Chapter 24
Kit
We ended our first night in Stagcross with a visit to the shop that had bound Penny’s sketchbook. We left there with coloring pencils in almost every possible color and stayed up late huddled under the covers while Penny tried them all out.
I loved every moment of it.
After sleeping in the next morning, we barely made it down into the tavern before they stopped serving breakfast. While Penny secured our meal, I stopped at the front desk to hand off a handful of letters he wanted sent back to Eastcliff.
We managed to get our fill of porridge, eggs, reindeer sausage, and coffee before the kitchen closed, then ventured into the snow to explore.
I’d planned this trip for Penny to mingle with the artisans and be around people who would appreciate his talents as much as I did.
He found new friends everywhere, from the man who hand-stitched all the reindeer harnesses and the woman who crafted the buckles and hardware for them, to the gray-haired twin sisters who let him try his hand at weaving on their massive tapestry loom.
He came alive in this place, radiant and beaming and blinding in his joy. I was so focused on memorizing every moment of his delight that I hardly had eyes for anything else.
The market was still bustling at sunset, and Penny and I shared a meal tucked in one of the many covered stalls at the edge of the square. The plan was to return to the inn once we were finished, but when a lazy snowfall picked up, I got a better idea.
I nudged Penny with my elbow. “Do you mind taking the dishes back to the stand? I’m going to see if I can find us some dessert.” He’d forgive the white lie later if I could pull this off.
Penny nodded and trotted away while I took the moment alone to wind through the crowded market toward the man with a sleigh on the other side.
“Excuse me?”
The man looked up from adjusting one of the harness straps and met my smile with one of his own. “Evening,” he said.
“I was wondering if you hire out? Just for a ride around town.” I gestured to where Penny was caught in conversation with the woman manning the stall where we’d bought our dinner. “He’s never had a sleigh ride, and I would love to surprise him with one.”
The man chuckled and rubbed a mittened hand over one of his reindeer’s noses. “Not from around here?” he asked.
My smile turned sheepish. “Not even close. Though, I’ve wanted to bring him here for months.
He’s an artist, and these are his people.
” I stuffed my hand into my pocket and ran my fingers over the leather cord tucked inside.
“I would have preferred to give him the full experience without having to bother strangers on the street, but we got the chance to come unexpectedly, and I wasn’t going to miss out on it. ”
The other man considered for a moment. “Normally, I don’t offer rides. But tonight, I think I’ll make an exception.”
A grin split my face even as nerves started gnawing at my guts. This wasn’t at all how I’d planned it, but even still, it would be perfect.
“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.” I dug my coin pouch out of my pocket. “How much?”
The man waved a hand. “It doesn’t put me out anything to take you two around town. Don’t think my wife would be pleased with me if I took your coin for this.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
The snow crunched behind me, and I turned just as Penny reached us. His gaze flicked from where I stuffed my coin pouch into my pocket and back up to my face.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
I was grinning still as I snagged his gloved fingers. “I lied about dessert. How about a sleigh ride instead?”
His eyes went wide, and his smile grew into a grin. “Really?!”
The man climbed up onto the driver’s bench and motioned toward the seat behind him. It faced backward and was cushioned with evergreen wool. I tugged Penny around and helped him up into it, and the flush on his cheeks wasn’t just from the cold.
I settled beside him and accepted the fur the driver handed back, draping it over our laps before I tucked Penny in close to my side.
“All set back there?” the man asked.
“We’re perfect,” I replied, then leaned in to rest my forehead against Penny’s.
The driver clicked his tongue, and the sleigh lurched as the reindeer broke into motion.
We rode in silence away from the bustle of the market, driving until we reached the quieter outskirts of town.
It seemed I was already getting more than I expected out of our ride, and I was grateful for it.
It gave me time to gaze across the snowy scene spread out around us and listen to the reindeer’s hooves and stare, perhaps too long, at Penny as he took it all in.
He was beaming, and I soaked in that happiness.
I’d come to rely on my ability to win his smiles and laughter, and the feeling of utter satisfaction that accompanied every offered kiss or clasp of his hand.
His was the purest love I’d ever known. So different from the burden of my father’s expectations or the shadows of my own self-loathing.
