Page 39 of His Highness's Hidden Heir

“Them?”

“My sister and her family live with her. The house in Bergen is very big.” Magnus had provided it once he had access to palace funds, so his mother would have the privacy she deserved. “I usually visit her there, but she still has her parents’ cottage here. She’s staying until the wedding.”

“Magnus—”

“You need to meet her regardless, Lexi.”

Lexi paused with her spoonful of berries halfway to her mouth. “I guess this is her grandchild, isn’t it? Her first? No, you just said your sister has children.”

“Two, yes. She’s still on maternity leave with the second.”

“What about your brother? Will he be there?”

“I don’t know.”

Lexi delved for more, but he looked away, signaling for a coffee he didn’t want, loath to explain that the last time he’d seen Freyr had been his brother’s wedding, but it had been strained by the fact that Sveyn had been there. They hadn’t had much contact since.

Magnus couldn’t seem to talktohis siblings. How was he supposed to talk about them? He turned to a more pleasant topic.

“We should discuss our honeymoon, since security will have to prescreen the location. I can only clear one week. Do you have any thoughts on where you’d like to spend it?”

“Seriously?” she asked snippily. “I’ve told you I’m not ready to marry you and, frankly, the only place I’m eager to go is back to bed—” She winced and covered her eyes. “I mean...”

“Oh, no.” He chuckled, enjoying this. “You can’t back out now. You said it so that’s where we’ll spend it. I’ll tell Ulmer to keep a chiropractor on standby.”

“Stop it,” she said firmly, still blushing. “I’m saying I’m not interested in more travel. And if we don’t get married, we don’t need a honeymoon.” She poked her tongue out at him!

They were getting married. He drew the line at bullying her into it, but he’d find a way to convince her.

In the meanwhile, he quietly told Ulmer they would honeymoon at the health spa on one of the smaller islands. It was a pretty location with natural pools of different temperatures. At least two of them were touted as beneficial in pregnancy so he knew it would be safe for her.

Whatever lightness had come into his mood while contemplating his honeymoon had dissipated by the time they left for the cottage.

The palace was situated on the south side of the mouth of the fjord. The cottage was all the way on the north side, but they took the ferry, which cut forty minutes off the drive.

Forty minutes that Magnus could have used to brood.

Family visits shouldn’t be this oppressive! In many ways they were no different from other appearances. Dress up, show up, shake hands, listen politely, pose for a photo if asked.

They weren’t even strangers. Well. They were to some extent, he supposed. He had a standing appointment in his calendar to call his mother and made a point of seeing her a few times a year, typically around birthdays or holidays. He had attended his siblings’ weddings and texted appropriate felicitations on other life events when prompted by Ulmer, but he was no longer close with them.

Today, that felt more significant than usual. He wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t worried that his mother would say something to upset Lexi or the other way around. He wasn’t embarrassed by his roots, either.

His visits with family were always prickly, though. Rather than address things, they swept them under the rug, but they were still there—his mother’s pain, his father’s abandonment, Magnus’s abrupt departure to Isleif and his sense of being cut off from his brother and sister against his will.

Yes, he did feel blamed for it, even though it was merely the hand he’d been dealt.

He had a feeling Lexi would navigate all of it without any problem, though. She was a people-pleaser, barely in the palace twenty-four hours and the staff was already charmed by her.

Something about introducing her to his family grated on him, though. Some of it was possessiveness, he acknowledged. They were new and she was his. He wasn’t ready to share her, but there was more to it.

A latent fear that she would take sides, perhaps? Taketheirside?

“Are we here?” Lexi had been watching out the window with great interest and now sat up taller as they turned into the long drive. “How does she keep sheep if she doesn’t live here?”

“She sharecrops with a neighbor and lets the house for vacation rentals. Security has gone through here. Don’t worry.”

“I can honestly say I’ve never felt so safe as when I’m with you,” she said wryly.

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