Page 70 of Enchanted Shadows
She’d only had her Enchantments for a few years before being unable to use them for nine, but I imagined the years between when Keir healed her and when she finally fled from Damek had honed her skills nicely. That training program she’d been in.
“So, can you carry things with that?” Sam asked her while they headed for the start.
“Yes,” Kessara confirmed. “I just moved myself with the shadows.”
“So you could carry our water bottles?” Sam asked. “While we ran?”
“Not without an abundance of focus,” Kessara smirked. “And I’m usually being loudlyencouragedwhich would be hard to keep my focus through, but maybe.”
“I have so many ideas,” Sam stated as she began running.
“I also have an idea.” Vivian joined her.
I tried to give Kessara her necklace back, but she was already gone. I put it into my pocket and headed over to run with them.
Vivian continued, “Maybe the General will ease up a bit and would make us run less if Kessara would?—”
“Donotfinish that unless you’d like to take three trips today,” I warned.
“Just something for Kessara to take into consideration,” Vivian said, feigning innocence as she ran away from me.
I snorted a laugh despite myself. Training this group of women was exasperating on a good day. Now that I was going to marry one of them?
For the first time since I had blurted out the words to Kessara, I finally thought it.
What had I done?
CHAPTER 23
My life had drastically changed from the moment I uttered those simple words.Marry me.And yet the part in all of this I was dreading most surprisingly wasn’t making the vows, vows which I knew were only halfway meant. I was marrying a princess. Who was witty, gorgeous, and smart. Even if she did want to murder me multiple times a week.
But having to talk to my parents about this sham wedding? That was the reason for this ache in my chest. The reason I had felt all day as if I was being weighed down by numerous small rocks, all vying for their chance to finally trip me up.
I loved my parents and my sisters. My father Gerald was an integral part of the reason I was the man I was today. Yes, I got my height and thicker build from him, but he also instilled in me from a young age that doing the right thing over and over again, compounded over time, made a huge difference. He was the one who had first put a sword in my hand and taught me how to swing it. He was also courageous to always keep distance from the dead king. During the height of Theon’s reign of terror, it was he whofirst told me that just because it was the way the king ran things, didn’t mean itshouldbe.
Then when I fell into loathing for the dead king, disrespect oozing out of my pores for the man, my father had taught me strategy. That brute force was more fun but didn’t always win the day.
I respected my father. I respected his opinions on my life. And I just didn’t know what he would think about my decision to marry Princess Kessara. I did my best to avoid disappointing him over the years because I couldn’t stomach that look he made when he pressed his lips together as if he was keeping all the thoughts from spilling out about what a failure I was. I loathed it.
I typically avoided coming to see them at all if I felt I would have to see that look. But in this case, I figured the people who gifted me life deserved to learn I was marrying a princess from me and not castle gossip. I wasn’t a perfect son by any means, but I did owe them that much.
I had sent a letter that morning letting them know of my visit, so my mother wasn’t totally shocked when I arrived that afternoon.
“Owen!” she gasped, opening the door quickly and rushing me in. “This has been a happy development.”
“Mother,” I greeted back, moving to hug her.
“Son,” my father yelled from the kitchen. The smell of fresh banana bread hit me. My favorite growing up.
“Father,” I said the same way back. Somehow, I wasn’t quite ready for what came next.
“What do you call a pair of nuts on the wall?”
I stilled and turned to my mother. Maybe this was not a good day to spring a visit on them.
“He’s been in a mood,” she whispered. “You know how he loves to see you.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” I whispered back.
