by Andrea Boyd
“I have something I want to give you. Here we are.” He opened a door and ushered me in before I could even protest. We were in a rather plain looking bedchamber with a small sitting area on one side. I felt instant panic which must have shown on my face.
“It is all right, Brianna. No one saw us come in here, and if they had, they would not say anything. We are betrothed now. There is something that I want you to have, but beyond that, we need to talk, and we will not be disturbed here. I promise I have the best intentions. Do you trust me?”
He had both of my hands in his now and was rubbing small circles with his thumbs on the backs of them. Maybe I should not trust him, but somehow I just did. I nodded in response to his question.
“Whose bedchamber is this? Is your room not attached to your family’s suite?”
“I moved out last year when I turned eighteen. Father and I have never gotten along so Mother thought this would be best.”
“Garrett, I . . . I am sorry. I am sorry for the way I went about asking you to marry me. It should have been done in private. It was wrong. I know I put you on the spot, but if you should want to back out now, I would understand.”
“Do you want me to back out?”
“No.” My response was barely above a whisper. He leaned in closer, his pale green eyes studying my face. My breath quickened.
“I would not have agreed if I had no intentions of following through.”
He pulled me into an embrace and whispered into my ear. “I had hoped you would pick me.”
There was nothing unseemly in his embrace, but my reaction was one I had never had before, and I was far from trying to explain it. My body shook from head to toe, but it was not fear that I felt. I had never been this close to a boy before, and I had certainly never been kissed, but I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me right then. How could a person have such a strong desire for something they have never experienced before? I could not begin to describe my disappointment when he pulled away.
After rummaging through the top drawer of his wardrobe, he presented me with a small antique-looking box tied with an aged and crumpled brown bow. I carefully untied the ribbon and opened the box. There sat the most beautiful betrothal ring. It was a large pearl with a swirl of diamonds surrounding it in a platinum setting.
Garrett carefully lifted the ring from the box. “This ring had belonged to my maternal grandmother. I thought it was appropriate. I am told it was made by a jeweler in Aisling, and the pearl was discovered on your own shores. Look, it is engraved on the inside. It says, You Belong to Me.”
The way he looked into my eyes when he said those words sent a delightful shiver racing through me. “Oh Garrett, it is perfect. I love the fact that it was your grandmother’s. I will treasure it even more.” I held my left hand out so he could slip it onto my finger.
“We may have to get it sized. No, it fits perfectly.” He held on to my hand and studied the ring there. “My grandparents had a wonderful marriage. I hope we will have the same.”
“I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure we do.” I reached up and kissed him on the lips without giving a thought as to what I was doing. Here I had never been kissed, and I was the one making the first move. I pulled away after a quick peck, completely embarrassed. He looked surprised for just a second before he wrapped me in his arms and took full possession of my lips. He held me closer as the kiss deepened. He pulled away suddenly, leaving me with a deep longing that I did not understand. I stumbled a bit when he let go, but he quickly caught me up in his arms once more.
“Are you all right?”
We were both breathing hard. I took a few slow steadying breaths before backing away from him. “Sorry, I guess I got too carried away.”
He gave a low rumbling laugh. It had been a dim-witted thing for me to say, but I was having trouble getting my thoughts together. I wondered if this unsettled feeling was the same for everyone when they experienced their first real kiss.
“There is so much we need to discuss, but I cannot think straight after a kiss like that. I think we should get you back to your chambers now. I am sure Gwen and maybe some of your advisors are looking for you by this time.” His words brought a fresh blush to my face, and I could only nod. For some reason this caused more of that low rumbling laughter from him.
I touched my fingertips to my own sensitive lips. My eyes were drawn back to his mouth, and I wanted to kiss him again. There is no telling what would have happened if I had not restrained myself.
He went to the door and looked both ways to make sure the hall was clear before motioning for me to come out. We held hands all the way to my door. He turned to face me, and I looked up in anticipation.
He pushed a wayward strand of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering to cup the side of my face. “I am not sure what will happen next. It depends on Father’s reaction as to whether I will be sitting next to you come suppertime. Either way, I would like to see you tonight.”
“Call me a coward, but I think I have spent enough time in your father’s presence for today. I think I may just skip supper.”
He tilted my face up toward his. “No one would ever call you a coward. I do not blame you for not wanting to see him again, but I fear my meeting with him is unavoidable. If you do not hear from me tonight then I will see you at breakfast in the morning.” My pulse quickened as he leaned in toward me. He placed a very chaste kiss on my lips before leaving. Was it wrong that I felt more than a little disappointed?
I checked all the way back to Gwen’s room, but the suite was empty when I arrived. I fell back on my bed looking up at the ceiling with a stupid grin on my face. Despite everything that had gone wrong since arriving at Gilvary, my time spent with Garrett had been perfect. I held my hand up in front of my face to admire the ring. I did love it. I also loved the fact that it told everyone that I was taken. My worry over having to marry for the sake of the law was now at an end. I had almost six months to plan a wedding and have the ceremony.
