I lean back. “Wish vial?”
Grak explains what that is and tells me the vial is his backup plan if things don’t work out. “But I hope I won’t need to use it,” he says.
“Could I ask a small favor of you, Grak?”
“Anything.”
“Could we not break the news of our marriage to my family just yet? Human parents can be pretty sensitive about their children getting married without telling them.”
He thinks about this for a moment, then nods slowly. “I will not tell them.”
I rise up on my toes, reaching up for a kiss.
“And we can recreate a real-life wedding for my family to enjoy with us, once the marriage is forever-sealed.”
If. And that’s a big if.
Grak nods again, this time thoughtfully. “Now I have a condition about that.”
“You do?”
“You must make amends with your siblings.”
I shake my head. “You don’t understand all the years, everything that’s been said.”
His thumb strokes the line of my cheekbone. “I know you have a good family. I understand that once you lose them, youwill be sad. That’s not what you want. I want my wife to be happy.”
“I am happy,” I assure him. As crazy as it sounds, as wild as this whirlwind happened, and as unbelievable as it all is, I am happy. Knowing Grak in the game was just a tiny glimpse of what having my match would be like. Now I understand that the pull I felt was real.
“Promise me you will try,” he says, running his thumb over my bottom lip.
I nod.
He seems satisfied with that.
“Time to go back to work,” I say.
“And tonight I break bread with your whole family?”
“Yes, Grak. With everyone.”
“Good.”
The orc is far more obsessed with the idea of family sticking together than anyone I’ve ever met.
In time, he’ll have to come to understand that it’s much more complicated with humans.
We’ll get there, eventually.
Chapter Fourteen
Grak
The work on the farm is straightforward, dirty, and satisfying.
I spend the rest of the day fixing up the stables and decorating them, brushing the horses, mucking out the stalls, and reorganizing the tack room.
I also take turns with Ron leading the sleigh rides. The children seem both excited and scared to see me at first, but the adults have amusing explanations about what they don’t understand. Some say I’m in an ogre costume. Some say I’m a Christmas elf. Others tell their children I’m one of Santa’s helpers.
