by V. K. Ludwig
“You understand he only did it to help, right?”
“Yeah, I get it.” I stroked her shoulder and took in her scent, a calm settling onto us. “I made an engagement ring once, you know. But Hazel got rid of all my shit and I couldn’t find it.”
She said nothing. Only squeezed my hand.
A silence settled onto the room. Ruth’s body soon went limp against mine, her body exhausted from growing new life. She had fallen to sleep in my arms. A gift I would always count as precious for as long as we lived.
“There’s definitely not even a quarter-inch between you two,” Rowan said, standing in my doorframe next to Oriel. For a second, my heart sunk against the mattress until I noticed the fat smile bunching up his beard.
“Why does nobody in this village knock?”
“The door stood wide open,” Oriel said. “As a matter of fact, we came inside ten minutes ago. We just didn’t want to… interrupt.”
“Did you guys come up with a solution for this girl?” Rowan glanced over his shoulder, telling me Kim must have retreated to the couch once more. “Or were you too busy talking about baby-girls, storms, and weddings? Who talks that much after fucking, anyway?”
I gave him the hint of a head shake, trying not to wake Ruth.
Rowan folded his arms in front of his chest, his voice dropping down to something deep and dark. “Do you need me to… like… take care of Jack?”
“What? No! He’s one of my brothers. He can be a jerk sometimes, but he’s only following Knox’s orders.”
Rowan chuckled and punched his elbow into Oriel’s ribcage. “Hear that? Jack’s a jerk sometimes. What exactly is it that Knox wants?”
“He wants to make sure she gets married. His words.”
For a while, none of us said a word, our gazes darting across the room, the floor, the ceiling. The longer the silence lasted, the deeper and heavier the predicament pressed down onto my lungs. I wanted to save Kim, but I wouldn’t do it at the cost of my wife and my child.
After a while, Oriel broke the quiet. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
Chapter 28
Adair
“You ready for this?”
Oriel leaned with his elbows on the table inside the empty longhouse, his fists bunching up his cheeks as he shook his head. His eyelids hung heavy and his skin pale, but I knew he wouldn’t walk out on Kim.
I grabbed the bottle between us and poured another round of shots. The glasses clinked against each other, and we downed another one.
Heavy, wooden tables stood arranged in neat rows and decorated with dried herbs. Garlands hung from the joists, exploding in yellow and purple runners which entwined and parted along the beams. The village went all out, because it wasn’t every day we celebrated a wedding — left alone two.
“My dad’s pissed,” Oriel said, the sway in his voice making it clear the shots had done their job. “Said his son is wasting himself for a woman he knows nothing about. Not if she comes from a good family or a respectful…”
His voice trailed off. Lucky me.
Oriel was as miserable as he was clueless. But then again, it was unlikely any of our people would actually believe such a thing as Lily’s existed — so I had kept it to myself.
The only shred of Kim’s previous life now rested next to me on the bench, sealed in a yellow envelope which proved the fulfillment of her contract with Knox.
I grabbed the envelope, placed it in front of me on the table, and slowly pushed it across. “Keep this in a secure place, and make sure nobody ever gets his hands on it.”
He stared at the envelope for a while, cross-eyed and with a sway in his upper body, then placed his index finger on it and pulled it across. “What is it?”
“Papers. They prove your wife… Kim has permission to stay here, and nobody has any remaining claims on her.”
“Claims?” He jerked back and eyed the envelop once more, one brow raised and the other scrunched up toward his nose. “Permission? Fucking hell what kind of place is that? They don’t have… like… slaves over there, do they?”
I hesitated for a moment. “Everyone has to play their role over there, just like we do over here. Just promise me you’ll keep it in a secure place.”
“Can I read it?”
A tremble shook my knees. Good thing I had my ass planted firmly on the bench, or his question would have made me shrink back.
“Look, man,” I said and stretched out my hands. “I can’t tell you what to do and what to leave. My suggestion is, leave it alone, or at least wait until you two found your groove. That document isn’t yours. It’s hers. But I want you to keep it safe, in order to keep her safe. Your wife.”
His head slid between his fists, and he facepalmed the table, a deep sigh catapulting from his lungs, which changed its tone five times and ended in a deep moan. “I have a wife.”
I leaned over and gave a pat on his back. “Aren’t you a lucky bastard… But you still have a few minutes until it’s official. Oh and…” I rummaged through my pocket, pulled out the key to my bike, and slammed it on the table. “You got this, too.”
