“Son, I—” Mother says at the same time I attempted to address her first. I motion for her to continue. “I am sorry.” She drops her head and folds her hands in front of her. The silence in the room is deafening. I was prepared for a long, drawn out argument… Not this.
“I’m sorry for not honoring the decision we made as a family to allow you time to find a love match. I am sorry that I spied on you and attempted to ruin your dates in order to get you to come back home and marry the woman of my choice. I am sorry that the person I hired went too far and disclosed your whereabouts to the media. Finley,” she chokes on a sob before finally meeting my eyes, “I’m sorry for not believing that you were capable and trusting you with the responsibility of your own life.”
Father stands and hugs her while my mind spins like a hamster on a wheel. This is the last thing I expected to happen, but I couldn’t be more thankful. I glance at Lorelei who smiles broadly at me with a shrug of her shoulders. This is because of my amazing, capable woman. She leans and whispers, “Go hug your mom.”
I do as she says, and when my arms close around her, she crumbles in my arms, apologizing over and over. Tears spring in my own eyes as I hold the small but fierce woman tight. “I forgive you,Mamma,” I whisper, using the term I’ve called her my entire life up until she cut me deeply, squeezing her one last time before letting her go. As we break apart, she clutches on Father’s arm as he smiles lovingly and warmly upon her.
Lorelei moves to my side and places her hand gently on my back. She’s been so good at little touches that offer reassurance.God, I’m so thankful for her.
“I do wish to talk more about why you felt the need to do what you did if you are willing to,” I mention. Mamma nods as I add, “But we can do that later. I believe we should all start over with Lorelei.” I throw an arm around Lorelei’s shoulders. “Mamma, Father, my king and queen, I wish for you to meet Lorelei Raine Spence. She is the love of my life, the most intelligent and beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and she will become my wife and the next queen of Korsa.”
Lorelei trembles at my side, but she pushes through and bows to my parents before reaching out her hand to shake each of their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” she says with full confidence. “I love your son, and you have raised an outstanding human being.”
Father and Mamma glance at each other, exchanging a look of “huh?” as Lorelei would say when something perplexes her. I laugh and my parents smile. Father shakes his head and rubs his white beard. “I believe there is only one thing left to do at this point, then, if you are certain, Son.”
I nod with assurance. I didn’t tell Lorelei this would happen, though mainly because I didn’t expect that it would happen today.Eventually, yes. But I’m still reeling over the fact that Mamma was genuine and open in her apology to me.
My parents dip into a low bow, speaking in Korsan in unison, “We acknowledge you, Lorelei Raine Spence, as the future wife of His Royal Highness Finley Folke Andersson. May you rule side by side in integrity, faith, and humility.”
“What’s happening?” Lorelei asks, looking up at me with confusion.
“They are acknowledging you as my future wife and the queen of Korsa.” I instruct her on what to do, bowing and reciting the ancient oath of Korsa. She speaks the Korsan words with confidence and ease. The woman’s brain is truly a wonder. Her ability to catch on to a new language is fascinating.
“Welcome to the family, Lorelei,” my father says.
“It is your last day here. Shall we get to know each other better over tea?” Mamma asks.
I sneak a glance at Lorelei who lights up. “Yes, please!” she says.
I chuckle at her cuteness and then mouth a “thank you” to my parents as we all exit the office. We make our way down through the halls, and as we pass portraits and statues, memories surface of running around this place playing hide and seek with my siblings. There are literally a million places one can hide in this drafty, old palace. Lorelei and I, hand in hand, follow my parents to the library. I watch her reaction as we step through the doors and into the room stacked full of dusty tomes, lifetimes of history, and that curious old book smell that doesn’t quite smell like anything else.
Lorelei’s eyes bulge out of her head, and she releases my hand, darting to the first wall of shelved books. Her hand caresses theeye-level books in the Korsan history section just as Lucy and Astrid appear beside me.
“Can I—can I have myBeauty and the Beastmoment?” Lucy asks, awestruck at the rolling ladder next to Lorelei.
Astrid says, “Oh, I want to record you!”
The two women race towards the ladder while Lorelei disappears down another aisle of books.
“Those two are very identical in their looks,” my father says.
“But their personalities are extremely different,” I comment. Astrid whips out her cell phone as Lucy practices the hop onto the ladder while pushing off. She had to take off her heels, but I can’t help but feel a sense of joy at the sight of her having fun and letting loose like this. In fact, I’m surprised Lucy didn’t acknowledge Mamma and Father in the room. She had a zillion questions on the plane about how to act in front of them, then when she finally meets them, she zooms right past them for a rolling ladder.
Maybe Lorelei and Lucy both share a sense of hyper-focus on things they love.
The tea arrives while the ladies are exploring the library, so Father, Mother, and Johan, who just arrived, sit down on couches and chairs in a reading section of the library.
“You are smitten with her,” Johan says, sipping Earl Gray.
“Just like you were with me,” Maria, his wife, says as she sits next to him and is given a cup of tea by Hannah, an older lady who has served our family for years.
“Haalaa,Maria,” I greet the brunette woman with kind eyes and a red-lipped smile. “Long time no see.”
“Tell me about this woman of yours. It’s the first time we are getting to meet a lady you’re interested in. You know how Johan is. He’s only told me that you’re going to marry her.”
“Shouldn’t that say enough?” I tease, and she rolls her eyes with a playful smile.
“But I am a woman. I want to hear all the details. I know you like spilling details.”
