She turned to Thomas. “You clean up pretty nicely yourself.”
He grinned. “That’s never been a secret,” he said, shaking his shoulders so that the purple velvet cape he wore rippled down his back.
Quinn rolled her eyes. “I thought you were escorting Mia? You won’t be paying attention to her?”
“That’s a given. I haven’t seen her yet; I’m picking her up in her room on the way there. I know she did that to your hair, so really it’s a compliment to her.”
“I hope so,” Quinn said, punching him lightly on the arm. “She was quite excited when she left here to get herself ready.”
“Found it!” Linnea called, as she came back into the room, holding up a tube of lipstick Quinn had once brought her from Bristlecone. “It’s the final touch.”
“I can do it myself, you know,” Quinn said as Linnea stood in front of her, brandishing the make-up.
“You won’t use enough if I let you do it,” Linnea answered.
“There’s a fine line between your version of enough, and looking like a clown in the circus,” Quinn said.
“What’s a circus?” Linnea asked.
She sighed and stood still, allowing Linnea to have her fun. Although she liked to tease her friend, she had discovered that Linnea actually knew what she was doing when it came to make-up, unlike Quinn, who felt hopeless most of the time when it came to stuff like that.
“Thomas and Linnea, it’s about time to be getting downstairs,” Rebecca called from the doorway.
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Linnea said.
Thomas looked at Quinn. “Really, sweetheart, you look beautiful. We’ll see you in a few minutes?”
She nodded, suddenly feeling like she had no idea what she was doing. “Provided I don’t fall on my face on the stairs.”
“Not going to happen; I’ll be holding your arm,” William’s said, coming into the room.
“Will.” Her lips broke into a grin, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him in his formalwear – perfectly pressed black pants, a crisp, white button-down shirt, and the purple velvet cape fastened at the neck with a silver pin bearing the symbol of Eirentheos. The silver of his wire-framed glasses looked as if it was made to match.
Relief, too, overtook her as he entered the room. It was the first time she’d seen him today; he’d left early this morning to do something, and knowing how William often disappeared like that when he was upset about something, she’d spent a good part of the day nervous, wondering if it had anything to do with her. Yesterday, too, there had been so much for everyone to do with party preparations and he’d been so busy with Clara Halpern and her family, that she hadn’t really had the chance to talk to him, to see how he was really feeling about what she’d told him the other night.
“Wow,” he said, coming to stand in front of her and taking her hand in his. The look in his eyes melted her anxiety away almost instantly. “You’re so beautiful, Quinn.”
Heat flowed from the top of her head all the way to her toes, bringing with it a new kind of feeling, a certainty about him that she hadn’t fully felt before. She stared into his warm, gray eyes, seeing so clearly who he was, and understanding how she felt about him. As strange as this whole situation was – this part, with him, was right.
Thomas and Linnea grinned at each other. “We’ll see you downstairs,” Thomas said, leaning over to plant a kiss on the top of Quinn’s head before he hobbled out of the room after his sister.
William watched as they disappeared through the door, and then turned back to her. “I have something for you,” he said, reaching inside his pants pocket.
Her breath quickened as he pulled out a little purple pouch.
“What is it?”
“Open it,” he said, setting it in her outstretched hand. The crushed velvet was impossibly soft and light sitting on her palm while William untied the satin drawstrings.
Reaching inside, she pulled out a delicate silver chain. It was too small to be a necklace …
“It’s a bracelet,” he said, “a traditional courtship gift. I had it made so you could wear it tonight.”
Hands shaking, heart hammering, she held it up in the light so she could see it more closely. Suspended in the center of the chain was a small silver band. On one side of the band were his initials, and the symbol on his pendant, the ameliorosa flower. The reverse held Quinn’s initials, QRR, and an engraving of a rose.
She looked up at him, her eyebrows knitting together.
“I figured it was best for now, to keep the name you’re used to. We can always have it changed if you make a different decision.”
“And the rose?”
He shrugged, slipping the chain around her wrist and fastening the clasp. “It seemed … appropriate.”
She rubbed her thumb over the design. “I guess it kind of is. I feel bad now; this is much nicer than what I have for you, and it’s your birthday.” Feeling awkward now, she stared down at her wrist, watching the little silver bar dangle there, catching the rays of evening light through the window.
“Hey, Quinn … you’ve already given me what I really want tonight.” Gently, he put his finger under her chin, lifting her face until her eyes met his. When she finally smiled, he kissed her on the forehead.
“What do you have for me, though?” he asked, grinning.
She walked across the room and pulled the little gift bag out of her armoire.
William’s eyes lit up when he felt the heft of the bag. He pulled out the tissue paper and grinned at her.
“It’s really not much,” she said.
His eyes were moist as they met hers. “It’s perfect, Quinn. The kind of gift that could only come from you.”
“I don’t have something to give to you for our courtship.”
Kissing her forehead again, he took her hands in his. “I know you don’t. You didn’t have any idea what to expect. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be in a world where you don’t understand the traditions and formalities, and every day it seems like there’s something else you were supposed to do, but you had no idea.”
