The next page he turned to listed school activities. He was again impressed with her diligence and hard work. A copy of an article from her church newsletter, followed by a brief testimony about a Bible study that Shelby was involved in with several other women, was very informative. Clearly she was learning, and while the king was struck with the content of what she wrote, he was also struck with the way she expressed herself. The two other pages were miscellaneous facts, all of which he found quite interesting.
In time, Rafe put the papers aside and glanced down to where Erica slept beside him in their bed. This young woman, Shelby Parker, was impressive—there was no question about that—but how did they proceed?
Rafe found himself staring across the dark room for some time before finally reaching to turn off the light and settle down on his own pillow. He hoped Toby’s visit to see the Parker family would provide some answers.
Henley
“This cake is delicious,” Toby told Daria Parker just a month after he’d first called on Rafe and Erica. He had called them to ask if he could visit as soon as Tyke had gathered the information. As he’d expected, they were as gracious and warm as he had remembered.
“It’s Josiah’s favorite,” Daria informed him, signing with courtesy for her husband as she spoke to their guest.
“He has good taste.”
Toby watched Josiah smile before Shelby’s father asked in his quiet way,
“Do you live far from here, Mr. Newbury?”
“About 40 minutes. I was looking for an excuse to come and visit all of you again, and then I realized I had to deliver something just a few miles up the road.”
“Why did you want to see us again?” Daria asked, a smile lighting her face.
“I was very impressed last month,” Toby said honestly.
The family surrounding him smiled at the compliment but didn’t comment further. Suddenly Toby wondered if this might not be a bit awkward.
“Are you working on a book right now, Mr. Newbury?”
This question came from the one person he wanted most to speak with, and Toby not only felt rescued but was glad of an excuse to talk directly to her.
“I am, actually. It’s an in-depth study guide to the book of Genesis. I’m almost finished with it.”
Shelby questioned him more about the process, his publisher, and how swiftly he would start another book when the current one was complete.
Toby was more than happy to tell her everything she wanted to know, and by the time he left an hour later, he was more convinced than ever that this was the woman for Nikolai.
“Why exactly, Toby?” Rafe questioned him when they spoke on the phone that evening.
“At the risk of your thinking I’m falling for her, Rafe, I can’t say it any other way than to tell you she’s perfect. Her parents have certainly done their homework. I still didn’t meet their son—he’s at school right now—but the four of us never ran out of things to talk about and Shelby was as gracious and intelligent as I remembered. If I had wished to marry and God had blessed me with children, I would desire my own son to meet such a girl.”
“All right, Toby. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I believe I’ll write a letter to Mr. Parker. Do you think it will be well received?”
“Absolutely. I can’t say he won’t be surprised, but from what I know of him, he’s a very levelheaded man.”
“Can you supply me with an address?”
“Yes, I have it right here.”
Rafe hung up the phone just minutes later. He sat at the massive desk in his study and stared across at the book-filled shelves that surrounded him. The fading daylight was at his back, and for long moments he simply prayed. He thanked God for the wonderful son He had seen fit to give them. It had not been easy, but Nikolai had been worth every moment of heartache. He asked God to give him the words he needed and picked up his pen.
Henley
Daria studied her husband’s surprised face as he stood with the letter in his hand.
“Are you all right?” she felt a need to ask.
“I think so,” he answered, immediately handing her a piece of fine stationary. The envelope had dropped to the floor. He had been home from work only a few minutes—he had a barbershop downtown—and had not had a chance until that moment to look at the post. The letter from King Rafe was not exactly shocking, but it was a surprise.
“Josiah, why would the king want to meet with you?”
“I haven’t any idea, but did you notice? He would prefer our meeting be kept between the two of us.”
“Should you have told me?” Daria asked.
“You must not have finished the letter,” he said. “He says at the end that he’ll understand my need to discuss it with my wife, but to please keep the letter confined to the two of us.”
For a moment they sat without moving. Daria read the letter completely before handing it back to Josiah.
“So you’re going to meet him.” Daria’s reply was a statement, not a question.
“Certainly. I’m going to reply right now.”
Josiah did just that, a bit rattled by it all. He forgot he hadn’t told the king he would have his wife along until after he walked back to town to mail the note.
No matter, he thought as he went up the stone steps and into his house. I have to have her with me, and that’s all there is to it.
Faraday
The restaurant where Josiah had been invited to meet the king was small but not what anyone would call crowded. The dining facilities included private rooms. Josiah was ushered into one of them, where he met Pendaran’s king. He immediately explained his hearing loss and his need to have Daria interpret for him. That woman was in the car, sick with nerves and feeling like an interloper.
She need not have worried. The queen was along, and both Rafe and Erica were delighted that Josiah had brought his wife. She was summoned from the car and in short order met the queen and king herself.
