Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
It’s the most beautiful piece of jewelry I have ever seen.
“What is this?” I ask, my fingers trembling.
“It’s a proposal, lavender girl,” he says. I glance down at him and he stares up at me with so much hope in his gaze that my eyes immediately burn, my chest constricting until it feels like my heart has outgrown it. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
I stare at the ring, at the surreal glow, then back at him. “Are you serious?”
I expect him to crack a joke about how he’s always serious, but his expression remains intense and entirely focused on me. “More serious than I’ve ever been in my life. I love you, Brynla. And I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Whether that means at Stormglen or wherever our adventures take us, I want to be your husband. I want us to be a family.”
I try to swallow the knot in my throat. “Even though I might not be able to have children?” I whisper.
“We don’t need children to make a family,” he says gravely. “You are my family and we are all we need. Now, please, my knee is getting very wet and very cold.”
I let out a laugh, joy rising up through my body like a flock of doves. “Yes. Then yes, I will be your wife. I will marry you.”
He breaks into the most beautiful smile and gets to his feet. He comes over to the side of the horse and reaches for my hand. He holds it and slips the ring over my finger. “Thank the goddesses it fits,” he comments in relief. “I was a little worried there.”
I pull my hand back to admire it. “What is it made of?” I ask, turning it around, watching the blue glow of the sparkling crystal.
“Diamonds, from Esland,” he says to me. I look at him in surprise. “I wanted to give you something that reminded you of where you came from. So it would be a part of you always.”
I shake my head. “Our diamonds don’t glow like this.”
“Ah, well that’s from the cave right there,” he says, nodding past me. “I took the glowferns to Steiner and asked him to make another cube but one that would ensure that it would never lose its glow. He was able to melt them down and amalgamate them in with the diamond. Turns out his latest hit of suen turned him into an alchemist.”
“What can’t he do?” I mutter, still admiring the ring.
“Well, he doesn’t get to marry you, that’s for sure,” Andor says, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Now come here and kiss me.”
He reaches up and grabs me by the waist and hauls me off the horse. I giggle and kick at him, and though I know I’m heavier to him now than I once was, he still does it with ease.
Until I lean on him and we both collapse back into the snow.
“Will you yield?” I say to him, grinding my body on top of him.
“You’re the one who just yielded to me,” he says, and with a grunt, he flips me back so I’m pressed into the snow. “My fiancée.”
Then he kisses me.
Deep, sweet, and full of joy.
A kiss full of hope.
The first kiss of the next chapter of our lives.
Epilogue
Vidar
A year later
“Your future bride is here,” my father says as he stands next to me, speaking out of the side of his mouth.
Dread floods my veins. Pure, cold dread.
I crack my knuckles, which prompts a tsk from my father. “Terrible habit, Vidar. Best you get it out of your system before the marriage. House Haugen is a family of manners. Better yet, get everything out of your system while you can.”
“Fuck every hole in sight over the next six moons is what you’re saying,” I say bitterly, taking a sip of my drink. It’s not strong enough. It’s Andor’s wedding; he can drink anyone under the table, and yet his drinks aren’t fucking strong enough.
“Language, boy,” my father chides, though there is amusement in his tone.
I’m staring into the distance, at Brynla in her lavender wedding gown that matches her hair, which is piled on top of her head in loops of various braid, as is customary in Norland. She’s pressing her bouquet of wildflowers and ferns into the hair of any guests who want to be blessed with luck, though the line is mostly of women hoping to marry well.
Andor is off to the side with his friends Kirney and Toombs, having a laugh about something while they pass around a bottle of wine. Every now and then he looks over at Brynla and the elated look on his face should make me happy. I should be happy that my brother is so in love, so joyous that he gets to marry Brynla.