by T. J. Quinn
The broad smile on Kael’s face was like a hard punch to Rhiannon’s guts, and she suddenly lost all appetite.
“That sounds perfect, Gwendolyn. When is he expected?”
“In a couple of days, I think. That gives you just enough time to ask the blacksmith to turn your gold into coins. They’re a lot easier to carry and accepted everywhere,” she advised him.
“Is he a trustworthy man?”
“Yes, he is. He’s my cousin,” Rhiannon replied, with a faint smile. “He and his brother were the ones that took me to the Devil’s mountain.”
“That’s perfect. Would you take me to see him?”
“Of course.” She put her food aside and jumped out of her chair. “I better get going now. Dad must be worried by now,” she said, without facing anyone. “I’ll see you in the morning.” And before any of the other two could answer, she fled out of the house.
She hadn’t gotten too far when she heard footsteps following her.
“Rhiannon, wait up,” Kael called her.
She didn’t stop or even slowed down, but it only took him a few seconds to reach her.
“We need to talk,” he said, grabbing her by the arm and forcing her to stop.
“I’m sure whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow,” she protested, trying to free herself.
“No, it can’t,” he assured her. “You know I have to leave, right?” he started, but she interrupted him.
“Of course, I know.” She knew this was the moment to ask him to take her with him, but after what he had told her about his soulmate, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go. She couldn't bear seeing him falling in love with another woman. “And if all you want is my blessing, you have it. I truly hope you find your friends and your soulmate,” she said, in a cold tone, her eyes staring at the ground, unable to face him.
“I don’t want your blessing, woman, I want you to come with me,” he replied, in an impatient tone, as he took her hands in his. “I know I’m asking too much of you, after all, you barely know me, and I’m asking you to leave the world you know to go out exploring with me, but I can’t conceive this adventure without you at my side,” he said. “Please, come with me.”
Against all common sense, she opened her mouth to yell ‘yes’ from the top of her lungs, but then she remembered what he told her about the soulmate and she closed her mouth again. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Kael,” she said, still staring at the ground. “What will happen to me when you grow tired of my company? Or when you finally find your soulmate?” she asked, with a scornful tone. “I would be in the way, and I’m sure whoever she happens to be, she wouldn’t be pleased to see another woman traveling with her man.”
He forced her chin up and locked his eyes on hers. “I will never grow tired of you. I thought you knew that by now,” he scolded her, with a soft tone.
She struggled to keep the tears welling up in her eyes at bay, but one rolled down her cheeks. “How can you say that and then tell me you’re hoping to find your soulmate as soon as possible?” she grumbled, closing her eyes, unwilling to let him see all the pain inside her.
“I never said that,” he protested.
“Of course, you did. You said all your people find their soulmate and that you are supposed to know it from the moment you meet them.”
“I also told you things could change in my case, and they did,” he retorted. “Rhiannon, when I first met you, I was so attracted to you I couldn’t understand why my instincts hadn’t identified you as my soulmate,” he stated. “My feelings for you only grew, to the point I thought my generation wouldn’t find their soulmates the traditional way, but falling in love like you humans do.”
Rhiannon opened her eyes wide, having trouble to believe what he was saying.
“It was only when your father told me that the demons had taken you that my instincts woke up and gave me the sign I had been waiting for,” he explained, letting out a deep sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you about this, not now, at least, because I wanted to give you time to get to know me and perhaps, fall in love with me, the way I fell in love with you, the minute I saw you.”
“Are… are you… trying to tell me… you love me?” she mumbled, astonished.
“I’m not trying, Rhiannon, I’m telling you so. I love you,” he assured her, as he leaned over and captured her lips with a passionate kiss.
She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss, so happy she thought she would burst into a million bubbles.
“I love you so much. I have been so worried, trying to find a way to convince you to take me with you, unwilling to say goodbye to the man that stole my heart,” she mumbled, interspersing her words with kisses.
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her harder. “You have no idea what it means to me to hear those words, Rhiannon,” he kissed her again. “I know I’m asking too much of you, but I would even stay here if you hate the idea of leaving. You’re more important to me than anybody else.”
She shook her head. “I would go to the end of the world with you, Kael,” she assured him.
“Would you leave this world too?” he asked, his expression suddenly stern.
“Yes, I will leave this world too. Life without you would be a dark and arid existence.”
He kissed her once more, feeling so happy he was having trouble believing in it.
Suddenly, she took a step back and looked at him with a slight frown. “If I’m your soulmate, as you call it, why were you so upset when you realized you had taken my blood?” she asked, worried.
He let out a sigh. “The conversion is a tough process. You literally die during it, and it can be very traumatic for the man and the woman. I’m not sure I’m ready for that, especially with no guarantees it will work, considering things are a bit different for me than they were for my parents. I’m not ready to lose you. In fact, I’m sure I’ll never be,” he explained. “Eventually, we will have to convert you, but there’s no rush.”
She giggled and nodded. “Very well. I better go home and talk to my father. This won’t be easy for him.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” he offered.