“It’s so gracious of you to come,” Erica wasted no time in saying.
“We feel quite honored,” Daria said sincerely as the two shook hands.
“Please sit down,” the king bade them and waited for everyone to get comfortable at the small, square table.
“Erica has asked a huge favor of me,” he began almost as soon as they were seated. “She’s asked that I not keep you in suspense, so even before we eat, I’d like to tell you why I wanted to meet with you.”
Both Josiah and Daria nodded, relaxing in the warmth of the king’s manner and words.
“Toby Newbury is a close friend of mine,” Rafe continued. “I would never want you to think he was spying on your family, but he was very impressed with all of you, and most especially with your daughter, Shelby. She’s the reason I wanted to meet with you.”
Rafe took a breath and plunged on. “If you have no objections, I would like to speak with Shelby about marrying our son, Nikolai.”
Daria felt the blood drain from her face but was incapable of speech or movement. Josiah was in much the same shape. Daria had signed the words for him, but had it not been for the shock on her face, he would have been certain he’d misunderstood.
“It sounds so crude and unfeeling,” Erica inserted softly. “We hope and pray that you’re not offended. We’re quite eager to do right by everyone, but we know it’s all so unusual.”
“May I ask you a question?” Daria said, finally finding her voice.
“Please do.” Rafe’s low answer and sincere gaze told her of his own eagerness to please.
“Why Shelby? Of course, we think she’s wonderful, but she’s never talked of meeting either of you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t explain from the beginning,” Rafe began. “Recently Nikolai has come to us for help in finding a second wife. We asked Toby to be praying with us about it, and then he met your family at a dinner some weeks ago. He came to us the next morning and said he was very impressed with Shelby.
“I will admit that we have
made some discreet inquiries, and although we haven’t had the privilege of meeting Shelby in person, we are also very impressed with your daughter.”
“So much so that you wish her to become the princess?” Josiah questioned.
“Not against your wishes, or hers,” Rafe swiftly assured him. “We had no desire to upset your family or Shelby’s world by rushing in and making a mess of this, and if we’ve done so already, we are deeply sorry. But both Erica and I feel a great peace about this. If you have no objections and believe she will hear us out, we would like to go to her with the question. If you feel she won’t be the slightest bit interested, then we won’t bother her with this at all.”
“I assume we’re speaking of a marriage of convenience?” Daria asked.
“I’m sure it will start out that way. I hope and pray it will become more.”
There was no reason to ask why they couldn’t hold off on the marriage until they had “more.” You couldn’t live in Pendaran and not be aware of the tradition.
Looking at their surprised faces, Erica rushed to reassure them. “We’ll certainly understand if you don’t have an answer for us right now.”
Josiah and Daria looked at one another. Shelby’s father took a moment to read his wife’s face before saying, “As a matter of fact, I don’t have any objections to your speaking with Shelby. I can promise you that she’ll have dozens of questions, and Daria and I would like to be there when you meet with her, but I feel honored that you would consider our daughter suitable for the prince.”
It was now Rafe and Erica’s turn to be at a loss.
“Please don’t misunderstand us,” Daria went on. “We’re not saying Shelby will agree, and as you might expect, we would never pressure her to do so, but our daughter is a very clearheaded young woman. If she believes she can serve God and her country in this way, she’ll agree.”
“And you would support her?” the king asked of Josiah.
“Yes. As long as we were certain that she had given the matter enough thought and that she would be safe and cared for at the palace.”
They eventually ate lunch, but both the Parkers and the king and queen parted with a feeling of unreality. Erica thought how she would have reacted if someone had come to her with such an offer. She had feared the Parkers might run for the hills; the fact that they hadn’t was the most amazing thing to the queen.
The Parkers were just as overwhelmed. Driving home they tried to decide if they had dreamed the entire episode.
Two
Henley
Shelby looked around the reception area at the hospital and wondered what the other women would say if she suddenly announced that the king and queen would be at her house tonight. She had no intention of following through with the thought, but even if she had, they would only think her joking. It wasn’t that Shelby was known as a prankster; it was just so unlikely that the lovely redhead, who wouldn’t even date the interns who gawked at her, could possibly draw the interest of the palace.
A moment later she dug a piece of gum from her purse and spotted her list. She had been working on her questions for the king and queen for the last ten days. Tonight she would have a chance to voice them. She was certain that within an hour they would know how unsuitable she was, but at least she might be able to understand why they were asking her. For the dozenth time she wished her parents had asked more questions, but she understood why they had not. This was a decision they would leave up to her, unless they sensed that something was amiss.
“You’re off, Shelby,” one of the women broke into her thoughts. “Or are you on until six?”
“No, I’m off at five. Thanks, Alice. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“She certainly looked preoccupied,” another woman commented as they watched her move away.
