Page 17 of Betrothed

Fawn did not look excited. Her scent was even sour with worry. But Zax would fix that.

“You will like it,” he assured her. “It is very romantic.”

Fawn laughed. She had two laughs, he was noticing. One was quiet and strained, which he did not like. But then there was her other laugh, loud and shocked. It always ended fast, and Zax was forever trying to coax it out of her.

“Well,” Fawn said. “If it’s romantic.”

He carried her down to the forest floor and started the short walk to his surprise. On the way, he told her of his adventures: the otherworldly voids that belonged to his eldest brothers, the hidden places in the mortal realm where his other brothers lived.

“I may be one of the youngest Skullstalkers in existence,” he told Fawn. “But we are unsure. We do not keep track of the years.”

“So,” Fawn said. “Only a few hundred years old, then.”

“Maybe not even that,” Zax sighed. “They tease me for it. Especially the elders. But they are much better to spend time with than the other young ones. Many of them are not very nice. But one of them, Wick⁠—”

“The one who used to have the blood frenzy,” Fawn said.

“Yes!” Zax said, delighted that she remembered. “He is the brother I have adventures with most often. He is also the only brother who does not say I am ‘too nice.’ He lives on the other side of the Anderfel mountains, and his wife, Briar, is very fun. Whenever I go to see them, something happens. Actually, mostly when I see Briar. Things happen to her constantly.”

“They sound nice,” Fawn said. There was something under her words that made Zax think she wanted to say more, so he pushed for it.

“They are nice,” Zax said. “You will like them. They will be very happy I have found a wife to add to our adventures.”

“Adventure,” Fawn said, her big brown eyes turned up to watch the tree branches pass them by. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had one of those before.”

“Really? I have them often.” Zax flexed his arms, feeling his new scars pull at his skin. He still did not know if he would count getting captured by the Circle as an adventure. But it was how he met another brother, and more importantly, how he met Fawn.

Zax held her closer, ignoring how his scarred shoulders ached despite carrying such a light load. They were nearing their destination; they had reached the river where it was hidden.

He came to a stop next to the river.

“We are here,” he declared.

“The river?” Fawn said. “It’s very nice.”

“Not the river,” Zax told her.

He carried her over the river until they reached a cliff wall draped in a long, willowy blanket of leaves. At least, Zax had thought it was a wall the first time he saw it. Now he knew that he could reach into the willowy leaves and out the other side.

He held the drapes of leaves aside and stepped through.

Inside was a dark cave. He looked down at Fawn expectantly, only to see her squinting. Then her eyes widened, and she gasped.

Zax craned his head up at the dark walls of the cave. They were covered in bright blue glow worms, turning the cave into a dazzling night sky the likes of which he’d never seen.

“Oh,” Fawn breathed. “That’s— Zax, that’s beautiful!”

Zax beamed, staring up at the glowing cave. “I found it years ago. This is when I realized how much I wanted a companion. I would bring them back here, I decided. I would find a husband or wife or whatever they may be. I would bring my love here, and we would gaze up at its beauty together. And here we are.”

Fawn’s hands twitched at the back of his neck. “You… love me?”

“Of course.”

“But we—” Fawn stared up at him with that bewildered expression she wore so often when he spoke. Then it smoothed out into something blank and almost apologetic. “It’s just that we hardly know each other.”

Zax could have been hurt by this. But he had experienced too many mortals screaming and fleeing from him to be hurt that his wife did not love him after these wonderful days together.

“Then tell me of yourself,” he said.