This was levity and light as dazzling as the blanket of sparkling snow that stretched around the sleigh in every direction.
I could tell him every day how much he meant to me and still fail to explain it. I had half a mind to try, to break the quiet between us, but Penny spoke first.
“It’s hard to believe we’ll be home for planting in a few weeks.” He shifted so he could better see the town receding into the near distance. “It’ll be good to see Mother and Sayla again. Hear their voices. Eat their cooking. And I'd really like to hug them…” He trailed off.
He was good at hiding it most days, but I knew how homesick he could get. All his time spent with Rosie and her family was bittersweet; a reminder of what he’d left behind, not a replacement.
To be honest, I was looking forward to our return to the Oliver farm myself.
I never felt completely safe in Ashpoint, and that wore on me.
Having friends in our growing resistance helped, but I doubted I would ever feel at ease inside those walls.
Not the way I did when Penny and I were out on the road, just the two of us.
Not the way I imagined I would in Eastcliff with all thoughts and reminders of the Bone Men far behind me.
The last time we’d been there, I couldn’t wait to leave.
I’d felt like a fraud, offering help that was anything but, and possibly taking advantage of Penny's naivete.
His family was as gracious as he was, and that made it worse.
The Olivers were warm and welcoming and happy to have me, but I'd been determined to keep my distance.
Penny wanted them to be my family. I’d been intimidated by his offer on the eve of the third Oath, but the idea had grown on me.
I wanted that: to be part of their group and not on my own anymore.
To be a participant in their daily lives and not just a guest. The thought warmed me from the inside out.
My hands shook when I dug the leather cord out of my pocket and closed it in my fist. Penny didn’t notice.
“I’ve been thinking about them a lot,” I said, prompting him to tilt his head back to see my face. “And what you said before about them being my family, too. I don’t think I ever gave you an answer.”
I withdrew my arm from around his shoulders and turned so I could face him as much as the limited seat space would allow. His forehead creased as he did the same, but it smoothed when I tucked an errant lock of hair back under his hood.
“I wasn’t really expecting one,” he said.
“I know.” I cupped my hand to his cheek; his skin was cool against my clammy palm. “But I’m hoping you’ll have a more ready answer for my question than I did yours.”
He looked poised to ask what I meant when I held out my hand and opened it so he could see the cord inside. His breath hitched, and a wavering smile crossed my lips.
“I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” I said, fighting to keep my voice level.
“There is no future I want without you by my side. You are my family, Pen, and I want to be a part of yours. Officially and forever.” I took one end of the cord in either hand and held it up.
“I’d like to be your husband, if you’ll have me. ”
Penny’s mouth fell open, and his eyes widened until they welled with tears. He blinked, scattering dots of moisture across his cheeks. Others clung to his long lashes, and I thought fleetingly that I’d never seen someone look so pretty when they cried.
His jaw snapped shut, and he swallowed, then started to speak again and failed before he gave up on words and instead nodded vigorously.
I knew he would say yes, but that hadn’t kept worry from creeping in the moment I decided to do this.
I didn’t realize how tightly wound I’d been until a held breath left me in a rush and took my tension with it.
I felt weightless, like I would float away if not for the fur on my lap anchoring me down.
Penny tugged off his left glove and pushed up his sleeve to expose his wrist. When he held it out to me, I couldn’t tell which of us was shaking more.
I brought his hand up and pressed a kiss to his scarred palm, then wound the cord around his wrist. He drew ragged breaths between wet sniffles while I struggled with cold-numb fingers to knot the ends together.
Once assured he wasn’t actually struggling to breathe, just overcome with emotion, I gave his fingers a squeeze. “Sweetheart, are you all right?”
“I never thought—” He dragged his right sleeve across his face, then sucked a stuttering breath. “I didn’t think this would ever happen to me. Not until I met you. You changed things for me, Kit. You… you changed my life, and I…”
Emotions choked him again, and he tucked his chin into his chest.
I chuckled. “You’re still young. You would have found someone.” I eased my hand out of his grip and finished the knot securing the cord to his wrist, then gave it a tug. “Pity for them I found you first.”