by Shea Berkley
“Proof.”
Her smile waned. “Proof of what?”
I backed away, the water slipping over my feet, past my ankles and up my calves. “That I can swim.”
In the distance dark clouds began to form. Neither of us paid much attention as Nari took my hand and tugged me back to shore. “Oh no you don’t. You need not prove anything to me. If you say you can swim, I believe you. If you say you wish to be a hoary old billy goat… well, that is very believable, too.”
I ducked my head and butted her until she came up against the fallen tree. She placed her hand on the crown of my head and laughed. “I yield. What would you have of me?”
“A kiss,” I said, though I wanted far more.
She pulled my face close, wrapped her arms around my neck and with a sigh, pressed her lips to mine. An ache of longing speared through me. I tugged her close, fitting her as tightly against my chest as I could and bent her backwards until we dangled over the edge of the tree. A squeal of alarm rose in her throat, but there was no fear in her eyes. For good measure I twisted and we fell, landing softly on the ground with her atop me and not once loosing her lips. I held her face in my hands glorying in the touch of her soft skin. Never would not let her go.
We stayed in the small shelter of trees and brush, protected from the rising wind and the spray of turbulent water. Her lips teased my skin, leaving a trail of heat wherever they touched. I didn’t think my heart could stand such torture, but it seemed quite capable of accepting the punishment and actually wanted more.
Placing my forehead to hers, I drew in a jagged breath.
“Is aught wrong,” she whispered her concern.
“Never. It’s just…”
Our hands were clasped, and I drew them down and flattened her palm to my chest. I lifted my gaze to hers. “Do you see what you do to me?”
Her face softened and as we stared into each other’s eyes, she placed my hand to her chest directly over her heart. It merrily tripped along matching my pulse beat for beat. The tip of her tongue darted over her lips before a shy smile formed. “I know exactly how you feel.”
My love for her had never been greater. As we explored each other, the trust she offered, the love she gave to me, a doomed man, humbled me. I wished fervently that time would stand still. That today would always be and tomorrow would never come. Yet all too soon our moment ended. The stomp of feet and the boom of a male’s voice interrupted us.
“Nari.”
The call broke through the haze of my longing and I pulled away. Nari tried to pull me back, but I refused and peered through the brush. “Someone calls for you.”
Her name ripped against the wind, again and again. She struggled to a sitting position, never looking lovelier with her hair mussed and her lips a burnished pink. I wanted to pull her to me and burrow further into the brush where we could hide from the world that threatened to pull us apart, but I knew my wishes were not to be.
She turned toward me and frowned. “I-I think it’s Tait. He visits nearly every week now.”
“I thought you told him to go away?”
“I did, but you know him. He doesn’t listen well.”
He must have heard us talking, for the next thing we knew, he poked his head between the trees and scowled down at us. “What are you doing?”
The condemnation in his voice was not lost on me. I rose and faced him. “Nothing that concerns you.”
Tait forced himself into our haven and pulled Nari to her feet. She yanked her hands free, and he watched as she straightened her clothes and smoothed her hair. “Your parents are worried sick. You’ve been gone far too long.”
Nari cast him a suspicious look and stepped closer to me. “I highly doubt that.”
Tait stepped closer and a haggard whisper tore from his throat. “Don’t do this, Nari. He’s not worth it. He’ll never be able to care for you like…” He hesitated.
“You?” she sneered. “As if I would have you.”
His face darkened. “People are talking.”
“I care not.”
“Think of your family.”
She entwined her fingers defiantly between mine.
The wind brought the sound of her name again. It was Gordie. Nari glanced up at me in surprise.
“See?” Tait pounced on her concern. “They are worried. A storm is rising and you were nowhere to be found.”
“Go,” I said, and gave her a little nudge.
Reluctantly, she let go, and with a careless hand, she pushed by Tait.
