“You really believe that, don't you?” The queen's delicate features filled with pity. “Marco always did have a way with the ladies.”
Sabrina had no idea what to say. Her mouth hung open and she knew that later tonight, she'd have a million smart remarks to say back, but unfortunately the only thing she managed to get out was a childish, “You're lying!”
“I wish that I were, child,” Queen Magdalena replied. “But he can't marry you. He legally cannot marry you. I'm surprised he hasn't mentioned it, to be honest.”
“Marco wouldn't lie to me,” she hissed. One of the guests turned and gave Sabrina a dirty look, but the queen just waved him on.
“He lied to you about being a prince, didn't he?” Magdalena shrugged. “Is it so hard to believe that he would lie about this as well? Or, is it possible that he simply found a gullible American to come play the part of loving daughter-in-law-to-be in order to give his father something to fight for? All the man wants is to see his boy happily married.”
“No,” Sabrina replied, shaking her head. “He wouldn't do that.”
“If you say so my dear,” Magdalena replied with a sad shake of her head. “But perhaps you should ask him about the Law of Princely Marriage. It's a law that's been a part of our country for countless generations. He would have learned of it as a boy.”
“You must be mistaken,” Sabrina told her. She glanced around, wishing that Marco or Carlo would return so she could get away from Magdalena's insinuations that Marco didn't love her.
“The law states that a prince or princess or Orsino must marry someone of noble blood,” the queen informed her. “As you come from, well...” Queen Magdalena seemed to be searching for the right words, something that would offend without being vulgar. “Well, not anything noble anyway, you are ineligible to marry him. He knows this. He has to know the laws as a prince.”
“He wouldn't lie to me,” Sabrina repeated. But the doubt didn't disappear from her mind as easily as she said the words. Marco had lied to her about being a prince. A lie of omission, anyway.
Magdalena put a hand on Sabrina's shoulder. Her fingers were cold against Sabrina's bare skin. “Either, Prince Marco doesn't know the laws of the land- the laws that he had to recite daily as a child, or...” Queen Magdalena shrugged and let the rest of her sentence hang in the air.
“No,” Sabrina repeated, taking a step back. “He wouldn't do that to me.”
The queen laughed. It was cold and cruel. “Why? Because he loves you? Love is just a word people use to get what they want. My mother claimed to love my father, but she abandoned him with an infant child. He gave her everything, but just like Marco, she left him with nothing.”
Sabrina's cheeks stung as if she had been slapped. “That's not true,” she whispered.
“If you say so, my dear.” The queen shrugged. “But perhaps you should consult the law before you throw your life away for him. The library is just over there and the book's open to the page.”
With that, the queen turned on a heel and spun smiling to mingle with the crowd. Sabrina stared after her, shocked and shaken to her core.
Marco and Winston had been right. The woman was evil. She would stop at nothing to destroy any happiness that she saw around her. This was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of Sabrina's life, and now she was ready to cry.
“It can't be true,” she whispered, more to herself than to anyone else. Yet, Queen Magdalena's words seeped into her soul like poison.
Sabrina looked around again for her husband-to-be. She found him animatedly discussing something with a very attractive woman in a low cut dress. The woman touched his arm, gazing up at him in adoration.
Sabrina could see the door to the library from where she stood. If the law book was open like Magdalena had said, then she could read the law for herself. It probably was something from the days of knights and armor that no longer applied. She had her phone on her. She could check the law, and then check her phone and see if it was as Magdalena said.
She glanced over to see Marco laugh at something the other woman said. With quick steps before she could change her mind, Sabrina hurried to the library.
The room was quiet as the party went on in the adjacent rooms. Books of all shapes and sizes lined every square inch of wall space, but sitting on a reading stand in the center of the room between beautiful leather furniture was a large open book.
She approached it with hesitation. For a moment, she considered simply leaving the room without reading anything. If she didn't know, then it wouldn't be true.
Except she was already at the book.
“The Law of Princely Marriage: The royal heir, be it male or female must wed of noble blood. No other suitors may be entertained.”
“No,” she gasped, but the words stayed the same. Frantic, she pulled her phone out of her clutch and googled the law. It was a real law. There were no repeals. All Orsino marriages were of noble heritage. The latest one listed was between King Carlo and Lady Magdalena Dunhill.
She had been telling the truth.
“No,” Sabrina whispered, sinking into one of the leather couches. “This can't be right.”
“No,” she said, stronger this time. “There has to be an explanation. He loves me.”
Sabrina stood up and left the library determined to confront Marco.