Before Beauty by Brittany Fichter Read Free Book Online Page A

return to normal. Well,
better than normal for Isa. Raoul had asked her to marry
him.
    Isa smiled to herself as her
mother repinned her dress one more time. Tonight, everything would
change. Tonight, Raoul would return from his journey with his
father, and she would become the wife of the future chancellor. She
imagined, as she often had in the last few months, what it would
feel like to see him again. They’d exchanged letters, she more than
he, several times since he had gone. His father kept him busy with
political meetings and social events, so his letters were far and
few between, but such was the life of a chancellor. Isa refused to
be bothered by his full schedule. It was simply a pleasure to write
to him, something most women wouldn’t have been able to do. But
tonight, she would have no need for quill or paper. This would be
the night she would wed the one who had been able to see her in
spite of her brokenness.
    “ Now, we have no time for crying.”
Deline wiped both her face and her daughter’s. “The guests will be
here soon, and I can already hear your aunt ordering everyone
around. I will be back up when it’s time.”
    Isa watched as her mother left,
and felt a familiar pang. She would miss her mother. Most women
would have been nearly beside themselves with worry, trying
desperately to get their grown daughters married, particularly if
they were Isa’s age and still unwed. But not Deline.
    “ You’ll always have a home here,”
Deline had told Isa on the day she had gotten engaged. “No matter
how old you are or how many years pass, you can always come
home.”
    With those words in mind, Isa
carefully practiced the wedding dance steps as she waited
impatiently. She had decided to forgo her sturdy walking boots in
favor of the beautiful white slippers her father had commissioned
the tailor to make for her. They would make dancing more difficult,
but she was determined not to give anyone a reason to smirk or
whisper. She would be as beautiful and graceful as any bride this
night.
    “ Isa,” Deline finally opened the
door, “he’s here. It’s time.”
    Taking a shaky breath, Isa tested
her ankle once more, before beginning down the stairs. It seemed
like the whole city was there, crowded into her parents’ home.
Friends, neighbors, and family smiled at her as she slowly
descended, but they weren’t the ones she was looking
for.
    Her groom stood by the door next
to his father. Straight backed, he held his head high. His brown
coat was clean, despite having just returned from a long journey,
and his black boots shined. Slicked back with oil, his neatly
trimmed hair matched his boots. What she was most interested in,
however, were his eyes. Dark brown, nearly black they were so dark,
they reflected the light of the dying sun as sunset passed through
the shuttered room. And they were looking right back at
her.
    As soon as she saw him, she
remembered just how handsome he was, why all of the other girls had
been so jealous when he had proposed to her. That a crippled girl
should have the son of the chancellor was unthinkable. She, who
couldn’t walk evenly, didn’t deserve the responsibilities of being
his wife. And yet, he had chosen her.
    Isa walked as carefully as she
could, making sure not to teeter in front of the crowd, until she
was finally standing before him.
    His dark eyes were wide and his
face was taut, as though he were afraid. She knew the feeling.
Cautiously, she curtsied.
    “ My lord.” She murmured the first
words of ceremony, just as she’d been practicing. “May my life
strength be bound to yours.”
    “ Isabelle,” he whispered, “we need
to talk. Alone.”
    Isa stared back at him,
momentarily unsure of what to say or do. Not only had he failed to
give the ceremonial response, but he’d called her Isabelle. He
hadn’t called her Isabelle since they were children. Something, she
quickly realized, must be very wrong.
    Nodding slightly, she began to
tremble as she turned to