“No,” I replied, and the simplicity of the answer made her laugh. “But,” I added, “I have every intention of making love to you again tonight. So it’s not as though you’re missing anything.”
“Well,” she said with a mischievous grin, “in that case…”
She kissed me, and we enjoyed the rest of our bath alone, undisturbed until we were well finished with our memory making and so much time had passed that our fingers grew wrinkled. Then a couple of staff members opened the door, pushing in a tall cabinet, which had two doors that opened to the closet within, and one drawer beneath them.
“My ladies,” the woman, a different one than who’d brought us here, greeted. She gestured to the wardrobe, the doors and single drawer of which had been opened by the other woman who’d helped push it in. “Queen Nira had these made specifically for tonight. After you’re dressed, we’ll escort you to dinner.”
We nodded, and they retreated out the door again to wait outside. Ava and I left the bath, brushing as much of the water off our skin as we could before patting dry with the towels we’d been provided. The only thing I retrieved from my pile of travel clothes was my dragon pendant, and I slipped it over my neck and then got dressed with what had been brought in the wardrobe. For me, there was a nice white tunic and a pair of brown leather trousers and boots, all of which fit perfectly. For Ava, there was a blue dress and slippers, not nearly as elaborate or sophisticated as the dress she’d worn to the party last time we were in Ronan, but still beautiful.
“What’s that?” I asked, nodding toward something in the drawer as I helped tie the string at the rear of Ava’s dress.
She reached out to grab the rectangular box, about the size of my hands if I put them side by side. The box itself was adorned with elaborate carvings that intertwined in a circular pattern all over the surface of the lid.
I’d never seen anything like it, but Ava must have, because she whispered to herself, “She didn’t…”
“Didn’t what?” I asked, and moved to stand at her side. “What did Nira do?”
Instead of answering with words, she flipped up the lid of the box, revealing what was inside. There was a folded up letter, which she set in the inside of the lid so she could show me the pair of rings underneath. They were solid gold—one was slightly larger than the other—and the inlay of each was carved with the same elaborate adornments as the wooden box.
“Are these for us?” I asked in shock.
“It’s Ronan tradition,” Ava murmured, sounding as surprised as I was. She put the box back in the drawer so her hands were free, and pulled the larger ring from the cushioned lining. “They’re wedding bands,” she explained, “the twisting lines carved into them represent all the intricate ways our lives are intertwined, but they wrap around the ring, see?” She spun the ring so I could follow a single line, which never ended. “They go on forever, to symbolize our eternity together.” She then held the ring so I could look at the inside, pointing to the letters there. “My name is carved into the inside of your ring, and yours in mine, and that’s what makes each pair unique.”
“I see,” I said with a smile.
“You wear it on your dominant hand,” she said, reaching for my left, “on your first finger, so even when you’re not paying attention, it’s always in view.” She slipped the ring onto my index finger, and it fit just right, and she lifted my hand to her lips to kiss my knuckles.
I reached for the second ring, and took Ava’s right hand to put it on the same finger as she’d put mine. She was positively beaming by the time it was in place. I bent down to press a soft kiss to her cheek, and then motioned toward the box. “What does the letter say?”
“Let’s see,” Ava said. She picked up the letter, broke the wax seal, and unfolded it. There were two separate pages of parchment, and Ava looked at both for a moment before saying, “There’s one for each of us.”
“You can read yours first,” I told her.
She nodded, holding it up to begin reading it aloud to me. “Dearest Ava, my beloved sister, you’re likely thinking that I didn’t have to do this, and I want you to know that I know it. This is the best way I could think of to express my wish that you and Kiena find a lifetime of happiness together, as I know you will, and because I expect that I may never see another love like yours so long as I live. Accept these rings as a gift because I wanted to, and because I have no doubt in my mind that our father would have done the same. He was a happy man by nature, but believe, Ava, that I’d never seen him so joyful as the day he finally met you. He loved you all his life. I know he loves you still. You were the piece of our family that I’d never known was missing, and I love you just the same. Nira.”
Ava met my eyes with tears filling hers, but she was smiling, and it didn’t look like she knew which to do. She sniffled, wiped the back of her hand over her cheek to brush away an escaped tear, and then gave a soggy laugh. Despite the moisture in her eyes, she looked so happy, and grateful, and… at peace. After all this time, she was forgiving herself, and Nira’s words seemed to have been more of a comfort than Ava was expecting.
“I’ll read yours now,” Ava said, sniffling once more.
I moved behind her to wrap my arms around her waist, hugging her to me to offer comfort of my own, and so she felt no need to rush. “Whenever you’re ready.”
She inhaled deeply as she wiped at her cheeks again, taking a few moments to reread her own letter and reflect on her emotions. After a minute, she shuffled that piece of parchment behind the second one and read my letter. “Dear Kiena,” she read, “first, I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me and Akamar. You found us a home when we didn’t have one, and we wouldn’t have been able to return home if it weren’t for you and Ava. You are my dearest friend, and though you’ve always felt like family, it brings me indescribable joy that your marriage to my sister makes it official. I would tell you to take care of her, but I’ve seen the ways that you care for each other, and there’s not a worry in my mind that your union won’t be one of profound comfort and pleasure. Know that I love you too, and that I thank the goddess every day for sending you back to us. Nira.”
Ava and I both just stood there for a long minute in silence, absorbing what was read. It had been easy to understand Ava’s tears when she’d read her letter, but I felt it more myself now too after hearing the heartfelt words that Nira had written specifically for me. I was beyond grateful for her letters and her gift, and as Ava folded up the parchment again, I could feel in the content stretch of silence between us that she was too.
“Should we go and find her?” I asked, letting Ava go so she could return the letters to the box. Once she’d set them down, she nodded, but turned toward me and wrapped her arms around my waist to hug me tight. “Are you alright?” I asked, squeezing her in return. She released me just enough to look up, and nodded with an unmistakable smile on her face. “You’re happy,” I observed with a smile of my own.
“Yes,” she said, moving her arms around my neck and stretching upward to kiss me. “The gods have been so good to us. Every day I think I can’t get happier, and every day I’m wrong.”
“Well, Little Will-o’,” I said, leaving one arm around her back and lowering the other behind her knees, scooping her up in my arms, “let’s see if this other surprise of Nira’s can’t make you even happier.”
Ava grinned her eager agreement, and I carried her out the door of the bath chamber to where the two women were waiting for us. I set her down once we reached them, folding my hand with hers instead so we could follow the women wherever they were supposed to take us. They led the way down the stairs to the first floor of the castle, down a long hall through which the savory scent of food was wafting, and to a heavy wooden door. The door was pushed open, and Ava and I motioned in. It was a large room, with a massive table at the center that still didn’t even take up half the space, but the moment we crossed the threshold, we both stopped in our tracks.