Page 260 of Kingdoms of Night

Gyges stepped forward, his hands full of pale, dangling fibers. "I release my daughter’s roots to you.”

Geraint took the offering, his gaze very confused and very human. He looked over his shoulder at his brother. "Wain, sword."

Sir Gawain handed him his sword. Geraint reached back and grabbed a tuft of his hair. With the sharp blade, he released the hair and presented it to Enid.

"I release my roots to you," he said.

Enid was so surprised at the move that her lips quivered. The smile was an awkward one, as she wasn’t used to moving her mouth in that fashion. Geraint smiled back at her. The gold twinkled in his rich brown eyes and made her grin stretch wider. A glance at her father watching the two of them wiped the look off her face.

"You are now entwined," intoned the oak. "These two souls are grafted together. Their strength combined so that their strands will bear strong seeds that will bloom."

The oak began to fold its branches back in. Its roots shifted the earth to burrow deep once more. The flowers who had borne witness closed their petals now that the show was over.

“Wait,” called Geraint. "In human culture, a wedding ceremony is sealed when the husband kisses the bride."

A kiss? In front of others to watch? She had heard that humans could be a bit on the exhibitionist side with their affections. She could grant him a kiss. She only hoped this was the most he would want to share of their amorous activities now that they were entwined with one another.

As he’d done in every step of their time together, Geraint waited for her acquiescence. It was something that she would enjoy getting used to. She gave a slight incline of her head.

Geraint lifted his hand. His finger came under her chin. He tilted her face toward him. The first brush of his lips against hers was a heatwave.

Enid liked the taste of the man. She liked his words and the intensity he'd displayed during the entwining ceremony. She was coming to see that a life with him would not be so bad, especially if he took her away from her father to the land of Camelot.

Though it was in the human realm of smog and chemicals, it was on magical land. Being on a ley line would be good for her roots. Better than spending the rest of her days in an ice-capped tundra.

So yes, things were looking up for her. She might even be able to take Sir Geraint, her husband, at his word. Knights lived and died by their vows. He had given his to her.

With the kiss concluded, she walked her new husband to her rooms. Her father had insisted they spend the night here in his stronghold before they departed for Camelot.

"Where's my flower?” she asked once they were behind closed doors.

She felt him bristle at her words. He patted the place at his chest where his heart resided.

“It's in a safe place. Do you want it back?"

Enid thought on that. She knew that no one would be able to take it from him while he breathed. Her connection to it was warm. She had felt a chill over her while Vidar had held it.

"No," she said simply.

"It smells like heaven in here," Geraint said, breathing in deep and looking around her room.

It was sparsely decorated. Had been since she was a child. She’d learned not to covet anything or have keepsakes. Whenever her father saw that she had an attachment to something, he would inevitably use it against her.

Enid wasn't sure what heaven smelled like. What humans thought of as heaven was actually deep in the core of the earth where the Goddess and Her angels resided while she tinkered with creation. Enid was pleased to know that Geraint enjoyed her scent.

She watched as his large body moved about her space. He was all muscle and strength. Not a willowy bone in his body. His heat fairly radiated off him.

"Are we compatible?" she asked.

Geraint turned to her.

"I've never seen a naked human male.” She stepped toward him. "You're very hairy. Are you hairy all over?"

"Yes, but not very.”

"It seems inconvenient. How does the sun touch your skin?"

He smiled at her. "I'm not hairy everywhere."

---