“You’re it for me,” Aevrin told her. “Sorry if that’s too soon, but it’s true. Someday I’m gonna marry you, Cassia Clarek. I hope you know that.”
“You’d better,” Cassia whispered to him, pressing her face against his chest as Aevrin smoothed a hand down her back. “I never want it to end.” Her heart was still pounding, blood racing with excitement.
She was in love with Aevrin Riveker, and Aevrin Riveker, the best man she’d ever known, was in love with her too. And for once in her life, she didn’t expect it would ever end.
“Good,” Aevrin said. He tilted her face up and took another kiss from her. “I love you,” he told her again.
“I love you too,” she said once more, with a smile.
“I know. I wanted to hear you say it again,” he admitted with a grin. “Not gonna get tired of that anytime soon.”
Aevrin
Theybrokegroundinthe spring. Cassia stood next to Aevrin at the side of the pit in the ground, surveying the work that had been done on what would one day be their cellar. The builders he'd hired and the townsfolk who'd wanted to help help had gone home for the night already, leaving behind shovels and piles of upturned earth.
He’d been excited to show her. Now he felt a little boyish, because really, it was just a big square hole. There wasn’t much tosee.And standing there with Cassia next to him, it seemed a bit less impressive than he’d thought when he was looking at it himself.
“We’ll start building a frame soon as we’re done digging,” he explained, pointing at the huge amount of supplies resting just a little ways off. Rather than harvest the materials from the mountains himself, he’d placed an order by letter at the start of winter for a delivery that had arrived two weeks past. The dragons had all been extremely displeased at the long caravanof strangers coming onto their land to unload cart after cart of treated wood planks, stones, glass windows, and metal pipes.
Cassia nodded and looked down at the gaping hole in the earth.
“You all worked fast,” she observed.
“Yeah. I mean, still gonna take a long time. But we should have a roof before winter comes back around.”
Aevrin was planning to do some of the building himself, but insisting he’d still have time to help on the ranch in between. Dariek had gotten home from the exhibit circuit a month ago, and he wouldn’t drive the next season of cattle east to exhibit for another two weeks, but even when Dariek left, the family had all agreed on three new ranch hands to help that summer. Even with Sorven and Cobrid gone, the Rivekers would each be able to take a day off now and then.
“What are you talking about?” Cassia asked, pointing into the hole. “I mean, look. We could move in now. We put in a couch, maybe a rug since it’ll get muddy when it rains…”
Aevrin barked a laugh, as delighted by his sweetheart’s humor as ever.
“Aw, rain won’t get in if we stretch a tarpaulin overhead,” the cowherd suggested with a grin.
“Now you’re talking,” Cassia said, with a smile of her own.
“...Or we can wait until there’s an actual floor,” Aevrin said, wrapping an arm over her shoulder. “But I’m looking forward to having our own place. Waiting’s gonna be hard.”
“I know,” Cassia agreed, reaching up to twine her fingers in with his. “But it’ll fly by.”
It seemed as good a moment as ever. He took a second, steeling himself, and then said, as casually as he could manage:
“We oughta celebrate breaking ground.”
“Sure. What do you want to do?”
“Can I take you out to dinner?” Aevrin asked.
“Sure. To the Elk? Or Red’s?”
“Naw, like, to a fancy eating house.”
“A fancy eating house,” Cassia repeated in disbelief, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. “Really? Do we have one of those?”
“We got this thing called a cart,” Aevrin informed her solemnly. “There’s a place in Lareo. Only an hour and a half each way. Can I take you?” Vadalae had been carrying Cassia for some time now, but the gold still wasn’t flying quite yet, or else they’d be able to reach the place sooner.
“Oh,” Cassia said. “Well, sure. But am I going to need nicer clothes?”
“Sure are.”
