The prince could barely wait for the princess and Kaylie to walk away before he started in. “Mother, what in the world are you doing, bringing Kaylie back here?!” he demanded. “After what she did to us…”
Seeing Kaylie again had been a shock to his core and his heart. He’d been up all night thinking about her and trying to convince himself he’d done the right thing by sending her away. He’d thought it was the only thing he could do to protect his family. When he’d seen her feature story come up online, and it was a wonderful tribute to Tolvania’s Christmas traditions, he’d been temporarily relieved, but was still waiting for the other ball to drop, or for her to report the truth about the stolen Christmas Crown.
The queen crossed her arms. “And what exactly did Kaylie do to us that is so terrible? She made a mistake about the video. She didn’t mean to send it. She apologized. She kept our secret. She came here to help write a fairy tale for Anna, to give Anna a special Christmas. We should be thanking her for writing that fantastic story honoring our Tolvania Christmas traditions. Do you know the story has gone viral?”
“Oh, I know,” the prince said, upset, raking his fingers through his hair.
“But do you know that I’ve been flooded with emails all morning from people around the world, everyone from dignitaries and politicians, to other royal families, celebrities, and just regular people who were so inspired and touched by the story that they felt compelled to reach out? I’ve also been hearing from the press,” the queen said.
The prince’s eyes flashed with anger. “And that’s exactly what we don’t want!”
When the queen started walking down the hall, the prince followed her. “Where are you going?”
“To the drawing room, so we can talk,” the queen said. “I have a lot to say.”
The prince instantly knew by his mother’s tone that he’d be wasting his time if he tried to fight her, so he followed her in silence. By the time they got to the drawing room, he had a long list of things he wanted to say as well, starting with how Kaylie needed to go, immediately.
But when they walked into the drawing room, the queen walked over to the Christmas tree and started looking at the cut-out snowflakes. “Anna did these snowflakes with Kaylie. It’s one of Kaylie’s family’s Christmas traditions to write a word on each snowflake that represents something important about Christmas. Here are some that Anna wrote.” The queen started reading the snowflakes. “Anna wrote family, angels, pets…” She chuckled, then continued. “And she wrote traditions.” The queen looked at a few more snowflakes. “And here are some that Kaylie wrote, she also wrote family, joy, hope, and…love.”
“I’m not sure I’m getting your point,” the prince said. “What does this have to do with Kaylie being here?”
The queen walked over to her desk and picked up a piece of paper and scissors and expertly cut out her own snowflake and wrote her own word on it. “Forgiveness,” the queen said. “That’s my word that I think is important at Christmas.”
The prince shook his head, dumbfounded. “You want me to forgive Kaylie?”
“Yes,” the queen said. “But it’s also time you, me, all of us, forgive what’s happened in the past with the paparazzi.”
“You want me to forgive the press, after what they’ve said, what they’ve done to us?” the prince asked, shocked.
The queen took his hand. “Please, hear me out. We have been so isolated for so long by running from the press and not traveling, for fear of the negative media coverage we would get. We’ve even banned the press here in Tolvania to try and control it, but that also means we’ve cut ourselves off from the rest of the world, and that’s not good for us or for Anna as she grows up.”
“We’ve done this to protect Anna,” the prince shot back quickly. “I’ve done this to protect you and Tolvania.”
“And I appreciate all you’ve done and sacrificed,” the queen said. “But we can’t live in this bubble forever. It’s not realistic or healthy for any of us. That video that Kaylie accidentally sent didn’t hurt us. It helped show us as a family who loves each other and loves to celebrate Christmas together. It’s time we stopped hiding from the world and reenter it on our own terms, and that includes talking to select members of the press that we trust, when it’s in our best interest to do so, for our family and for the people of Tolvania.”
“But how will we ever know who we can really trust?” the prince asked. “I don’t want to make a mistake and put this family at risk.”
“And you think Kaylie was a mistake?” the queen asked. “As someone in the press, or as someone you’ve started to care about?”
The prince’s eyes flew to his mother’s. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have feelings for Kaylie.” As he walked over to the window and looked out at the lake, he knew he wasn’t fooling his mother or himself. The fact that he was starting to care for Kaylie was why he had gotten so upset thinking she’d betrayed him and the family. He sighed. “I don’t know how this happened. She’s going back to New York. She’s a reporter. She’s everything I’ve tried to avoid…”
“Including love,” the queen said, stopping to get another snowflake from the tree before joining him. “Sophia wanted you and Anna to be happy, and to find love again. There’s always a risk when you fall in love. There will never be any guarantees, but wouldn’t you rather try with Kaylie, be honest with yourself, and tell her how you feel, and whatever happens, happens, instead of always wondering what if?” She handed the prince the snowflake.
He read it. “Believe.” He looked at his mother. “That’s what you’re asking me to do?”
“To believe and have faith that anything is possible at Christmas? Yes, that is what I’m asking. You can call it my Christmas gift.” The queen gave him a hopeful look.
“I already got you the bracelet,” the prince said, but then kissed his mother’s cheek. “Thank you for always caring so much. I love you, you know.”
“I know.” The queen smiled back at him and gave him a heartfelt hug. “I love you more. Merry Christmas.”
After she had taken a quick walk with the princess and Blixen, Kaylie found herself back in the princess’s art room after the princess said she had something to show her. As soon as they’d walked into the room, Kaylie had instantly noticed that there were even more paintings showing different Christmas scenes around Tolvania that had been put up for display. She had been captivated by the wonderful paintings of the village, the church, the Christmas trees by the lake, the Christmas carolers, the upside-down Christmas tree, and lots of paintings of Blixen in his Christmas bowties and sweaters.