He shoved his chin over the wood without lifting his head and stared over from red-rimmed eyes. “What’s that?”
“The keys to my bike. Figured someone with a wife from the Ash Zones should have adequate transportation. My wedding gift to you. I know it’s nothing compared to what you’re doing for —”
“Thanks!” he barked, shielding himself from the reminder of the fact that he did Ruth and me a favor. Big time.
“Do we need to cancel?” River asked, who had poked his head through the gap in the side door. “Those brides are getting fucking antsy and Rowan’s pissed.”
“Rowan’s always pissed,” I said and gave another pat against Oriel’s shoulder. “Tell them we’ll be right out. We were just finishing up here.”
Oriel scrambled himself from the table, folded the envelope, and shoved it into his back pocket along with the keys. Then he combed his stray strands back into the waxed rows, got up and straightened out his white shirt.
“Ready?” I asked.
He gave the world’s slowest nod and set into motion.
Before we opened the door to change our lives forever, I turned to him once more. “One more thing. Go easy on her tonight, okay?”
“I know how to treat a virgin,” he said, sucking the blood from my fingers and making my hand go numb against the door handle.
“Right…” was all I could say, not knowing if I did him a favor by it, her, or the both of them. Or none of them?
I left the longhouse with a skip in my step, my eyes darting for the only thing that mattered in my life — until our child was born, that is.
The villagers had come together in a half-moon to one side, their eyes darting between our brides, who stood in the center along with our chieftain, and now us.
“Glad you didn’t make a run for it,” Rowan whispered, the smile on his face just another proof that, somewhere underneath all that gruff, there was a man who knew love.
I nodded but couldn’t keep my eyes from trailing over to Ruth, who stood there in a white, long dress, her hair open and cascading down along the shell-adorned fabric. And right there below her navel and underneath the lace fabric, a small mound protruded where my child was growing. Our child. A thought so beautiful and intriguing, it turned my vision wet and blurry.
“Get your shit together,” Rowan grunted. “Crying’s for brides and mothers, not grooms.”
Ruth hid a laugh behind her hand, then we paired up next to each other. While Kim and Oriel stood there with drooping shoulders and lowered heads, Ruth and I both gleamed.
Darya walked up beside Rowan and took a long piece of fabric from around her neck. She stacked my hand on top of Ruth’s, binding them together with the cornflower-embroidered cloth.
With the other piece of fabric, she did the same to Kim and Oriel, whose bodies tensed as their skins touched.
Darya wiggled her fin
ger at Ruth and me. “You guys first.”
We nodded in unison.
“I, Rowan, thirty-eights chieftain of the Clan of the Woodlands, stand witness to this hand-fasting. Please say the words.”
Ruth and I looked at each other, our hands tightly wrapped, and her eyes gleaming. We hummed the words together, my voice deep and hers shaky, “Lover. Friend. Keeper. Carer. Always together. Always protected. Always treasured. Never alone.”
Rowan struggled his tight lips into a smile. “You are now husband and wife. Lover and friend. Keeper and carer. Alright… neeext.”
The village fell into laughter. Kim and Oriel excluded. His mom clapped with excitement though, next to his dad, who stood with his arms crossed high atop his chest.
“I, Rowan, thirty-eights chieftain of the Clan of the Woodlands, stand witness to this hand-fasting. Please say the words.”
“Ehh…” Oriel said, his body angling toward Kim but his eyes not daring to look at her. “Lover. Always keeping together…”
“For fuck’s sake, you had two days to learn them,” Rowan whispered.
Oriel shook his head and took a deep breath. “Lover. Friend. Keeper. Carer. Always together. Always protected. Always treasured. Never alone.”
All the while, Kim stood there with tears in her eyes, her lips pressed into a fine, white line.
Rowan leaned down to her. “You gotta say the words, hun.”
“Fine,” she said, the only thing missing a stomp to accompany her sharp voice. “Lover. Friend. Keeper. Carer. Always together. Always protected. Always treasured. Never alone. Fuck my luck.”
“That’s good enough,” Rowan whispered. “You are now husband and wife. Lover and friend. Keeper and carer.”
The moment the crowd cheered, I gave a tug on our bound hands and pulled Ruth against me, taking her deep into my embrace. “I love you so damn much, and I will never ever leave your side again.”
