Page 108 of Kingdom of Locks

“Well.” King Bern emerged from the knot of guild members with whom he’d been speaking. “Before anything else, I’d better send an urgent message to King Justin and Queen Felicity, alerting them that we’ve located Princess Aurelia.” He inclined his head toward Mama Imelda. “And Queen Felicity’s mother, of course.”

Aurelia’s eyes widened, a gasp escaping her at these simple words. She whipped her head around to stare at her mother, who was gaping at the king in wide eyed shock.

“Queen…what?” Mama Imelda stuttered. “Did you say I’m the queen’s…are you telling me Felicity married…”

“Didn’t you know?” Queen Pietra asked, her own eyes widening in ready sympathy. She moved toward the other woman, smiling reassuringly at her. “We’re honored to be the ones to give you the very best of news. Your daughter,” she glanced at Aurelia, “your other daughter, is the wife of King Justin, and is now Albury’s queen.”

Mama Imelda’s mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. The queen was beaming at her, as if she thought she’d just made her day, but Aurelia frowned. She had the distinct impression that her mother took no delight from the news.

“Mama?” she asked softly, stepping up beside the older woman and touching a hand gently to her arm. “Are you all right?”

Mama Imelda turned to face her, and Aurelia could see tears building in the other woman’s eyes. “I wasn’t there,” she said simply. “I wasn’t there to protect her, and now she’s going to suffer like Racquel, for the rest of her life.”

“Racquel?” Aurelia repeated, confused. “You mean…my mother?” She reflected. “Who was the previous queen, wasn’t she? I keep forgetting.”

Mama Imelda nodded. “It brings me no joy to say it, Aurelia, but the truth is your father was a hard, cold man. Racquel was my oldest friend, and it broke my heart when she married the king for the sake of her family’s position. I have no doubt it was his coldness that killed her. Why do you think she wasn’t even allowed to be with you that day at the river? All she wanted was to be with her children, and he kept her from you constantly. I could see from the beginning that the union would lead to nothing but misery. You see, Racquel was the sweetest woman alive, but she…” Mama Imelda’s face was apologetic. “Well, she wasn’t strong enough to fight him. I’m sorry to say she more or less gave up where Justin was concerned. But she hoped that the king would care less about a daughter, and she would therefore be allowed to care more.”

In a wave of sudden emotion, she covered her face with her hands. “When I learned of her death, I was almost relieved. It was a release for her. But Felicity is strong. I know it in my bones. She won’t succumb—there will be no release for her, but a long life of coldness and loneliness. How could it have happened? How could Gustav have allowed it? How did she even come to the king’s attention?”

“Well,” said Queen Pietra, sounding a little disapproving. “Allowances must be made for your situation, but to speak so of your former king—”

“No Mother, she’s right,” Amell interjected. “Being royal doesn’t excuse you from treating others with integrity. A king who does whatever he wants simply because he can get away with it is no different from Cyfrin.” He glanced at the nearby senior enchanter. “As someone very wise recently told me, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.”

He turned to Mama Imelda. “But you have no reason to be afraid for your daughter. I’ve met King Justin and Queen Felicity. They’re happy together. He isn’t like his father—maybe he was on that path once. But when he got cursed, and Felicity helped him break that curse, everything changed for him. He’s kind to her. They married purely because they fell in love.”

Mama Imelda still looked troubled, but some of the fear leaked from her eyes. Aurelia gave her hand a squeeze, then leaned against Amell.

“I know you’ve seen the worst of them, Mama,” she said. “But royals aren’t always awful.” She smiled up at Amell, who squeezed her shoulder. “Sometimes they’re positively dreamy.”

“Oh dear.” Princess Tora’s dismayed voice cut across the group. “Amell is going to get a terribly big head if you keep that up, Princess Aurelia.”

“Hey.” Amell scowled at his sister. “I backed you up in your bid for romance.”

“That’s true,” Princess Tora conceded, sending a mischievous grin toward Furn, who’d said nothing throughout this exchange, but whose eyes had rarely wavered from the princess. “I suppose I can allow it.”

“Very generous,” grumbled Amell, but Aurelia was laughing.

“I like you,” she informed Princess Tora happily. “I’ve never had a friend near my own age before.”

A look of surprise flitted across Princess Tora’s face, softening quickly into something Aurelia couldn’t quite identify as either happiness or sadness.

“Well,” said the other princess, with a friendly smile, “I’m honored to be the first.”

Aurelia smiled back, feeling that she had a great deal to learn, and that she couldn’t wait to get started. She glanced at her mother, seeing that the other woman still looked troubled.

“Don’t worry, Mama,” she said encouragingly. “If there’s a mess anywhere, you’ll straighten it out. I have faith in you.” Her mother smiled back distractedly, and another thought occurred to Aurelia. “I just realized,” she laughed. “If your daughter Felicity married my brother Justin, she and I are doubly sisters! Through you, and through him.”

“That’s true,” smiled the other woman. She put an arm around Aurelia’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “And family is something we’ll never take for granted, isn’t it?”

Aurelia hugged her back, her heart overflowing with gratitude for the woman who’d had everything stripped away from her, and instead of embracing bitterness, had chosen to love her unexpected daughter with all her heart.

“Never.”

Epilogue

Two months later

“He’s simply beautiful, Fliss, Justin.”

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