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It would get better, or so Aunt Illyna, the healers at the hospital, and the others in the AMPC Warrior Foundation assured him. His stump would adjust to taking his weight, although there would still be aches and pains at times. His brain and magic would get used to moving the prosthetic, to the point he might not even have to think about it too much.

He had been concentrating so much on walking and using his magic that he didn’t notice that Adry now stood at the end of the bars until he was directly in front of her. When he dragged his head up to meet her gaze, she was grinning, yet there was something soft in her eyes.

“You walked.” She rested her hand over his on the bar.

“I did.” Two simple words with such a wealth of meaning deep in his soul.

He’d walked. It was hard, and he had a long way to go. But right now, he’d take a moment to savor how far he’d come to get to this point.

Perhaps it was the headiness of the victory of the moment, but he let go of the bars to rest one hand on her waist and the other on her cheek. Then he kissed her. Just a light kiss, though it wasn’t as quick as he’d intended, given that they had an audience.

How he wanted to just forget that they had an audience. But he couldn’t. After a moment, he eased back from the kiss and murmured, “Go out to supper with me?”

“Like on a date?” Adry toyed with a strand of his hair, her smile tipping wryly. “Haven’t we been doing that already?”

“Yes, but this would be a real date. Supper in Estyra and everything.” He searched her face, his heart in his throat. He’d anticipated this moment for years, even when he’d thought it would never happen.

“Are you sure?” Adry’s gaze flicked down ever so briefly to his feet.

Yes, he’d been self-conscious. And, yes, he wished he could walk instead of take the wheelchair for this date. But he wasn’t going to keep hiding. “I am sure.”

“Then, yes, I’d love to.” Adry pressed just the lightest kiss to his cheek though she didn’t step farther back until he had a grip on the bars once again. “Now go back to walking practice before we scandalize everyone even more.”

He shared a grin with her before he carefully turned himself around. The nurse was staring at the ceiling, ears strawberry red. Aunt Illyna’s ears, too, were red, her gaze locked on the floor, but a small smile hovered on her mouth. Like Merrik’s mama, she’d promised not to tell Adry’s parents until Merrik and Adry had the chance to tell them.

After stumbling his way back along the bars, Merrik sank onto his wheelchair once again with a sigh as he took the weight off his aching stump and left foot.

Now he just needed to come up with a proper date that would actually impress Adry.

Merrik adjusted where his elven tunic lay over his shirt as he regarded himself in the mirror. Too formal? Perhaps he should just go with the shirt and not the tunic over it? Maybe a different color? Though, the deep blue tunic and gray shirt beneath brought out the red in his chestnut hair. But perhaps that was a bad thing, considering Fieran had red hair and Merrik didn’t want Adry thinking about brothers when she looked at him.

He glanced at the clock and grimaced. If he didn’t leave in the next few minutes, he’d be late. Well, he’d have to go with what he was wearing.

He’d already let Mama know that he wouldn’t be there for supper. Instead of facing her and Kari, he took the lift he and Adry had built down from his balcony to the forest floor. Annoyingly, she had absolutely been right that he’d want that lift.

Thanks to the Foundation, a work crew had created a woodchip landing with several woodchip paths leading off into the forest beneath Ellonahshinel.

Before heading down the path toward the lift to Adry’s family’s treetop house, Merrik wheeled to the edge of the patio, leaned over, and picked the bouquet of wildflowers he’d grown partway through that day after raiding his mama’s seed stash.

Once he’d tied the flowers off with a ribbon, he tucked the bouquet into the top of the bag hanging behind his chair with the flowerheads peeking out. Then he set off down the path toward where Uncle Farrendel’s workshop stood on the forest floor, just visible through the smaller trees.

When he’d wheeled around the workshop, he found Adry already waiting beside the lift, pacing back and forth in a way that sent the skirt fluttering around her knees. She wore a dress that was a troll style her Aunt Vriska had made popular. She had a fitted leather corset-style vest over her light blue shirt, the buckles of her swords strapped across her back adding to the overall look. Her skirt was shorter in the front and longer in the back, showing off her knee-high leather boots. Her red-blonde hair fluttered around her as she moved, the strands highlighted in the late afternoon sunlight.

The wheels of Merrik’s chair slowed, and only then did he realize he’d forgotten to keep pushing. His grip on the wheels had gone slack as he found himself gaping.

Adry turned to him, her smile somewhere between warm and wary. “Does your room look like mine? I couldn’t decide what to wear. Which is ridiculous. You’ve seen me in every outfit I own at one point or another. I even considered running to Estyra and buying something new. Which would have been even more ridiculous.”

“Courting someone you know so well does have a few disadvantages.” Merrik shared a smile and look with her, not wanting to admit how many outfits he’d gone through. Such a thing didn’t seem manly. “You look good. I mean, beautiful. You look beautiful. And, uh, these are for you.”

He fumbled to retrieve the flowers from his bag without knocking all the flowerheads off. After a moment, he held them out to her.

Adry took them, her ears pink at the tops. “Linshi. These are lovely.” After smelling them, she glanced around. “Um, I guess I should put these in water?”

That would mean running all the way back to her rooms and delaying them further.

Merrik held out a hand. “Do you want me to temporarily plant them again?”

“That would be great. Thanks.” Adry handed back the flowers, and he shoved the stems into the moss, using a little of his magic to make the flowers grow a small root system. Just enough to keep them fresh while he and Adry were gone.