When she was gone, he turned on me, his chest heaving with suppressed rage. “She’s too good for you. She deserves far more than what you could ever offer, so I’m going to say this only once. Let her be. Disappear. It’s your fate, Ryne. Your time on earth is numbered.”
I stepped closer to him. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s the truth.” With one last hate-filled look, he left.
The wind that only a moment before had whipped through the treetops grew still. The waves gentled. Not me. I stood with hands balled into fists at my side trembling with rage. I picked up a few flat stones and whipped them out over the water. One. Two. Three skips until the waves gobbled up the first rock. I glanced in the direction Tait had gone, turning the second stone in my fingers. “She’s too good for you, too.”
With a snap of my wrist the stone zipped across the water. One. Two.
I turned, not bothering to see its final skip as I pushed my way from the shelter of the trees. I would not be scared off. Nari was mine.
A few days later we climbed our tree, and I settled with my back against the trunk and Nari leaning against my chest. Even the simplest contact between us stoked the fires of my desire. Tait’s threats held no sway over me, for there was no doubt in my mind. Nari and I were meant for each other. Even when we were apart, our hearts never wandered far. Ours was a love that had grown despite the stubbornness I’d inherited from my father.
Yet the curse of my birth would not fully disappear. How could it when everyone latched onto ridiculous superstitions and continued to talk of the nix? If I wanted Nari, I would get no help in doing so. I must make a life of my own. Break free from the curse. Show everyone the tale of the nix lived only in their minds.
And now, the time was nigh. I stood on the precipice of my future, where panic fought with logic, and I wasn’t sure which would win.
We sat in our tree, legs dangling freely on either side of the branch. I pulled Nari’s back against me and wrapped my arms around her. As we huddled together, she glanced up at me. “If you look this filthy, I am afraid of what I look like.” She took out an embroidered square and twisted to rub at my cheek.
I admit, I wasn’t really listening. I chose to follow the twists and dips of my mind, and at every bend, I found no peace, for the answers to my dilemma were not easily gained.
Slowly, she stopped what she was doing and lowered the cloth. Cocking her head to the side, she nudged my ribs. “What are you thinking?”
Startled out of my thoughts, I stared out over the treetops, concocting a quick lie. “Well. If you need to know—”
“Truth, Ryne.”
“What?” I slanted a quick look at her.
She pushed out of my arms. “I can always tell when you’re thinking up a lie to protect me.”
She could? “How?”
“Never will I tell. So come clean. Where is your mind?”
In turmoil. In Hades. I slumped forward as defeat rushed through me. “I wish I could bring your father something special, something to show him I would make a good son-in-law.”
Although my father often told me I had more talent than any man he’d ever met–certainly my wife would not starve, but neither would she find abundant wealth—I’d always been taught that a man can never know too much. Success depended upon diversity. I could lay stone, till the soil, and hunt. All good professions in themselves, to be sure, but with my doomed future riding my shoulder, a woman’s father would have to be very sure
he did not give his daughter’s hand away in vain.
“You still think of Tait, don’t you? He’s an idiot. Conceited and without worth.”
“My thoughts are far more disturbing than he.” And they shook me to my core.
She waited patiently for me to continue, but I feared her answer.
A gentle hand came to rest on my thigh. “You can trust me, Ryne.”
My gaze softened when I looked at her. “Very well. Can you tell me, is your father superstitious?”
She sighed and lifted her hand to pick at the tree bark. “No more than anyone else.”
“There are a great many superstitious people living around here.”
“You are thinking of the nix.”
I threw her a quick glance. “I’m surprised you dare speak of it.”
“I would dare much for you. Even a curse.”
I looked away. The nix was a sore subject between us. The new wife had made her views known when it came to my family and their odd connection to our village history. Though Nari professed the whole thing a hurtful fancy that only led to gossip and hate, the new wife thrived on keeping the tale uppermost in people’s minds. Who wanted a poor son-in-law, and one doomed to die?
“How can I not think of the tale?”
