Page 164 of Ironling
In their first fortnight betrothed, Aislinn had waited for him to decide she wasn’t worth it. She lived in dread, awaiting the moment he gave her up. Yet, it never happened, and Aislinn realized she’d given him far too little credit. Hakon was nothing if not determined, and he was learning. He never backed down from a challenge.
It was why she knew, with absolute certainty, that he was out there already, awaiting her with his family.
His aunt Sighíl had been fetched by one of Hakon’s halfling friends, and she and her family had arrived just in time for the wedding. Aislinn immediately liked Siggy, even if the orcess talked so loudly she was tempted to cover her ears as they spoke. Her mates were good-natured, and her twin girls were darlings, making fast friends with the younger Brádaigh siblings.
In fact, she thought she could hear Siggy herself cheering the loudest just outside.
“I’m ready,” she told her father.
Merrick smiled. “Yes, you are.”
Hakon stood in the shade of a tall wooden trellis erected on the castle steps, purple cones of wisteria hanging down to perfume the air. The spring sunshine was bright, the sky a clear azure, and a gentle breeze blew through the courtyard.
Thousands of eyes watched him, and he tried to ignore the prickle along his back. He’d done his best to look the part, let valets shave and clip and scrub within an inch of his life. Days had gone into making and fitting his doublet of Darrow blue, its thick brocade catching the light; Siggy had insisted on using another day to affix all theneeded—her word—additions like metal cuffs and silver buttons.
Siggy had brought a trove of gifts, and he spent a good hour that morning standing still as she bedecked him with a fortune of her finest creations. Around his throat she clipped an exquisite gorget, tooled with hammer and arrow motifs. On the gorget she’d mounted a thick golden torque, customarily worn by mated orcs, inset with the deepest blue sapphires. She’d replaced hisplain—her word—steel buckle with one of silver filigree, studded with more motifs and sapphires.
And for his ears, she presented him with new golden hoops, one set with sapphires of the Darrow blue.
“Are these gifts or advertisements?”he’d half-joked.
Siggy just smiled toothily.“It can mean more than one thing.”
When she stepped back, satisfied with her work, Hakon felt a stone heavier and like he was marching back into battle, the finery his armor.
Standing there under the expectant gazes of all the Darrowlands, though, it truly was like armor—and he was glad of it. Even if his skin was green and his ears pointed, he didn’t want to be a halfling blacksmith in their eyes—he wanted to look like he belonged beside his mate.
Horns sounded from the front of the castle, and Hakon’s heart leapt to his throat.
He caught Siggy’s eyes from where she stood at the front of the crowd with Viggo, Halstern, and their twins. She grinned widely around her tusks, clapping and cheering, and threw him a wink.
“Do you thinkgadaronandgamananwould be pleased?”he’d asked her in a quiet moment.
Siggy had snorted with laughter.“To hear of you marrying a human noblewoman? They’d be shining brighter than the moon over it.”
“But would they behappy?”
Siggy looked up from the gorget clasp.“Theyarehappy,vittarah.Can’t you feel it? It’s in the sunlight, on the breeze. It’s in your mate’s smile and will be in the eyes of your little ones. That is their love for you.”
The truth of their love beat bittersweetly beside his heart, a bond not unlike the mate-bond he felt to Aislinn but for his dear grandparents. He could feel their happiness, their approval, and he knew they would have adored Aislinn.Gamananwould have loved her openness and humor, andgadaronwould have admired her quick mind.
Aislinn would have fit into his family as well as he felt he fit into hers. It gave him some comfort, a balm for the soreness of not having his grandparents here with him.
Siggy lifted her hands above her head to clap and nodded over his shoulder.
Hakon sucked in a breath.I’m ready.
He turned toward the castle, the crowd behind him growing deafening as Lord Merrick emerged with Aislinn.
She was redolent.
A gown of Darrow blue hung from her shoulders, revealing her delicate collarbones and throat, around which dangledteardrops of sapphire and aquamarines. Layers of blue silk draped from her hips like a fall of water, rippling as she walked. Gold and silver thread caught the light, making her sparkle and glitter. Her hair had been brushed and braided to a high sheen, shining like pure gold. Pearls glinted in the curls, and her crescent headdress was studded with them.
Her wide smile was the most beautiful of it all, and that only grew when she caught sight of him waiting for them.
Hakon’s heart thudded painfully in his chest, the mate-bond pulling tightly, as if to draw them together faster.
Fates, she’s beautiful.She looked every bit the noblewoman—more, she looked like the proud heiress of a great demesne, the leader of a strong people.And she’s mine.