“No. I need to talk to him alone. You can join us for lunch and talk to him then.”
“As you wish. I’ll pick you up in the morning so that we can visit your cousin.”
“Yes, that’s perfect. I’ll take him some of my gold too.”
“You don’t have to bring it with you, you know that, right?”
“Yes, I do, but I would like to have some money of my own. Women love to buy trinkets.”
“Even so. All I have is yours. With my scanner we’ll never have trouble finding something to exchange for services,” he assured her.
“I know, but even so, I would like to take some of it.”
Realizing he wouldn’t be able to convince her, he nodded and kissed her one last time.
“I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
When she got home, her father was sitting in the living room waiting for her. “I guess you were with Kael all this time,” he said in a cold tone. He didn’t look pleased.
“Yes, I was.”
“You do realize he will be leaving us soon?” he asked.
“As a matter of fact, he’ll be leaving in a couple of days, and I’ll be leaving with him.”
He jumped out of his chair and stood in front of her, his hands on his hips, his legs slightly spread. “Tell me you’re not serious.”
She sighed. “Of course, I’m serious, dad. I love him, and he loves me too. He needs to go find his friends, and I’m going with him. I’m sure you can understand that,” she explained.
“He’s from another planet, Rhiannon. He’ll want to take you with him,” he protested.
“I know, and I’m counting on it. He’s my soulmate, father, the only man for me.”
“You barely know him. How can you know that for sure?” he insisted.
“I just know, dad. And no matter what you or anybod
y says, I’m leaving with him. I can’t imagine a life without him, dad.”
Peter pursed his lips and clenched his hands into fists as if struggling to keep his self-control. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You’ll never lose me, dad, but I have to follow my destiny.”
He sighed and rubbed his face. “I guess you’re right. But, I’ll miss you.”
She closed the distance between them and hugged him. “I’ll miss you too.” She kissed his cheek. “You’re still young, father. You should take my departure as a sign it’s time for you to find someone else to keep you company,” she suggested, with a naughty grin.
He chuckled. “Who would want an old man like me?”
“You would be surprised.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They had a quiet dinner together, and Rhiannon took the opportunity to tell her father about the gold she had mined with Kael.
“I should have known there was something fishy about that trip,” he grumbled.
She chuckled. “Anyway, we split the gold into three parts. Grandma kept one, Kael kept his, and I kept one. I’m not taking all my share with me. With Kael’s share, we would be carrying too much gold, so I’ll just grab some, and I’ll leave the rest for you, father. Use it in yourself, help others, do whatever you want with it. I’m sure I won’t be needing it. With Kael’s scanner, we can find more if we need to.”
“Are you turning it into coins?” he asked, curiously.
“Yes, I am. I’m taking the gold to my cousin.”
“You know he will want to know where you found it.”
“I know, but I’ll only tell you where it is. You’ll decide what to do with that information. There’s a lot more where we found ours. We only took what we could carry.”
Her father nodded. “That’s a good idea. I could go up there with both your cousins. That way, they would both get a good share,” he said.
“Yes, that would be perfect.”
“So, you’ll be leaving in a few days?”
“Yes, Kael thinks it would be a good idea traveling with one of the merchants going south so we will join the one that will arrive in a couple of days,” she explained.
“It’s a good plan. Though he is the strongest man I’ve ever known, traveling in a group will always be better.”
They chatted a bit more and, by the time, Rhiannon reached her bed, she was feeling exhausted. Kael hadn’t let her sleep much, and her whole body felt deliciously sore.
As he promised, he picked her up, early in the morning with her grandmother’s carriage. Their share of the gold was in it.
He jumped out of the carriage when he saw her coming out of the house. Cradling her face, he stole a gentle kiss from her lips. “How did it go?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows, a bit worried.
“It went well. My father wasn’t very happy, but he understands I need to live my own life,” she explained.
He kissed her again. “I’m glad. I want you to be happy, and you wouldn’t be if you didn’t have your father’s approval. Not completely, anyway.”
“Yes, I love him,” she cradled his face. “But I love you more, and nothing would keep me away from you, not even my father,” she assured him, kissing him.
He kissed her again, this time relishing in her luscious lips and delving into each inch of her mouth, making sure she knew she belonged to him.
“We better go to my cousin’s, or we won’t leave the house,” she grumbled, her cheeks flushed with pleasure and arousal.
He let out a loud laugh but didn’t deny the truth in her words.
Her cousin Joseph was already working when they finally reached the forge.
“Hey, little cousin. What brings you here?” he asked her, smiling.
“Hi, cousin. Have you met Kael?” she asked, smiling back. Joseph and his brother were more like brothers to her.
“Yes, of course, who hasn’t?” the men greeted each other.
“I need a little help from you,” she said, with a smile. “Do you think you could make some gold coins for us?”
A noticeable shine of interest showed up in her cousin’s eyes. “Gold? Where did you get gold?”
