The Love That Bonds Us

Chapter 23 : The Perfect Present

AGNARR

I peered into the window of the shop, shielding my eyes from the hot, bright sun with one hand, while the other pressed against the glass.

I sighed. Nothing felt right. I'd been searching for ages and couldn't find a single thing that would be perfect enough to give Iduna for her Birthday.

Over the years I'd given her an assortment of different things, all of which she appeared to love. But this was her sixteenth Birthday and the gift I chose had to be something special.

I'd first considered jewellery - my father always said girls love receiving jewellery and compliments - but that seemed too classic. Iduna was more spontaneous and free than something so traditional as a ring or anything like that. She mocked my ballroom dancing just to dance something more casual, so I'd crossed that item off my mental list.

I'd then considered a little knick-knack, like those that cluttered her bedroom. I'd only been in there once, when Arianna and I joined her and Halima for Christmas that one year, but I'd instantly fallen in love with it.

It was so Iduna and it was great. Shelves had evidently been hastily and clumsily assembled on the walls to hold all the little objects and books that she owned. It was full of vibrant colours and it just had this quirky atmosphere that matched Iduna's personality perfectly.

The only problem with that idea though would be that she already had so many knick-knacks that she didn't really need any more.

So then there had always been the option of books. Iduna loved books, she would quote them all the time and always borrowed them from the Castle library, sometimes failing to bring them back. But that didn't seem right either. A book was generic and she could access them whenever she wished.

I wanted to give her something memorable.

My hand rose to rub the sweat from my forehead. I was sweltering in this heat and I entered the shop to escape it.

A bell rang above my head and immediately a head popped up behind the counter.

"King Agnarr." the little boy said, a wide grin showing off his buck-teeth, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. I'm just passing." I said absently, looking around the shop. It was small and compact, with all sorts of different shoes sitting on wooden racks.

Did Iduna need shoes?

"Shopping for your Mrses?" the boy asked.

I looked around at him, my neck turning so fast that it cricked, "No."

He grinned his toothy grin again, "You hesitated."

"No I didn't. I'm not shopping for my Mrs ... I don't even have a Mrses!"

Another person hastily entered the room then; a woman with golden hair tied in a flimsy hairnet. She picked the boy up while saying to me, "I'm really sorry about that Your Majesty. He's a cheeky one, little Benny." she tapped the little boy's nose and hoisted him a little higher up her hip, "Is there anything I can help you with? My husband runs the shop, but he's gone out to buy some more leather."

"Oh no, thank you." I said to her, shaking my head and smiling, "I was just browsing."

Benny lowered his head to whisper something in his mother's ear, but as he wasn't very good at keeping his voice quiet, I heard exactly what he said: "He was shopping for his Mrses, Mama."

The woman frowned at him, "His Majesty isn't married yet. I don't think he's even thought about it!" then she looked at me, a strange look in her eye, "Are you courting anyone? I don't mean to pry, but little Benny is quite inquisitive. He has his sources ..." she trailed off, but I got the gist of what she was saying.