Chapter 38
The time had finally come.
Sana added the final touches to Rhyel's bracelet and gazed at the intricate piece of jewelry she crafted for him.
She brushed the thin trim of black and silver fur lining the edge of the leather with a small comb, rubbed a polishing rag over the thin golden beads and blackened dragon scales entwined in the braided leather and placed the bracelet into a slim black cushioned gift box.
She and Rhyel were having a private dinner in the butterfly sanctuary before they left in the morning on the tour of the realm.
She didn't know why Rhyel insisted on this dinner, but it would be the perfect moment to give him his bracelet and a good time to tell him the truth about her mother's death.
She sighed, tying a golden ribbon around the box.
She didn't want Rhyel to meet her siblings without knowing what happened to her mother.
She was sure they'd make hideous comments about it, and she wanted Rhyel to hear the truth from her first. That way, he could make his own assumptions about her and hopefully, her gift would be enough to keep her in his good graces.
But it was such a small gift compared to everything he'd done for her. She was lucky to be betrothed to a Lord who was so patient and kind. If it wasn't for him, she doubted she'd feel ready for the festive season.
While Loic was an excellent instructor, she could tell he was getting frustrated with her limited knowledge of the etiquette of the nobles.
It was nice to have Rhyel in the lessons with her because he had a way of making light of Loic's frustrations since he too, was seemingly just as clueless as her.
A smile tugged at Sana's lips. She got the impression he was playing the fool to make her feel better.
"My Lady, your dinner has been prepared and Lord Rhyel is waiting for you in the sanctuary," Eula said as she and Kezi entered her room. "Have you finished your gift?"
"Yes." Sana nodded, holding up the gift box as she stood from the couch. "I just hope he likes it."
"Oh, I'm sure he will, my Lady," Kezi said, crossing the room and taking her hand. "You worked so hard on it and I doubt he'd ever turn away a gift from you no matter what it is."
"Thank you," Sana said, squeezing her hand. "I'm glad Rhyel suggested we have dinner. I have some things I want to tell him before we leave, but is it really necessary that I'm dressed so... formally like this?"
Eula chuckled. "I know this seems odd," she said, holding up a pair of golden heels that matched the gold butterflies weaved into the deep blue fabric of her dress.
"But it used to be tradition for the Lord and Lady to have a private meal together before a long journey like the one you and my Lord are about to embark on. "
"Yes, and this hasn't happened in a long time since Lord Rhyel hasn't been betrothed long enough, or even invited to the festive season for quite a few years," Kezi said, laughing. "Not since he made such a mess of the last engagements he attended."
"Was he really that bad?" Sana asked as she slipped her feet into her shoes.
"No, don't listen to Kezi," Eula huffed. "He was just frustrated with Lady Elalia and General Zena trying to couple him up with anyone they could find. So, he made himself look undesirable to them."
"Ah, I see." Sana chuckled softly. "And is that where the rumors started about him being the barbaric Lord of the North?"
"Precisely and as you know, a few Ladies tried to overlook it and agreed to a betrothal to him because of his title and wealth, but he kept up his foreboding facade," Eula said, smiling as she draped a cream, golden trimmed shawl over her shoulders. "Until he met you, my Lady."
A blush burned over Sana's cheeks. "I'm honored by that," she said, gripping Rhyel's gift in her hand. "I just hope he never feels the need to put up a facade with me and we can keep building our friendship."
"Oh, I'm sure you will," Kezi said with a knowing gleam in her brown eyes. "You should get going. Eula and I have a few things to pack for you and you shouldn't keep my Lord waiting."
"Yes, of course," Sana said as Sune flew to her shoulder from his perch on the vanity.
You look beautiful, little flame and Lord Rhyel would be silly not to accept your gift. Enjoy your dinner. I'll be waiting to hear all about it when you return.
"Thank you, Sune," Sana said, taking a deep breath. "Eula, Kezi, I'm not sure how late I'll be tonight, but I hope you don't have much more work to do before we leave in the morning."
"Don't worry about us, my Lady," Eula said as they bowed to her. "You just enjoy your meal. We'll see you bright and early tomorrow."
Sana nodded as she left her room. The castle was relatively quiet and she assumed it was because everyone was having an early night, especially those who'd be traveling on the tour.