It was only logical that I would think of my mother. I tried to imagine what type of wedding she would have wanted for her daughter, a big church wedding perhaps. It was depressing to think that out of everyone who might attend, there would not be even one family member present on my behalf. Each of my parents had been an only child, and sadly, my grandparents had all died during an influenza epidemic that had swept through Kearnley before I was even born. Well, Eamon, Agata, and Gwen would be there for me. That would be enough.
Gwen came bursting breathlessly into the room, jerking me out of my reverie. “I heard, that is to say . . .”
“You heard that I am engaged and this time to Garrett instead of Dunbar.” The rumor of Dunbar’s proposal had run rampant that morning. I briefly wondered how the rumor mill would spin my proposal to Garrett.
She visibly deflated. “Yes, so it is just more gossip then?”
“No, I am afraid this time it is very true.” I smiled and waved the ring in front of her. She bounced down on the bed beside me and grabbed my hand.
“But how, when did he propose? You did not say anything before you went into the meeting.” Gwen was still out of breath. I could imagine she ran looking for me as soon as she heard, and then I had only added to her excitement with my announcement.
I started laughing. It began as a giggle and ended with me being the one out of breath, tears rolling down my face all at the image of how it had happened. I knew my reaction did not make sense. I suppose the stress of having to choose a husband had affected me more than I realized. “He did not ask me. I asked him, out loud and right in the middle of the Session meeting. Can you believe it? I cannot. I must be dreaming, or crazy, or something.”
“Back up, you proposed to him? Why did you not tell me you were going to propose?” No doubt she was disappointed to think that I had been keeping something from her, but that was not the case.
“Because I did not know until it just popped out of my mouth. You should have bee
n there. We were in the meeting, and Coman started going on about how I should marry his son. It was really getting on my nerves, and the next thing I knew I was agreeing with him. Then I am sure I shocked everyone, myself included, when I proposed to Garrett and now here I am, engaged.”
“He said yes?”
“Well, not right away. Oh Gwen, I felt so sorry for the position I put him in. I honestly believe his father hates him. You could never guess how he spoke of his own son in front of everyone. I do not know why Garrett said yes, but I suspect it was to spite his father.”
She finally leaned back on the bed beside me. “How is it that you picked him and not Reagan? I fully agree with your choice, but I am curious.”
“First, tell me why you think I made the right choice.”
“To be honest, I do not believe Reagan really wanted to be your pick. I am sure he would have gone along if you had asked him, but his heart did not seem to be in it. Please do not be hurt. You have seen how he flirts. If he had really wanted to be with you, you would have been completely swept off your feet.”
“And you think Garrett wanted me to choose him?”
“It is harder to tell with Garrett considering he is slightly on the shy side, but I believe he did show interest in his own way.”
“Why are you just now telling me this?”
“I did give you hints here and there, but this decision needed to be totally yours, and you know it.”
“What you are saying is true, and I guess I have known it would be Garrett for a while now. I was just panicked at the thought of my prospects being narrowed down so quickly. He did say that he had hoped I would choose him when he gave me the ring. Though, I am still unsure of his reasons why. Oh Gwen, I know neither of us may have pure motives for marrying each other, but I do hope it turns into something good.”
“At least it seems that Garrett is unlikely to back out before you are wed if he has already given you that ring.”
“I gave him the chance, and he did not take it. He is expecting Coman to speak with him about our engagement tonight. I do not know what will happen if his father should try to force him out of going through with the wedding, but I have news for King Coman. If he forces Garrett to step down, I will not marry any of his sons, even if it means I have to look outside of this country to find a husband.”
“Let us hope it never comes to that.”
Gwen had spent the afternoon talking a lot about ideas for the wedding, but I had mostly just daydreamed about that kiss. Even though she commented several times about the smile on my face, I never shared the details of that experience with my friend. It was one thrilling moment between me and Garrett that I wanted to keep private, at least for now. How much of today’s events was he sharing with Reagan?
It was past time for supper when she finally left to have a tray brought to my suite. I was still daydreaming in her absence when I heard a bump at the door. Knowing Gwen, she was trying to come in with our supper tray after having prepared it herself. I opened the door and felt the smile slide from my face as an obviously drunk Dunbar stumbled into the room.
Because I was alone, I left the door standing open. Hopefully Gwen would be back soon. The last thing I needed was more rumors about me and Coman’s eldest. “What can I help you with, Dunbar?”
“You lied to me. You had already chosen one of my brothers. You said you had not. That was a lie.” He sounded more defeated than upset. I did not expect it to affect my feelings toward him, but it did. It was awful that he was taking my rejection this badly.
“I can see why you would think that, but I promise I did not lie. I had not made my decision until that very moment in the meeting.”
