The Royal Romance - The Valtoria Diaries

Hope for love

It had been an emotional and exhausting evening for Cordonia's newly appointed Champion of the Realm. She realised how late it was getting, and decided it was time to check in with her favourite newly appointed Guardian of the Realm. After all, she hadn't seen him for over an hour; this was far too long for her liking and had to be rectified immediately. And he'd been talking about making an announcement, too - well he was running out of time if he wanted to announce anything before their limo would need to collect them to go to the airport.

She soon found him; at the bottom of the grand stairwell, with Bertrand, Savannah and Bartie, who was amazingly awake for the time of the evening.

Savannah was laughing. "See, Bartie, Uncle Maxwell's got Daddy's nose!"

"Maxwell, remove your hand from my face this instant..."

Maxwell obliged. "And... where'd his nose go?"

Bertrand frowned as he spoke to his son. "Do not allow yourself to be fooled by such tricks of the eye. My nose is right here."

"And.. it's back! Jen!" He put his arms around her waist and kissed her gently on the cheek, giving her a happy glow inside. "You arrived in time to see me remove and reattach Bertrand's nose. Honestly, I think I missed my calling as a surgeon."

"Trust me, you didn't," she said, looking at him suspiciously.

Bertrand leant over and straightened Bartie's clothes. While he did this, Bartie squeezed Bertrand's cheeks. Through his son's grubby hands, Bertrand smiled. Jen couldn't help but smile too.

"How go the wedding plans for the happy couple?" she asked.

"We can't replicate the splendour of your wedding," Savannah sighed. "But we're thinking of something courtly."

"We'll use the entire royal stable if we have to," Bertrand said.

"I don't think we'll need that many horses," Savannah pointed out. "We can start with four?"

"Jen, I want to thank you," Bertrand said. "This wouldn't have happened without you."

Savannah beamed. "Because of your help, I received the fairy-tale proposal I've always wanted... romantic singing, horse rides, and an adorably awkward Bertrand."

"I thought I was rather dignified, given the circumstances..."

"In your own special way, dear," she said to him, the expression on her face betraying exactly how happy she was.

"Think nothing of it," Jen said.

"On the contrary," Bertrand said, his arm around Savannah. "We'll think everything of it for the rest of our lives."

"You two deserve each other," Jen said.

"As long as she'll continue to have me."

"You goof," Savannah said. "We're getting married. That means, I'll always continue to have you."

Jen glared at Bertrand. "Bertrand, don't mess this up, or I will find you..."

"I... er... understood. If I ever need help expressing my true intentions, I'll consult you."

"She's the best at this sort of thing," Maxwell said, with a twinkle in his eye. "Trust me."

Jen smiled, leaning against him. "And Savannah, just call us if he ever Bertrands too hard. We'll sort it."

"Gladly," Savannah said.

"Savannah, even if House Beaumont's fortunes aren't what they once were, I promise to give you and Bartie nothing but the best," Bertrand assured her.