Zena was spending the evening with Cori at the Keep, Oziel was staying in the warriors' barracks probably giving them one last brief before the morning and Loic was most likely in his office checking and double checking the itinerary.
"Good evening, my Lady," Tirza said, bowing as she opened the door to the sanctuary. "Lord Rhyel is waiting for you beyond the pond by the windows. Enjoy your dinner."
"Thank you, Tirza," Sana said as she walked inside the sanctuary and her eyes grew wide.
A glittering moon replaced the artificial sun and amber globes of light hovered in the air, illuminating the flowers and greenery along the stone path by the pond while a few butterflies flew around her before settling into the lush foliage.
Her heart thumped as she walked under a thick trellis of ivy to find Rhyel with his hair neatly braided back from his face, dressed in a deep blue suit with gold epaulets adorning his shoulders.
He stood beside a candlelit table nestled in the nook in front of the giant windows overlooking the forest bathed in moonlight.
The smile that graced his lips and the pride shining in his blue eyes made her heart simmer as she neared him. "Good evening, my Lady," he said, giving her a bow before he pulled out her chair for her. "Thank you for joining me."
"You're welcome," she said, laughing softly as she took her seat. "I wasn't aware you were going to go through all this trouble to set a scene like this."
"It's no trouble," he said, taking his seat across from her. "Having a meal like this is a tradition before we embark on our journey."
"Eula and Kezi mentioned that," she said, placing a napkin over her lap before sitting her gift on the table beside her plate of roast lamb and vegetables. "I just didn't think it would be so... intimate."
"Oh, that's my fault," he said, chuckling as he poured her a glass of sparkling red wine. "I thought it would be nice, as my betrothed, if we had a meal like a courting couple since I haven't done anything like this for you yet. I hope you don't mind."
A blush burned over Sana's cheeks. Rhyel wanted to have dinner like a 'courting couple' just like her sisters raved about. She wasn't sure what that really entailed or...or if she was worthy of such treatment.
"I... don't mind, but is that what we are?" she said, squeezing her hands in her lap. "Courting, I mean."
"I'd like to think so," he said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink.
"That's why I wanted to have a private dinner with you to talk about it.
I've never been betrothed to someone for more than a few days and I've...never courted anyone before but, I'd like to spend our time on this tour as a chance to court you properly, if. .. if you wouldn't mind me doing so."
Sana nodded, taking a slow sip of the fruity wine, and her gaze flicked to the gift beside her plate. "I don't know what it means to court someone and I wouldn't mind trying it with you, but I...I don't want you to court me without knowing the truth about my mother."
Rhyel frowned. "Alright, but only if you're ready to talk about it and I want you to know that it won't change my wish to court you."
A small smile graced her lips. "I'm glad you feel that way, but I'm... I'm ready and I want to tell you. You should be prepared for anything my siblings might say about me."
Rhyel nodded. "Then take your time. We have all evening, my Lady."
Sana took a deep breath as she cut into the lamb on her plate.
"My mother and I were very close when she was alive and she treated me like I was worthy of the House I was born into," she said, taking a bite of the succulent meat.
"Even though I wasn't gifted, every evening she'd take me into her butterfly sanctuary and she would perform these.
..rituals on me. She never said why she did them, but that we had to keep them a secret from my father. "
"What kind of rituals did she do?" Rhyel said as he ate from his plate. "Do you remember?"
"I do," she said, taking a drink from her glass.
"I can still remember sitting in a circle of candles, the smell of burning sage and the thick, bittersweet taste of crushed herbs and honeyed milk.
" She gazed out the window, watching the rays of the moon dance in the black leafed trees as the memory of her mother's ritual came to the forefront of her mind.
"My mother would chant over me in a language I didn't understand and between the smell of the sage and the taste of the drink, I always felt a tingle in my belly and prickle over my skin. "
"Mm, that sounds like a protection ritual," Rhyel murmured. "Did she say something like, avé rotmensas ovem deela sunai?"
"Yes, that's what she said," Sana said, tearing her gaze from the window with wide eyes. "Do you know what it means?"
"It's a very old ritual. Something the ancients used to protect their kin. Accalia blessed the first wolf of Darcanos with that ritual," he said, bringing his glass to his lips. "A loose translation is 'guard the gifts that lie within'."
