Page 78 of Lord of the Hollow Court
Braam let out one of his rumbling laughs. She could feel it through the mattress they shared. “I’m afraid you’ll have to retrieve it for me. It’s over there, atop the chest of drawers.”
With her smiling eyes traveling over him slyly, Katty slipped from the bed. It was warmer than she was used to in the morning, though no fire was lit in the hearth. Adrianus didn’t even have curtains on the posters of his bed. Perhaps it was always like this, always warm and inviting. She blushed as she realized she would not mind waking up in his room every morning.
A wooden box sat atop the dresser just as he’d said, though it was so tall Katty had to stand on her toes. Retrieving it, she turned—and found Braam propped on his elbow, watching her with his arresting green eyes.
“What’s that look for?” she demanded.
“What look? I’m simply admiring my wife’s figure.” His lips curved up in a smile. “Open the box, my bride.”
She slid the clasp to the side. The box was nothing remarkable, but that it was fine craftsmanship and very well polished, no carvings or inlays to denote it as a lord’s possession. Katty lifted the lid.
There, on a bed of velvet, rested a slender gold ring with a rectangular ruby set upon it. The stone was a soft shade of red, gleaming even in the low light of the bedroom. Its shade reminded her of leaves just on the cusp of their most glorious color.
“How do you find it?” he asked her. “It’s meant to be worn beneath our wedding bands, a reminder that putting our marriage above it is for the good of ourselves and our court, while the silver of the wedding bands symbolizes that our status as lord and lady is more precious than any troubles or joy we may find as husband and wife.”
“That sounds like a riddle.”
“A very fae one, yes. It makes a certain sort of sense.”
“Does it?” Katrina glanced up from the ring.
“It speaks of finding balance. It’s what my mother told me, anyway.” His emerald gaze grew more intense. “How do you find it?” he asked again.
“Beautiful.” She found herself blinking rapidly. “Everything in the fae world is so beautiful. I fear I won’t do it justice.”
“Don’t think that of yourself.” Braam tried to sit up, but the effort ended with a grunt and a sigh. “It is your right to wear that as my wife—and mine to ask you never to speak that way about my wonderful bride again. That is the ring of the Lady of the Hollow Court, and it is yours to wear for the rest of your days. It is the court’s honor that you should.”
“I’ve done nothing to deserve it,” she said, the ring blurring a little as she blinked away the tears. “I haven’t been half as good as I ought to have been.”
“The court brought you here, Katrina. You saved its lord. You saved its butler—and gods help us if he had not recovered. I did not learn this as early as I should have—in truth, I came upon this wisdom almost too late—but no one person is caretaker of this court. Our position asks only that we choose our helpers wisely. After hiring Misman, you, Katrina, are the soundest choice I’ve ever made.”
Katrina sniffed. “I’ll wear it.”
“You ought to.”
She slid it onto her finger, fearing it too large—then, in the way of so many things at this court, not the least of which was her husband, it was suddenly as if it was made for her. She was glad for the reminder this ring brought, not only of the acceptance she’d found here but of the balance she must seek.
“I think we shall have a very long and happy life together.” The edge of Adrianus’s mouth rose in a half smile. “I decree it as your lord.”
“And as your lady,” she said as she returned to his side of the bed, pleased at how playful he had become with her, “I decree we have many more nights like in the Lord’s Grove.”
“Good Gods, woman, is that all you can think of?”
She laughed genuinely, warmly. “Right now, it’s that or a meal.”
Braam rolled to his side to meet her. “My dear little fox, you are a lady now.” He leaned in to kiss her, lips tender on her own. “You can have both.”
Running her fingers through the loose curls of Adrianus’s hair, Katrina smiled a touch wickedly. “You first,” she said, “then the meal.” And when he returned her smile and her heart seemed to skip a beat, she knew.
The miller’s daughter had the finest of everything at last.
Epilogue
Ichabod Returns
Ichabod Crenwell had not been settled into his new position in the Hudson Valley for long when he began to seek out rumors of Sleepy Hollow. Despite himself, he wondered how things had gone for Katrina de Vries, the one they called the little bird on account of her angelic singing voice.
As it so happened, the gossip from Sleepy Hollow was inordinately substantive.
