steadfast allies. My father himself was president at the time I met the young prince in this town, when his family would come for holiday. I had a crush, and since I almost always get my way, we had a romance,” she said with a grin. “In the end, I think he was more in love with Ademar than with me. We decided we were better friends.” Her lovely brown eyes darkened. “I was there for the joys his life would bring him. I was there for the sorrows.” She took Auggie’s hand in his. “There are simply some friends so strong and true they eventually become kin.”
Auggie brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
“When Roan…,” she hesitated only for a moment, but it seemed to last forever. “Before Roan died, he sent me a copy of his final wishes of what he hoped could be done here in Ademar. I was a new leader then and our friendship saw me through those early days and nights when I was creating miracles just because I had never been told they couldn’t be done,” she laughed. “It’s amazing what you can do when there’s no one there to tell you that you can’t.” I had to smile. She was wise, Auntie Edwinna. “In all his letters, he spoke of Auggie, particularly when Sofie was just getting sick. The prognosis wasn’t good, and he knew Auggie would likely return home to Aldayne, to the life of a prince. The life his mother never wanted for him.”
I squeezed Auggie’s hand. He looked so sad at the memory. He probably recalled every single one of those moments when his mother’s illness worsened and the only choices he had left were the ones others had foisted upon him.
I knew a little something about that.
Our eyes met and held before he gave me an absent smile.
“I made my dear friend a promise, that for as long as there was breath in my body, Ademar would be his sanctuary. That, my dear, is what makes us family.” She patted my hand. “And if you love him as much as I suspect you do, then that makes you family, too.”
I was overwhelmed by her welcome. While she may not have been blood kin, she was the first member of his family I had met aside from the Tremwells. I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you, Auntie Edwinna,” I said.
She caressed the side of my face and then proceed to educate me on her lovely island, giving me the history as we drove through the town square of Lucia del Sol.
“In 1620, explorer Ferdinand de Marco was given money by King Iver of Aldayne to explore new lands and the urging of his wife, Sorcha. It wasn’t that Sorcha herself wanted to go anywhere, you understand. She was being driven mad by her sister Abyleen, who decided she didn’t want to be stuck behind the walls of some castle. Legend had it she came from Viking stock. Her true calling was the sea. Her first voyage she masqueraded as a man and fooled the crew, which was surprising. Historians note she was quite lovely. But she had that spark of wanderlust and was one hell of a gambler. She joined Ferdinand to sail to the world’s end. They landed here, widely believed to be the first humans to do so.”
I looked around the quaint little town, so perfect and sweet. Bright flowers. Towering palms. Picturesque buildings that showed community pride and cohesiveness.
Auntie Edwinna continued. “‘It was like setting foot in paradise,’ she had written, noting it was the first place she never wanted to leave. After that, more and more Aldayneans moved here. Not to own it, you see. Just to enjoy it. Old Abyleen finally planted roots, but she still resisted many chains. Soon, more people discovered our little paradise. Along with the Aldayneans came some Spanish, including many slavers who tried to settle the island, claiming it for Spain. Abyleen and her clan had been content to let everyone share in the island, but they would not abide slavery any more than they would abide being ruled. The slavers insisted, battles broke out and finally King Iver intervened. He claimed the island for Aldayne. Their flag flew over us for centuries that followed.”
“Until 1895,” I offered, “When King Riordan gifted the island back to the people of Ademar.”
Edwinna’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You know your history.”