Magdalena leaned close and said, “No, Marco, you can't. It would be against the law.”
“Is this true?” Marco asked, turning to the king. “Is this a real law or something that she created?”
“It is a true law.” Carlo stood up from his seat as he spoke. “It's not a scenario that happens very often, so I'm a bit unclear on the details. There may be caveats.”
“Oh, I guarantee you there aren't,” Magdalena said. “Trust me. I've checked into it already. As soon as I got word that our young Prince was fluttering about with a commoner, I checked with the lawmen. You don't have to believe me. You can believe them.”
Marco swallowed and stared at his father. His heart sank.
What if Magdalena is right? What if the law really does say that a noble can't marry a commoner? What would I do then? he thought.
“I need to look into this before I can say what should be done,” Carlo said, taking a few steps toward the door.
“Why bother?” Magdalena said. “You'll find out what I already told you.”
“I'll see it for myself then,” King Carlo said shortly. “In the meantime, Marco, look for Sabrina.”
Carlo stepped out of the room. The door shut, leaving the queen and the prince to themselves. They stared at each other from across the table, like dogs about to fight. The tension in the air was obvious. It was silent for a few seconds, until Marco finally just stood up. He had better things to do then waste time getting in another argument with Magdalena. He needed to go find his fiancée and comfort her.
Chapter 20
Sabrina
Sabrina woke to the sound of rain outside her window. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up on the love seat. A pile of wrinkled tissues was next to her, which she had been using to dry the tears from her cheeks for the past two full days. She looked across the motel room, noticing a drip of water coming down from the ceiling and landing with a soft thud into the carpet. To have gone from spending time in a beautiful palace to this rundown motel at the edge of the island was quite a change for her, but it was the only place she could afford.
She'd managed to get away from Orsino Palace two days before. And after walking for over an hour along the highway and then hitchhiking several times, she found this motel. It was a total dump, but she knew that it would have to do. After what had happened at the ball, Sabrina wasn't ready to face any of the royalty again. In fact, she was still toying with the idea of leaving the island altogether and pretending like this part of her life had never even happened.
Maybe I just go back to Memphis and find a regular old job, she thought, stretching her arms above her head. Maybe this really wasn't meant to be.
“What do I do now?” she asked herself, as she walked to the sink to get a cup of water. “I hardly have enough money to stay here for a few more nights. There's no way I could afford the trip to get back home.”
Her parents didn't have any money, so it wasn't like she could have them buy her a plane ticket. Her Aunt Faye was in a similar boat, and even if Faye could afford it, Sabrina would never ask her to do something like that. So she was stuck. Out of money and out of options.
The only thing that had kept her sane in the motel room for two days was talking to Faye on the phone occasionally. But even that only did so much. Because it was during the nighttime, when Sabrina was left with only her thoughts, that she became extremely depressed about the situation.
She plopped back down on the couch and as soon as she did, someone knocked on the door of her room. She froze and held her breath, listening to the sound of her heartbeat. The knock came again, this time a little louder.
It must be Marco, she thought. Did he finally try to find me? Took him long enough.
She got up and walked toward the door, both excited and nervous to see him again. After a long sigh, she turned the handle and opened it up. When she saw who was standing in the doorway, she nearly fell over from shock. Her head cocked to the side and her eyebrow raised.
“Faye?” she said, looking the older woman up and down.
“Oh, Bean,” Faye said, stepping into the motel.
Aunt Faye was soaking wet from the rain. Her hair was a matted mess on top of her shoulders. She was dressed in just a simple t-shirt and jeans, and didn't even have a jacket on.
“Faye, I was just thinking about you. What are you doing here? How did you find me?” Sabrina asked, her eyes wide.
Faye pulled her close for a hug. “I have my ways. Besides, I've never heard you sound more upset than you did last couple of days. I knew that I had to see you, so I spent my money on a plane ticket and got here as fast as I could.”
Tears fell down Sabrina's cheeks as she held her Aunt. She was completely shocked to see her, but so grateful for her presence. Her broken heart began to feel a tiny bit better just having someone familiar there with her, especially after being by herself for two days.
“Aunty, I can't tell you how happy I am that you're here right now,” she said, between sobs. “You shouldn't have spent the money, though. That ticket must have cost a fortune.”
Faye pulled away and looked at Sabrina directly, her light purple eyes glowing. “It's just money, Sabrina. Some things are far more important. And your happiness is priceless to me. I'd spend every dime I have on it.”
“I still can't believe you're here,” Sabrina replied, looking her over. “You're soaking wet. Let me get you a towel.”