“It only took nine tries, but this one tastes good. On try number five, I replaced the sugar with salt on accident.”
I was speechless, staring at the gigantic red ruby ring lying atop the cake. The gem alone was almost the size of a walnut.
“You hate it,” he said, lowering the plate.
I grasped his hands, taking the plate from him. “I love it. But Stryker … is this ring for me?”
He nodded. “Of course. We can’t get married without a ring.”
I laughed, pulling the huge ruby ring from the cake and licking the frosting off the band. “It’s beautiful and so sweet, but I’ll be robbed the second I step outside with this thing on.”
Stryker grinned. “I’ll have to get you your own security detail then.”
Laughter poured out of me. “No way. It’s too expensive. I can’t.”
He frowned. “I’m the richest man in all of Ethereum, Aribella. This is the ring I want to give you. And you deserve ten more. One in every color.”
He took the band from my hand and slipped it onto my ring finger and my heart couldn’t take it anymore.
“I love it,” I told him, looking down at the ridiculous thing. Was it way too big to be appropriate? Yes. But it was a testament to his love for me being more than his love of money, and I liked that very much. Stryker had turned out to be a very generous soul.
“Maybe we can get one that’s a little bit smaller for everyday wear?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But with a matching necklace and earrings.”
“Deal.” I grinned and then Stryker reached out and picked up something else from the counter. This was wrapped in a muslin cloth.
He looked nervously at me. “I feel it only fair to tell you that the day I threw you in my dungeon I had your dagger melted down.”
I gasped but then shook my head with a smile. He wasn’t a stupid man, and keeping a weapon around that could kill him and send me home would have been stupid.
“But the stone survived. Both in your dagger and in Dawn’s,” he said and unfolded the cloth revealing two lumpy hunks of metal. One had Dawn’s sunstone in the center, and the other held my carnelian. “I thought maybe the stone was of value to you and wanted to return it.” He set it on the counter beside me.
I reached up and cupped his cheek in my free hand, stroking his scar with my thumb. “You have a good heart, Stryker Warrick.”
“Shhh, don’t tell anyone that.” He pressed a kiss to my lips and I laughed.When he pulled back I grabbed one of the forks littering the counter.
I cut a small bite of the cake and slipped it into my mouth. Dark chocolatey goodness exploded across my tongue, and I moaned. It was the perfect amount of sweet. Three bites in I hit an egg shell, but said nothing.
“It’s perfect.”
Stryker laughed. “I heard that egg shell crunch from here. But I love you for saying that.”
Now it was my turn to laugh and Stryker set the plate down and pulled me into his arms, peering down at me. “Listen, I know that life with me will not be easy. We have this curse attacking the people, I’m constantly being robbed, there are attempts on my life all the time. You still have your part to play trying to help Faerie but—”
I put a finger to his lips. “And we will handle it all together.”
He nodded, the lightness in his gaze dimming. “You deserve the biggest wedding Ethereum has ever seen, but I can’t give that to you right now. Please know that I want to marry you more than I’ve ever wanted anything, but with the curse having just descended on the kingdom I can’t be selfish right now. We’ll have to wait until the people are healed to have a large celebration or it would look bad.”
The expression on Stryker’s face told me waiting was the last thing he wanted to do, but I knew exactly what he was saying, and agreed. Now wasn’t the time to pull our resources, or attention from his people. It would be selfish to have a big wedding at such a time as this. Once upon a time a big wedding might have been something I desired,but right now I just wanted to be with Stryker, as his wife, as the lady of the Eastern Kingdom.
“Who says it needs to be big? I’ll marry you right now in this kitchen, just fetch me a priest,” I joked.
His eyes went half lidded. “Don’t toy with me. Are you serious?”
I gestured to the messy kitchen. “I was half serious. I wouldn’t mind the reception hall though. With Dawn as my maid of honor and your brothers present.”
He stood erect. “Go round up Dawn and my brothers. I’ll be back in an hour with the priest.”
