Chapter 30Sofia
Chapter 30
Sofia
To my surprise, Jason doesn’t lead us back to the reception. Instead, we follow him through the palace’s snaking corridors to my parents’ rooms.
“Did you tell your parents about the scroll?” Marco asks in a whisper.
“I didn’t want to, not after you and I?—”
He squeezes my hand. “I get it.”
I think of the scroll and how, if it's authentic, it could change the trajectory of my life forever. After Monteluce, I made the decision that I would deal with the scroll and its potential ramifications once I had my head clear.
Only that hasn't happened.
“I wonder why your parents want to see us both right now. Do you think they know about us?”
“That was my first thought, but how could they? Maybe they know about Enzo?” I offer.
“What about Enzo?”
“Didn’t he tell you? He’s fallen in love with someone called Sigrid.”
Marco’s eyes grow huge. “Are you serious? Huh. Amelia’s harebrained plan worked for both of you.”
“Apparently it worked for both of us,” I say, and we share a smile.
Jason knocks on the door and Father calls, “Come!”
I shoot Marco a look of encouragement as we step inside together and my eyes land on my parents, sitting side by side on one of the elegant silk sofas.
“Sofia, Marco. Thank you both so much for joining us,” Father says, and I think I detect a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Darling, your hair looks so pretty that way. You really should wear it like that more often,” Mummy says lightly.
“I agree with you, Your Majesty,” Marco says as he bows to both my parents.
Father suggests we take a seat, and I sink gingerly into one of the chairs with Marco by my side, nervous about what this is all about.
“What’s going on? Why did you want to see us in the middle of Alex and Maddie’s wedding?” I ask, my pulse rising with trepidation as thoughts bounce off the walls of my mind. They know about Marco and me. They’re angry that I’m not going to marry Enzo. They’re going to give me a stern talking to about the whole way this thing has played out.
“I have something I want you both to see.” Father gestures at Jason, who places a familiar looking box on the coffee table between us.
“Is that…?” My mouth drops open.
“We found that box,” Marco says.
“That’s right. I believe you found it in a secret passageway under the throne room at the palace in Villadorata,” Father replies.
I pull my eyebrows together. “How did you know?”
Both my parents smile.
“I think you’ll find we know a lot of things, my darling,” Mummy says, oh-so mysteriously.
“But I had the box in my rooms. And its contents,” I reply, my mind jumping to the conclusion that my parents had had my room searched and they found the box with the scroll. I dart a look at Marco, but he looks equally confused.
“Open it,” Father instructs.
“I’m sorry?” I question.
“Open the box. It’s a simple enough instruction,” he replies.
Utterly confused, I lean forward and pop the lid of the box open. Just as when Marco and I discovered it under the throne room, there sits the scroll.
“What do you see?” Father asks.
“I see a scroll of paper,” I reply. “What’s this all about?”
“Pick it up and sniff it for me, will you?” he asks, and I almost laugh out loud at how preposterous this whole thing is.
“I beg your pardon, Father?” I glance at Marco and see he too is confused .
“Sniff it,” he instructs, his face alight in amusement.
“You want me to sniff the scroll?” I ask once more, suddenly wondering at Father’s sanity.
“I do! Go on. Sniff it,” he repeats.
I glance at Mummy.
“Do as your father says, darling,” she encourages.
“All right.” Carefully, I lift the scroll out of the box and hold it to my nose. I take a sniff.
“Well? What does it smell of?” Father asks.
“It smells of… I know this is strange, but it smells like stale coffee.”
I offer the scroll to Marco and he sniffs it, too. “She's right. It's like stale coffee.”
Father barks out a laugh so hard, he’s forced to place his hands on his belly to contain it like he’s Santa Claus while Mummy grins as though she’s the cat who got the cream.
Marco and I are still none the wiser.
“Is that funny, Your Majesty?” Marco questions.
“Don’t you see? Your ancient scroll smells of coffee because that’s what I got Jason to rub all over it to make it look old in the first place.”
“You did what now?” I guffaw.
Has my father completely lost his mind?
Father mimes Jason’s actions. “He dipped a rag in a cup of coffee and smeared it all over the scroll. He did a jolly convincing job, don’t you think? It looked like the real deal in the end.”
“But Father, Marco and I discovered this scroll hidden under the palace where it had been for hundreds of years. We were the first to find it, thanks to the riddle that was given to Marco anonymously.”
Father’s response is to let out another hearty laugh, as though what I’ve said is the funniest thing he’s heard all week. Possibly all year.