“My father is as practical a man as the nix is fantasy. You have nothing to worry about.” She flipped my shirt collar and wrinkled her nose. “Except that he will turn you away for the dirt clinging to your shirt.”
“Why disparage the good Lord’s earth? It proves I am unafraid of hard labor.”
A teasing glint entered her eyes. “Or that you are so afraid of the nix you refuse to take a bath.” With that, she scampered down the tree and stood looking up at me arms akimbo. “Come. Be the man I know you are. Take me as your wife or leave me be. The choice is yours.”
She was so utterly gorgeous standing there in her dirty linens. “You are a cruel woman to offer me so tempting an escape.”
“You will not have me, then?”
I leapt from the tree and landed next to her. Standing tall, I took her hand and kissed it tenderly, gazing over our hands and into her sparkling blue eyes. “You cannot be rid of me so easily.”
“Good.” She tucked the small square into my hand and her mouth quirked up at the edges. “A token of my love. Now off with you. I’ll see you tonight. Clean and pretty.”
“I cannot wait.”
I watched her saunter down the lane, her hair bouncing saucily and her hips wiggling provocatively. And for the thousandth time I sighed. No luckier man lived than me.
The day was growing short. I’d taken a bath and now made haste through the house, avoiding my father’s stare and my mother’s sudden fit of gentle weeping. God’s truth, I’d expected surprise, but tears and wary looks all because I’d confessed my love for Nari and our wish to wed?
My father stood by the fire, his gaze alternating between it and me. If he expected to divine my future from the ashes, he would be disappointed. I knew better than anyone what course to take. I had confidence even if he did not.
“This is what you want? She is who you want?” he asked in quiet tones.
“More than I can say,” I shot over my shoulder
Where had I put that shirt? I quickly rummaged through a short stack of clothes. I needed to look my best tonight; my future depended on it.
My mother sniffled lightly. “She was a wild child, ever into one trouble or another—”
“Just as I was,” I jumped in, defending my love. The shirt found, I clutched at my trews barely hanging on my hips, and hiked them higher. I needed a belt. My gaze careened round the room, searching for even a piece of string to hold up the sagging cloth. Ah-ha. There the belt lay, draped over a chair in the corner. I snatched it up, nearly knocking my mother over in my haste.
Gentle hands took hold of my arm and turned me around, forcing me to stare into her watery eyes. I had avoided their probing in fear they held condemnation for my choice. Yet, no censure could I find. Only love. “But I do believe she has grown into a fine woman, and I cannot find a fault. My tears are of a mother’s loss. My son is grown.”
“But are they compatible?” my father asked, coming alongside my mother to drape an arm over her shoulders. His concern was no less than my mother’s and he was far more vocal than she. “Do you complement each other?”
I faced him. “Does the sun complement the moon? Does the flower complement the meadow? Nari and I are suited in a way that scares me, for if I cannot have her, I may well die.”
A tremulous smile touched my mother’s lips and she patted my arm. Not so my father. Worry etched deep lines between his brows. “Her father may well refuse you.”
“He won’t. I’ll make him agree.” I shrugged on my shirt, threw on the belt and bounded out the door.
My parent’s followed me to the threshold where the sniffles of my mother spurred me on.
“Be smart about this, Ryne,” my father warned. “Tread softly, for no man willingly gives up his treasure.”
I stopped in my tracks and cast a hopeful backward glance. “Is that a blessing, then?”
My father’s firm face softened. “If you love her, then so shall we. Godspeed, son.”
A sudden lightness infected my being, as if the heavens had opened and the stars shone down on me and only me. I gave my parents a distracted wave as I strode toward the village. Tonight, I would persuade Nari’s father to let us marry.
My trip to her door was uneventful. I hesitated, and pulled her gift from my pocket, a symbol of her affection. My calloused thumb rubbed over the design. Small beads stitched securely, and bright threads locked in a pleasing manner to form a series of wild flowers surrounding her monogram. She would have to create a new one, for soon the letters would change. She would be mine.
