A/N: I posted a story yesterday that I had written awhile ago but I have never shared my writing before. It got some positive feedback so I decided to share this one too. I wrote this about the same time, and if people like it, I will continue and add onto this one. I hope you enjoy!

The night before: Eikko POV

Tomorrow, I will be a husband. Tomorrow, I will officially become a prince. Tomorrow, my whole life will change… again. I never liked the spotlight. In school, I always tried to fade in the background, spending time with only a small circle of close friends. There would be no hiding now. My whole life would be spotlight. Not that I had exactly been able to hide as the fiance of the queen, but this felt different. Eikko Koskinen, prince consort. Honesty, I had no doubts about Eadlyn, but prince? That I wasn't so sure about.

"Eikko, stop pacing," my father scolded "you're driving me crazy." I sighed, he was almost as nervous as I was about this whole thing. I could barely talk him into coming to Angeles for the wedding at all.

"Sorry, papa" I muttered.

Suddenly Ahren appeared at my side, pushing a glass of amber liquid into my hands. He clapped me on the back "Come on man, this is supposed to be your bachelor party! And I'm supposed to be having mine vicariously through you! You're marrying my sister tomorrow and you look like you just got a death sentence. Let's do something, it will take your mind off of things. And drink up, that will help with your nerves."

Ahren had been a godsend these past few months. Even from France, with everything he already had on his plate, he called at least every other day, giving insight and advice on what it was like to be a prince consort. He had been raised for this, whereas I had been thrust into it just for loving his sister. I think I spoke to him more often than Eadlyn did these days. Between the conversations about duty, we talked about our lives before the women we were in love with, and became friends. We had become closer than I was with my own brother, who was currently looking bored in the corner, sipping his drink.

How was I expected to relax? This "bachelor party" consisted of my recluse father, my future father in law, a brother I couldn't relate to, my future brother in law and a 14 year old. Kaden, another soon to be in law. Not that I was ever the party type, but I knew this was a pretty lame crowd. Even I knew a proper bachelor party should probably consist of some men my age, ones I wasn't related to or about to be related to. And I'm not really sure I'd want to engage in the activities of a 'normal' bachelor party anyway. I'd be perfectly happy going to bed and trying to get some rest before the big day ahead of me.

I clinked my glass against Ahren's and downed it in one swallow. It burned down my throat and left a warm feeling in my stomach. It wasn't unpleasant, and I already felt some of my tension melt away. "That's the spirit!" Ahren exclaimed, but behind him, I could see the king looking at me with disapproval. Oh yea, this was going to be a fun night. Ahren filled my glass again, laughing as we toasted our glasses and took another long drink. Thank God for him.

My brother, Aleksandr, pushed himself off the wall and sauntered over to us. Honestly, you would think he was royalty. So self assured and full of himself, you could see it even in his walk. We were born less than a year apart. For about 2 weeks every year, we were the same age. You would think this would make us close, but we couldn't be more different. Where I was reserved and quiet, he was outgoing and wild. Back home, he had a reputation as a heartbreaker. The first thing he asked upon his arrival here was if I'd 'nailed' the queen yet. While I fumed, my mother assured me he was joking. He could do no wrong in their eyes. Even though I was older, I was constantly referred to as "Alek's brother." It drove me crazy. The best part of moving to Angeles, besides being with Eadlyn, was the chance at being my own person away from his charismatic shadow.

"Ahren, you grew up in Angeles. You must know where some guys like us can have some fun. Let's ditch these old guys and the kid and have a good time"

God, he was so embarrassing. I poured myself a third glass, clearly I was going to need it. "Alek," I hissed "one of those 'old guys' is the king! Have a little respect"

To my surprise, the king laughed. "Former king, and he's right, these parties are for younger men." he turned to my father "Come on Hasten, I'll show you our library. Eikko told us you like to read. Kaden, you should be heading to bed." Kaden tried to protest, but quieted quickly with a stern look from his father. Before leaving, Mr. Schreave leaned down and quietly told me to take it easy with the drinks. "You don't want to be nursing a hangover on your wedding day. And I want everything to be perfect for my only daughter." I didn't miss the warning in his voice. As if I was the one he had to worry about.

"Yes, sir" I said, and they left the room. After the door shut behind them, I downed the third glass and poured a fourth. Why had I never done this before? The weight of everything to come was slowly lifting off my shoulders with each sip. What had I been so worried about, anyway?

"To answer your question, Alek, I grew up here, but rarely left the palace grounds. And we can't exactly leave tonight either." Ahren was astute, I'm sure he could see my brother as he really was. For once, someone wasn't immediately charmed by him. "So, I was thinking," Ahren continued "let's grab this bottle, go outside, get drunk and hit some golf balls." Perfect, that was certainly my pace.

As we headed outside, we passed a few off-duty maids. My brother put on his winning smile, and nodded his head "ladies" he said smoothly. They looked at each other and giggled as they turned a corner behind us.

No more than 20 minutes after we made it outside, Alek muttered something about "bathroom" and walked back inside. I had a feeling he was hoping for a more traditional bachelor party and was headed to find those maids. I hoped that they would have enough wits not to fall for his charms, but I didn't feel too optimistic. Even with his reputation at home, he had no problem finding companionship.

That left me and Ahren, drinking, laughing and hitting the occasional ball. To my surprise I was pretty good at this, even after many drinks.

"So brother, tell me. What's worrying you? Not getting cold feet?" Ahren asked, drinking directly from the bottle we brought outside. I grabbed the bottle and took a swig.