“From the Devil’s Mountain. My father has the exact location of the vein, and he told me he would take you and your brother there,” she explained. “But right now, we need to convert the gold we’ve already mined into coins. Can you do that for us? We need it for tomorrow.”
“Uhmm, I’ll pay Uncle Peter a visit soon,” he said, with a greedy smile on his face. “How much do you have? It shouldn’t take me much time to turn it into coins...” he started saying, but he stopped when Kael unloaded the first bag. “Are you sure you found it at the Devil’s Mountain? We never found more than a few tiny nuggets,” he asked, amazed.
“There’s plenty more where we found this, believe me.”
He nodded. “Let’s get started. It’s a good thing I made a few extra coin molds when Zachary brought me his gold, last year,” he said, mentioning one of the wealthiest men in the village.
“Well, we’ll leave you to it. Let us know when you’re done.”
He nodded, and they left the forge.
“We’ll need a carriage and a horse for our trip. One we can use to sleep in and carry our things. Where can we get one of those?” he asked, frowning.
“Let’s ask dad. He knows everybody in the village. If someone has a wagon like that, he’ll know,” she assured him.
And he did. The negotiations took place at the bakery, and just a couple of hours later, they had a new wagon with its own horse.
Rhiannon spent some time packing her clothes with her grandmother’s help.
“You should get married before you leave,” she said, at some point.
“We have no time for that, grandma. Besides, I’m sure he doesn’t even know what a marriage is,” she protested, but deep inside, she knew she would love to pronounce her vows in front of the whole community, make their bond public. “And even if he did, where would I found a wedding dress at the last moment?”
“You could always wear your mother’s. She kept it, in case you would want to wear it,” Gwendolyn told her, with a smile.
“I never saw it. Where is it?” she asked, inquisitively.
Her grandmother went to her father’s room and returned with the dress in her hands. It was carefully packed with silk paper, and when she took it out of its wrap, Rhiannon couldn’t hold back the small cry of awe. It was beautiful.
Made of the most exquisite pale pink silk and adorned with white silk roses, the dress was exquisite.
“Why don’t you try it on?” her grandmother suggested.
Too excited to say no, Rhiannon took off her clothes and slipped into her mother’s dress. She had inherited her voluptuous body from her mother, so it wasn’t a surprise when the dress fit as if it had been made for her. She looked amazing.
“Rhiannon…” Kael’s voice surprised the women that looked to find him standing in the doorway. “You look amazing,” he said, with all his love shining in his eyes.
“Isn’t she? It’s her mother’s wedding dress,” Gwendolyn said, with a wicked grin.
“Then, I guess we’ll be able to get married after all. I was just talking with your father about that,” he said, crossing the room to meet her.
“You know what a marriage is?” she asked, curious.
“Yes, my mother made sure my father turned it into a tradition back home,” he explained, with a smile. “Nothing would make me happier than letting the whole world know exactly how I feel about you, and if a marriage is the easiest way, then, let’s get married,” he said, stealing a kiss from her lips. “Rhiannon, will you marry me?” he asked, taking her hands in his.
She sobbed and nodded, too emotional to utter a word.
“Then, I’ll prepare everything for tonight. Your father thought you would be upset about not having a special dress, but I guess that’s not a problem now, right?” he asked, smiling.
The news spread through the village, and soon Rhiannon’s family and friends had gathered to prepare the ceremony. As it was tradition, it would take place at the main square, and the village’s leader would officiate the wedding.
Despite the short notice, by the time Rhiannon walked down the path to the altar, the main square had utterly transformed. There were flowers all over the place, and by the looks of it, the whole village had gathered to witness their union.
Sir Griffiths read the passages from the ceremonial book, and soon it was time for them to pronounce their vows.
“Rhiannon, my love, tonight, I take you to be my partner for life, I promise above all else to live in truth with you, and to communicate fully and fearlessly all of my fears, my hopes, and dreams. I give you my hand, my heart, and my soul because I know you’ll keep them forever. I pledge my love, devotion, faith, and honor, as I join my life to yours.”
The words, pronounced with all his love traveled straight to her heart, and she had to wipe a silly tear that rolled down her cheek.
She cleared her throat before she said hers. “Kael, on this night, I give you my heart, my body, and my soul. I also give you my promise, that I will walk with you, hand in hand, wherever our journey leads us, living, learning, and loving every moment we spend together, for as long as we both shall live."
“By the power invested in me, I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Sir Griffiths pronounced and the whole audience burst into applause and cheers.
The banquet that followed was memorable, and when her father took out the wedding cake he had prepared, she wasn’t able to hold back the tears of happiness.
Her life had changed so much in just a few weeks sometimes she feared the whole thing was only a dream.
The warmth of Kael’s embrace was one of the things that made her realize it was all real, that she had finally found the man of her dreams, her soulmate, as Kael called her.
They would start a new life, together and she couldn’t wait.
Kael turned to see Rhiannon walking down the path to meet him at the altar. Though he had seen her earlier, with the dress, he was still amazed by her beauty. He wished his parents were there with him in this important moment, but he was sure he would be with them, soon.