Squaring my shoulders and reaching for the door handle, I prepared myself for the worst. /This is it, Lynarra. You didn't really think they would keep your secret, did you?/ Upon opening the door, my eyes widened in surprise.
"Good morning, Lynarra! Gods, what happened to you? You look as though you've been knocked off the back of a dragon," a playful voice teased. The man standing before me gave an impish grin, his light brown eyes sparkling with amusement below the similarly colored curls falling on his brow.
"Daeron! Nevermind my appearance. I was called away early this morning. What are you doing here?" I asked, secretly wishing I could glance in my mirror to see exactly how unruly I looked. The friend standing before me was not typically one to make immediate comments on appearances, good or otherwise.
"Did you truly forget, my porridge-brained friend?" Daeron said, continuing his good-natured prodding. "You agreed to go to the village with me today to find a birthday present for Quill. Think of how my brother would feel, to know his own beloved hadn't remembered him! Though, perhaps he won't want to keep ties with you when he sees the birds' nest that is your crown," he added, casting another pointed look at my hair.
I closed my eyes and let out a small exasperated sigh, trying to remind myself that this was my best friend in front of me and that I loved him, no matter how exhausted I was and how short my temper at the moment. Having regained my composure, I excused myself momentarily to fix my appearance. Seeing myself in the mirror, I shook my head and exhaled in disapproval. It was no wonder Daeron reacted as he did. My auburn curls were sticking out in at least ten different directions, no longer trapped in their typical braid. There were dark circles under my normally lively chestnut brown eyes, now dull and tired-looking. Having used so much energy to heal Amina, my face was pale and lacking its usual smile.
After quickly doing what I could to be deemed somewhat presentable, I strolled with Daeron back to the village square I had so recently left. It was Quill's 24th birthday and between the two of us, Daeron and I had set aside enough to get him one decent gift from the merchants whose stalls lined all sides of the square. Jewelry, bronze goods, assorted vegetables, piles of fabric, stacks of books, and anything more one could desire, all found in this quaint village. Thanks to our location close to one of the main roads of the kingdom, we hosted every sort of traveler and merchants found they could be quite profitable by staying here. I absently picked up a leather bound volume of the known plants of the eastern forests, flipping through the pages to see if I could glean any new information before the merchant shooed me away. "What are you looking at that for? It's not like you can read," a scruffy old merchant said from behind me, peering over my shoulder.
"I most certainly can!" I retorted indignantly. It was true. Despite being a female--and a poor one at that--I had been lucky enough to learn to read and write. Erik, the village record keeper, had agreed to teach me years ago in exchange for completing odd jobs or supplying him with his favorite mushrooms from the inner forest, where few ventured. It was how I'd become so familiar with medicinal herbs and found a way to provide for myself after Father died. Sometimes I wondered if Erik had taken pity on me when agreeing to the exchange; he spent far more hours teaching me than I spent helping him. "Well! If you can read, give the book back then! No reading unpaid merchandise!" The fellow scolded me and snatched the book out of my hands. "Get on then!"
I continued perusing the market until I eventually reconnected with Daeron in the crowd. He'd found an exceptionally well-crafted leather quiver embossed with leaves around the upper rim. Perfect for the skilled archer we were purchasing for. Counting out our coins, we paid the vendor and headed toward the farm Daeron and Quill tended with their parents.
"Lynarra," Daeron started after a few minutes of walking in silence, "what do you plan to do with your cottage once you and Quill are married? Surely the two of you won't be able to live there, it is far too small to raise a family in."
"I suppose we would have to cross that bridge when we came to it, if we come to it," I responded carefully. "It isn't as though it is an immediate concern."
"...ah." Daeron replied shortly and somewhat awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
I stopped in my tracks. "Daeron! Do you know something I don't?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in suspicion as I stared at my friend's sheepish expression.
"No! No, no, no," he said in a failed effort to sound nonchalant, his pace quickening. "Forget I said anything! I was simply curious as I know you enjoy your privacy and the cottage would afford you none once married. But still, it is your childhood home. I can't imagine leaving my farm behind."
Sometimes I think Daeron forgets how differently we were brought up; him with a loving home full of warmth and laughter and support, me with just my father and a cool, distant resentment between us. Giving up my cottage would be no great loss to me. /But what has prompted this line of questioning?/ I wondered. /Could Quill really be planning to propose?/ We had been courting for some time, it was true. Quill is a kind, brave, well-meaning man to be sure, and very handsome--almost any girl in the village would be happy to have him--but more than once I had found myself wondering how bright our future could be. It was not that I did not love him, rather that I was not sure I was capable of being the woman he would need me to be. Men in our village expected their wives to stay home where they would raise children and take care of menial everyday tasks. As good a man as Quill was, he was a traditionalist. I already knew my excursions into the depths of the local forests to collect herbs worried him--he would never say it, but I could see it in his eyes--and I wondered if I would be able to continue once married. Yet this would be the case no matter who I married and was simply a fact of life. Then there was the real issue: how was I to justify pulling this man into my problems? I couldn't very well keep the fact that I was a Praecant a secret from him forever, and even now I risked his well-being just by courting him. If I were to be found out, it was likely he would be ostracized, if not severely punished. I was being selfish. I should end things, my own happiness be damned. Especially now that Jarrod held my secret.
While lost in my thoughts, we had reached the farm. "You go hide Quill's present, I'll find him and keep him distracted," I instructed Daeron. He winked at me knowingly before heading toward the house. /Of course his mind would go to such places immediately,/ I thought with a small roll of my eyes as I headed toward the stables where I was most likely to find Quill. Before I could get past the hay barn, a strong arm looped around my waist and tugged me through the door.
"Hello, beautiful," a soft voice whispered in my ear as I was pulled in close to a broad chest. He smelled of the sweet hay all around us. I looked up into the eyes that were so similar to Daeron's with just a few more flecks of gold in them. "Happy birthday, Quill," I smiled up at him. The sunlight was catching his golden hair in a mesmerizing way and highlighting the freckles across his nose. There was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to kiss him.
"Is that today? Surely you must have a gift for me, then," he jested.
"I have no idea what you mean," I feigned confusion, both of us with grins on our faces. After a moment I added, "It is in the house by now, along with Daeron."
Suddenly Quill's face took on a more serious expression and he pulled back from me slightly. "Good. Then we won't be interrupted. There's something I want to discuss with you." He shuffled awkwardly and cleared his throat. "Lynarra, we've known each other our whole lives," he began. "And we have been courting for nearly two full summers now. So I have been thinking--hoping, really," he continued, "...that you might begin to consider marrying me?"