Free Eternal Vows by Chrissy Peebles Page A

Victor hiding from me about the ring? Obviously, there was something she needed to know, because it was something all the other royals were aware of. The problem was, she wasn’t royalty.
    “You’re so beautiful,” Victor whispered, cupping her face. “You take my breath away.”
    Her heart leapt. The guy throws me in a hole in the ground and then feeds me a bunch of compliments? She gazed into his eyes, searching for sincerity. For a minute, she thought he actually meant it. “I’m flattered.” Then it dawned on her: There’s got to be something in this for him, even if it is just plain old revenge.
    “Your father and I don’t get along, but I bear you no ill feelings. I’m sorry I lost my temper in the dungeon. I am fuming angry with your wolf of a father, and I should not have taken that out on his blood.” Victor slipped his hands around her waist, his eyes glistening with something she couldn’t place. “I know you were forced into this, and I grant you my deepest apologies. I assure you, my love, that I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy.”
    Gazing up at his face, she was surprised to find that he actually had a soft side. So his threats were all a bluff? And he really wants to spend the rest of his life making me happy? Confusion flooded through her. What girl doesn’t dream of getting swept off her feet by a handsome king declaring his undying devotion? Even if we did start off on the wrong foot when he imprisoned me.
    The priest cleared his throat and opened his leather-bound book.
    The king grinned. “Ah, yes. Let’s get started, shall we?”
    The priest nodded. “King Victor Fesque II, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife? Wilt thou love her, honor her, keep her and guard her, in health and in sickness, as a husband should a wife, forsaking all others? Wilt thou cling only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”
    Victor met Sarah’s eyes and smiled. “I will.”
    “Princess Gloria Jarod, wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband? Wilt thou love him, honor him, keep him and guard him, in health and in sickness, as a wife should a husband, forsaking all others? Wilt though cleave only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”
    The words sounded surreal, almost as though marrying a man she never met before was nothing more than a dream. Sarah wished she’d get up in the morning and erase all memory of the nonsense with a steaming cup of coffee. Victor looked into her eyes, and she held his gaze. Bring home the Oscar, Sarah, she told herself. She was enjoying her undercover work much more than she should have been. Hmm. Getting that ring on my finger might be easier than I hoped. She gulped and spat out the words. “I will.”
    The priest continued, “Do you take Princess Gloria Jarod to be your wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, till death do you part, if the Holy Church doth ordain it? And thereto plight her thy troth?”
    Victor smiled, flashing gorgeous white teeth. “I do.”
    The priest turned and repeated the vows to Sarah.
    She’d never dreamt she’d be saying the words to a stranger, but she said, “I do.” Her stomach twisted into knots, and she took a deep breath. It had all seemed like make-believe to that point, but now it was real. There she was, in that ridiculously fancy wedding gown, facing a man in all his royal finery, wearing a gold crown crusted with jewels.
    The priest said a blessing, then joined Sarah’s and Victor’s hands, “The third finger on the left hand has a special vein called vena amoris, which means ‘the vein of love’. This vein runs from the ring finger directly to the heart. The special ring that is placed upon this finger is the symbol of the sun, earth, and universe, and it represents perfection and peace. It has no beginning and no end, just like time.” He turned to the king. “You may pledge your