Victoria waited nervously inside the tent. It was borrowed from the Rhone, a temporary lodging with enough space that in an emergency, Dr. and Mrs. Sherman would have plenty of room to treat patients here.
Papa had slipped out a back exit while Mama went to get Gabriel.
"You can tell him my answer yourself," Dr. Sherman had told her with a smile and a kiss on the forehead. "I love you very much."
"I love you too, Papa," She'd given him a hug before he left.
And now she waited.
Gabriel entered the tent with a pensive expression that relaxed into mild confusion when he noticed Dr. Sherman's absence.
"Hello," He greeted Victoria with a tentative smile.
"Hello," She replied, suddenly self conscious. "Papa said I should give you his answer. He… had to go."
Victoria glanced to the back of the tent, from where her father had made his exit.
"What is the answer?" He kept his place a few steps away from her. A natural distance for conversation with someone, but it felt very far right now.
"Do you truly, actually want this?" She blurted, "Want me?"
He swallowed, and his face fell for a second, a slightly hurt expression written there, but then his eyes flickered to hers. Determined.
"Yes," He said simply. "I've asked myself so many times how I can make you believe me."
"I'm sorry–" She began, guilt creeping up from her belly for not bringing herself to trust him when he said so. Her words cut off as he took two large, deliberate steps forward, pulling her against him. She gasped, and he smiled.
"Since my words have so far done more harm than help, I thought I might try a different method of persuasion this time... if that's all right with you."
He took one of her hands and pressed it to his chest. His heart raced under her palm, keeping pace with her own, which was pounding in her ears.
Victoria's eyes widened, and she nodded. Gabriel lowered his lips to hers.
It was an unpracticed kiss, sweet, gentle, and tentative at first, but it quickly escalated as a spark ignited between them. Gabriel clutched her closer, pressing a hand to her back as one drifted to the back of her head, cradling it as he angled his face to hers.
It was simultaneously the most natural and the most thrilling thing Victoria had ever experienced. Her stomach clenched in the throes of emotion even as her body relaxed against him. She felt at odds with herself and yet perfectly whole, like a treat that is both salty and sweet.
When he drew his face away, her eyelids fluttered open and she met his gaze darkened with some emotion she had never seen there before.
"I love you," He whispered huskily, lowering his lips to hers again, briefly. "Do you believe me now?"
She stood on her tiptoes, lifting her face for another kiss instead of offering a verbal response. He held her close, inhaling sharply as her arms, which at some point had come around him, tightened. Too tight?
She loosened her grip in worry, looking up at him with chagrin.
"I think this method shows promise," He said thoughtfully, "though I haven't yet gotten an answer to my question. This will all be very awkward later if Dr. Sherman asked you to tell me 'no.'"
Victoria giggled, and Gabriel smiled to show he didn't really believe that to be the case.
"Just for my personal assurance, and the end to my great suspense, the answer is yes, isn't it?" He stroked her lower lip with his thumb as his eyes searched hers.
"Yes, Gabriel. If you still want me to be your wife, I will be."
"I want it more than anything," His eyebrows drew together, "What's this 'if' nonsense?"
"I suppose it's still new and hard to believe," She frowned, but her eyes were lit with mischief, "I may take more… convincing."
He looked momentarily downtrodden, but when she dropped her eyes to his lips, a slow smile formed there.
"Ah, I think I can manage that," He whispered, kissing her again, "just how much convincing do you anticipate you will require?"
She hummed thoughtfully against his lips. "A lot, I think. A lifetime's worth."
"Lucky for you, I can offer exactly that."
The couple shortly emerged from the privacy of the tent to receive the delighted hugs of Mrs. Sherman and the glassy-eyed yet stoic handshake of the Doctor.
Normally a stern and serious woman herself, this side of the doctor's wife was a rare delight. She bustled around spreading the good news that her little girl would be a bride!
