Page 22

Erik

“So when will you ask her to marry you?” My mom nudges me with her shoulder as we walk the outside perimeter of the wyvern aviary, still trying to find out what set them off this morning.

“Ah...” I laugh awkwardly. “Ma, we didn’t meet by accident. There’s something I haven’t told you.”

“Oh really? Something new and different for you these days.” Her voice is dripping with sarcasm. She grunts as she lowers herself on one knee to check the base of the netting. “Living in the human city has changed you.”

“No,” I protest. “It’s just... Maybe I’ve got a little more space to be the person I wanted.”

The look she gives me is rightfully hurt. I wish I could snatch back the words. My family is important to me. They always have been. They always will be .

But Mom has such a big personality. It’s hard to know who you are when you’re around her. She sort of takes over. I needed some space to realize that.

She’s getting older though. They both are. Dad’s injury and the stiff way Ma moves when she gets back to her feet are a reminder that they won’t be able to keep up the business forever on their own. My little brother is irresponsible. I’m not sure I have confidence in him to be there for them when they need him. And my older siblings all moved away like I did.

Mom sighs. “You have always been my beautiful boy, but you’re right. You’re all grown now. And you’ve chosen well. This human woman, I like her. She’s strong. She doesn’t look it, but she has strong hips for bearing big orc sons.”

“Ma!”

“Alright, alright, but you know I’m desperate to be a grandma.”

I chuckle. “I know. You’ll have to make do with Snickers right now.”

Mom rolls her eyes. “So why not at least make your ma happy and get married?”

“Well that’s what I was trying to tell you. We are. It’s sort of an arranged thing.”

I expect her to tell me off for not letting her arrange one. I know she’s had her eye on the neighbor’s daughter for years, but instead she claps her hands together.

“Perfect! Then it’s sorted. We will have the knot ceremony before you go back to the city.”

I can’t really think of a good answer, except that I don’t know how Inessa will react. I wanted her to have a special day and getting our hands tied together by a fire might not be the sort of special she had in mind.

“Um... maybe?”

Inessa is surprisingly enthusiastic about the orc ceremony when I describe it to her. “Yes. This is perfect. But will it be legal?”

I shrug. “I think so. I thought they passed a law a few years back legalizing all supernatural bonds that could be formally recognized.”

She nods. “Then the sooner the better. Why do we need to book an enormous restaurant when all we need is us?” Snickers, who is sitting on her lap looking smug, lifts her head and gives a little huffing bark.

“But what about a wedding dress and flowers?”

She shrugs. “Not important.”

I guess it’s settled then.

I underestimated my mother’s level of excitement about having me married and settled. In the space of a few short hours she rouses the whole village into collecting flowers, preparing a feast, and trooping down into the valley to the stream that flows into the hot pools.

She shoos me out of the house along with my father and brother and tells us to take the trailer and bring down as many chairs as we can while she gets Inessa ready .

My father pulls the old tent out of the back of the shed and slings that in the trailer. “An orc’s gotta have a little privacy on his wedding night.” He winks at me.

That sends awareness straight to my cock, which is still trapped behind its metal cage. I hope Inessa doesn’t mind a night under the stars for our first night as a married couple. I should have thought this through more.

I’m afraid she’ll be disappointed.

We set up the rows of mismatched chairs and tie some ribbons around the trees along the edge of the creek.

My auntie turns up with a trailer full of flowers, and soon my ten cousins arrive, laughing and teasing me as they weave small white blossoms into fancy decorations for the backs of chairs and tree branches.

Before long the glade looks festive. Everyone is in a cheerful mood and I’m trying to calm my nerves. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. Unexpectedly, my throat is tight and my chest full with emotion at the knowledge that we’ll be doing it here with my family around us. At how well Inessa has fit in.

My cousin Larson elbows me in the ribs. “Are you sure you won’t break her, Erik? Why’d you pick a human bride anyway?”

I just shake my head. I know better than to tell him she’s more likely to break me. That will only lead to an endless round of teasing and questions. Instead I make an excuse to hurry off, washing myself in the stream and hastily putting on the suit my father loaned me before the others can come join me and spot my cage. I could take it off, but I want Inessa to be the one to do it tonight. Besides, I belatedly remember the keys are still hanging around her neck on the chain .

I’m smiling to myself when I walk back up the ridge as the sun slips below the horizon and I see everyone there, torches and candles lit, drinks being handed around.

I didn’t notice a car pull up, but I notice the moment my mother leads Inessa down the path between the trees. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of her. Her hair is bound back with bright white flowers woven through the pale strands. She’s barefoot, but she looks like a goddess with a long lacy white dress that dips all the way to her navel and somehow manages to cling to her shapely figure. The hem is kept from trailing on the ground by my mother, who carries it in one hand until my three smallest cousins rush forward to hold it up like a parachute above their heads as Inessa takes her final steps along the path and we meet as if by fate in front of the fire.

