Opus

27. Offside

"Repeat after me. I, Caelina, daughter of the huntsman Angus and architect Lady Gabriella, granddaughter of King Archibald the Fifth by her mother Ingrid, granddaughter of herbalist Gabriella−"

"Enough with the family tree. I, Caelina, daughter of my ancestors and child of Gael should be sufficient."

"OK, OK. Repeat after me. I, Caelina, daughter of my ancestors−"

"I already said that."

Kendrick had ignored me. As usual. "−and child of Gael take Kendrick here present as my lawfully wedded husband."

"Lawfully wedded husband my ass. I can't marry you. You're a commoner; the King will never ratify our handfast."

"Fuck the King. He knows you dance to your own tune."

"You mean, he thinks I'm crazy."

"That too."

"Insulting your wife-to-be isn't a good way to propose."

"I'm not proposing. We're getting tied down, and that's that."

"You are such a romantic."

"You're romantic enough for the both of us, Silk."

"Don't call me that, Strike."

We had grinned at each other.

To his credit, Ken had gone out of his way to decorate the donjons with candles and flowers. Since three feet of snow had covered the land at the time, I suspected he had stolen those from the castle's hothouses. To this day I remember how the wax pillars and blossoms, a clash of lavender and orchids, had saturated the air with a somewhat nauseous stink that battled the moss scent of the century-old stones, ditch water, and wet rodent hair.

"Perhaps I should go change. My outfit is hardly appropriate for this grand occasion." Had he forewarned me of his intention, I would have worn a dress. I would have worn it to disappear incognito into the next country. Continent.

"You're stalling."

"Damn right. Why do we have to do this now?"

"You promised."

"I was twelve years old. I grew up."

"That you did."

We had grinned some more. My smile had faded before his, though. As I had seriously considered delaying him with sex, he had taken my hands in his and dropped on one knee.

"I, Kendrick, a commoner, aspiring huntsman, wannabe knight, winner of the Competition, take you, Cael, to be mine."

"Wait! We need a ring. We don't have a gold band; this is bad luck. We'll have to get one and try again." Or not.

"Nice try. I have a ring. Stop stalling."

"You have one? Where did you get it? I thought you'd ruined yourself with that stupid game."

"I have a ring. I have enough credits left for our honeymoon and next year's registration."

"Next year? You want to go at it again? And everyone thinks I'm the wildest. You can't. You just can't."

"Will you shut the fuck up! I'm on my knees here."

I had mimed zipping my lips and smiled. He had indeed been on his knees. Had I been vain, I might have gloated more. When we trained, I could never send him to the mat. That alone might have been worth the price of admission. Then again, not.

He had taken out a ring. A red rock. A ginormous red rock.

"Where did you get that?"

"I got it in the Capital after the Competition. Now, do you, Cael, take me, Kendrick, to be−"

"Where's your ring?"

Ken had cursed, "Fucking shit," let out the longest sigh, closed his eyes, and counted to ten. He had denied it every time I had brought it up, but ten was truly his number. Twenty too, sometimes. Fifty too, on occasions. "I don't need a ring. I'm a man."

"Bullshit. If you want me to wear that ridiculous ring, you need to wear one just as ostentatious."

"Fine. After I win the next competition, I'll get another one exactly the same. How's that?"

"Okeydokey. You may propose for real when you have two identical rings."

"You're such a... Fuck, Caelina!"

"Don't pout. Think of all the wooing you'll get to do until then." I had dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his jaw. "You're very talented at wooing. As a matter of fact, I feel like being wooed right now."

Later that night, as I had gathered my clothing to return to my quarters, my love for Kendrick, for I did love him, had spurred me to suggest, "Why don't you sell the outrageous bling and buy simple silver wedding bands instead?"

"You're a princess. You deserve precious stones. Ruby's your birthstone."

"I'm also a moon child. Are you going to get me that too?"