describe the journey for me.” They enjoyed their supper and soon the group decided to call it an evening. It was late into the night when Sebastian was writing busily in his travel diary. He wrote daily, whether or not he was traveling. A knock on the door interrupted him. “Enter.”
“Someday, dear brother, you must learn to go to bed earlier,” Nana teased.
“Ah, Bethany dear, you know I never will.”
“Indeed I do. So, what was so important that you brought us t here under such dangerous circumstances?”
Sebastian waved a hand, “Bah, it wasn’t dangerous. You had Lysander and Lucian with you.”
“And you think Lucian ready to take on a band of highwaymen?” Nana chided. “He’s a boy.”
“Not anymore, Bethany, he’s a man now. And yes, he’s ready.”
“Man or boy he is still in school,” she insisted. “Grown men with years of experience and training have been defeated by this group. I hope this was not a wasted trip. Lucian was terribly worried.”
“No journey is ever wasted,” he replied. “I have decided to make the proprietress my wife.”
“As happy as I am for you, couldn’t you have written it?”
“My dear sister, this isn’t something you write. I wanted you all to be here. This is something special.”
“So, have you asked her?”
“I can’t if I don’t know her name,” he retorted. “And I will not propose to her as ‘Mother’. I shall discover her name and make her my wife.”
“Very well, Sebastian, but next time, don’t say it’s urgent. Poor Lavinia was becoming sick thinking something had happened to you.”
“She should know better,” he chuckled. “But I will consider it. Perhaps next time I shall write, ‘of great importance’ instead.”
“That would probably be best.”
In the morning, everyone got ready for a long day outdoors. Allegra, Leticia and Moira laughed with Mother as they packed a picnic lunch. The men were busily preparing the carriage while Lavinia, Nana and Alexandra were packing enough parasols and hats to keep everyone protected from the sun’s rays. They laughed and chatted the entire time they were traveling until they arrived at the fairgrounds. There was joyful clamor about them as they got out of their carriage. Soon they were surrounded by various people wandering about. Men in armor were riding horses, carrying large jousting sticks and shields. The smell of various venders’ wares filled the air with spice and smoke. He offered Moira his arm as they walked. “Make sure you spend some time with Allegra too.”
“I will,” he replied, “don’t worry. For now, I’m going to enjoy some time with my princess. Besides, right now she’s helping Leticia.”
The day progressed and soon they were sitting together in a nearby field enjoying their picnic lunch. “I’ve made up my mind,” Sebastian said, interrupting the conversation they had been having. “I am not leaving this spot until I figure out your name,” he said, turning to Mother.
“Why? You haven’t had any need to know before.” She looked almost nervous.
“I have, I’ve just been playing at it,” he replied. “Rachel?”
“No.” She shook her head sadly, “Sebastian, you can’t spend the day guessing.”
“Rosalind?”
Mother didn’t respond. A mix of emotions played on her face as Sebastian tried name after name. Finally she snapped, “Enough, Sebastian. Enough. Why must you do this??”
“Because I love you and want to be able to call you by your name.”
Mother looked heartbroken and sad. “If you love me, Sebastian, then you’ll find my name. You won’t have to try.” She stood and walked away.
“I do believe you pushed too hard this time, Sebastian,” Nana chided gently.
He did not reply, but rose as well and followed Mother. At length he had to jog to catch up with her. “You know, my dear, I’m not as young as I once was,” he teased as he tried to catch his breath.
“Well, maybe you should have tried calling for me,” she answered. “I’m sorry I snapped.”
“No, I should be sorry. I was being bull-headed and obstinate.”
“I’m fairly sure it won’t be the last time.”
He laughed, “Oh probably not. But I did want to apologize. I was pushing and I ignored that you were hurting.”
“Consider yourself forgiven.” As the rest of the family caught up to where they had stopped they watched Sebastian kneel down in front of Mother. “Sebastian, what are you doing?”
“This is a proposal, my dear; surely you recognize that,” he replied.
Mother blushed. “Sebastian…”
“Marry me. I would happily stay at your inn the rest of my life if you would promise to be mine.”
“Sebastian, you can’t properly propose if you don’t know my name.”
