That thought kept a happy smile on my lips all through the morning while I got dressed in a soft cotton blouse with long embroidered sleeves and a sleeveless wool dress. After tying a wide, beaded belt around my waist, I brushed and braided my hair, then put the pretty green ribbon around my head.
The only courting I knew was mostly done through my parents. I was seventeen when my late husband expressed his interest in marrying me. My parents accepted his courtship, and he started sending me presents through his servants while calling on me in person once a week. During his visits, he’d briefly talk to me about the weather, then would go to my father’s study to negotiate my dowry and plan the wedding.
I didn’t want to marry him. The stupid young me would’ve actually preferred Reizon back then. Reizon was young and beautiful, as opposed to my old and balding husband-to-be, but Reizon’s wealth wasn’t large enough for my parents, his title wasn’t high enough, and his bloodline wasn’t quite as pure and long.
No one asked me what I preferred, of course. In the royal court of the Avilet Kingdom, a daughter’s duty was to obey her parents and bear plenty of children for her husband to ensure continuation of his precious bloodline. And that was what I did.
I obediently married the man my parents had chosen for me and obediently endured my husband’s weekly visits to my bedroom while trying to conceive an heir for him.
After the High Lord’s death, it took years for my body to recover enough to accept even my own touch. Eventually, I discovered the many ways of enjoying sex on my own, but I never thought I’d want another man to touch me. I never could’ve imagined that I’d enjoy a man’s touch so wantonly or that I’d miss it so terribly. Grat had barely left, and I was already counting minutes until his return.
Before going out of the cabin, I slung a quiver with arrows over my shoulder and took my bow with me. I’d promised Grat to have a weapon on me at all times while he was away. It might look like overreacting on his part, but after being ambushed by the toad monster, I didn’t want to take any chances either. Best to be safe than sorry.
I started the fire and set a teapot on the grill to boil water for my tea, then took a bowl with leftover fish from my dinner over to the creek.
While Grat was at the cabin, I hadn’t seen the water dog. I believed she still came by but stayed out of sight, because the food I left every night and every morning for her was always gone.
As I set the bowl with the fish down on the ground, the tall grass at the water edge rustled, the familiar head poked through with her long pointy ears flattened against her skull.
“There you are, honey,” I murmured. “Where have you been? Hiding from the big, scary orc?”
At the sound of my voice, the dog paused, eyeing me suspiciously.
“It’s all good, my girl,” I cooed, keeping my voice soft and non-threatening. “I’m not going to hurt you. Grat isn’t either. He just looks big and scary, but he’s very gentle with those he likes, trust me, I know.”
I smiled, picking up a piece of fish from the bowl.
Grat had said that if a water dog was born in the wild, it was impossible to tame. He believed that this dog belonged to someone before, and since a water dog would always find its way home, this one must have no home and no master anymore. Her old master had either died or might’ve been cruel to her, forcing her to flee.
“There are many similarities in our lives, sweet girl. We were meant to be friends, you and I,” I said to the dog, offering her the food in my hand.
Holding her head low to the ground, the dog took a tentative step forward. I held still, not saying a word anymore and not moving at all.
She sniffed the air. Her bright yellow eyes shifted, as if she expected an attack at any moment.
I noticed she looked much better now. Her sides had filled in a little, giving her a stronger, healthier appearance. As she recovered, she’d probably been hunting more successfully too.
Maybe she had no need for my food anymore. Yet there she was, taking another step toward me.
She stretched her head toward the fish, and I moved my arm closer to me, luring her to come closer too. She did, and I stretched my other hand toward her, ready to pet if she let me.
Her eyes darted a glance at my outstretched hand. A low growl vibrated in her throat, but it wasn’t loud—a signal of caution, not a warning of an attack.
“I won’t move,” I promised softly. “You come to me if you’re ready.”
At the sound of my voice, her gaze shifted to me again. Slowly, ever so slowly, she brought a front paw forward for another step. Her head moved closer and closer until her cool, wet nose pressed into my palm.
Breath left me in a sigh of relief.
I turned my hand slightly, gliding my palm over the side of her nose and then over her head. Her short fur was wet, probably from swimming here through the creek. She seemed to tremble a little but wouldn’t move away from my touch.
Grat and I wouldn’t stay in the cabin forever. Sooner or later, we’d leave here and move to his house in the keep. I felt a little apprehensive about meeting his friends and family, but also excited. I hoped his people would like me and we would get along. But I couldn’t leave the dog here.
“We’ll take you with us,” I told her in a soft whisper so as not to spook her away.
She didn’t move, letting me pet her.
“You’ll have as much food as you can eat,” I promised, reeling from the fact that she seemed to have accepted me.