My mouth is dry.

I can hardly think, let alone speak to tell her how beautiful she looks. How perfect this is.

“Your hair is so pretty,” says Bessa, my youngest cousin, as she blinks up at Inessa. “It’s like moonbeams.”

Inessa gives me a sheepish smile. “I’m too short for your mother’s dress and god only knows how this is staying on me—” She waves a hand at the bust of the dress and I swallow.

Can’t do words now.

“You look beautiful, darling.” Ma leans in and gives Inessa a kiss on the cheek and steps back toward to take a seat at the front.

My brother, dressed in his best clothes, leads Dura, the wise woman, forward. There’s no trace of his usual impish smile on his face. Instead he concentrates on finding the smoothest path .

She leans heavily on his arm. Her back is bent and one of her long tusks is broken, but the smile stretching around it is bright and full of warmth.

The wise woman takes her place in front of the fire, holding out her wizened hands to me and Inessa.

I place mine into hers, and a moment later, Inessa catches on and does the same.

“Erik, it gives me great pleasure to join you with your chosen mate today. How right that you have returned to us to do it in the sight of the village and in front of your parents.”

Yeah, there’s a little twist of guilt in my gut at that and I look over to my parents with a smile. I hope they haven’t been too disappointed in me. I haven’t been the best son to them.

Their smiles are proud and encouraging though, and I turn back to Inessa feeling reassured.

Dura takes a length of ribbon and winds it around our hands, looping it over and over and tucking it back on itself. She doesn’t tie it. We must hold our hands together for the ceremony to keep it in place.

“Let us join these two beautiful souls together,” she says in her scratchy voice. “May your nest be cozy, your hearth a welcome to all those who need it, and your love be fruitful.”

“May your love be fruitful,” everyone choruses.

I deliberately avoid looking at Ma.

Dura steps back and takes a seat my brother brings for her. I’m proud to watch him carry himself like a responsible member of the village today.

Inessa leans in. “What now?”

“We have to keep our hands like this while they wish us well. ”

I don’t have any more time to explain as one by one, everyone leaps from their seats and crowds forward to hug and kiss us and wish us a fruitful union.

I keep Inessa’s hands clasped in mine beneath the ribbon, thinking how I’ll hold her tight, how I’ll love and protect her.

Though she looks a little daunted, she takes it all in stride.

The wise woman feeds us a bite each of a little cake while our hands are bound, and we drink from a single cup to signify the uniting of our destinies. It’s funny. I’ve watched a few of these binding ceremonies before and they were nice. I love seeing people happy.

But I never thought too hard about the meaning behind the symbols of the ritual. It never hit home for me before how this changes everything.

This is what I wanted. It’s what I dreamed of. I’m bound to her for the rest of my days.

I silently vow to be the best husband to her and make sure she never has cause to regret taking a chance on me.

Once the ceremony is over, we’re released and we sit down to feast. I can’t believe the number of delicious dishes everyone prepared on such short notice. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my mother secretly planned all this before we arrived!

When the stars blink in the dark sky and the small ones are yawning, people start to pack up. Leftover food gets stashed in containers and ice chests, tablecloths are folded, and the fire is stoked. Soon it’s just me, Inessa, Mom, Dad, Lob, and Snickers, who is fidgeting under Lob’s arm.

“Well, son,” my father claps me on the shoulder, “don’t disappoint your mother. You know she’s hoping for lots of grandbabies. ”

My brother makes a face. “Can we not talk about that in front of the children?”

I laugh. “I don’t see any children here. You were so grown up today, I hardly recognized you.”

He pokes his tongue out at me like he used to do when he was five, kind of ruining the compliment, but then he laughs. “Thanks, Erik. It’s good to have you home. Can you stay?”

I shift uncomfortably. “I’ve gotta work tomorrow. But we’ll visit again soon, OK?”

“OK. Hey, can I look after Snickers tonight?”

I grin. “Thanks, buddy.”

They pack the last of the things, leaving the empty chairs arranged in rows facing toward the fire and the lone tent standing a little way off, decorated with hundreds of flowers.

I turn to Inessa. “I know it wasn’t much, but I hope it was OK. We don’t have to stay in the tent tonight if you’d rather just go back to Heartstone.”

“Are you serious? It was beautiful. We are definitely spending the night here. I’ve never been camping before. Would you really deny me that experience?”

I’m struck all over again with how absolutely perfect she is.

And then it sinks in that we’re about to spend our wedding night together and I remember that I still haven’t removed the cage and haven’t come in days.

I sure hope she’s ready for me to make a mess, because all of a sudden, the thrill of anticipation is almost too much to bear.