She squeezed his hand, thinking of all of the years he must have felt like that at school. “What was I supposed to get you?”
His hand went into his pocket yet again, and she gasped as he withdrew another silver bracelet. The chain on this one was much heavier and thicker, but the silver bar was the same. “Put it on me?”
Her hands trembled as she tried to figure out the little clasp on the chain. “You’re not supposed to have to buy your own present,” she said.
“Hey, sweetheart, none of that.” His hands tightened on hers, and he leaned down to meet her gaze again. “Do you honestly think that matters to me? You’re willing to walk down there on my arm tonight. That is my courtship present. I always thought I’d be making that walk alone, Quinn. That my crazy, divided life would make it impossible to meet someone that I would be ready to take this step with. And by some miracle, you’re here. I didn’t buy the bracelet because I needed a present; I bought it because I wanted us both to have them, that’s all.”
She stared at him, stunned, blinking back tears.
“Is it too much?” A hint of nervousness had crept into his voice. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
She closed her eyes for a minute, trying to force her scattered thoughts into coherent sentences. Finally, she took a deep breath. “I was just thinking how amazing you are, Will. And how sad I am that all of these years you’ve been right there, and I never knew anything about you. All this time – I only saw what everyone else saw – the studying, the seriousness … how could I have missed you?”
Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “You saw more of me than anyone else ever did – you still do. And I will never be able to fully express how much that means to me, how grateful I am to you.” With that, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly for a long moment.
“You ready?” he asked, dabbing softly at her eyes with
his handkerchief, removing the evidence of her emotion a moment ago. “It’s almost time to be downstairs.”
“No. I have no idea what it is I’m actually supposed to do,” she said, as a different sort of nervousness started swirling inside her stomach.
He smiled. “You don’t have to do anything. It’s really just a birthday party. You have to hold my arm, walk into the dining room, and sit down at the table with me. It’s almost the same as any other night.”
She breathed in and out a couple of times. “Except for all the extra people, right?”
“Right.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered against her hair.
She pulled back just far enough to look into his eyes, reaching up to run her finger down the side of his face, smiling.
He kissed her softly on the lips - just a quick brush, though it was enough to send another flash of heat rippling through her chest, and then linked her arm inside his, the little silver chain jingling softly. “Shall we?”
* * *
William had been right – she didn’t actually have to do anything. Once they reached the entrance to the grand dining hall, there was an announcement about William; his formal introduction as an adult prince, and then he led her to the seat next to his at the high table. There were a few interested second glances and whispers as he led her between the tables on his arm.
There was one glance in the crowd that seemed a little too interested in the new development between Quinn and William – that of his cousin Gavin. She didn’t know him very well, only enough to know that she neither liked nor trusted him. The look he gave her as she and William passed his table made her shiver.
It was different to be sitting at a table with just the king and queen, and their oldest children and those they escorted. Because it was a celebration for him, William sat right next to his father with Quinn at his side. Simon sat next to Charlotte, his wife Evelyn beside him. Tonight, he wore the heir’s crown.
The head table sat at the front of the room, slightly elevated so that the guests could see William. It reminded Quinn of a wedding dinner in her own world. From where she sat, she could see Thomas and Linnea at a round table just in front of them, the two oldest at a table filled with Stephen and Charlotte’s younger children. Linnea had baby Hannah in her lap. Jared, her date, was keeping toddler Sarah entertained with a rousing game of peek-a-boo.
When Thomas caught sight of Quinn watching them, he waggled his eyebrows at her, making her giggle before he turned his attention back to his own date.
Next to Thomas, Mia’s cheeks turned a soft shade of pink when Quinn caught her eyes. She looked very lovely, with her dark hair flowing down past her shoulders, and wearing a soft, yellow dress for the occasion. Thomas seemed happy with her there; his eyes were on Mia most of the time, and more than once, Quinn caught a glimpse of the two of them flirting. She enjoyed seeing them like this.
The crowd gathered in the dining room wasn’t as large as she had been expecting. There were maybe only a hundred people seated at the tables scattered throughout the hall. She looked at William curiously. “There aren’t that many people here,” she said.
“No, it’s not actually that big an event. It’s mostly family here, and people of importance in Eirentheos – mostly family,” he smiled.
“It’s just a birthday party,” she said, echoing what he’d told her upstairs.
He nodded. “Just a birthday party.”
On Quinn’s other side was Maxwell and the girl he had brought, a pretty young woman named Catherine. Although she seemed very nice, Quinn didn’t know much about her. William had told her that she and Maxwell had only been courting for a few weeks; they hadn’t made anything official.
The dining room looked beautiful tonight; the tables were draped with purple and silver tablecloths, and enormous bouquets of purple and white flowers occupied the center of each one. Servants darted in an out near every guest, filling glasses with a thick, yellow juice that Quinn didn’t recognize. Soft music drifted through the room from a small group of musicians set up in the corner.
Everyone chatted amiably, nibbling on a mixture of roasted nuts and dried berries from silver bowls that sat between every two people. She noticed that nobody touched the glasses of juice, though, so she left hers alone.