“Yes, she did. If it were anyone else, I would say she had a date.”
The women liked Shelby, so they only smiled at each other without malice and went back to work.
“Are you all right, Shelby?” her father asked during dinner.
“Yes. I’m just a bit stunned. I mean, I’ve had more than a week to think about this, but it’s all too fantastic to be real.” She cocked her head to one side and stared at her parents. “You don’t seem surprised at all.”
“We were at first,” her mother said with a wry tone, “but when all was said and done, you’re right, we weren’t that surprised.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because it’s true, honey. You make a wonderful first impression, which was obviously the case with Toby Newbury, and when people really get to know you, they love you all the more.”
Shelby didn’t answer, but it wasn’t hard to see what she was thinking. Her father voiced the thought.
“We are biased about you, Shelby, but not blind fools. You would do the prince proud, and we all know it.”
Shelby smiled at him and tried to eat a little more. The queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach didn’t help. Was this really happening? There were moments when she just wasn’t sure. She was still dawdling in the kitchen when the doorbell rang; reality was coming in for a fast landing.
“We want you to feel free to ask us anything, Shelby,” the king assured her later. “Anything at all.”
“All right. Thank you.” She smiled at the queen for a moment and then looked down at the paper in her lap.
Erica was glad that Shelby’s attention was diverted. She needed a few minutes to compose herself. Ever since Shelby had walked into the room and met them, Erica had wanted to dance and sing. She was the sweetest girl she’d ever encountered.
“I feel a little funny about this first question,” Shelby began hesitantly, “but it’s rather important to me.”
“Don’t worry about anything,” Rafe said, smiling warmly. “Just ask.”
Shelby looked uncomfortable but still managed to say, “Why isn’t the prince taking care of this himself?”
“My wife answers that best,” Rafe said gently. “Will you tell her, Erica?”
“Certainly I will, and I’m going to be very honest with you, Shelby. Nicky is still very much in love with his first wife. He never grew angry or distant after her death, but he misses her terribly. He came to us some weeks ago now and simply asked us to handle things for his future nuptials. He’s very willing to marry again and uphold the tradition, but he does not feel up to courtship or a large, fancy wedding ceremony.”
Shelby nodded. She thought it might be something like that, but the answer brought up another question.
“Is he really willing to marry someone else if he’s still so in love with Princess Yvette?”
“He is, Shelby,” the king told her. “I can’t promise that he’ll love you with all his heart, but Nikolai will be a faithful husband and committed to your marriage.”
“Would I live at the palace?”
“Yes, with Nicky in the north quadrant.”
“What would I do?”
“Probably much of what you do now with the exception of working at the hospital.”
Shelby thought about this. She had many more questions but thought it might be time for them to inquire of her.
“Do you have questions for me?” she asked softly, her feelings of unreality showing through.
“We do, several in fact, but we thought we would answer yours first,” the king, feeling much like his wife, told her warmly.
This gave her pause.
“I have a huge wardrobe. I’m always buying new things to wear,” she admitted, and the queen did not miss the smile her parents shared. For herself, Erica wanted to laugh with delight at this lovely young woman with the soft brown eyes who was such a mixture of confidence and questions.
“I also have a car and a bicycle.”
“There is plenty of room in the car barn for your car and bike.”
“So I could bring things with me?”
“Anything you wish.”
“The prince won’t mind?”
&nbs
p; “Not at all. The palace would be your home.”
“But I could come back here to visit?”
“Of course.”
“But why me?” Shelby couldn’t help asking. “Why doesn’t the prince marry a woman he already knows?”
“We have thought of that, Shelby, and at first it would seem to make sense, but in truth the prince isn’t particularly drawn to any of the women he knows. He told us he felt that would be very awkward, especially if he began seeing someone and it didn’t work out. This way, you would both come from the same place.”
“But what if it doesn’t work out for us?”
“If that’s a huge worry in your mind, then we wouldn’t want you to come at all,” the king said softly. Shelby looked completely at sea.
“Listen to me, Shelby,” he said kindly, working to clearly express his thoughts. “Our expectation before God and man is that this is going to be a real marriage, not some trial period or time of testing, but a marriage in every sense. That the two of you may choose to wait for physical intimacy is only to be expected, but we would want you to marry our son with the mindset that this is forever. Nikolai has that mindset because he trusts our judgment. If you don’t have the same feelings about this marriage, unusual though it may be, we need to thank you for your time and be on our way.”
Shelby nodded. She had understood that marriage was forever and explained that the question had come off the top of her head. She didn’t ask much more of them—at the moment her thoughts were too muddled for that. The questions the king and queen put to her in the next minutes were not very deep. Shelby understood why: Until she was a little more certain, there was no need for them to intrude into her private life.