He beat his palm against his chest. “You should have picked me. We were meant to be together. I had plans. We could have stood together against my father.” There was a heart-breaking desperation in his voice that I did not understand. I knew he did not love me. And he had never seemed passionate about the politics of running a country, at least not to me. Was his desire to unite the kingdoms as dear to him as it was to his father?
“You know that is not what your father had in mind. If I had married you, he would have tried to rule us and my kingdom. That would never have worked. I would have fought against it for the rest of my life.”
“I know that is what he thought, but I could have stood up to him once I was in Aisling. Then it would have been too late for him to stop me.”
He was not making complete sense to me, but then again, he was drunk. “If you cannot stand up to him in Gilvary, you were not going to do so in Aisling.”
He took an uncomfortable step closer. I leaned back, but I tried not to show my fear. He touched my cheek, and I flinched.
“Is that why you refused to marry me, because of my father? He is Garrett’s father too, you know.” He turned and paced away from me. I exhaled in relief but kept my mouth shut. Maybe if I stopped trying to engage him in conversation, he might give up and leave.
“I should have told you. I should have told you what I had planned. Then you would have known how I really feel about my father, and you would have trusted me.”
I was thankful when Eamon slipped in through the open door and stood at my back. If Dunbar had been anyone else besides a prince, he would have been roughly removed from my room. As it was, my advisor would not touch him as long as he did me no harm. I would have to be the one to handle this.
“Dunbar, I am going to have to ask you to please leave my chambers now. It is not appropriate for you to be here.” This had worked before, but this time he seemed to just ignore me.
“You know Father will not allow him to live. Garrett has already had to pay for accepting your proposal. When the wedding date comes, probably months from now, and your deadline to be married is at hand, your groom will have just disappeared. What will you do then?”
A chill went through me at the thought of what he was implying. Just then Gwen came in followed by a servant carrying a tray of food. Dunbar seemed to just notice that we were no longer alone. He pushed past them both, sending the tray flying into the air. I wanted to chase after him to find out the details of what he had just told me. Surely it was the alcohol talking. Coman would not harm his own son, would he?
The servant had already started cleaning up the mess, but Gwen just stared at me in stunned silence. I knew she was anxious for an explanation, but it would have to wait. I needed to talk to Garrett. As if reading my thoughts, Eamon volunteered to go find him.
Twelve
Garrett
I NEVER EXPECTED one of Brianna’s advisors to be on the other side of my door when I opened it. Eamon looked from my face down to my boots and then back up again, but he did not say anything at first. I glanced at the Aislinian warrior standing behind him and then looked back at the advisor expectantly.
He gave a slight bow while his gaze never left my face. I got the feeling it was more of a case of his not trusting me rather than a show of disrespect. “Prince Garrett, Queen Brianna is requesting a meeting in her chambers. If you would, please follow me there now.”
It felt as if my heart had skipped a beat. She must have changed her mind. It was the only reason I could think of for her wanting to see me now. I stepped out, shutting the door behind me. I did not wait around for him to escort me. I knew the way to her chambers. I took the lead, taking long strides to get to her. Somehow I would have to talk her into going through with the wedding. I had come too close and had endured too much to lose her now.
When I knocked, Gwen answered the door, but all I could see was Brianna standing behind her, wringing her hands with a look of near panic on her face. We met in the middle of the room, and she gently placed both hands on the sides of my face. I had not wanted to alarm her, but no one could miss the bruises and cuts that had been added since she saw me last. Her questions started before I could say a word.
“What happened to you? Who would dare beat up a prince? Gwen, get me some ointment and a cool t
owel for his face.”
I placed my hands over hers. “It is okay. I am all right.”
Neither of us spoke while we waited for Gwen to return. Brianna searched my face with concern. No one had ever looked at me this way before that I could remember. She took the wet towel from Gwen and gently dabbed it against my face. I had cleaned myself up earlier, but I had to admit, the coolness of the towel was soothing to my battered skin. It warmed my heart to have someone caring for me. Then she applied the ointment on the cuts which set them on fire, but I would not complain.
“Tell me who did this to you.”
I wanted to ignore the command in her voice and tell her it did not matter, but it seemed important to be honest. I wanted our relationship to be based on truth. “My father did this, or had it done. I suppose he was none too happy that I agreed to marry you. It is nothing to worry about. I will heal in time.”
“I meant to ask you about the bruises you had earlier, but I got distracted. This part could have been avoided. I could have had you guarded. I will think no less of you if you decide to back out now.”
“It was worth it, and I do want to marry you. I would marry you tonight if I could, but it may not be safe for you to wed me. He told me that he would do whatever it takes, but he would never allow this wedding to happen. I will understand, though, if you are the one who wishes to put an end to our engagement.” I held my breath for her response. I had not even wanted to make the suggestion, but how could I not?
Her lips were pursed together in a look of determination. “I intend to marry you, and there is nothing Coman Barnali can do to stop us. I promise if he ever hurts you again, it will be an ending for him. Once you agreed to marry me and you put this ring on my finger, well, just as the inscription states, you belong to me now.”