“Well, I just did.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
Sebastian rose slowly. “Well then, my dear, there’s only one thing I can do.”
“What is that?” she asked suspiciously.
“I’ll have to marry you without your consent, Rowena,” he replied.
Her breath caught. “What did you call me?”
“Rowena. That’s your name, I know it is.”
Laughing through tears, she said, “I haven’t heard my name in so very, very long.”
“Nor have we,” a familiar voice said from behind them.
They were surprised to see Calista, Raphael and Melantha standing nearby. “Rowena,” Melantha said joyfully, “it has been too long.”
“Yes, it has,” she replied, not keeping the pain from her voice. “I’ve been waiting nearly fifty years.”
“And now you’ve been found,” Calista stated. “Do you wish to accept Sebastian’s proposal?”
“Yes, I have every intention of accepting. Oliver hasn’t shown himself in all this time and I doubt he’s missed me.”
“Then we will be in touch with the fairy king and queen and you can begin making your arrangements,” Calista said. “In the meantime we will begin the process of writing your story.”
“No.”
“No?” Raphael repeated. “What do you mean no?”
“Sebastian has already completed his quest and I have been waiting for so long, the story doesn’t really matter to me anymore. Someone is in love with me and I am in love with him. That’s all the story I need. And as far as our wedding, I am not waiting for the king and queen to be available. They are invited, should they wish to attend, but I want a quiet, simple wedding as soon as possible.”
“Very well,” Calista replied. “We will respect your wishes. The story will remain unwritten and you shall have the quiet wedding you desire, if that is also your wish Sebastian.”
“Whatever Rowena wants is what we’ll do,” he said.
She smiled. “Say my name again.”
Sebastian turned to her and held her face in his hands. “Rowena,” he said gently before kissing her; the world forgotten as a princess finally won her happily-ever-after.
True to his word, Sebastian helped Rowena plan a small wedding for the end of summer vacation. Rowena began preparing to sell her small inn so that she and Sebastian could continue his adventures. However when she mentioned the plan to Sebastian, he refused to hear of it. “Absolutely not. We’re keeping the inn. This is where I fell in love with you and this is where we’ll stay when we’re not gallivanting.”
“But darling, we don’t need so much space,” she argued. “Wouldn’t it be more prudent to sell the inn and purchase a cottage in the village?”
“I refuse to budge on the matter, Rowena,” he replied. “Besides, the extra rooms will be a blessing when family comes to call. If anything, I’ll sell my castle in Bordington and we can live out our happily-ever-after right here.”
Laughing she said, “Very well, darling.”
Wedding plans continued and Moira began working feverishly on the gowns for everyone. Lavinia, Alexandra and Nana had insi
sted on going to town for theirs, but Rowena had asked that Moira design gowns for Allegra, Leticia and Moira as they were to be her bridesmaids as well as her bridal gown. Moira had taken on the challenge with delight.
The village was in a frenzy over their very own secret princess. Many of the oldest members of the village claimed to have known all along. Excitement built as invitations were sent and arrived. Rowena had lived in the village for so long that they had become her family.
As dawn crept over the sleepy village the morning of the wedding, The Dancing Fairies was a beehive of activity. A part of the fairgrounds had been made available for the wedding and they spent much of the morning setting up seats, putting together a large wooden trellis and dangling plants about it. As Sebastian and the girls noticed how easily the plants moved for Lucian, they left him to finish. He continued to try to weave the vines of flowers through the small trellis openings. Though he had noticed that the vines would often seem to do it themselves, he wanted it to look perfect. As though reading his thoughts, parts of the vine that had been bare suddenly bloomed with flowers. “I don’t know who is responsible for this,” he mumbled as he stood up, “but I’m glad the plants are cooperating for me.”
“Oh Lucian,” Moira breathed as she came over with ribbons and thin strips of tulle, “it’s so lovely. How did you do it?”
“I wish I could say. Here, let me help you with those.”
“Alright, but I’m not sure where to put these. There’s not really a lot of room between the flowers. I don’t remember it having been so full before. You must have a magic touch.” The two worked side by side for a while and Moira suddenly said,