The report quickly reached the king, who after all had some interest in his younger sister's future. When he and his family approached, the impromptu celebratory gathering quieted somewhat. Roland hugged both Victoria and Gabriel, with a hearty slap on the back for the man.
"I first worked on this special water as an engagement gift for Uncle Shayn and Simone," Lily smiled at them, "but Aunt Mayra told me I should have some more for another gift, just in case someone else should get engaged." The girl handed Victoria a water skin, which the bride-to-be accepted with a hug for the girl.
"Thank you Sweetheart," She said sincerely, "That was incredibly sweet of you."
Victoria didn't have time to ask what was special about the water, as more family arrived on the scene to congratulate them all.
Riley was not far behind, though he looked rather tired. He hugged his stepbrother tightly and whispered something that made himself laugh and Gabriel turn red. Victoria didn't want to know what it was.
"They're all growing up," The General shook his head with mock sadness as he jested a little too loudly to be just speaking to Roland. "Soon our kids will be grown, and then they'll get married and have kids and we'll be old men, useless and senile."
"Maybe you will," Roland said, "I plan to keep my sanity until the end."
"And plans always turn out perfectly," Riley rolled his eyes dramatically to the good-natured laughter of those around them.
"Speaking of plans," a voice off to the side asked with a hint of belligerence, "We ever get to know the plan for getting our world back? Other than hidin' in the mountains forever, I mean."
Victoria's eyebrows rose at the disrespectful tone, and the gathering went quiet.
Roland wore a tolerant, but strained smile. "This is neither the time nor the place, Jimmy."
"Hmph," The voice answered, and Victoria found the small source of it standing grumpily off to one side.
Finn, who had been socializing her way around the crowd, lifting spirits with her smiles and happiness over the match, turned to the little man.
"Jimmy, I have a task for you, if you are brave enough to undertake it for me," She smiled at him.
"Brave, fine. Stupid, no. Humans always get those mixed," Jimmy complained, but couldn't keep from looking at the queen with a hint of curiosity. "What do you want to drag me into, and you got any more butter tarts?"
"Come take a walk with me," The queen invited graciously, taking his arm and leading him away from the crowd. The king glanced after the pair and excused himself to follow, gesturing that the triplets should come with him. The merry mood resumed without Jimmy's snarky presence.
Victoria felt like she could fly. Gabriel looked at her, lovingly, and her heart melted. It was too good to be true! She'd wanted to believe it for so long, but held herself back. She hadn't wanted to be fooled, to have her heart wrecked down the road because she'd been mistaken.
Her parents' perspective had been invaluable, and she now stood assured of Gabriel's love. He squeezed her hand, and she marveled at how different it felt, and yet much the same, with him wanting her to be by his side forever.
"When did you know?" She whispered to him, suddenly curious. He considered the question with a bemused smile before he answered.
"In one sense, I've known for a long time, but couldn't name it. It became far clearer to me when I was on the verge of death, and your voice was all I wanted to hear. I stayed because you called me."
She swallowed, grappling with his near death at the same time she was thankful for the clarity it brought him. With a sigh, she squeezed his hand and turned to hug another well-wisher who had just heard of their betrothal.
Shayn and Simone soon appeared, basking in their own happiness but fully capable of reveling in theirs as well. Riley pitched a double wedding, and the idea was bandied about. Victoria did consider Simone perhaps her closest friend after their weeks together on the surveying trip, and Shayn was Gabriel's stepbrother. They would have significant overlap in guests at two separate ceremonies…
But where? And when? Did they delay the ceremonies in the hope that Klain would be retaken and they could enjoy the comforts of home? Did they have the ceremonies as soon as possible, knowing that any day things could go horribly wrong and they could lose everything?
Victoria's euphoric mood dampened, and Gabriel put an arm around her, kissing her temple gently.
"Whatever we choose, we'll be together," He whispered softly.
She sighed, opening her mouth to assure him that she loved him and would marry him this minute if he wanted, even in the old dress she wore right now.
However, before she could, the ground began to move under their feet.