"My lord." His voice cracks on the first word. He clears his throat and pushes on. Fine. That is worth something. "Lord Oakenshade. Lady Oakenshade. I apologize for arriving unannounced. I was afraid if I sent word ahead, I would lose my nerve waiting for your reply."
"Depends on what you want at this hour," Pa says.
It isn't approval.
It also isn't a refusal.
Caden licks his lips. He must have expected this. Brave enough to stand before Pa, at least.
"I've come to ask..."
His eyes find Mirelle.
Something changes in his face. I recognize it immediately, because I've seen the same helpless devotion on every sister who has fallen in love.
I hate recognizing it now.
"I've come to ask your blessing to court your daughter Mirelle. Formally. In the open. The way it should have been done from the beginning."
"We've been..." Mirelle starts, edging closer to him.
"We know what you've been," Ma says.
Mirelle wisely closes her mouth.
Princeton wanders toward the fire and warms his hands, smiling at nothing. Already bored. Or determined to appear that way.
He is more like their father.
Hiding behind manners.
"And I've brought..." Caden fumbles with the satchel over his shoulder. His hands are shaking. He pulls out a parcel wrapped in plain cloth and crosses the hall to Mirelle.
Then he drops to one knee.
Not the human proposal posture. Lower. His head bows until his brow nearly touches the stone.
An orc beginning.
Humans aren't supposed to know it.
"I asked how orcs do this," Caden says. His voice is quieter now, meant only for Mirelle even though every one of us can hear. "They told me a gift you buy means nothing. It has to be made."
He places the parcel in her hands.
Mirelle unwraps it slowly.
Inside is a small wooden box, crudely made by hands that do not understand wood. The joints don't quite meet. The lid sits crooked. One corner has been sanded lower than the others, as though he kept trying to repair a mistake and only made it worse.
By any craftsman's standard, it is a terrible box.
Mirelle looks at it like it's a crown.
Caden's ears are crimson when he gets back to his feet. He rises too quickly for proper manners, but he tried.
"I've never made anything before," he says. "I'm used to buying things. Pretty things. But I wanted to do this properly, and I ruined four attempts before this one. I'm sorry it isn't better."
Mirelle starts crying.
