“Will yours be shorter then? Your life?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. But that seems so unfair!”
“I would not want to be alive without my resonant by my side. And you will be, until the day I die. Which should be at least a few centuries from now, barring—”
“Wars or accidents or sword fights?”
“—yes.”
“Then we shall have to keep the peace.” Pip laughed. It was a bright, startled, slightly wet sound, and it made every iron fitting in the stable yard ring in sympathy. “But not to worry; I haveabsolutely no intention of sword fighting, Aeldryc. I can’t even get on a horse.”
“It is a long time to spend with one person.”
“A long time with you sounds perfect,” he said, and the simplicity of it undid me.
I went to one knee.
Behind me, sixteen soldiers who had been specifically and explicitly ordered to leave gasped in unison. I heard armor creak as they all leaned forward. I heard Thyren whisper something to Voss. I heard the quiet, delighted intake of breath from the stable entrance where the Queen was standing.
Pip was looking down at me with his mouth open and his eyes enormous and a dahlia petal stuck to his cheek.
“Pip,” I said. “You fell into my world in the most unexpected way. And the most unexpected costume.”
“Admit it, you love the shorts,” Pip said, beaming at me.
“I… admire the way your ass looks in the shorts. And the way you stayed in a world that was not your own and refused to be anything different than exactly who you are. The way you make everything fun, and even the way you make every goddamn thing about sex.”
His hands were trembling in mine. “Very hot sex, though.”
“Very, very hot sex,” I said with a laugh. “And no matter what happens, you come out the other side in incredible shorts and a flower crown. You have the most extraordinary joy I have ever encountered in any living creature. You make rooms brighter by entering them. You have a boldness that defies every law of self-preservation and a heart that I do not deserve and an ass that—”
Pip choked on a laugh.
“—that I find distractingly gorgeous, and I will not apologize for noticing it. Even in the shorts. Especially in the shorts.”
“Are shorts on the table for the wedding?” Pip whispered.
I glared at him. He grinned through his tears.
“Pip.” I pressed my lips to his knuckles. The silver sang between us, high and sweet and trembling with something that felt like the beginning of the rest of everything. “I love you. I love your chaos, your courage, your terrible jokes, and the way you look at me like I am something worth keeping. I want to keep you, too. I want to keep you for every year the bond will give us.”
I took a breath.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” he said, immediately, as though he had been holding the word in his mouth and waiting for me to ask for it. “Yes. Of course. Obviously. Were you worried I’d say no? I already said yes five minutes ago. Keep up.”
I pulled him closer, and kissed him.
“So,” Pip said, muffled against my chest. “About the shorts.”
“No.”
“I think it would be a nice nod to my heritage. Oh wait, I didn’t make a speech about how awesome you are.”
“You don’t have to make a speech.”
