Page 31 of Royal Rising

“It means that as a prince of Laandia, your options for dating are pretty good,” Dad explains. “Girlfriends are great, girlfriends don’t have a lot of pressure. Wives, on the other hand—especially when your wife will eventually be Queen of Laandia—wives are under a lot of pressure. And there may not be many options if you wait too long. I want you kids to all marry for love—we lucked outwith Odin, and it’s still early, but Gunny seems to be headed in the right direction.” He studies me intently, like he’s trying to read what I’m not saying. “It’s hard enough to meet a good woman you think you can fall for, but I’m telling you, it’s exponentially more difficult when you’re already the king.” He grins ruefully. “Trust me on this. It worked out for me, but I don’t want you to have to go through what I did.”

I know the story of my parents—at least I thought I did. “What did you go through? You met Mom, fell in love, and got married.”

Dad grimaces. “Yeah, but it wasn’t really in that order. I did meet her soon after my father passed away, and I became king, but it wasn’t exactly love at first sight like everyone assumes. In fact, I don’t think she liked me that much.”

“I definitely didn’t hear this side of the story.”

He waves his hand. “It’s too long to go into it now, but ask me again next time you catch me with a couple of pints of mead in my belly. Long story short, I knew I needed someone to do this with me. My father was gone, my brother wasn’t speaking to me, and I had Dunc, but I thought a wife would be good. I set to find her, sort of like Odin did.”

“But…” It feels like the chair tips as my seismic plates shift and react to this new information. My parents’ love story was known to all, and the type of relationship every one of us wants to emulate.

They met. Fell in love. Married, in very short order. Five children and twenty-five years later, we lost her in a tragic accident.

There were no difficulties or challenges Dad is now suggesting they went through.

“I know,” he admits. “We kept that part of things quiet because we weren’t proud of it. I met your mother six months after I wascrowned king. She was working in Ottawa and I knew she’d be the perfect person to help me figure out how to be a king. I proposed that night.”

“Just like that?”

“She said no. Three times, actually. I was very persistent. I was also very frightened and your mother—Selene—she made me feel like it was all going to be all right.”

“She did that with everything,” I say, the ever-present sadness when I think of my mother building the usual lump in my throat.

“She did.” We share a smile. It says a lot about my father that he’s always acknowledged his grief and worked through it. The family had a therapist for almost a year after we lost her, with group and individual sessions.

I hated the idea of sharing my feelings but it was Edie who convinced me to talk.

“Selene eventually agreed to marry me. Either I wore her down, or she took pity on me… or it might have been the conversation I had with her father. He worked for the governor-general; it was easy for me to convince him I needed his daughter. I’m not proud of that,” he admits cheerfully. “But I’m glad it worked because I can’t imagine my life without her.”

I shake my head. “I had no idea.”

“Yeah, it’s not the love story you want to broadcast. And it will be broadcast,” Dad warns. “Your life will be under a microscope, which, I promise you, you’ll get used to, but it’s the relationship stuff that is the worst to handle. Keep that in mind.”

“What am I supposed to do?” I had come to talk to my father to settle my nerves and get some assurance that I could do the job of running this country, if that’s what I wanted.

This conversation has donenone of that.

Dad’s advice comes with a cheerful grin. “If you’ve got your mind on someone, go for it sooner rather than later. Stop playing and make it real.”

I don’t like that advice.

9

Edie

I’msurprised to seeKalle back so soon. Usually when he’s up at the castle, he’s gone for at least half a day, hanging with his brothers and taking advantage of the castle’s facilities.

There’s a lot one can do at a castle because—castle.

But he’s back sooner than expected, rain shining on his hair from the run through the alley. Kalle’s last haircut was a mohawk fade with the sides shaved brutally close, enough to see the white of his scalp. I’m glad to see the sides finally growing in because every time I stood beside him, I was tempted to stroke the soft hairs behind his ear.

My father stayed long enough for a second cup of coffee and to finish Dillon’s crossword. He didn’t say anything more about Mathias but I’m sure he’ll be pressed into giving up any information he’s gleaned to my mother when he gets home. I urged him to stay until the storm breaks but he headed out not long after Kalle left.

The breakfast/early lunch rush has ended but the pub is still packed, so much that newcomers have crowded around tables full of friends and relations, and the bar is standing room only. The screens mounted on the wall are showing the 1992 World Serieswith the Braves versus the Blue Jays and causing as many cheers and complaints as if it were a real-time game.

I sense The King’s Hat will sell a lot of beer today.

I get a text from my mother.

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