Page 78 of Ties of Frost

“Only if you’re comfortable with that.”

Sajen and I both gaped at her. Shifters rarely allowed someone to ride them, but wyveri never did.

“What happened to ‘no one rides on my back’?” I demanded.

“I owe you my life,” she said to Rouven, ignoring me. “This is the least I can do.”

“There’s nothing here I’m overly attached to. Let me stitch up your friend and grab a pack with some clothing and my coin, and then we can depart for Gamnica.” Rouven hurried inside.

Sajen started to follow but then paused in the doorway. His mouth twitched as he fought a grin. “You two worked things out, then?”

Zidra leaned against my shoulder. “We’re getting married.”

An idea occurred to me. As members of a holy order, all rengiri could officiate weddings. “Would you do the honors in Gamnica?”

Sajen snorted. “Absolutely not.”

My mouth fell open. “What?” I demanded at the same time as Zidra sputtered, “Why ever not?”

“I’m not letting Kyrmaris have a secret wedding in travel-worn clothing in a random sanctuary in Gamnica. You’re getting married in a proper ceremony in Vairdros Cathedral with a crowd, as is right for the only co-recipients of the Emperor’s Merit and the darling couple of the empire.”

Zidra and I looked at each other, the indecision I felt mirrored on her face.

“I would like to see you in a wedding dress…”

“Don’t say you can’t afford one,” Sajen interrupted. “Announce you’re getting married, and the dressmakers in Laedresh will be climbing over each other to have the privilege of making your dress. Let them keep it for display afterward, and I’m sure they won’t charge.”

“Are you coming, rengir?” Rouven shouted grouchily.

Sajen rolled his eyes and entered the cabin.

“The idea of you not keeping your wedding gown makes me sad,” I said.

Zidra shrugged. “It’s not as if I can carry it around on missions, so I wouldn’t be able to keep it, anyway.”

“Then are we doing this? Getting married in a crowd, with everyone staring?” I couldn’t imagine that sounded appealing to her, even though it did to me.

She bit her lower lip as she thought it over. “We’ll hear so much complaining if we don’t.”

I laughed. “Agreed.” I could already think of several rengiri, friends, and family members who would never let me hear the end of it—Sylathria included.

She kicked the pebbles, her gaze fixed on her boots. When she spoke, her voice was tight and scarcely audible. “My family won’t come.”

I squeezed her hand. “You want to marry me, right? There’s no moral or ethical reason we shouldn’t get married?”

“Of course not!” She frowned up at me. “I did very much mean it when I said yes.”

That pulled a crooked smile from me despite the seriouspoint I wanted to make. “We’ll be wed before Iskyr and the people who believe in us, like Sajen. You have nothing to be ashamed of. If your family won’t honor what Iskyr himself has blessed, that is their wrong choice to make. Their opinions or approval don’t change the reality that you are a great rengir, an Emperor’s Merit recipient, and the woman I love with every beat of my heart.”

Zidra nodded, and I felt her painful sense of insecurity and shame ease into calm. The heartbreak didn’t fully fade, but a quiet acceptance filtered through the heartbond—along with a deep love and fiery longing that set my heart racing.

She swayed closer. “After our big public wedding, we have to go to a remote location for our honeymoon and tell no one where we’re going.”

“Deal.” I bent down and kissed her but had to end the delightful experience far too early when Sajen emerged from the cabin.

Zidra placed a light peck on my cheek, then withdrew to shift.

Sajen rolled his shoulders. “Well, I suppose I had best carry you, or you’ll never keep up with Zidra.”

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