Page 258 of Kingdoms of Night

No, Geraint was not listening to his friend nor the wise council Wain thought he was delivering. His mind was made up. Enid needed him. She needed him to protect not only her, but this part of her in his hands.

“You gonna give that back to her?”

That called him up short. Geraint remembered Enid’s gaze as she’d looked at the seed. She’d wanted it back in her possession. Yet, he hadn’t given it back to her. He’d kept it for himself… so that he could have her.

“She’s to be my wife,” Geraint said, finally breaking his stoic silence. “What is mine is hers.”

Geraint tucked the pod into his tunic. The seed came in contact with the flesh of his chest, right at his heart. Once again, he felt cooing pulsations. Without conscious thought, his hand came up to the beating little bud. He patted it at its rounded bottom, just as he would a child preparing to doze.

They stood outside the lushest garden Geraint had ever witnessed in his hundreds of years of life. There were not colors like this in any corner of the human world. He doubted any human had ever born witness to the vibrant petals and leaves of the fae world. Branches of neon colors with inner luminance that throbbed like the stage lights of a rave. Flowers littered the ground, and each time Geraint turned his head away, he would swear he caught the buds turning back to him and opening their petals to peer at him.

“Morgan would call this misogyny,” said Wain.

“Morgan doesn’t know what she’s talking about. A misogynist hates women. Do any of us knights hate women?”

Wain cocked his head to the side and thought about that. Geraint knew what name was rattling inside his friend’s head. They both said the one potential candidate at the same time.

“Percy.”

Though Geraint didn’t think the knight hated women. He just had a healthy distrust of them. He had been born in this realm, and being half-human hadn’t made it easy for him. Especially not by the Valkyrie, who Geraint had seen for himself had a healthy distrust of men, and for good reason.

“I’ve taken vows to protect the fairer sex at great risk to myself,” Geraint said. “I’ve been prepared to die in service for many women. This is the first woman I’ve wanted to live for.”

Wain gave him a hard stare. Finally, his friend took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine. I see you’re going to go through with this. But I want to be on record saying that it’s a crazy idea.”

“So noted.”

“I’ve got your back.”

“Never doubted you wouldn’t.”

“At least I won’t have to fight Loren to be your best man.”

Geraint flinched at the L word. “You thought I’d choose her over you?”

“You two have been hanging out a lot.”

“After what she just did; after that betrayal?”

“She’s Loren.”

That was always the explanation for any of Loren’s actions. Geraint opened his mouth to launch into a tirade. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the sight of a pale purple vision moving toward him. All thoughts of his former brother and her betrayal fled his mind.

Enid stood in the clearing. She wore a new dress. This one was not white. There were pastel shades of flowers adorning the bodice and the hem. Not one of the blossoms compared to her beauty.

It hit him all of a sudden. It was his wedding day.

The life of a knight was as far from a desk job as one could get. Just a few hours ago, he’d been risking his life for a woman who turned out not to be his brother. Days before that, he’d woken up on a ship as it sank to the bottom of the ocean, only to be captured by mer people. And now he was walking toward the creature he was pledging to spend the rest of his life with.

Nope, not a typical day at the office by a stretch. But Geraint was exactly where he wanted to be.

Enid looked up then. Her gaze caught his. Geraint felt like he was falling, not down but toward her.

There was a glimmer of something there. Not fear. Not desire. He couldn’t put his finger on it. Perhaps it was resignation?

Whatever the look was, she lifted her head like the regal fairy princess that she was and made her way to him on sure feet. Geraint met her more than halfway. He needed her to know that he would always be there to shoulder any burden that might come their way.

“You asked for my sword,” Geraint said to her. “It’s yours for as long as I draw breath. Now I give you my name and my bond.”

---