“By whom?”
“By me.” Aldrik knelt before her.
Vhalla struggled for sound. She struggled to breathe. Her toes had gone numb with shock—the world seemed to hang on the prince’s every word.
“Would you want me to?” he asked, taking her hands in his.
“I don’t understand,” her utterance was so faint it was barely heard. Her heartbeat was louder.
“Would you, Lady Vhalla Yarl, like to someday be the Empress Vhalla Solaris?”
“WHAT?” EVERYTHING HAD frozen into a singularity of impossibility, the world focusing on the crown prince, bare chested and on one knee before her.
Aldrik searched her face with so much fearful hopefulness that her chest threatened to explode. He didn’t say anything else. He knew she’d heard his proposal.
He proposed.
To her.
The seconds elongated—and Vhalla realized that there was no joke. There wasn’t a caveat. There was only a waiting prince before her who seemed to be panicking the longer she sat in shock.
“Not me, you can’t ... pick me.” Vhalla shook her head.
“I can. I have.” Aldrik tightened his grip on her hands, a fearful edge overcoming his words. “Vhalla, I will not force you into anything you do not want. If you—” His voice cracked, and he paused. “—if you say yes. We would not marry until you were made a Lady of the Court, our engagement would be kept secret until then—though I promise you I will honor it. But, I must know, I must know if that is a road you would walk with me, hands joined.”
Every thought she had competed for attention in her mind: a secret engagement, a life with Aldrik, ruling a realm she was never made to rule, his rose garden, being Empress. They had so much yet to figure out. So much of their lives were in question. Vhalla wanted to pull her hands from him and demand their world to be more secure before she could even contemplate such an outlandish idea.
But, she stilled. What if they didn’t have time? What if she died tomorrow? What if, what if, what if. Those words circled in her mind and tried to obscure the one thing she wanted. The one thing she’d been fighting for from the first moment she knew what it was. The one thing that was waiting right before her.
“Yes.”
There would be time later to make sure it was the right decision, time before she swore any vows to him before the Gods and men. If there wasn’t time, then she would indulge the fantasy until her dying breath.
Aldrik blinked, his jaw relaxing and his lips parting. “It won’t be easy,” he breathed.
“You told me that before,” she reminded him.
“You’ll have to learn how to be a lady in the eyes of the Court.”
“I know.” Vhalla wondered if he suddenly regretted his decision. “I want to be with you, Aldrik. You’re my Bond, my fate is laced together with yours. You’re the first man I’ve ever truly loved, and I want to stay with you forever, if you’ll have me.”
“My lady,” he whispered in awe. “My lady!”
Aldrik pulled her off the bed, standing. His hands shifted from hers to tightening around her waist, and Vhalla’s body swelled to press against his. Aldrik captured her mouth firmly in a kiss that left no room for further questioning.
“I have something for you.” He pulled away, breathless.
“What?” Vhalla blinked in surprise.
Aldrik moved like a man who had years shaved off his life. “It should be cast in gold, more befitting of a future Empress. But silver seemed oddly appropriate, and I’ve more experience with the metal for this.” Aldrik rummaged through a chest, taking out a bag, which held a box, which held a smaller silken bag. The prince returned, presenting the white parcel to her. “I’ve been told that men in the East will offer a token to their bride to be as a promise of future prosperity.”
Vhalla took the bag gingerly, her fingers shaking. This was happening, she reminded herself as she pulled it open. She had just said she would marry the crown prince. It assumed an impossible number of things that would have to go their way. But, if it all did ...
The token he had decided to gift her with must be enchanted, as it stole all her breath and attention.
The pocket watch was smaller than his in size, but was also cast in silver. Strung by a fine chain, it held a hook that could clasp around the top of the watch to be worn as a necklace or in the traditional fashion. Its back was polished to a mirror finish. Embossed upon its front was the blazing sun of the Empire, cut in half by a wing—the same wing that had been on the back of the Windwalker’s cloaks.
“You wished for time,” Aldrik explained. “I heard each utterance when you beseeched time to stop, for mornings not to come. I want you to know I shared your every sentiment. I wanted to give you the promise of my minutes, my hours, my days.” His long fingers curled around hers, around the watch. “My future is yours, Vhalla Yarl.”