As I walked over toward my mother, a chilly breeze floated through the air, almost like the sheer fact of her presence made the world colder.
Her expression was unreadable as I stepped close to her. I was struck by the fact that instead of looking intense or angry like she always used to, instead, she just looked… neutral.
“Sebastian,” she said.
“Mother.”
She cleared her throat, looking at my suit and then back up to meet my eyes. “Congratulations. You’re finally married.”
I puffed out a small laugh. “This is you trying to be supportive, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I suppose it is,” she said, crossing her arms as if she felt cold. My mother never used to get cold.
“Well, thank you, I suppose.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, pulling in a sharp breath. “My flight back to Denmark leaves in an hour. I just wanted to stop by. And let you know—well, let you know that I was here.”
“Not for the actual wedding, though.”
“I was there, too. In the back. Your vows made me cry. Henry is a wonderful man.”
I stared at her for a moment, silently. I had never in my life seen my mother cry.
“Thank you, Sebastian,” she said. “You’ve changed the world without even trying.”
“I don’t think I’ve changed the world,” I said. “Maybe Frostmonte.”
She pulled in a long breath. She looked like she was about to say something, then stopped herself, then I saw a flash of something in her eyes.
And then suddenly, without warning, my mother leaned forward and wrapped me in a hug.
It was awkward. Her arms felt so frail and bony. But she was hugging me, on my wedding day.
“Congratulations again,” she said.
“Thank you, mother.”
She squeezed my shoulders before slipping back into her black car. I watched as she drove away.
I was as confused as I was surprised. Henry had made reference to the fact that it felt like a curse had been lifted over Frostmonte when my mother gave up the throne. But seeing her right now, it felt like that same curse was gone from her, too.
She felt like a cold woman, still, maybe. But not like an evil one.
I carried that strange feeling in my heart as I walked back over to the park, feeling warmer with every step. When I walked over into the festivities, I was met with smiles and hugs and cheers, and I had a champagne glass in my hand within seconds.
“Hello, my love,” Henry said from behind me as I walked toward a booth displaying various cheeses and pigs in a blanket.
“There you are,” I said. He put his arm around my waist and I turned to kiss him.
“Was she okay?” Henry asked. “You didn’t just get yelled at, did you? Threatened? She gonna conjure some sort of blizzard to ruin our reception?”
I swallowed. “She was… my mother, still. But she actually was okay,” I said. “She told me congratulations. And she hugged me.”
“Whoa,” Henry said.
“I know. She said that you were a wonderful man.”
“I guess we’ve slipped into some different dimension,” he said.
“Well, I love this dimension,” I said. “And I never want to leave.”
He grinned, his dimples appearing.
I got to marry this man. And I was going to get to live with him, for the rest of my life. Waking up next to him. Seeing those same dimples whenever I could.
“This dimension has really fucking delicious pigs in a blanket, too,” he said, gesturing to the food on the table near us. “Have you tried one yet?”
“I need to try about five of them, right now,” I said. “I’m starving.”
“Okay. But save room for the ridiculously good mini blueberry pies on the other side of the park.”
“I’m drooling.”
“I’m telling you, the food is the best thing about royal life.”
“The red front door looks incredible, by the way,” I told Henry as both of us looked across the street at his cottage. Our cottage.
“I like it, too,” he said. “After we re-shingle the roof, I think it’ll be just about done.”
Henry and I had decided to keep the cottage in Berrydale, and slowly over the last year, we had repaired and renovated various bits and pieces of it. The cottage would be our home away from home, or more accurately, the home we’d stay in when we wanted some quiet.
“I could picture having kids playing in the backyard, now,” I said softly, reaching out to grab his hand. We’d both talked about wanting kids in the near future, but this was the first time I’d mentioned it seriously.
“I can picture it, too,” he said.
“You think kids would enjoy spending part-time at the castle and part-time in our cottage?”
He turned, smoothing my hair with his palm. “I think that would be perfect. I only have one rule for when we do have kids.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. “And what’s that?”
“You cannot take them driving in the Ferrari.”
I puffed out a laugh. “Not even once they’re teenagers?”
“No,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “They can ride around in my truck, or in your Audi, or in a nice, safe Volvo we buy with the safest car seats known to man. But no crazy Ferrari rides. You drive like a madman in that thing.”
I leaned in, kissing him. “You’re right. Okay. And my only stipulation is that we never, ever tell them who to marry. Or what to wear. Or where to travel. Or—”
“True. Very true,” Henry said. “Although if they’re trying to marry a member of royalty from another kingdom, we have to warn them off of that.”
“Of course,” I joked. “No one would ever want to marry royalty.”
He wrapped an arm around my waist, and the party blossomed further. There was a chance of snow, but we had plenty of canopies, and half the people crowded underneath them while the others reveled and danced, probably trying to bring in one of the first snows of the season. People of Frostmonte loved the snow. I did too, these days.
Henry brushed a lock of hair behind my ear and leaned down, kissing the side of my neck. “I get to live my life beside you,” he said. “How the hell did I get so lucky?”
“Y’know, I was just wondering the same thing.”
He kissed me. I realized that we were just a few feet away from the place where he’d kissed me for the first time.
It had felt amazing then. But it felt about a billion times better now.
I didn’t have any secrets anymore.
I wanted everyone in the world to know that Prince Sebastian Ambrose fucking loved his husband. And that I would for the rest of my life.
Other Books in the Series
Midnight Ash by Ana Ashley
(A Cinderella Retelling)
Snow Twink by Sue Brown
(A Snow White Retelling)
The Little Matchboy by Jackie North
(A Little Match Girl Retelling)
Hair & Heart by Rhys Everly
(A Rapunzel Retelling)
Sea Kissed by Spencer Spears
(A Little Mermaid Retelling)
More from Raleigh Ruebins