"Dad," Irene greeted her father desperately after being summoned to their family ho.
This year, the sumr tour around the duchy would be incomplete.
However, Arthur’s attention wasn’t on Irene; it was on the knight who had followed her into his room.
"Ask ..." Arthur stopped to wheeze. "To marry... my daughter."
"Sir?" Henry uttered, speechless.
Irene’s mouth hung open in disbelief, but her father’s expression seed determined, and his eyes narrowed as if daring them to make him repeat himself.
"Lord Litharion," Henry began. "If you would do the honor of giving your daughter’s hand in marriage, I would be forever grateful and indebted to you."
"I want to see... my daughter wed before I go," Arthur explained, but he wheezed again. "A traditional Sunsto wedding."
He was pacified when Irene nodded, and his eyes drifted closed.
Only a few years before, Irene never saw a life where she would be married to another person. While she sought acceptance in life, she never thought it would be in the form of a significant other. Then she t Henry, and she fundantally started changing.
Even if it was t with much resistance, she learned that she did want to be loved and taken care of tenderly. Since Henry beca that person for her, her heart clung to him in its entirety. She knew that if she couldn’t have him, she didn’t want anyone else.
And now her father made an unbelievable request with half-closed eyes and shallow breaths.
It would be too much for anyone.
Letting her father rest, Irene went to the hallway outside of his room and shut the door. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Henry, who had followed her out. What were they supposed to say after her father had requested such a thing and Henry had agreed and genuinely asked for her hand from her father?
Irene needed to fill the silence with sothing, so she filled it with nervous words.
"A Sunsto wedding... A wedding that only those related by blood can attend," Irene explained, her voice weak. "Since the Sunsto were warriors, you exchange weapons and wear your warrior clothing. My father wore his knight armor without his helt and traditional fur from dire wolves when he married my mother this way. The n often get a small tattoo, but I don’t expect you to do that." Her eyes fell to the floor. She didn’t expect him to do any of this. "They aren’t officially recognized by the church or nation."
Despite her words, Henry had placed his hand on Irene’s back, and he was gently rubbing it as she struggled to get out her explanation.
He was positively speechless, but it felt like he was trying to let her down gently, if anything. She knew all the reasons they couldn’t marry. She knew that she wasn’t the ideal choice for a Duke, even if he loved her.
She gained the courage to look up at him.
"Don’t feel pressure, Henry," she insisted quietly. "I wasn’t expecting this when we arrived."
However, Henry reached for her shoulders instead as she faced him. His expression didn’t seem hesitant; it seed concerned. He looked as loving as ever, and it struck her heart.
"I want to do this," he quickly assured her. "It just ans we’ll have to be wed to one another in Hydrogia soon in the future so that it’s recognized by the King. However, I do have one condition."
Her heart lurched. She tried to be positive. He was giving her too much by agreeing to this so suddenly.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
"After this Sunsto wedding, I’m going to refer to you as my wife," he insisted. "Hydrogian customs be damned. When we return ho, I will begin making preparations for you to be treated as such."
Her heart was divided in two as she was given just what she wanted, yet remained so uncertain. However, the one she relied on was the one standing in front of her.
Even though she was terrified, she still leaned toward him, and he accepted her with open arms.
"This would be too much for anyone," Irene whispered. "I understand if you’re just saying things to pacify my father. That in itself is respectable enough. You’re a duke and can’t consider these things so lightly."
"I’m not just anyone, Irene," he assured her. "As for considering this lightly. I’ve never once considered it lightly. I’ve considered it every ti you’ve been in front of , from the Winter Solstice banquet when I realized my feelings for you weren’t those of a commander and their knight. Each ti you’ve brought out desire in , I have to resist the urge of finding the nearest priest because why should I have to resist the person who so clearly wants , too?"
He held her in his arms a little bit more tightly as his words beca more serious. He had never been so sure of anything, but the path to it was what he was uncertain of. First, it was telling the knights, but he managed to overco that hurdle through the understanding of his brothers. But then it beca how he could ask her father, or how he could gain the King’s approval when he was still so intertwined in his life?
It was not his own doubts that prevented him from marrying Irene, but this complicated title he held, and not wanting to burden her just because of himself.
Yet this opportunity had presented itself to him, and he was going to take it.
"However, even I know that your father’s word only goes so far," he admitted and pulled away so he could look down at Irene. "Wasn’t that what he said when I first asked you to dance with ? He can’t control his daughter. That’s why I want to ask you directly..."
He let go of her, and she felt unstable enough that she stepped backwards and leaned into the wall outside of her parents’ door.
To her surprise, her Commander got onto his knees before her, but it wasn’t the marriage proposal of centuries later.
Instead, he unsheathed his sword and placed it on the ground before him in a show of undying loyalty—perfect for a knight. He grasped her hand and placed his forehead against it.
"Will you do the honor of marrying ?" he wondered quietly. "You have my honor, my protection, and my heart. All that’s left is the permission to tell the world that the only person who can control is not the King, but my wife. Forever. "
User Comments
0 comments from readers