114. The Proposal 2.

[Claire]
I looked at Luke shyly as his father and my parents left us alone in the room.
I couldn't believe my luck, I'd found love and even though I'd hoped to live a simple life, I'd been thrown into a more glamorous life than I'd known my entire life.
My face and Luke's would be plastered on every magazine cover and newspaper once news of our engagement came out which wouldn't be long now, considering the amount of gossiping that was already going on around us.
"I'm sorry, I intended to do something really romantic and surprising." He said and scratched the back of his head nervously.
"No, it's alright." I shook my head.
"I'm sure the palace media will still set up a glamorous proposal so that they can invite the press but I wanted to do something intimate and personal first, I'm sorry my father was so forward." He apologized.
"No, it's alright, I don't need all of that, as long as I'm with you." I looked him in the eye so he could see my sincerity and I smiled at him.
"I know this is a bit new to you, Claire." He stood up and walked over to me. "I can't tell you that this is going to be easy but I promise to always be with you through it all, I'll always be by your side when you need me."
"And that's all I need." I smiled at him and rested my head on his chest. "This is my home now, with you, as long as we're together, I'll be fine." I said and closed my eyes as I inhaled his scent.
"Come with me." He said and I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "I want to take you somewhere." He explained and I nodded.
He held my hand and led me outside. Then he stopped and called his assistant and asked him if everything was set. He must have said yes because we continued walking outside.
When we got outside, the car was already ready and the driver helped us open the door and we walked in.
My heart was beating loudly and I had no idea why, I knew that he was going to propose to me, I mean the signs were very clear and so I didn't understand why I was still so nervous.
The car ride was quiet, Luke held me in his arms as the driver drove the car and I rested my head on his chest, my world had finally calmed down, my bird had finally found rest for her soul.
The car pulled up in front of a large cathedral and I looked at Luke in shock.
We couldn't be getting married right now, could we?
I'd never been a religious person, my father wasn't either so I could count the number of times I'd seen the insides of a church throughout my life on one finger.
But I guess that was about to change because the royal family were avid worshippers and I think they attended Sunday service at the church regularly.
I looked very unsure as Luke opened the door for me and helped me out of the car.
The cathedral looked very old, it was beautiful in a gothic vintage vikings kind of way but it was very quiet and that spooked me a bit.
"I brought you here to meet someone, you've never met before and I'd like to introduce you and my son to the person who means a lot to me." He said as the doors opened and we proceeded to walk into the cathedral.
I felt a twinge of jealous as we walked down the empty aisle, I wondered who this person he said meant so much to him was and a part of me hoped the person was really old.
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[Luke]
My heart was heavy as I led Claire to the royal sarcophagus, I hadn't introduced her to my mother yet and I wanted to, the first time I came to visit her when Claire was still missing, I promised her then that when we found Claire, I would introduce them.
When we found Claire, we discovered that she'd lost her memory and in order not to spook her, I'd waited till she got her memory back and now that she had, it was the perfect time.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Her hands were clammy under mine and I noticed that she was quite tensed.
"Who?" I asked, even though I knew who she was talking about.
"My parents and the King." She replied.
"Oh, standard old folks talk I guess." I shrugged, my father was very polite and humble so I doubted they would have any trouble getting along.
"Okay." She whispered softly.
"Why are you so nervous?" I wanted to ask but then I decided that she would soon find out and so I decided to just leave her be.
She gasped as the door to the sarcophagus was opened and her gasp echoed throughout the quiet cathedral.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Nothing, I'm just shocked is all, I didn't think this was real." She said looking at all the tombs, all the Kings and Queens from the Viking era were buried down here and one day when we both died, we would be buried down here as well.
"Mother." I stopped at her tomb and placed fresh flowers inside the flower vase they'd placed atop her grave. "Just like I promised, I have them with me today, the two most important people in my life. Mother, Claire is here and my child is still in her stomach but I'll bring him here once he is born."
"Mother, I keep telling him that the child is a girl but he insists that he's a boy, I haven't done an ultrasound so I don't know the baby's gender, do you think he's right or I'm right?" Tears welled up in my eyes as Claire walked beside me and started taking to my mother alongside me.
"I'm sure it's a boy mother, I can just feel it but I also don't mind it's a girl, I'd love her more than anything in this world." I continued.
"Mother please forgive me for not getting you something." She said and tapped me on my arm. "He didn't let me know where we were going when he brought me here."
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[Claire]
Luke looked so cute and my heart melted as he spoke to his mother, it was obvious that she had meant the whole world to him and he was still very much hurt by her death.
I was no longer nervous or spooked as I chatted freely with his mother, there was just something about talking out loud without getting any response or talking to someone imaginary that was just strangely calming for me.
The sarcophagus was a bit dark with huge and no doubt heavy curtains covering the large stained glass windows.
I wondered how the room would look if the curtains were raised and the light penetrated through the stained glass, no doubt it would give off beautiful colors.
"We should head back, they'll be wondering where we ran off to by now." Luke said suddenly as we turned to leave.
The door to the sarcophagus was originally left open, we weren't alone, we were with the Priest, the driver and a guard but as soon as we turned to leave, the door to the sarcophagus slammed shut with a loud noise.
I clung to Luke immediately in fear but he looked totally unaffected by the strange phenomenon that had just occurred.
Before I could open my mouth to ask him what was going on, the curtains were suddenly raised and I watched as the light passed through the glass, spreading light and color thought the room.
I noticed that the colorful rays from the glass windows intersected at a point and then suddenly from the ground, a podium rose up and on it sat a tiny blue box.
I looked on in shock and surprise as Luke walked away from me to grab the box then he came back to me and got down on one knee.
"My mother always wanted to see me get married and today I'm going to make that happen." He said and tears started pouring down my eyes.
I hoped his mother could see this and I hoped she knew that she was the luckiest mother ever to have such a wonderful son.
"I love you, Claire, more than anything, you are my life and my world, without you, nothing matters, without you, nothing makes sense. Will you put me out of my misery by becoming a permanent part of my life?" He asked and I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand.
"Luke, oh my goodness!" I exclaimed as tears of joy poured down my face.
"I'm asking you to be my wife, Claire, make my life make sense, complete my life, please, will you marry me?" He asked again and popped open the box to reveal a very beautiful diamond ring.
"Yes."