Page 35 of The Boy Bride

Mikhi shrugged. Khatu, grinning, said, “Next we plan the wedding!”

* * *

“Da! Da!”

Vanu was exercising in the yard when he heard Mikhi’s shout. He wiped sweat out of his eyes and flipped his practice sword to rest it on his shoulder as he turned toward her. She skidded to a halt, face alight with excitement.

“He took the ring,” she signed.

Vanu raised his eyebrows sceptically. He tucked the practice sword under his arm so he could reply.

“Took it and threw it on the ground?”

“Took it and put it on!”

Vanu whistled. That he had not expected—not at all. The boy had seemed so desperate to escape, hiding in the cupboard, stealing the snake-handled dagger—and so enraged when he was recaptured, which only happened because he had come to the aid of his comrade.

“He thought you gave the order to throw him over the wall,” Mikhi explained. “When he realized you didn’t … ” She shrugged. “He came here to marry you. Why is it a surprise that he still wants to?”

Because I clearly can’t protect him from being thrown over the wall—him or his friend.

But, equally clearly, the boy could protect himself.

“He wanted an assurance that we wouldn’t hurt the other lowlander,” Mikhi went on, “and I gave it, because I thought that’s what you’d do. But he said the other lowlander’s not his friend.”

Vanu nodded.

“I said we hadn’t decided what to do with the other lowlander—we might hold him for ransom, I said, or we might let him go.”

“Sweetheart, we are not in a position to hold people for ransom these days.”

“Oh. I guess not.”

“Does Tirtu know about this yet?”

“I don’t know. I came straight to tell you.”

“Let me wash and put on a shirt, and we will go tell him. He said he forgave the boy, but I do not want to take his goodwill for granted.”

“You always think these things through,” said Mikhi admiringly.

Vanu rolled his eyes. If that flattering portrait were true, he wouldn’t have suffered the betrayal that landed him here in Umtúshta with the gate filled in with rocks. He’d learned a lot since then.

“Did you find out his name?” he asked.

“Your bride’s name? No, but Susami and Atari and I have started calling him … ” She hesitated, then made a modified version of the sign for doll. “It was … my idea,” she admitted. “Before I saw him drop out of the tree on Tirtu. Now I think maybe we should call him something else.”

Vanu thought about the boy’s fierce, dark eyes, the way he had twisted in Vanu’s grip and lashed out, the stolen dagger with its ivory handle lying in the dirt.

Idly he made the sign for snake.

“Oooh,” said Mikhi aloud. “That’s perfect.”

Chapter 12

Rosewater Cookies

“So what are weddings like where you’re from?” Mikhi asked when she and Khatu came the next day.