We couldn't keep them from marching in here to come visit you every day."

I frowned in contemplation. How long had I been out? As if reading my mind, he tapped the clipboard.

"You've been unconscious for four days. Right now you're at the Cilan Kingdom's Royal Hospital. You were transferred here from the Spade Kingdom two days ago. You had some serious injuries, but you're recovering extremely well." He paused. "Do you remember what happened?"

I nodded numbly as I remembered the events that had unfolded a few nights ago. I grimaced at the thought of Demetri and Malekh and how close they had been to achieving their plan. I also remembered his little agreement with Ashton.

I absent-mindedly completed the memory test that the doctor was giving me. What were my parents' names? What year was it? Who the king and queen were... All of that.

He monitored me for a few more hours and then gave the okay for me to be discharged. I was anxiously waiting to get out of the hospital. I needed to explain everything I had figured out about Malekh's plan to everyone.

I also needed to talk with Ashton. I couldn't believe that he would do such a thing. I needed to make sure I heard his side of the story before I let Malekh get into my head. I knew that Ashton didn't want a soulmate at first, and to be honest, neither did I. I wouldn't be upset about that. It would be the fact that he never told me about the deal in the first place, knowing that there was a chance that I could have been targeted because of it.