The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 55

"You look happy," Rath said with surprise, his wide blue eyes leaving his plate long enough to look his brother over as he entered the kitchen. "She must be okay, then."

"Yeah," Char said, grinning as he took a seat and the plate the fairies pushed in front of him. They were zipping around with a lot more fervor this morning than he'd seen yesterday.

Rath studied him suspiciously. "So, how did you get from her crying her heart out to this?" Rath asked, gesturing to Char's expression.

"I proposed."

Rath's fork hit the plate with a clatter, bounced onto the table, and landed on the floor. His jaw nearly reached it.

"You what?"

"And she said yes."

Rath sat back in his chair, utterly flabbergasted. The fairies darted over to set a clean fork next to his plate and retrieve the dirty one off of the floor. Char smirked in amusement at his brother's astonishment.

"Why are you so surprised? You were the one who said I was headed toward marriage."

"Yeah, but-"

Iris walked into the kitchen and didn't even get a chance to say 'Hello' before Rath rounded on her.

"You're marrying this idiot?" he exclaimed, pointing at Char.

"Good morning to you, too," she said cautiously, glancing quickly at Char. He shook his head, still grinning, and stood up to pull a chair out for her.

"But you barely even know him!" Rath continued.

"We've been through a lot together," she said hesitantly as she took her seat, still darting her eyes at Char for reassurance.

"And he's only shown you his good side. He's really awful. Have you even had a fight yet?"

"I...we've disagreed..."

"No, no, no," Rath moaned, putting his face in his hands. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"I think I do," Iris said, but the uncertainty was heavy in her voice.

"Don't listen to him," Char reassured her. "He's just upset that I won't have as much time for him."

"You wish," Rath retorted. "This jerk is going to up and leave you at the most random times, and you won't even know where he went or when he's coming back."

"I am not going to do that," Char insisted.

"When you do get into a fight, he'll shut down and drink until he passes out."

"Okay, I might do that," Char admitted, glancing nervously at Iris.

"And he can't cook. At all. If you get sick or something, you're just going to have to hope he calls Mother to take care of you, because otherwise, you're going to starve."

Iris giggled, and both men turned to look at her in surprise. Her brown eyes were dancing as she looked from one to the other.

"You wanted to kill me when we first met, remember?" she teased Rath.

He frowned and dropped his guilty gaze to his plate.

"And I thought Char was going to kill me in that cave."

"I couldn't let you get away and run into him," Char said sheepishly, also averting his gaze.

"Maybe I haven't seen Char in every situation, but I think I've seen the worst and the best, and I can manage the middle."