The sixth morning, thinking to thwart him, she had breakfast delivered to her room. But when her maid lifted the domed lids off the breakfast plates, Summer found not one but three brightly wrapped and beribboned gifts nestled amongst the muffins, fruit, and sitting alongside the small ceramic boat of creamy scrambled eggs. Each contained a tiny flower fashioned from perfect, sparkling gemstones mounted on a miniature golden stem. A fourth box, hidden in the sugar bowl, contained a crystal vase no bigger than her thumb, the perfect size to hold the three jeweled flowers.
Unable to help herself, Summer placed each of the three jeweled blooms in the vase and sat it beside her plate as she ate. Sunlight streaming in from her south-facing windows made the tiny blooms sparkle, and cast bright prismatic rainbows across the snowy white linen the maid had laid out over the table.
The exquisitely worked vase with its miniature jeweled blooms was the most enchanting thing she’d ever seen. But when she finished eating, Summer put each piece of the tiny arrangement back in its respective box and handed the boxes to her maid, Amaryllis.
“See that these are returned to Sealord Merimydion.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Amaryllis, giving a short, bobbed curtsy.
The following morning, Summer rejoined her family on the terrace for their regular breakfast. And there, on the private family terrace, sitting on the chair reserved for her, was a large yellow box, about three cubic feet in size, its removable lid wrapped with green satin ribbon and a matching bow.
“That box is huge!” Autumn said. She gave Summer an eager grin. “Hurry and open it. Let’s see what’s inside!”
“You have to give it to Sealord Merimydion,” Spring said. “When he sets his mind on something, he doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“Oh, I wonder what it is today,” Khamsin said with a little clap of excitement.
Dilys Merimydion’s daily morning gifts and the smaller cards and treats throughout the day had become a subject of marked interest to all of Summer’s sisters. To the point where Summer suspected the servants took each rejected gift around to Spring, Autumn, and Storm for their viewing before returning it to the incorrigible Calbernan Sealord.
Wynter scowled, not at all pleased with Summer’s persistent suitor, or his wife’s interest in it. But in the face of Khamsin’s open eagerness, Wyn gave an expressive roll of his eyes and settled back into his chair. “Open the blasted thing, Summer. Let’s see what extravagance Merimydion wants you to send back to him today.” He crossed his arms over his very impressive chest.
Her heart swelled with affection for him—and not just because he was the only one in the family who’d firmly allied himself with Camp Summer rather than Camp Dilys in the war of wills Autumn had taken to calling the “Courtship Siege.” She would never forget the sight of Wynter’s battered face greeting her at breakfast the day after Dilys had followed her to the grotto, or his gruff tenderness when he’d pulled her privately aside to make sure Dilys Merimydion hadn’t done anything to her that required something more serious than a mere “wrestling bout.”
Smiling at the memory, Summer reached for the ribboned top of the yellow box.
She expected the contents of the box to be exquisite and extravagant. While the little gifts throughout the day tended to be simple things, the gift that started off each day never failed to elicit gasps of appreciation.
Today was no exception.
When she lifted the lid on the yellow box, she didn’t need to reach inside for its contents. This morning’s gift flew—or rather, fluttered—out.
Hundreds of jewel-winged butterflies took to the air in a cloud of vivid, colorful beauty. Dozens of them alighted on the tableware after their release. Dozens more flitted about the surrounding garden, fluttering inquisitively around the blossoming flowers in search of nectar.
Summer and her sisters watched the beautiful creatures for several long minutes, then Autumn turned back in her chair with a smirk and said, “Well, there’s no returning that gift, is there!”
Summer opened her mouth, closed it, then, despite herself, burst into laughter and admitted, “No, I suppose not.” She had been well and truly routed.
Out of curiosity, she glanced into the box. A few butterflies still remained within. She reached inside, nudging her finger gently under their spindly legs and lifting them out to freedom. Two flew away, but the third remained perched on her hand, its gorgeous black and turquoise wings slowly opening and closing as she reached her free hand into the bottom of the box to retrieve the only thing left inside: a large folded card.
Claim me as thine, the outside of the card entreated once again. Inside, a painted paper butterfly popped up as she opened the card, spreading beautifully illustrated wings colored with bright rainbow hues. “Gabriella Aretta Rosadora Liliana Elaine Coruscate,myerial-myerinas,you make my heart take wing.”
Conscious of the watchful eyes of her sisters and her brother-in-law, Summer closed the card and tucked it beneath her plate.
“I don’t know what Dilys did that he has to work so hard to get into your good graces, but you’ve got to hand it to him. The man knows how to grovel.” When Summer shot Autumn an accusatory glance, Autumn lifted her hands. “What? A sincere, satisfying grovel is a talent most men never really master. You could do a lot worse than wedding a man who knows how to apologize well.”
“That’s true,” Khamsin agreed with enough emphasis to make her husband sit up straight in his chair. “Not that I have any complaints on that score,” she added quickly, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze.
“Since I won’t be wedding Dilys Merimydion, his mastery of groveling makes no difference to me one way or the other,” Summer told them all, narrowing her eyes when Autumn seemed to be suppressing a smirk. “And since he was never in my good graces in the first place, he is not groveling to get back into them.”
Autumn rolled her eyes. “Tell me at least that you aren’t still holding that ridiculous ‘milked tea’ remark against him.”
“No, of course not,” Summer said, and her brows drew together in surprise as she realized she was telling the truth. Sometime between the interlude in the grotto and now, she trulyhadforgiven him. She couldn’t even remember why the remark had cut her as deeply as it had. After all, she’d spent her life striving tobemilked tea, to suppress every dangerous ounce of fire and passion she possessed. Hearing him call her that should have left her pleased with the success of her deception, not wounded and resentful because he hadn’t seen straight through it.
“So if it’s not that, then what is it?” Autumn persisted.
“None of your business, that’s what!” Summer turned to Khamsin with a determined smile and said, “So, have you and Wynter decided on names for the babies?”
Khamsin and Wynter exchanged a look. For a moment, Summer thought they were going to pursue the inquisition, but instead, Kham laid a hand on her belly and said, “Well, we won’t know what we’re having until the babies are born, but we’ve agreed that, no matter what, our firstborn son will be called Garrick, and our firstborn daughter will be Rosalind.”
