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With a hearty laugh, I shook my head and reached across the open space between our horses to slug him in the shoulder. “Give it a week. Her more annoying traits will start to shine through soon enough.”
But Brentley only shook his head. “I’m sure you’re only saying that because she’s your sister. If you saw her as I do, you’d be half in love with her too. She’s just so graceful, and kind, and personable, open, and full of so much life. And don’t get me started on her looks. Her body is—”
“Enough!” I cut in, holding up a hand and wincing for him to stop. I was all for listing a woman’s fine attributes… Until it came to my sister. “You don’t need to sell me. I’m glad you find her pleasing. As long as you treat her as well as you seem to adore her, I’ll be happy.”
“Oh, I will. I swear it. She’ll never want for anything. I’ll dedicate my entire life to—”
“Okay, okay.” This time, I laughed. He had it bad, didn’t he? Poor sap. “Do what you say, and we’ll be fine.”
“I will.” He nodded seriously before falling thoughtful. When a frown overtook his face, he mumbled, “She loved him a lot, didn’t she?”
He looked so crestfallen that Allera might’ve loved another that I actually wanted to reassure him and deny it. But I couldn’t lie. I decided I respected him too much for that.
“She did,” I said, setting a hand on his shoulder.
Brentley looked up as if that news crushed him.
I slapped his arm. “But he died nearly a year ago, and I know she’d like to move on with a pleasant, amiable fellow who might offer her a good life and possibly even some children someday.”
Brentley blushed as his lips quivered into a smile. “You think?”
“I know,” I assured him. “I have every confidence you can make her happy.”
With a nod, my soon-to-be brother-in-law breathed in a lungful. “I’ll do everything in my power to do just that.”
“Then I’ll do everything in my power to assist you in your accomplishments.”
Brightening and grinning like a fool, Brentley bobbed his head at me before blowing out his breath. “You know, I feared you’d be a lot less friendly with me about all this, seeing as I’m a stranger to you and about to marry your only sister.”
I shrugged, chuckling. “I’m not too concerned. I’ve sat down with men and finished an entire bottle of ale with them, comparing who bedded more women, before running my sword through their bellies and ending their miserable lives.” Grinning, I sent Brentley a congenial nod. “And that’s exactly what I’d do to you too if you ever hurt Allera. With the sharpest blade I own.”
Smile dropping flat and face going pale, Brentley slowed his steed to a stop as he gaped at me, clearly trying to decide if I was joking or not. When I gave no sign of jest, he gulped.
“Duly noted.”
“Good.” I nodded my head. “I’m glad we got that sorted.” My grin remained as I trotted ahead, out of the trees and toward a bend in the path that followed the moat around to the back of the castle. Once I reached it, I slowed to a stop, my mouth gaping open as I
took in the village that appeared before me.
“My… God,” I uttered, not at all expecting what I saw. “It’s an oasis.”
We had walked at a steady decline through a path in the woods around the castle since exiting the walls, winding in a circular path around to the back where two high, beige mountains of sand rose majestically into the sky. But I hadn’t been able to see the valley between the mountains until we’d left the forest and curved around the last bend.
A tiny paradise locked away in the midst of a sweltering desert, the valley was full of green vegetation and a lake to one side. With the village sprawling throughout and merchant shops lining a main road into a center square, a market was in full swing, filled with vendors and consumers. The cottages and homesteads that branched out from there made the entire hamlet look like the design of an exotic tree.
“How…?” I started, shaking my head and unable to find the words.
“The sand mountains and surrounding desert hide it quite successfully, don’t they?” Brentley asked, returning to my side.
I turned to gape at him mutely.
“Welcome to the kingdom within the sand,” he said, back to smiling. Then my future brother-in-law clicked his tongue and set his horse back into a canter, moving toward the city.
“This is Mandalay,” he told me when I hurried to catch up. “The largest city in the kingdom. Not many people know of its existence, otherwise we probably would’ve had it stolen from us years ago.”
I had questions. So many questions. But all I could seem to muster was, “It’s gorgeous,” as I went back to gazing at it.
He glanced at me, his eyes twinkling. “Thank you. Have you heard our history before?”