Sana frowned. "That doesn't make any sense," she said, shaking her head. "I don't know why she performed that on me when I don't have any gifts to protect."
Rhyel shrugged. "Maybe she was just taking precautions in case your gifts bloomed late."
"Maybe," Sana murmured and laughed softly. "But I've yet to develop any gifts other than being averse to Dante's aura."
"It's not unheard of," he said, cutting into a piece of lamb. "It's rare, but some of the Darcanos have found their wolves late in life and depending on your mother's background, maybe that ritual was a tradition for her eldest daughter."
"That's true. I never knew my mother's family.
She never spoke about them, but maybe you're right," she said, pushing her food around her plate.
"I suppose that doesn't really change the fact that those protection rituals didn't protect her.
" She sighed, curling her hand into a fist as she blinked back the sting of tears threatening to pool in her eyes.
"Because whatever she was doing to me caused her death. "
Rhyel slid his hand over hers, and the warmth of his touch calmed her rising angst. "What do you mean?"
Sana let out a slow breath and shook her head.
"I'm not sure how it happened and I always blamed myself because I didn't want to do the ritual that night," she said, curling her fingers around his.
"But something went wrong when she was speaking over me.
I'll never forget the sound of the candles roaring to life as if they.
..they were angry. Lightbournes are known for our gifts of fire, but I'd never seen a blaze like that.
" A tear rolled down her cheek. "Or see fire engulf someone like it did to my mother. "
"Sana," Rhyel said, wiping the tear from her cheek. "That wasn't your fault."
"I...I know that now, but at the time and for most of my life, I believed it was," she said, looking up at him.
"The last thing my mother said to me was 'you'll forgive me one day'.
I still don't know what she meant by that, and it doesn't help that my father and my siblings blame me for her death.
" Her lip trembled as another wave of tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I...I should've done something to help her, but all I could do was scream and watch her burn. "
"No," Rhyel said, standing from his chair and kneeling at her feet as he slid his hands to her cheeks. "You were a child, Sana. There wasn't anything you could've done."
"But...if I had gifts I could've saved her.
I was useless and I-I thought that was all I could ever be," she said, wrapping her hands around his wrists.
"Until I came here and you and everyone in this castle have shown me, that's not true.
" She let out a breath as she gazed into his far too caring and forgiving eyes.
"But I had to tell you the reason my family hates me before. .. before you meet them."
"Thank you for telling me and I'm glad you know you're not useless," he said, caressing her cheeks. "But I don't care what your family thinks of you." He leaned up and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "All I care about is you and how you feel about yourself."
Sana nodded with her heart fluttering at his sentiment and the gentle caress of his lips on her skin.
"Being here with you is... is helping me learn to see myself in a different light and I.
..I want to thank you for that," she said, dabbing her cheeks with a napkin before picking up her gift on the table. "I made this for you."
Rhyel raised an eyebrow as he took the gift box from her. "You made this for me?"
"Yes, it's... it's not much, but I hope after everything I told you, you'll still want to court me," she said, biting her lip. "Because I'd love to be courted by you."
The smile that graced Rhyel's lips as he carefully untied the ribbon around the box made her heart pound in anticipation.
"Nothing you said would make me change my mind about courting you.
If anything, it's made me want to do it all the more," he said as he carefully opened the box.
"And you didn't have to give me a gift to thank me for anything I've done for you. I'll always..."
He trailed off and her heart thumped as he looked up at her with awe and adoration shining in his depths. "Is...is this a warrior's charm?"
She nodded slowly. "Y-yes and I'm sorry if it's not made very well."
"No." He looked down at the bracelet and trailed his fingers over the braided leather and black and gold charms. "Sana, this is.
..it's beautiful," he said, looking up at her and sliding his hand to her cheek.
"You honor me, my Lady. I've... I've never had the pleasure of being given something so precious.
I will cherish this, always." Her heart burst and simmered as he pressed a soft kiss against her cheek. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she said, smiling. "I'm glad you like it."
"I love it," he said, taking the bracelet out of the box. "Would you do me the honor of putting it on me?"
"Of course," she said, as he held up his hand and she slipped the bracelet around his wrist. Her smile grew at the perfect fit as she clasped the golden ends together. "I hope this protects you wherever you are and whatever battles you may face, my Lord."