This is so unlike my father. He doesn't laugh wholeheartedly at things, clutching his belly like he’s Santa Claus. He's serious and sometimes severe, showing his love in less obvious ways than Mummy’s easy charm and warmth.
“ Find it? I had to lead you by the nose right to that thing. One of your labradors would have found it faster than the two of you, and we all know they don’t care for coffee, rather garden party canapés.”
“Are you sure Sofia’s dogs don’t have a taste for coffee, my dear? I’m sure Lemon and Pepper might quite enjoy a cup if it was laced with cream and sugar,” Mummy says, looking just as amused as Father.
This is getting weirder and weirder.
I turn to Marco in exasperation. He’s got his brow creased.
“How did Amelia get involved?” he asks.
“Amelia?” I question. I didn’t think I could get more confused, but here I am, confused with the capital “C.”
I look between my parents and Marco. “What’s Amelia got to do with all of this?”
“We sent Amelia to tell you about the professor in Monteluce,” Father replies. “Of course, she demanded to know why, but we told her she would learn soon enough. I imagine she’s going to be tickled pink once she knows how this all turned out.”
“She wasn’t behind the whole thing?” Marco questions.
Father shakes his head and says simply, “No.”
Amelia behind the whole thing? What is Marco talking about?
I hold my hands up in exasperation. “Could somebody please tell me what’s going on? ”
“Ask Marco. I think he’s got it. Am I right, Mr. Revera?” Father asks.
“I may have cracked it, sir, although I did think Amelia had something to do with it,” he replies. “I think what you’re saying is that for reasons beyond my grasp right now, you had Jason make a scroll look like it had been written over 250 years ago—using instant coffee—placed it in a tunnel under the throne room that no one knew about, and left clues for your daughter and me to find it, and then sent us on a quest to discover its meaning.”
My jaw drops open as I gape at him. It all sounds like a plot to some Indiana Jones movie, not my real life.
“Well done, young man,” Father says, leaping up and taking Marco’s hand in his and slapping him on the back.
“You are a clever one,” Mummy adds with a satisfied smirk. “Just as we’d suspected.”
“So, it was you who had the riddle delivered to me?” Marco asks.
“Hasn’t it all been a wonderful bit of fun?” Mummy asks brightly. “And look at the two of you. I would say this is all a rather wonderful added bonus.”
I stare at them all, open-mouthed. My parents forged an ancient scroll decreeing that the first-born child should inherit the crown regardless of gender—which, in reality, is just a piece of paper, smeared with instant coffee—and sent it in a riddle to Marco for him to bring to me so we could solve it together?
Have I stepped out of my life into some weird parallel universe? Because this is more than a touch unexpected. Scratch that. This is certifiably insane .
“Hang on a hot minute, people,” I say, and they all look at me as though I’m the one that’s in some fantastical other universe in which all of this makes sense. “Are you saying that you planted the decree for us to find? ”
“That’s exactly what we’re saying,” Father replies.
A million thoughts battle it out in my head, but in the end, I land on the most important question of all.
“Why?”
“I think I know,” Marco says.
I slide my gaze to his. “You do?” I lean back in my chair and throw my hands in the air once more. “What am I saying? Of course you do, Marco. You seem to have this whole thing figured out.”
“I’m good at puzzles, remember?” he says softly. “I think your parents wanted to tell you the law of ascension has been changed, and that you are now the rightful heir to the throne. The way they did it was unorthodox, but fun at least?”
A shiver runs down my spine and I catch my breath. “Really?” I ask, my voice a whisper.
Marco’s whole face lights up as he smiles. “Why not ask your parents?”
I turn to face them. “Is it true?” My voice trembles. This is what I’ve always wanted, to be my father’s heir, for the laws of the land to change so that the first-born child should inherit the throne, regardless of their gender. A fair and equitable law in a modern 21st century country.
Father takes my hands in his. “You’ve always wanted to be Queen, Sofia, and I have allowed my shortsightedness to get in the way of that dream. Of all our children, you are easily the best suited to the role. You always have been, my dear. I’ve always known it, and I have done a disservice to you by not listening, and for that I am truly sorry.”
My heart is beating out of my chest, my throat hot with unshed tears. “But how?”
“When Alex abdicated the throne so he could marry Maddie, your mother suggested you as my next heir,” he replies .
I turn to my mother. “You did that for me?”
“Of course I did, darling. You should always have been the heir,” she replies, her voice soft and full of love. “You were made for the role, my darling girl.”
