Page 83 of Boy of Chaotic Making

He grasped both her hands in his; a slip of light from the window glinted off the pearl in the ring, almost like an omen. “Truly and absolutely,” he murmured, pressing his forehead to hers.

She grinned; she couldn’t help it. “And you won’t hold it over my head in years to come?”

“You know what?” He pulled back. “Now that I think about it, I was mistaken when I told you my birthday. I’m certain it’s in February. So there’s no issue.”

She laughed. A tear formed in the corner of her eye. The bubble in her chest grew overlarge, making her feel like she might float away.

Sean asked, “Is that a yes, then?”

Pulling a hand free, Hulda wiped the tear. “I mean ... if it’s no trouble—”

“Absolutely yes.” Merritt squeezed her hand.

Sean rubbed his hands together and looked around the barren room. “Let’s see here ... normally we’d do this under an arch—”

Hulda jumped as the room around them warped, a chunk of the ceiling coming down and turning a brilliant shade of green, taking on the shape of an arch over their heads.

Owein started shaking a moment later. His doing, then.

Her cheeks were hurting, she smiled so widely. Everyone was smiling. Merritt was smiling ather. Even the hawk seemed jubilant.

From his pack, Sean pulled out an ordinary roll of twine—or perhaps candlewick, Hulda couldn’t be sure. He used a knife to cut a long length, then had Merritt and Hulda hold right hands. He looped the twine around them, starting at Merritt’s elbow and ending at Hulda’s. He then put a hand on either of their shoulders.

“As I bind your hands, so are your lives bound in a union of love, trust, and devotion. Like the stars, your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a foundation from which to grow.”

Another tear formed as Hulda stared into Merritt’s beautiful eyes, crinkled as he smiled at her. This was not how she’d imagined this happening, not even when she was young and still full of hope for her future. Yet oddly, in this empty back room in LIKER’s headquarters, under the watch of strangers and a dog who used to be a house, she couldn’t think of anything more perfect.

“May this knot remain forever tied, and may your hands always hold one another. Hold tightly during the storms of life, and be gentle as they nurture one another. I summon the spirits of the four quarters of our world, that this binding may be blessed by the powers of all creation. So let it be, amen.”

Bowing his head, Sean moved his hands down Hulda and Merritt’s joined arms, bringing them together over their hands. He squeezed once, then released them. “It is done.”

Hulda’s heart swelled to bursting. “Done? We’re ... married?”

“Under Druidic law and any state recognizing it, yes.” Sean winked.

With the hand still bound to hers, Merritt tugged her forward and sealed the ceremony with a kiss on her lips. Hulda thought she’d melt into a puddle right there. Surely this was a dream! Things like this didn’t justhappen, and certainly not to her.

But when Merritt pulled back and Hulda opened her eyes, her world was just as jubilant as before she’d closed them.

Turning to Sean, Merritt said, “So we can never take this thing off, right?” He held up their bound hands.

Sean chuckled. “I would save the string, for sentimentality. And for now”—he scratched behind Owein’s ears—“I will take this one off your hands.”

Remembering herself, Hulda said, “Noon, Owein. Please. And contact us if anything goes awry.”

“He knows,” Sean and Merritt said in unison, then exchanged a knowing look.

“Right.” Hulda hesitated, then quickly unwound the string binding her hand to Merritt’s as Owein restored order to the makeshift arch. She might have stepped halfway into a fairy tale, but she was still mistress of this place while Mr. Walker was in Constantinople, so she escorted Sean, the hawk Fallon, and Owein into the hallway and down the stairs, thanking Sean repeatedly for coming to them and caring for Owein, and for the ceremony, and again for Owein. She saw them out the door, then watched them go down the street, ensuring they were well. The three of them easily blended with the crowd. And Sean was such a large man—he would be able to fend for himself, magic aside. And Owein! He could certainly take care of himself. He’d disintegrated an entire carriage earlier that day. Hulda really shouldn’t worry.

She did worry, a little. Caught herself wringing her hands on the way back upstairs to the room where Merritt was looking out the window in the same direction Owein had gone, keeping a watchful eye just as she had.

Hulda closed the door gently behind her. “So.”

He turned back from the window, a rueful smile on his face that instantly put her at ease. “So, Mrs. Fernsby. This has been a delightful turn of events.”

She held his eye and crossed the room. “Indeed.”

She only needed to lift her face to invite his lips to hers, to truly memorize them—their shape, their warmth, the way they flitted acrosshers. Feeling courageous, Hulda nipped at him, earning a soft growl and both his hands at the small of her back, pulling her in closer, thencloser, to him.

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