by Wren Handman
David sent everyone away when Taya entered, except of course for Ryan, who had been a constant fixture at his side. Everyone said he would be appointed as the king’s bodyguard, which seemed a bittersweet pill to Taya.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me,” Taya said to Elise, while planting a warm kiss on David’s forehead. “For a man literally stabbed in the back, you look good,” she told him.
“What is this about?” Elise asked, with no hostility to her curiosity.
“I have a plan,” she said. “A rather crazy plan, and I hope you will bear with me. And I hope you will forgive me for the confidences I am about to break, but there really isn’t another way.”
David looked wary and Elise just confused, and Taya steeled herself for the reaction he was sure to have. She decided to start with Elise.
“Elise, I met Leanne at her parents’ cottage. She spoke very highly of you, but she also spoke with some bitterness about the fact that you could never truly be married, that your relationship would always be a source of gossip.”
“Yes,” Elise said. “It causes her some grief.”
“And David,” Taya said. She could see that he wanted to stop her, could see the panic on his face, and she put her hand reassuringly on his arm. “Elise won’t tell anyone. He’s in love with Ryan,” she explained to the other woman as David sputtered in indignation.
“What are you doing?” Elise asked.
“I’m matchmaking,” Taya said, cheerfully, and the two of them both looked at her in total surprise.
“You’re what now?” Ryan asked with a laugh.
Everyone seemed surprised that he had spoken, and Taya grinned.
“Think about it. Both of you are in love with people who society says you can’t be with. So if you marry each other, you can continue your relationships in peace and secrecy. Neither of you will object to the other not gracing the marriage bed. You can have everything your families demand, and your happiness beside.”
“You have already given me a crown,” David said with the hint of a smile. “Now you intend to give me a wife?”
“I gave you a crown but perhaps took what you wanted most,” she told him, brushing his hair back from his face. “Now I just hope to give that back, too.” She gave a significant glance at Ryan, and David nodded thoughtfully.
He looked over at Elise, and saw that she too was mulling the suggestion. “Well, my lady?” he asked. “What think you of her madcap plan?”
So the coronation was followed by a wedding. It was a joyful event, but also a poignant one. There had been many friendships forged over the course of the revolution, and this night would be the last that they stayed together. Their paths were diverging, lives returning to normal, and everyone had homes they were eager to return to. Jeremy was officially named as steward to the king, while Ryan earned the title of king’s man. People like Liam were commoners, and though they were given lands and riches, everyone knew they would not be mingling with the likes of David much after this night. Taya spent the evening exchanging stories with Ryan, comparing scars with David, sharing a toast with the old man, Jake. Darren spent some awkward moments with his “family,” who had agreed to pretend he was their long-lost son. David’s younger brother was thrilled by the whole thing—Darren was planning on returning to his life as a sailor, so Matthew would be inheriting House Night, and he kept plying Darren with rum and cheering his name.
Toward the end of the evening Taya finally found time to steal a moment alone with Jeremy. Though the month had been busy they had found time to be alone, to share kisses and, eventually, their bed. But the affair had been tinged with a desperation that spoke of their imminent separation, and now Taya feared it was time for the good-bye she had sensed coming since that first kiss. They stood on a balcony overlooking the gardens, and spoke of small things, unimportant things, anything to avoid what they had really come to say. Finally, Taya spoke up.
“I’ll be going home soon.”
“You could stay a little longer,” he said, looking out over the garden, glancing up at the sky, examining his hands—anything to avoid meeting her eyes.
“I’ve come to be very fond of this place. But I’m only a seamstress. There’s no place for me at court.”
“Then don’t stay at court,” he said, turning to face her. His eyes were intense and there was a hopeful smile playing on his lips.
“And where should I stay?” she teased. “A maidie house, perhaps?”
“I don’t think maidie houses take such wild and wanton women,” he said, his smile blossoming into a full-blown grin.
She loved the way he looked when he smiled, the way it touched his eyes. The warmth and intelligence there drew her in, and she knew that in Jeremy she had found a man who could match her.
“Mmm. Then I suppose there’s no hope for me,” she said with a sigh, turning away from him as if to go.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, kissing her deeply. Her hands went to his shoulders and then his neck. His fingers wrapped into the folds of her shirt, and drew her close so that her body was pressed against his. Her fingers found his hair, pulling gently. They broke apart breathlessly.
“Was there a question in there somewhere?” she asked.
“Stay,” he breathed against her face. “Stay with me.”
“And be a politician’s wife?” she asked.
“Be anything you want. Just stay.”
She gripped his hair tighter, leaned her forehead against his and laughed. “You stupid man,” she said. “As if there was ever any question.”
She kissed him again, and again, and kept kissing him until her knees were weak and her back ached and her lips were numb with it, and still she kissed him one more time.
Acknowledgments
Starting a new journey like this is always scary, and there are so many people to thank for making it scary like a rollercoaster ride, instead of scary like a knife-wielding maniac chasing you through the woods. I want to thank my entire team at Omnific for their professionalism, kindness, and trust; and especially Traci Olsen and Milli Davis, for making the whole process smooth and simple.
Of course a lot of work starts before a publisher lays hands on the manuscript, so I want to thank my friends and family for being supportive sounding boards, excited cheerleaders, and enthusiastic first readers. Special thanks to Misha, for fixing the terribly broken title.
About the Author
Wren Handman is a novelist, fiction writer, and playwright. Her first novel, Last Cut, was published by James Lorimer Publishing Ltd (Sept 2012) and is aimed at teenagers with reading difficulties. She has published short stories both in print and online, including in the anthology Voice From the Planet (Harvard Square Editions) and the online magazine Crow Toes Quarterly, an award-winning Canadian children’s publication. For regular updates check out her short fiction project, Lucid Dreaming (www.wrenhandman.com/lucid-dreaming), which responds to original art pieces with flash fiction stories.
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