Her nostrils released some staggering breaths against the crook of my neck, her arms trembling and her legs stiff. “I love you, Adair. I’ve loved you for way longer than I realized.”
I fumbled the fabric off our hands and pushed it into my pockets, then picked her up bridal-style and pressed a kiss onto her lips.
She dangled from my arms like that for way longer than necessary, because I couldn’t let go of her. “Are you ready to figure out marriage with me?”
She laughed and threw her head back. “Yes!”
“Good!” I let her slip back down to the ground and slapped my palm on her ass. “Now go make me a sandwich, wife.”
Ruth punched her fist against my arm, then grabbed my collar and pulled me against her. “I’ll gladly replace you as the best cook at home if that’s what you’re asking. Too bad Hazel couldn’t come.”
“Yeah. She ran into some trouble up there, and the meltwater wasn’t helping either. We’ll go up there for her wedding in a few weeks.”
Jack walked up to us, hands in his pockets, and a lopsided smile on his face. “Knox ain’t gonna be happy about it, I’m telling you, brother.”
I placed a final kiss on Ruth’s forehead and stepped away from her for a moment. “Knox made me promise she’d get married. She is married.”
“To another guy…”
“What can I say.” I put my hand onto his shoulder. “Knox never said I was the one who had to marry her. Just that she needs to get married or she’ll have to return. The way I see it, she’s a wife now. And let me tell you, brother, that husband of hers is good with the crossbow.”
He swung his hands up. “I want no trouble. Just saying Knox ain’t gonna be happy.”
“So… you’re gonna head back now?”
“Tomorrow.” He pulled one hand out of his pocket and swung his thumb toward a young clanswoman standing by the fire. “That one’s been staring at me all day. Who knows, I might get lucky tonight if the booze keeps on pouring.”
“You better make it count then because Rowan’s gonna arrest your ass while your cock’s still wet. This isn’t the Ash Zones, Jack.”
He glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “Yeah, she’s not pretty enough for that risk. Probably a boring virgin, anyway.”
My gaze drifted off toward Oriel, who shifted from one leg to the other in front of his dad, while his mom took Kim into a hug.
“You think he can deal with her feistiness?” Jack asked. “She isn’t exactly beginner-friendly, you know.”
“He’ll figure her out. But do me a favor and keep your mouth shut. He… he doesn’t know.”
Jack let out a whistle. “That’ll make for a great story to tell the grandkids one day. Anyway, Knox’s already grooming her replacement, and that girl…” He smacked his lips. “That girl is something special I’m telling ‘ya. Bird found her at the burn pit.”
I felt a strange tick in my veins. “And because that experience wasn’t messed up enough already, he had to force her into prostitution?”
“Knox doesn’t force anybody into anything, and you know that.”
“No, but they all need something. They come to Knox for help, and he is so generous to provide it… after they signed the contract.”
“Works for us.” He dropped his gaze and shoved the dirt around with his boots for a long while. “Anyway, she’s too young to start working. A teenager. But once she’s of age…” His hand darted for his crotch, and he gave everything a good shake. “You’ve never seen such eyes. They’re light gray, just like her hair. Probably some genetic mutation or something. But she’s young, and tight and —”
“Alright, I got it. Lumberjack likes to split young branches.”
“Damn straight.”
I shook my head, then left him standing in the center of the village as I walked back to Ruth. She stood by the stairs to the longhouse talking to Ayanna, both hands fanned out across her stomach.
“Ready to go home, wife?” I asked, walked up behind her, and intertwined my fingers with hers. We stood there in silence for a while, swaying our bodies from left to right and back again, stroking our child.
“Autumn and Max already left,” Ayanna said. “She thinks she’s in labor, but Darya said it’s too early, and the contractions aren’t strong enough yet.”
Ruth jutted her chin toward Oriel. “That’s not what happy looks like.”
“Not yet,” I said.
Ruth let go of my hands and turned around in my arms, gleaming up at me as if she had scored big. She cupped my cheek, sending warmth through my body and deep into my core.
Silence played back and forth between us as we let our eyes do the talking. All my life, I feared I wasn’t good enough. Now that I held this woman in my arms, I figured I must be fucking perfect. Or perhaps I wasn’t perfect, but she simply brought out the best in me.
This concludes Clan of the Woodlands - The Jerk (#4). If you liked this book, do this indie author a favor and leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It matters more than you’ll ever know!