“It took me some time to come to terms with Alexander’s decision to abdicate in favor of marrying the future queen of Malveaux, but, over time, your mother helped me see sense. My dear Sofia, I have been too exacting in my expectations of your older brother. Too hard on him. Him choosing to follow his heart was somewhat of a wakeup call for me, as your mother put it. So, several months ago, I approached the Prime Minister on changing the law of succession.”
“Wh-what did she say?” I ask, my heart pounding in my ears.
“I think her exact words were ‘welcome to the 21st century, your Royal Highness,’” he replies with a smile.
A bubble of happiness rises in my chest until it bursts out of me in a sharp laugh. Hastily, I place my hand over my mouth as my eyes well with tears.
“So Princess Sofia is your heir to the throne,” Marco says, his eyes on me.
“Who else of my children could do the job justice?” Father says, his arms outstretched, and I step into them, enveloped in his love, barely allowing myself to believe what he and my mother are telling me.
I am my Father’s heir.
I will be the next queen of Ledonia.
And I have Marco, the man I love, at my side.
It’s everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I fought hard to change the sexist laws of this country to allow the first-born child to inherit the throne, no matter whether they were born a boy or a girl.
As my parents and Marco congratulate me, I feel certain my heart could burst. One day, when my parents retire on my Father’s 65th birthday, I will be queen, and I know I will do my very best for this country I love.
“Why did you give the riddle to Marco and not Enzo?” I ask tentatively. I hold my breath.
“It was at your garden party when I first noticed it. A spark between you two. After the disaster Lemon and Pepper created, it was Marco who went to you to comfort you. It was then that I knew what I had been wondering.”
“Which was?” I ask.
Father takes both my hands in his. “I want you to be happy, Sofia. We both do. I could see you were choosing a man for all the wrong reasons. Enzo might be a fine man, but he was never the right man for you. It was as plain as day to your mother and me.”
“That’s why we had the riddle sent to Marco, darling. We both agreed that he was the sort of man you would never purposefully choose. But we felt he might be the man you should choose,” Mummy adds.
“But this is so out of character for you. It's so … playful,” I say, landing on a word I never thought I would use to describe anything my father did, let alone a complex plot to bring Marco and I together at the same time as reveal to me that I’m to be his heir.
It’s all too fantastical to fully comprehend.
“I suppose you could say I've lightened up a little since Alex’s abdication,” Father says. “And what better way to do it than to secure the future happiness of my darling daughter.” He smiles at me and tears spring to my eyes.
Father has never been demonstrable in his love for any of us. But it would seem that is now changing, and I love him all the more for it.
“Your trip away in Monteluce together confirmed that we had made the right decision in throwing you two together,” Mummy says.
I’m gaping so much I’m beginning to feel like one of those clown heads with the open mouths you throw balls into at fairs. Not that I’ve seen them firsthand—I am a princess—but they’re sometimes in movies.
“You knew about that?” I sputter.
“Of course we did,” Father replies. “My dear girl, do you really think a member of the Ledonian royal family could slink away without being noticed? We had several secret service agents in the village during the festival. You’re far too important to us, my dear, particularly now you’re my heir.” He pauses before he adds, “You know your professor was in on the ruse.”
My eyes are so wide they’re at risk of falling right out of my head. “He was?” I guffaw.
“Of course he was. He wrote the thing for us, and made up a story about having to leave the village to go to New Zealand to ensure you visited him quickly.”
“It was Australia, but I suppose that’s not the point,” I mumble, trying to comprehend all of this. Because it’s a lot. “Was he even a professor?”
“Of course he was,” Father replies.
“May I ask a question?” Marco begins and Father nods. “Was it part of the ruse, as you call it, that the professor not see us until the following morning?”
“I hear the lantern release at the end of the festival was rather romantic,” Mummy replies with a knowing smirk.
My parents share a smile and I think I might burst spontaneously into flames, right here on the Persian carpet.
They knew ? What's worse is they set this whole thing up!
I risk a glance at Marco. He looks equally embarrassed, but his face is alight in a grin .
I step over to his side and slide my hand into his, smiling up at him. “So… you approve?” I ask my parents.
“We do,” Father confirms.
“Wholeheartedly,” Mummy echoes.
I capture Marco’s gaze. His eyes are intense, full of love for me, and I want nothing more than to close the gap between us, feel his arms wrap around me, and whisper what he means to me again and again and again. But as bizarre and wonderful and surprising as today has been, I want to wait until we’re in private for that.
Mummy gives me a hug as Father shakes Marco’s hand again, slapping his back and telling him how well he did with solving the riddle.
“I rather like this one,” Mummy says softly in my ear.
I grin at her, my heart completely full. “I rather like him, too.”