Page 89 of The Warrior Priest
“Then I accept.”
“But I haven’t proposed yet.”
I tilted my head to the side and arched my brows.
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “It’s not how I imagined it, but Jac, will you marry me?”
I grinned. “I will.” I hooked a finger into the waistband of his trousers. “Now, show me what I’ve been waiting to see all these years.”
We stayedin the room all the next day. The day after that, we borrowed clothes for Rhys from the innkeeper then headed to the sheriff’s office. The holding cells behind the office kept the prisoners locked up until their trial was held, but we didn’t get that far.
“I’m afraid he died overnight,” the sheriff said. “I am sorry, Miss Trenchant.”
Rhys circled his arm around my waist. I leaned into him. Not because I was so shocked at the news and needed support, but simply because I liked to be near him. Hearing about my uncle’s death didn’t affect me.
“The magistrate has yet to complete the formalities, but no one will object if you wish to move in immediately, Miss Trenchant,” the sheriff went on.
I frowned. “Move in where?”
“To your uncle’s house. It’s yours. Or it will be soon.”
“But I’m a woman. The house and all my uncle’s property and belongings go to his nearest male relative.”
“There aren’t any. You’re the only surviving relative he had. The magistrate will ensure the property deeds are amended and your name added.” He waved a hand at Rhys. “You may want to tell the magistrate what name you want to use if you plan to marry soon.”
“Oh. You mean the property will be given to Rhys, as my husband.”
“No, Miss Trenchant. The law recently changed. Women can inherit property in their own right now. I’m simply asking if the magistrate writes Jacqueline Trenchant or Jacqueline Mayhew.”
I was going to be the owner of a house? Just me?
“We haven’t settled on a date,” Rhys said when I didn’t respond. “Ask the magistrate to write Trenchant for now. We’ll have it changed later.”
I left the sheriff’s office still feeling somewhat numb. “What should I do with such a large house?”
“You could live in it,” Rhys said. “Or if the memories are too painful, you could sell it.”
“I think I will sell it. It’s too large, too ostentatious. Besides, I want us to choose where we live together.”
He drew me against his side and kissed the top of my head. “We’ve both lived in one room for a long time. We deserve something bigger, but I agree. Something a little more modest is probably more suited to us.”
We discussed where in the city we wanted to live while we walked to the temple of Merdu’s Guards. The bell of the high temple on top of the hill chimed midday, just as it had done every day since the bell tower was built. Just as it would for years to come, whether the high priest was in residence or not. A new high priest would be appointed soon, and everything would continue on as it always had.
Merdu’s Guards would continue, too, but without Rhys. His name would be remembered, however, etched in stone in their small temple beneath Master Tomaj’s. I suspected it would be remembered in many other ways, too. He would be the charismatic warrior priest, the charming young man who’d broken a few vows along the way to becoming master, and finally given it all up for a woman.
I couldn’t enter the temple complex. Nothing had changed there. Women still weren’t allowed in. Rhys fetched his friends and brought them out to me. We stood under the tree where I’d once hidden and listened to the high priest’s conversation with Master Tomaj and Rhys, and where Giselle had hidden before attacking me a mere two days earlier. The day was warm, and the shade was welcome.
I thought seeing Rhys’s friends would be awkward. I thought they’d blame me for taking Rhys away. But they all embraced me, none more fiercely than Rufus, the serious new master of the order.
Rhys stood close behind me, one hand on my hip. “Is all well here?”
Rufus nodded as he glanced back at the gate. “The vote happened last night. I’m master.”
“Congratulations,” I said. “Any news on the high priest?”
“Theformerhigh priest. He’s awaiting trial. The sheriff thinks there’s enough evidence to convict him and Giselle. The crime of conspiracy to murder isn’t punishable by death, but they could be sent to the prison mines in Freedland.”
It sounded awful, but the alternative was rotting in jail, and that sounded worse.
