“I’m with you, girl.” I give her a thumbs-up before continuing with my story. “Since the advisor fell in love with the enchantress and he believed all the lies she filled his head with, he began to dream even bigger. It wasn’t enough to kidnap the baby prince, kill the princess, and free up the king—then the enchantress would be with the handsome king instead of him. The advisor suggested they overthrow the king altogether! Then he and the evil enchantress could overtake the kingdom and rule it themselves.”
“Those snakes,” the older, dark-haired girl says, her eyes narrowed with dislike.
I nod my agreement. “They really suck. But the advisor made a terrible mistake,” I announce dramatically. “Thinking everyone had the same propensity toward disloyalty as he did, the advisor approached the king’s most trusted soldier, General Sinclair. He helped keep peace in the kingdom, patrolling Vegasia and stopping to have a stern chat with anyone who disrespected the king. He had power and influence in the kingdom and within the king’s men, so the advisor tried to turn him on the king. The advisor knew General Sinclair had a fondness for Princess Laurelia, so the advisor promised her to him if he would turn on the king and help overthrow him.”
“Oh, jeeze,” Sin mutters, turning and attempting to walk away, but Laurel grins and latches onto his arm, tugging him right back and leaning into his side.
“Stay put, general, I wanna hear the rest of the story,” she murmurs.
“I already know how it ends,” he mutters.
I ignore him and continue, a touch louder. “But General Sinclair was too smart to fall for any such tricks. He had always seen through the evil enchantress, and he saw through the advisor, too. He pretended to go along with their wayward plan, but really he was protecting the king. General Sinclair left the castle and found the evil enchantress in her lair. He battled her most valiantly, and he won! He vanquished the evil enchantress, and upon her death, her spell was broken. The king’s heart was no longer hers—he was free!”
“Yay!” Rosalie claps. “Now he can marry Princess Laurelia.”
“Well… no. I’m getting to that. So, General Sinclair goes back to the kingdom, expecting the enchantment to be broken and everyone to be back to normal. But the king’s advisor, as it turned out, hadn’t been under an enchantment at all. He had been acting of his own volition, so he still planned to betray the handsome king. General Sinclair went to his friend, the king, and told him about the advisor’s plans. So many people had turned on the king that it was going to be a big job to keep him on the throne. General Sinclair was a loyal soldier, but he was no saint. He told the king he would help him cleanse the kingdom of traitors, but in exchange for his help, he wanted to be
promoted to the position of advisor, and… he wanted to marry the intelligent, beautiful, kind-hearted Princess Laurelia.”
“What?” the little boy demands. “That’s crazy! She has a baby with the king.”
“It’s a messy kingdom; I don’t know what to tell you.”
Lily shrugs, like it all checks out to her. “It happens.”
“So, the king agreed to General Sinclair’s terms. His heart had only been free from the enchantment for a few hours, so he didn’t have time to fall in love with Princess Laurelia anyway.”
“Did the princess even want to marry this soldier guy?” Rosalie demands.
“She did. Unfortunately, since the king was under that bad spell, he didn’t give Princess Laurelia the attention she deserved, and left the door open for her to strike up a friendship with General Sinclair. They fell in love with each other, but Princess Laurelia thought they could never be together because she belonged to the king.”
The little boy smacks his palm against his forehead. “What a mess.”
I crack a smile. “Yep. But it all works out in the end, because now General Sinclair and Princess Laurelia are free to be together, and because the evil enchantress was vanquished, the king has his heart back. He can move on now, and if he so chooses, he can get married and have his own queen, one he’ll be able to give his heart to, that way they can make each other happy. The point is, they all lived happily ever after.”
“But the king didn’t get married,” the little boy objects.
“You are very adamant about your nuclear family end game, aren’t you, kiddo?”
He wrinkles his nose up. “Huh?”
“Never mind.”
“The king needs a queen,” the boy insists.
“Well, there is a certain scullery maid who caught his eye, but that’s a story for another time. This one’s over.”
At least the Morelli children embraced my story, and now they clap for me. I stand up and give an exaggerated bow. “Thank you, thank you.”
“Great story,” Sin deadpans as I move out of the spotlight and over by the assembled parents.
“Yeah,” Rafe agrees, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement. “I especially liked how I was the beautiful dumbass in distress, and Sin got to be the hero,” he tells me.
Laurel shrugs. “That checks out. Sometimes you’re a dumbass, and Sin just can’t help being the best part of any story he falls into.”
“You might be a little biased,” Rafe tells her.
“I’m so biased,” she agrees, leaning back and stealing a kiss from Sin. “So, so biased. But I’m also right. I took a poll.”