"No cold feet, I just wish we could do it like you and Camille." I said. He looked at me, eyebrows raised. I burst out laughing "No! Well yes, that too, of course. But I meant elope. No time to second guess the title." I stumbled and we both snickered. Ahren grabbed my shoulders with both hands, steadying both of us and looked at me with unfocused eyes. He could barely keep a straight face. "You know I like you Erik, but please, never ever ever ever reference sleeping with my sister again. Married or not" He released me and we both fell to the ground, howling with laughter. It was a miracle we didn't wake the whole palace. He took the bottle back from me and frowned when he found it empty "how did that happen?"

Honestly, I didn't know. I was just hoping I'd feel OK tomorrow. As if he was reading my thoughts Ahren turned to me and said "Come on, we should go eat something and get some water, otherwise we're going to be a wreck tomorrow"

We made our way to the kitchen, and was so grateful a cook was there. He whipped up a huge plate of french fries and cheeseburgers for us, smiling knowingly as he put the plates down in front of us. He also brought over a huge pitcher of water and some glasses, before leaving us to it. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I took that first bite. I was famished. We are in silence, inhaling our burgers. When I was finished I whispered the question that was really on my mind. "Ahren, am I really good enough to be a prince? Her prince?"

I was met with silence. When I got to the courage to look at him, he was passed out, face first into his plate. I snickered, and that's when I heard a small laugh behind me.

Eadlyn was here. I had to blink several times to be sure it was really her. She shook her head, taking in the scene. She rolled her beautiful eyes and smiled before saying "Boys." As if she couldn't understand us for the world.

Her voice snapped me out of my trance. I walked over to her, and even though I knew I smelled like grease and dirt and grass and liquor, I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her. Even if I doubted I was good enough for her, I knew I would spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy. She was a vision in her nightgown and robe. She always looked like an angel to me, but there was something about seeing her outside of her "queen" outfits, with her hair unstyled and no makeup that did me in. This was when she was just Eadlyn. Just my Eadlyn.

Unsure of my footing, I picked her up and moved to hold her against the wall. While I carried her, she wrapped her legs around my hips. I wasn't expecting that. Even though I knew she was just as excited as I was for tomorrow night, we hadn't done much more than kiss before. Neither of us had much experience with the opposite sex. And although we never talked about it, we seemed to have an unspoken agreement that we would wait. We couldn't get well break the law, and expect the people to follow it

She was so beautiful and so sexy. Her loose hair hung on either side of my face, and in an instant, I felt completely sober. Of course she was the only substance I needed to calm my fears and quiet my doubts. I had been so stupid. I held her even tighter, crushing her body into mine and kissed her again, getting lost in the feeling of her mouth on mine. She tightened her legs around me and I couldn't stop the groan leaving my mouth. I moved away from her mouth, kissing a line down her neck until I got to a sensitive spot near her collarbone that is found in the weeks after our engagement. "Eikko" she whispered my name. It still amazed me to hear her say my name, my real name, like that. In my wildest dreams I never expected to hear a woman half as incredible say my name so full of love and passion.

"Dude, come on, what did we just talk about?"

And the moment was over. Poor Ahren was staring at us with a look of pure shock. This was made significantly less threatening due to the French fry still imbedded on his cheek.

I gently put Eadlyn down and several steps away, as if that would totally erase what he had just witnessed. As mortified as I was, Eadlyn didn't seem to have a care in the world.

"You were the one nagging me about finding a partner. You were the one who made me promise I'd marry for love. You got it!" She laughed. Laughed! Meanwhile I thought there was a chance I might melt on the spot my face was burning so much. "Besides, how much PDA between you and Camille have I endured over the years? That's not even close to payback."

This woman, she was a force. Seriously, how had a girl like this fallen in love with me? Plain old Eikko.

"I'll see you tomorrow, 9 am sharp at the church. I'll be the one in white." It took me a moment to realize she was addressing me. As if I couldn't pick her out of a million others, even if they were all in white. She leaned up and whispered in my ear "I love you. I can't wait to be you wife. And what have I always told you? Eikko is enough. You are enough." she planted a kiss on my cheek and then she was gone.

I started at the spot where she had been for a few moments. My heart might have exploded thinking about the excitement in her voice, the love in the kisses we'd shared. The Schreaves said we should have this night apart to have fun, before being together for the rest of our lives. But, they were wrong. Seeing her was the assurance I needed to know everything was going to work out. And I would never, ever get enough of her, even over an entire lifetime. Even if we lived to be 200 be years old.

I wasn't sure if he was still on shock over what he'd witnessed or because of how his sister had chastised him, but Ahren and I walked in silence back to our rooms. At the last moment, he called my name, and I turned to face him

"Hey, I'm glad my sister found you. I know you'll take good care of her. I can already see how you've changed her for the better. It's nice to see her so happy."

Who knew my soon to be brother in law - no my brother - would have the power to bring tears to my eyes. I couldn't say anything back to him, but gave him a hug before we went into our rooms for the night.

I might still be nervous about the prince thing, but Eadlyn's family was something special. They loved me already and took me in as one of their own. Between her and her family, I knew there was no way they would let me fail. And if I ever fell, they would be there to catch me and build me back up. It's just who they were. Tomorrow, I will be a husband. Tomorrow, I will be a prince. And for once, it didn't terrify me.

I fell asleep quickly, wanting tomorrow to come so that she and I could be joined officially. The whole world would see what we already were in our hearts. Husband and wife. Family.