“This is amazing,” Kaylie said, taking it all in, impressed. That’s when she noticed even more paintings on another wall that brilliantly showed the Christmas tea, the Christmas Crown event, and even the Christmas ball.
The princess followed her gaze. “My mother painted those. They’re my favorite.”
Kaylie walked closer to admire them. “They’re so beautiful.”
The princess smiled and nodded. “My grandmother always says my mother really captured the heart of Christmas. I’m trying to do that, too, in my paintings.”
“And you’re doing an amazing job,” Kaylie said, pointing at another painting of Blixen where he was sitting by the fireplace. “I see so much love here.”
“And here’s a new one I just finished,” the princess said, picking up a painting that was on the table. She gave it to Kaylie. “I made it for you. Merry Christmas.”
“For me?” Kaylie asked, touched, and then her breath was taken away when she saw the painting was of three people making snow angels by a big Christmas tree.
“That’s us,” the princess said proudly. “That’s my father, you, and me, and the angel on the top of the tree is for my mother, because she’s always with us, too.”
Kaylie didn’t realize she had tears in her eyes until one rolled down her cheek.
“Are you sad?” the princess asked, concerned.
Kaylie gave her a big hug. “No, I’m just so happy. This is beautiful. I love it so much. Thank you.”
The princess looked delighted. “You’re welcome, and look, I added Blixen even though he wasn’t there, so he wouldn’t feel left out.”
When the prince walked in, Kaylie instantly tensed, fearing the worst.
He smiled at the princess. “Chef Jake says the gingerbread pancakes are ready.”
The princess, excited, grabbed Kaylie’s hand. “We have to go! The pancakes are ready!”
The queen appeared and held out her hand to the princess. “Anna, why don’t you come with me? Kaylie and your father have to talk about a surprise for you.”
The princess’s eyes lit up as she looked from Kaylie to her father. “A surprise? For me? This is the best Christmas ever!”
The queen laughed as she led the princess out of the room, leaving Kaylie and the prince alone.
Kaylie, nervous, held up her pictures and showed the prince. “You have a very talented and thoughtful daughter. She just gave me this for Christmas.”
The prince appeared surprised. “She usually only paints pictures for the family.”
Kaylie’s heart was racing. The suspense of what the prince was going to say or do was killing her. “Your mother made me come back here,” Kaylie blurted out. “I didn’t want to come, but you know how impossible she is to say no to.”
The prince nodded. “That’s true.”
They stared at each other in silence for a moment before both saying the same thing at the same time. “I’m sorry.”
“Please,” the prince said. “After you.”
Kaylie shook her head. “Oh, no, if you were about to apologize, then by all means you go first.”
Kaylie watched the prince walk over to the wall of paintings that had been done by the princess’s mother. “Anna takes after her mother. Not just in her talent for painting, but in how she loves with all her heart, and how she enjoys socializing and being around other people. The last few years, I’ve kept her very sheltered. We went away for Christmas, just the two of us. I thought it was for her own good, to protect her, but now I’m realizing I was wrong, she needs to be around other people, and to travel, and to experience life to the fullest.”
“I don’t think you were wrong,” Kaylie said. “You did what you thought was best at the time because you care and love her so much.”
“That’s very kind of you to say,” the prince said. “But I’ve learned sometimes love can blind us, making it impossible for us to see things that are right in front of us. The things that really matter the most.”
When the prince took a step closer to her, her heart started to race. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions and for not believing you about sending the video on accident,” the prince said with a sigh. “I’ve had a very combative history with the press, but that still didn’t give me the right to attack you like I did. It wasn’t fair and I’m truly sorry.”
Kaylie could see in his eyes that he was sincere, and she was so relieved. She gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you. That means more than you know, and I owe you an apology for telling you how you should deal with the Christmas Crown story. I had no right passing judgment about something I know so little about, something your family has been dealing with for years. I was self-righteous and I went right into investigative reporter mode and that was wrong.”
“But you weren’t wrong about how it’s time we share with the people of Tolvania the truth about what happened to the Christmas Crown,” the prince said. “For generations, we’ve felt like it was our story and our secret, but like your feature story showed so eloquently, the Christmas Crown and its legacy belongs to everyone, so everyone has a right to know the truth.”
“I agree,” Kaylie said.
“I’m glad,” the prince said. “Because I’d like to ask if we can…start over?”
“I would like that,” Kaylie said. “So, a new truce?”
The prince thought about it for a second. “No, a truce means an agreement between enemies to stop fighting for a period of time. You’re not an enemy and going forward, I want to concentrate on things that are going to last.”
Kaylie’s pulse quickened as hope filled her heart. “Me, too,” she said with a radiant smile as she held out her hand. “To new beginnings.”
The prince took her hand and, never taking his eyes off his face, kissed it. “To new beginnings.”
When he finally let go of her hand, Kaylie still felt warm and tingly from his touch. “Since we’re talking about new beginnings, I have a question,” Kaylie said. “After you tell people about the Christmas Crown and when you’re ready, will you let me help you find out what happened to it? Figuring out mysteries like this is what I’m good at. I really think you need to find the crown and bring it back to your family and the people of Tolvania, and I’d really like to help you do that, if you’ll let me?”
The prince looked into her eyes. “Yes, I think that would be wonderful but right now there’s one thing we need to take care of right away,” the prince said. “We have Christmas pancakes waiting for us.”
“It’s a family tradition,” they both said at the same time and laughed.