Barbarian

Chapter XVII

I cringe and try to hide my hand behind my back. But it’s too late.

At the sight of my ring, Dalla starts squealing an incorrigible sound of what I am assuming to be a mixture of happiness, excitement, shock, and pride. 

“Why did you not tell me?” she shrieks, dropping the roll of cloth she was holding. Grabbing my hand, she pulls it closer to her face. “Oh, its beautiful.” 

“What is beautiful?” Brogan’s voice wafts into my ear. I wince and spin around to see him striding into the hut, his arms filled with spools of thread. What impeccable timing. 

I hold out my hand to him and he looks at it, almost unimpressed.

“Garrick,” he states and my eyes widen. 

“What? How did you know?”

He snorts and lays the spools on the large table that has been set up in the middle of the room. “Who else would it be?”

I shrug. He has a point. 

It’s been less than a day since Brogan chose Dalla and since Garrick and I became betrothed. I have successfully kept it a secret, with Dalla and Ailis both too busy with the upcoming wedding, until now. With the shock of everything now deflating a bit, they, at least Dalla, have taken time to notice things they wouldn’t normally. Just this morning, Dalla noticed that I’ve been pulling my hair back with a ribbon for the past few days, something she’s failed to notice. Strangely, she’s also “noticed” things that have been going on for years. Such as me mostly wearing my new favorite leine, the dark green one which I’ve been donning ever since we got here. 

“When did this happen?” Dalla asks, her eyes still fixated on my small silver ring. 

“Well, it kind of happened over a period of time. Garrick proposed to me the afternoon before Brogan chose you, and I accepted only hours afterwards.” 

“I’m so happy for you, Maeve.” Dalla lays a gentle hand on my cheek. “I honestly can’t believe that my baby sister is getting married. Do you know when?”

“We were actually hoping to wait until after your’s and Brogan’s wedding to even tell you so that we didn’t take away any of the attention, but now that you’ve found out, I don’t know what we’ll do.” 

“Before you do anything,” Brogan says, “You’ll have to speak to my father. He has to give his permission and his blessing before the marriage can become valid.”

I nod, “When do you think he could meet us?”

“I just came from the meeting house. He doesn’t seem particularly busy. I’m sure you could do it right now if the timing is all right with Garrick.”

“I think I’ll do that. Might as well get it out of the way. No point in waiting.” 

Dalla wraps her arms around me just as I’m about to turn to leave. “I am so happy for you, Maeve,” she whispers into my ear.