"I'm sure it will because with this gift, you'll always be with me, my Lady," he said, taking her hand and pressing his lips against her knuckles. "I have a gift for you as well."
Sana's eyes grew wide. "You do?"
"Yes, of course. I couldn't possibly ask to court you without a gift," he said, sliding his hand into the inside pocket of his waistcoat. "When you first arrived, you dropped this on the road."
Her eyes grew wide as he held out the silver dagger that Uma gave her, sheathed in a black leather, diamond encrusted scabbard. "I-I thought I lost this," she whispered, taking it from him and frowned at the gentle vibration of power emanating from it. "You enchanted it?"
"I did," he said, standing as he ran a hand over his hair. "I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to make sure if you used it to defend yourself again, it's equipped to handle the creatures that roam in the north."
"No, I don't mind that at all," she said, taking the dagger out of its sheath and trailing her fingers over the newly wrapped leather around the handle and the dragon's breath gem infused at the base. "Thank you for doing this for me."
"You're welcome. I made another enhancement to it and crafted it into your staff," he said, holding out his hand to her. "Would you like to try it?"
"It's my staff?" she said, slipping her hand in his as she stood, gazing at her dagger. "How have you done that?"
"With great care and attention, my Lady," he said with a proud grin on his face. "If you press the gem on the hilt, it will become your double bladed staff."
Sana frowned and pressed her thumb against the gem and a laugh escaped her lips as the dagger elongated into a staff with silver blades on either side of black iron. "It's...it's so light!" she said, giving it an experimental wave. "I can wield it like my practice staff."
"Yes." Rhyel chuckled. "And it will grow with you as you become stronger."
Sana's heart fluttered with pride as she gazed at her staff that Rhyel created from the only meaningful thing she had from her home. She blinked back her tears of joy as she pressed the gem in the center of the silver grip, returning it to its dagger state.
And without a second thought, Sana wrapped her arms around Rhyel's shoulders and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
"You are very welcome," he said, sliding his hand to the base of her neck and a warm tingle trailed down her spine as his fingers tangled in her curls. "I'm glad you like it."
"I love it," she murmured as her gaze trailed from his eyes to his flush lips.
"I have something else for you," Rhyel whispered.
"Do you?" she said, mesmerized and enticed by the curve of his mouth and she hoped he'd do her the honor of kissing her for the first time.
"Yes." He placed a kiss on her forehead before taking a step back and her heart sank a little that her wish wasn't granted again.
"I meant what I said when I told you that I'm fond of you and I want you and the realm to know that our betrothal is more than just an agreement between two Houses," Rhyel said, slipping his hand into his pocket.
"Sana, I love spending time with you and I know we're still getting to know each other, but these last few months have made me realize that I have no wish to be the Lord of Darcanos with anyone else, but you by my side.
I hope one day you'll allow me the pleasure of being your husband, but for now. .."
Sana gasped as Rhyel bent down on one knee and opened a small black velvet box revealing an onyx ring with a glittering pear-shaped diamond nestled in the center of a cluster of tiny dragon's breath gems. "Will you allow me the honor of being your fiancé?"
"You... you're proposing to m-me?" she whispered.
"I am," he said as twin flags of red stained his cheeks. "Is... is that okay? I know this is sudden but—"
"Yes," she said, nodding as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "Yes, you can be my... my fiancé."
A bright smile spread across Rhyel's lips as he slid the ring on her finger, and the warm hum of energy from the dragon's breath tingled through her veins.
He pressed a kiss to her hand before he stood, and her heart simmered at the tender look in his eyes.
"Thank you, Sana," he said, sliding his hand to her cheek. "I'll do my best to honor you."
She wrapped her hand around his wrist, trailing her fingers over the charms on his bracelet. "And I'll do my best to honor you, too."
He shook his head. "You already do, my Lady."
Sana never dreamed anything like this would ever happen to her. She never thought she'd ever be betrothed. Never thought she'd ever leave the clutches or servitude of her family or ever know someone who could ever be fond of her.
And now Rhyel was her fiancé.
He accepted her flaws and her guilt over her mother. He was more than her betrothed. He was the man she wanted. Someone she desired and she'd do everything she could to be worthy of this gift he bestowed upon her.