Epilogue
Castien
One Year Later
The last year had been the best of my life.
After six months, Oleander moved to Gearwick with me full time.
He found employment at a local garment shop, and in an attempt to replicate my favorite scented oil, accidentally created a new lubricant that lasted longer and smelled better than anything I had in stock at my shop.
It quickly became one of our bestsellers.
He worked only a few days a week at the shop, and the rest of the time, he devoted himself to making lubricants for me to sell and stockpiling them for the Everend Market.
When we returned to market, we both knew what it meant.
Acantha and I planned the moment together.
They carried a note to Oleander’s parents on our third day, and on our fourth, Oleander was summoned to his parents’ apothecary.
They claimed to need his assistance, but it was all a ruse meant to give me time to roam the market in search of a ring.
I searched every jeweler’s booth first, but nothing spoke to me.
None of the simple bands felt like they belonged on Oleander’s fingers.
I looked at rings made from cogs and gears.
I looked at rings made of silver and gold and other precious metals. Nothing felt right.
It wasn’t until I was near the end of my tether, searching the vendors’ booths across Glaesflod Bridge, that I found the right ring.
It was a simple white gold band with stars engraved into the metal.
It brought to mind our nights spent under the stars.
It reminded me of our night in boyhood and the nights on the road when he moved to Gearwick from Emberleigh.
I thought of the night we spent in the mountains outside the city, where I finally was able to tell him the stories I’d learned from my studies all those years before.
There were constellations and tales he’d not known, and he’d hung on my every word before we made love beneath the same stars.
I rubbed my finger over the delicate etchings. “I’ll take it,” I told the vendor, uncaring at the cost.
There was no cost that would be too much for this.
The amount of coin was less than I’d thought it would be. I purchased a small wooden box to present it to my beloved and went back to my stall.
That night, I listened with pleasure as Oleander talked about his parents’ antics, knowing that within a few nights’ time, he would understand why his parents had needed him so desperately. Besides, I thought the pub fare I bought him was sufficient payment for his inconvenience.
Two nights later, I knew it was time to ask my question.
At the end of the day, I bid goodbye to my sibling.
I led Oleander to the riverbank. We sat on the dewy grass, and I asked him again to tell me the story of a particular constellation.
It was a pair of legendary lovers who had a love so epic the Gods refused to let it die when they did.
They were said now to bless any union that formed beneath them. I drank in every word he told me.
“Do you think our love will find its way into the stars one day?” I asked him softly.
He thought for a moment. “No,” he answered, “but it will not die with us. Our love will pass down through future generations. Our future children will tell their children. Others will speak of the happy couple they met at Everend Market who sold timepieces and pleasure devices and lubricants. Our love will touch many, but most importantly, it will last our entire life.”
“It will,” I agreed. I pulled the small ring from the pouch I’d carried it in since I’d purchased it, tied around my waist.
His eyes moved from my eyes to my lips to the box in my hand. “Is that—” His voice was almost a gasp, and I loved him all the more for it.
“I made a promise to you a year ago,” I reminded him.
“It is a promise I’m happy to fulfill. In the past year, you have brought light to my life.
You have shown me that there is someone whose company I enjoy more than my own.
” I reached out and took his hand in mine.
I had prepared an entire speech, but now, I could remember only bits and pieces of it.
I knew I did not need a speech for him, for this, or for us.
“When we met, you wanted marriage, and I was less sure. Within a week in your company, I knew that I would marry you. That certainty has only grown over the course of the past year, and now, I cannot imagine my life without you.”
I withdrew the ring from the box and presented it to him. “Will you do me the great honor of becoming my husband?”
Oleander’s eyes watered, and he nodded. It was a rare moment that anything could render my beloved speechless, and I took great honor in being one of the few people to accomplish this feat. I slipped the ring on his finger, and we kissed until the dew soaked through our tunics.
The End