Page 33 of Deadwood
The knowledge frustrated me as his daughter because I couldn’t do anything in regards to easing that tension, but if I was to show myself as a figure of power on their land, I needed to be educated on the matters at hand. I supposed the days of traveling could make up for the holes in my conversance.
“Who else?”
He eyed me before glancing at the small, curtained window. “Is this a topic we should be discussing?”
My fingers wanted to fist in my skirts, but I held them at bay. I had to show composure. “Is it one we shouldn’t?”
“It’s the beginning of our marriage, Lady Auria,” Lander started.
“Please, just Auria.”
“Auria,” he corrected. “I wouldn’t like to know firsthand what your father’s wrath might look like, should he discover I’ve told you things he would rather you not know.”
“His mistake for marrying me off, then.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line, the corners turned down. “You don’t want this.”
“You do?” I questioned.
“To be honest, Auria, no. I don’t wish to be married. You’re a lovely woman?—”
“Save it, please. There’s no need for flattery.”
“You are. And you should know that. I know being locked away in that castle, you likely haven’t heard it often, so hear it from me because you deserve at least that. While we both clearly don’t want to be betrothed, neither of us have a choice in the matter. At least we can endure it together.”
I blinked. “Are you asking to be my friend?”
“If nothing else,” he said.
Any man Taylin had ever told me about had turned out to be a pig, and here Lander was, my fiancé, offeringfriendshipin light of our marriage.
“A friend, then,” I decided. It couldn’t be the worst proposal.
His lips lifted the slightest as he gave a dip of his chin.
Possibly, what I’d been forced into wouldn’t be as bad as I once thought.
It surely started on a bad note, but being able to see some of Serpentine? It was a dream.
I might be seated in front of a good-looking man, but he wasn’t what I pictured when I closed my eyes at night.
It was trees and mountains and snow and desert. My imagination ran wild with what I thought the world might hold, and what I wished to one day see with my own eyes. And this engagement? It was the key to the locked door that I’d been searching for for so long.
It opened me up to a sense of freedom I never thought I’d have, and here it was, merely a breath away.
“We’ll be celebrating Exitium Lunae in Torbernite,” Lander added, changing the subject and pulling me back from my thoughts.
I tilted my head. “Exit-what?”
A small chuckle passed his lips. “Gods help me.” Regaining his composure, he went on, “It’s the celebration of when the moon exploded a century and a half ago. Have you really never been to a Lunae Festival?”
I shook my head. “Given I didn’t even know the holiday existed, no. I’ve never celebrated anything of the sort.”
Sorrow flashed in his eyes before he quickly masked it. “Well, you’ll make up for all you’ve missed at this year’s celebration.”
I folded my hands together in my lap, a smile pulling at my mouth. “I suppose I will.”
Yeah. This new freedom was feeling pretty good, if I had to admit.