Putting the cloth away, I stepped to the door and unlike before, this time I knocked with decided purpose. With Nari’s love in my heart, I had no fear.
The door sprang open to reveal the sour expression on the new wife’s face. “Again? My rock chimney fair gleams with new stone, my walls are straight and the stable will withstand the strongest gale. What more would you fix?”
“I am pleased all is well. May I inquire if your husband is home? I wish to speak with him.”
She narrowed her tiny eyes. “About what?”
“It is of import between him and me.”
“We are philanthropic only to the poorest of the poor.”
“I wish no money.” And worse, I’d none to give.
“You wish no work and you wish no money? A fine thing that. What can a lad like you wish to gain by speaking with my husband?”
“Ryne,” Nari’s happy voice sounded behind the new wife.
It was as if the light finally dawned. Could she really have been that ignorant of the love blossoming beneath her own roof? Even though Nari and I kept our meetings private, everyone we met seemed to cast us curious looks. Clearly, the new wife had not wanted to see what was taking shape before her. But she did now.
“Oh no you don’t,” she leaned forward and snarled. “I’ll not have you curse this family, too. What kind of love would have a man subject a woman to such a terrible life? I’ll see her off to work the piggery before you have her. And she’ll thank me for it in the end, I’ll wager.”
She pulled back and made to close the door when a large hand interrupted her plans. Nari’s father forced the door wider until his weather-roughened face peered out at me. “Ryne. What brings you here?”
“He was just leaving,” the new wife insisted and shot me a glance daring me to disagree.
I would not be put off.
I swallowed hard and faced Nari’s father. “I beg only a moment, sir.”
“I told him we need no more of his services, but he is persistent, and not to his credit.”
“Is he?” The tall man lifted his pipe and clamped the stem between his big, strong teeth.
The new wife cast me a triu
mphant smirk. “He is. Send him off, my love. We need not be bothered at our own door.”
Puffs of smoke ringed his face while he looked me up and down. Sweat prickled the back of my neck, but I did not squirm. I held my ground and regarded him with an open countenance.
After a long moment, as the new wife continued to mutter her usual doom and gloom predictions regarding my future, he nodded. “You are just in luck. I find myself with a stack of spare moments. Come join me for a spell.”
“God preserve us.” The new wife threw up her hands and rolled her eyes toward heaven. “No good will come of this. No good, I tell you.”
Nari rushed ahead and placed two chairs by the fire. As I stepped inside, she motioned me toward the chair she stood behind, her face wreathed in a luminous smile. I could barely breathe against my rising panic. My father’s words reverberated in my head. What if he refuses?
After greetings that included news of my parents and how business faired, he stopped talking and stared straight into my soul. Nari had moved behind her father and now nodded her head at me encouragingly.
“Sir,” I squeaked, and then swallowed and tried again. “Sir,” I managed in a more manly tone, “I have come to ask for Nari’s hand in marriage.”
I was fair pleased I said it all without a single stutter.
The new wife moaned her distress which morphed into a loud keening that shook the plates and rattled the candles until they tilted in their stems. Her distress was so loud, it was sure to draw the neighbors.
“Woman,” Nari’s father shouted, “desist your howling. I cannot think amid the noise.”
Shocked at the force of her husband’s demand, for he was not one to lose his temper in all the years they had been married, the new wife abruptly sputtered to a stop, granting the quiet he requested.
Nari’s father didn’t so much as blink during his outburst. His gaze stayed fixed on me in a most discomforting manner.
Silence stretched, gobbling up minutes as greedily as the night catches shadows. Soon, the pre-dusk hour had sunk into evening and all that illuminated the room was a small fire and a few slanting candles.
“Tell me the tale.”
“What?” I could not have heard him correctly. But I had. I could see it in his questioning eyes. “You know it. Everyone for miles does.”