Quinn had eaten the nut-and-berry mix before; it was a sort of appetizer that appeared before fancy dinners here in the castle. Although most foods here at least resembled things she was familiar with at home, there was one very unusual kind of berry in the mix, an odd green with an irregular shape. At the first couple of dinners she had attended in Eirentheos, she’d been afraid to try them. At Simon’s wedding though, Thomas had convinced her to taste one, and after that, she’d been hooked. Nothing in her world compared to them.
Now, between polite conversations, she found herself surreptitiously digging through the bowl, looking for those green ones. She was just reaching for the bowl a third time, when William nudged her softly with his elbow. She looked up at him, abashed at being caught, but he only winked and dropped a small handful of them on her plate.
The heat flowed through her chest again.
After a few minutes, Stephen smiled at William, and then he and Charlotte stood. A hush fell over the room immediately.
William put his hand on Quinn’s knee then, and, heart beginning to flutter again, she looked up at him and smiled, placing her hand over his.
“Charlotte and I would like to thank you all for coming here tonight,” Stephen began. “It is a very rare privilege for a man to be blessed not only with the love of a kind, upstanding, and beautiful woman,” he looked over at Charlotte, who was stunning tonight, in a long, flowing purple gown, her delicate silver tiara perched atop her dark curls, and she returned her husband’s enormous smile, “but also with these children who, even in their youths have shown themselves to be courageous, loving, and sacrificial in service to others and to the Maker.”
He paused then, as the guests clapped, and he looked down at William, smiling and extending his hand toward his son, who took it and stood up next to him.
“Tonight we’re here to celebrate William as he comes of age, an extraordinary son even among this group of extraordinary children. I don’t know if I could ever find the words to express how proud Charlotte and I am of him. His compassion and care toward others will no doubt be held up as an example to other healers for generations to come. We raise a toast tonight, and drink the juice of the sunfruit – may the rest of your life bring the same sweetness and life to our kingdom that your childhood has. We love you, Son.”
Stephen paused to smile as everyone applauded again, and then he cleared his throat. The dining room quieted immediately. “We have yet one more reason to celebrate this evening, as William makes official his courtship to the Lady Quinn, who has already found her way into the hearts of our family. Tonight, we ask the Maker for his blessing over their courtship and for his guidance as their relationship continues to grow.”
As the crowd stood and cheered, Stephen and Charlotte pulled William into their arms. Tears ran unchecked down Queen Charlotte’s face as she reached for Quinn’s hand, and then pulled her up and into a hug. Before Charlotte let her go, Stephen leaned in close to them.
“Whatever happens, Quinn,” he said softly, “I want you to know how happy it makes both of us to have you here, and to see you and William together. I’ve never seen either of you as happy as you are with each other.”
Tears stung the corners of her own eyes as she nodded, unable to come up with the right words. After a moment, William’s hand found hers again, his fingers rubbing the thin chain of her bracelet as they all sat back down, and the servants began bringing out the dinner dishes.
23. After Dinner
After their plates had been cleared away, William led Quinn outside onto the main patio. It was just beginning to grow dark and the hundreds of candles that had been placed in sconces running down the castle walls and all along
the low wall surrounding the raised terrace gave the whole place a warm, flickering glow.
He had seen it this way before, but the celebration had never been for him. He was a little surprised by how emotional he found himself over the whole thing, over actually becoming an adult, and having his own party. It had really struck him for the first time as he had taken Quinn with him up to the head table at dinner – escorting a girl to a place that, for his whole life, had been reserved for adults.
He supposed it meant he could make his own decisions now. It was a thought that had been running through his head all day – since two nights ago after he’d talked to his parents, really.
He couldn’t believe what they had told him, and he wasn’t sure whether to be angry, or furious – or grateful. At different points during the last two days, he’d been all three. What shocked him the most were the moments he wasn’t completely, staggeringly livid – which was the emotion that would have made the most sense. He had no doubt about how he would have felt if he’d found all this out three months ago.
All these years he’d thought he was in Bristlecone for reasons that were actually his choice, but he hadn’t been. He’d been there to help keep an eye on Quinn, like some kind of crazy spy, even if he’d known nothing about it. His parents and Nathaniel had spent the last nine years hoping the two of them would find each other and hit it off.
They’d been set up.
And she knew.
And she was still here, still holding his hand, next to him at his celebration, announcing their courtship together, wearing his bracelet. All night, he’d been moving his wrist a little more often than was strictly necessary, just to hear the soft little jingle of his own jewelry, to feel its comforting weight against his wrist.
He didn’t know how Quinn was doing it, standing here with him, not freaking out over what had been done to them. He wanted to ask her, but he didn’t think that discussing it at the party was the best idea. He felt badly now that he’d taken off earlier, blown off some steam by riding Skittles all the way to Mistle Village and back. Although seeing the ruins of the clinic again had helped him put things into perspective about why his parents would be willing to take such a huge risk, or at least why they’d want one more set of eyes on the true heir to the throne.
Thorns of Decision (Dusk Gate Chronicles) Page 25