She turned to him, holding his hand between both of hers. “I’m tired, but I’m not very sleepy.” His father had been very receptive to their information. Although he struggled to believe the truth of it, he had promised to speak with them more in the following days.
Erich’s eyebrows pinched together. “I have a slight problem, wife, that I haven’t told you about yet.”
“What is it?” Aizel kept her voice kind, because she wasn’t in the least bit concerned. After everything they had been through together, she was sure they could handle any obstacle.
“I have one tiny regret about marrying you.” Erich held up his fingers to indicate just how tiny the regret was.
“Oh really?” She crossed her arms. He had better be jesting.
“I’ve only ever had one skill that I required in my future wife, and I rather forgot to ask you about it earlier.”
“And what would that be?” Scratching the back of her neck, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Twisting it down in front of her, she took a step toward Erich to close the distance between them.
He grinned down at her, pausing as long as he possibly could before answering her question. “Dancing.”
“Dancing?” That wasn’t at all what she had expected, but coming from Erich it somehow made perfect sense.
“I’ve always wanted to spend my life with someone who loved dancing. So. Aizel of Istroya and Princess of Iseldis, do you like to dance?”
Aizel had never spent much of her life dancing, but that was a problem she was happy to solve. “I love dancing. Although that might be one area in which you can teach me something.”
“Oh, good.” Erich sighed dramatically, dropping his shoulders as he swiped his forehead. “You had me stressed there for a second. Here I was worrying that we’d made a rash decision we would both regret.”
“Do you regret it?” Standing up on her tiptoes, Aizel placed her hands against his chest to steady herself as she brought her face as close to his as possible.
“Not even for a second. You are perfect for me and I’ll do my best to be the same for you.” He leaned down to bring their faces together.
“I don’t need you to be perfect. I just need you to be by my side, standing next to me and fighting with me. Forever.”
“Done.” He tilted his face to the side, rubbing her nose with his as he brought their lips together.
She slipped her hand behind his neck, enjoying his closeness as she responded to his kiss.
He put his hand on her waist and lifted his head. “Dance with me?”
“Right now?”
He nodded.
“We don’t have any music.”
“We don’t need music.”
Aizel held up her finger, motioning for him to be quiet.
She placed one hand on his shoulder, and the other into his open hand. Stepping into his embrace, she placed her head against his chest.
She could hear his heartbeat and she felt her own heart pulsing in time to his. This was right. Everything outside was strangled in chaos and they still had so much work to do, but inside the four walls of this castle bedroom, everything was right.
Closing her eyes, she began to hum, making up the notes as she went. It was a quiet song but fueled by the combined beat of their hearts.
Erich placed a kiss on the top of her head, then began to sway in time with her tune. As he found his footing, he pulled her into the dance, swinging her around but always drawing her back into the comforting circle of his arms.
Epilogue
“Meena.” Her brother’s voice sounded outside Meena’s door.
She cracked it open.
