Happily

The prince left before the sun rose.

Sarah awoke to Christine knocking on the door. Sarah found her feet to be cold and realized that most of her bedding must have ended up on the floor sometime during the last six hours. The maid steadied the ladder so Sarah could climb down.

Christine brought with her a light green muslin day dress and leather slippers. Even after she was dressed, brushed, and washed, Sarah's reflection was proof of a restless night.

She pondered if Peregrine would be proud of the circles under her eyes. She was not sure whether he would feel secretly boastful of the aches he inflicted upon her or concerned. Knowing him, a mixture of both. Sarah decided not to mention it the next time they were alone.

A different servitor showed Sarah to the dining room. She was relieved the man was not Bernard. She did not know how she would have responded if it was, untoward behavior on his part or no. Sarah would have likely done something foolish.

She kept her own counsel on the way to breakfast. Her internal monologue had nothing to contribute.

As with the previous evening, the queen and prince were already seated when she arrived. Prince Peregrine did not get up when she entered the room, but Sarah did not expect that he would. His manners did not take after the queen's.

Queen Anna looked at Sarah and, of course, smiled. "You seem exhausted, poor dear. Did you not sleep well?"

This is it, Sarah realized. "The bed was... unique, Your Majesty, Queen Anna. I was very warm. But – for some reason – I was unable to get comfortable last night."

"You did not enjoy your first night here, my lady?" Peregrine enquired.

Sarah addressed the queen. "It is of no importance, Your Majesty."

"It is of the utmost importance, my dear. Congratulations! You and Peregrine shall be married."

"Your Majesty?" Sarah was blindsided by the queen's abruptness. "But we have just met."

"Nonsense. You have a name, don't you dear?"

"Sarah, Your Majesty." Sarah could not say anything else without ruining everything.

"Sarah. Let us eat, shall we?" In Queen Anna's eyes the matter was settled, and the kingdom of Shea's prosperous future secured.

Sarah was engaged.

---

The rest of the meal was uneventful. Prince Peregrine spent all of breakfast speculating on how long Sarah would be staying and if her next room could be closer to his wing of the castle. Sarah was thankful for seat cushions and strong coffee. The queen nattered on and on about wedding plans. The date: Sarah nodded her head in the affirmative to a spring wedding. It would give her parents months to get used to the idea. She was not sure how to break the news of her bourgeois status to Queen Anna, though. Peregrine can do it, Sarah decided uncharitably. She is his mother, after all.

Once everyone finished eating and the dishes were cleared away, Queen Anna told Sarah she would send some men to search for Sarah's escort.

"Sarah, please just rest for today. I am sure your people are somewhere close by. You can continue on to Overleigh tomorrow." The prince's face fell at that pronouncement. Although, since he rarely lifted his countenance to any sort of height, no one would have noticed the difference had they been looking. "And I will be in my rooms. I have much to organize; I need to draft letters to everyone. I absolutely love weddings." Queen Anna walked to the hall. She turned before leaving.

"Peregrine, may I speak with you?"

"One moment, Mother."

Once the queen left, Sarah relaxed slightly.

"Perry, you smug bastard, why didn't you warn me your mother was so nice and pushy? Dear this and dear that. And always smiling."

"Well I couldn't give away all the family secrets at once, now, could I?" Peregrine attempted a disarming smile.

He failed.

"You could have at least told me that this plan of yours – a countermeasure you devised, by the way, a countermeasure that I only agreed to because I felt sorry for you, didn't want you saddled with some vain Alban Duchess or, even worse, another princess – would be easy enough to achieve just by showing up at your door." Sarah, chest heaving, paused for a breath.

Peregrine took his chance and cut in. "I did, Sarah." He placed both hands on her shoulders in what he assumed was a comforting (and placating) gesture.

Sarah shook them off.

"I distinctly recall you mentioned a series of tests. I have been overanalyzing every single thing since I got here, from how I address the servants to how I sip the tea. Your mother even made me read out of that damn book of Neoromantic Farbudi poetry that I told you to purchase for her birthday! I'm a stressed-out wreck because of you, you conceited prick."

"I thought we took care of your stress last night," said the conceited prick.

This allusion to good sex was not appreciated by Sarah. She felt her anger completely justified and did not want to let it fizzle out just yet.

"You better go talk to your mother. I'm not going anywhere."

Perry, knowing that Sarah only pushed back a few hours what would likely be a major row, conceded. He went to find the queen in her chambers.

Sarah, true to her word, did not move from the dining room.

Instead, she fumed.

---

"You never told me how charming she was."

Sarah? Charming? Peregrine wondered just what the women in his life expected of him...and if he was too old to run away from home.

"To whom are you referring, Mother?"

"Sarah, of course. Sarah Pemberton. Her father is the chemistry professor at Whitford College. He taught you once, I believe." Peregrine's jaw dropped open, nearly unhinging itself with shock.

The queen ignored her son's uncharacteristic display of emotion and continued, "I know the two of you have been enjoying each other's company for some time now. I am glad I was able to finally put you on the path towards marriage."

Peregrine searched his mother's face for a cancerous growth or even another head, anything to explain what she was talking about.

"Mother, what are you saying?" He belatedly realized that he sounded absolutely horrified.

"I had hoped you would find someone more suitable in rank, of course. But she is a decent girl and shall be able to handle her duties as Queen very well, I think. Certainly, the kingdom is becoming more cosmopolitan in attitude. I am sure the populace will love your ordinary choice of bride."

"You mean, you knew?"

"Of course, dear. Your sister mentioned you being taken with Sarah after she introduced the two of you at some sort of academic society meeting last year." The queen smiled. Peregrine remembered that meeting. He had argued with Sarah on the nature of social inheritance for a good forty minutes.

"But... but this whole," Peregrine gestured widely, "fairy tale set-up. This stupid search for a princess. What was it all for?" The next time Peregrine saw Annabelle he was going to strangle her.

"To get you to commit, Peregrine," the queen stated blandly. "You are a grown man and have been for some time. You need to form your own household, your own family. And ready yourself for your place as King."

Peregrine raked his hand through his hair. "So you came up with this ridiculous plot just to force me into marriage?"

"I have not forced you to do anything, Peregrine. You make your own decisions."

"But, Mother, you don't understand. We were – are –" Peregrine corrected himself, "friends. Sarah has no desire to be Queen. I had to beg her to rescue me from an arranged marriage. She will hold this over me indefinitely. I will never be able to repay her."

"Now, you cannot fool me, Peregrine. I know you are more than merely friends. And as for the matter of your so-called 'repayment,' this is just the way it should be. Your father owed me everything for loving him, as well." And with those parting words, the queen left the prince standing gobsmacked.

Her Majesty returned to the dining room to warmly welcome Sarah into the family.

Sarah learned that Queen Anna was a little less nice than, but just as intelligent as, she initially thought.

Sarah liked her all the more for it.