Riley walked and sorted through his emotions. He felt no jealousy for Roland and Finn, other than perhaps a nudge of envy for their happiness. He was incredibly relieved that he did not feel anything negative towards either of them personally.
Although he felt like he had dealt with his feelings for Finn already, it was nice to have that confirmed when their engagement was announced. He felt a little sad for himself remaining alone, but if a bit of self-pity was the worst emotion that came out of the situation, he could work through that easily enough. It was certainly far better than being blindsided by unexpected hurt.
He was in a surprisingly good mood, all things considered.
After all, he'd found a job where he had unmistakable talent, and was making a difference to help save lives. There was a war on the way and he was well-equipped to be an instrument of hope and help within it.
Despite the danger everyone he loved continued to face, he had a measure of contentment and happiness he hadn't necessarily found in farming. It was a bit of a shock to his system; he'd always thought farming was in his blood and a farmer he'd always be.
He approached the tall, grand house where Ashley had grown up. She had given him directions before, but this was his first time seeing it. He felt a bit dwarfed by its imposing columns and stately appearance. The little farmhouse of his youth would likely fit into a single room of this enormous, richly furnished residence.
He knocked at the door, and a man who must be a servant answered.
"Hello, I am here to see Ashley and her mother," Riley stated with false confidence.
The servant looked him up and down. The uniform told nothing of Riley's background; the richest and poorest alike were all issued identical garb when they entered service. He looked about to turn the soldier away when a voice called from inside the house,
"If that's Riley, let him in! I'll be down soon!"
Riley gave the butler a dashing smile as the other man frowned.
"This way, sir," he said. "If you will wait in the sitting room, I will announce you."
Riley entered the room indicated, and marveled at what he assumed were expensive items all around. Was he supposed to sit? Stand? He felt a strange pressure to have perfect manners in such a fancy house. The only problem was he was not entirely sure what perfect manners entailed.
Sitting on the edge of a nice sofa, he looked around the room slowly, taking it all in. He waited for a minute or two, then grew restless and stood up to examine some of the art on the wall. He heard footsteps from the hall and turned toward the door just as a beautiful woman walked in.
Dressed in a green satin gown that perfectly matched her eyes, her radiant but coy smile filled the room. Her shining golden locks were swept up into an elaborate hairstyle which enhanced and complimented the delicate bone structure of her face. Small dangling pearl earrings swayed gently as she walked toward Riley, drawing attention to the graceful slope of her neck. A matching gold and pearl necklace graced her collarbone just above the gown's neckline. The full skirt and silhouette of the dress accentuated the woman's figure and unbelievably tiny waist.
Riley gulped. Having never been faced with such a beauty as she, he was rendered speechless. She was even finer than all the expensive things around him, and he had no idea what to say to such a creature.
"Bear! Sit down, won't you? How do you like my house?" Ashley's voice came from the woman's rose-colored lips and shook him from his stupor.
"Ashley??" He asked incredulously.
Her dainty eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Yes?"
He looked her up and down with wide eyes, and she suddenly laughed.
"Oh! The dress! Yes, I guess you've only ever seen me in that baggy uniform. What do you think? It's one of my favorites, and I thought it would be nice to dress up a bit since the General accepted my resignation. It feels so good to be in my own things again."
She brushed at the skirt with her dainty hands and smiled, then looked at Riley and frowned. "Are you all right?"
His realized his mouth was hanging open and he snapped it shut. "I'm fine." Despite the words, his voice did not quite sound as it should.
"Well, sit down. You're making me nervous standing there and staring. Is my hair a mess?" She pressed on the hairstyle with her fingertips to check it as he shook his head no.
She took a seat on the edge of an armchair and he realized she'd now told him twice to sit down. He hurried to the sofa and sat on the edge, sitting up straight to try to be as proper as he could. It came across a bit awkward and Ashley giggled again.
"Don't try so hard, Bear. There's no one here but me. I've called for some tea, are you hungry? It will be heavenly after those military rations," She smiled warmly and he was dumbstruck once more.
She had been beautiful in the terrible-fitting uniform, even covered in sweat and dirt, and he'd gotten a sense of how small she was from the time he held her as she cried, but to see her in this finery with every hair in place… she was stunning, in the truest sense of the word.
"Is anything wrong?" She seemed oblivious to the effect she had on him, expecting their lively banter to continue as it always had.
"No, nothing," he stuttered. "I just wanted to make sure you and your mother are all right after, after all that." He gave her a strained smile, lamenting how difficult it had been to get a full sentence out.
"We are wonderful! We are finally free of that awful man, and there is a search party out there looking for my real father. I can't tell you how relieved we both were to find out from Roland that he tried to turn back from that evil path long ago. I'm just sad he was taken prisoner and punished over it." Emotions flicked across her lovely face as she processed several facets of the situation in quick succession.
"I'm also relieved to be out of the military. Now that I don't need it to shield me from being married off, I can live my life without constantly being under the gaze of my superiors and having to salute." She paused to give Riley a little mocking salute, "except, of course, to you, Supreme Officer Corporal Riley, Sir!"
"I'm not your superior now," he gave her a brief grin, "and I'm coming to realize I probably never was." He looked around at all the trappings of the top tier of Klain society, his gaze finally coming back to rest on the gorgeous woman before him. She was far and away his social superior.
"Come now, Bear. Though I've bested you in a battle of wits a time or two, you clearly have me put to shame in a spar. I'd say overall we're about evenly matched." Her eyes sparkled, and his heart warmed at the mildly irritating nickname.
"You believe we're matched, do you?" A slow smile crept up his face, causing her heart to skip a beat.
"In a manner of speaking," she replied. She hadn't meant anything by it, but the way he said it made her feel strangely nervous.
"Would that make you happy, to be matched with a bear?" He pressed.
"It would depend entirely on the bear, I suppose." She tapped her chin thoughtfully with one finger. "Why do you ask?"
He blanched, but smiled and shrugged to hide his consternation. "Idle curiosity."
"Well, let me know when it ceases to be idle and perhaps we can have a real discussion on the topic," her eyebrows rose in a silent invitation.
"You would invite that topic of discussion?" His tone became more serious, and suddenly she was the one left without a response.
She reached for a fan on the table beside her and began furiously circulating air around her flushed face.
Thankfully, a servant entered with the tray of tea and Ashley was able to regather her scattered wits.
"I think, perhaps, today has been eventful enough for my fragile female sensibilities," she said as she poured a cup for him and one for herself. "That discussion may be best saved for another time."
"Your fragile female act is much more convincing in this finery than in your uniform," Riley chuckled. "I almost believed it for a moment."
She looked at him sharply, causing him to smile a perfectly shameless grin until she reluctantly broke and joined him in laughter.
He thought to himself that he could stand to spend a lot more time around this enchanting, clever beauty.