The Lives of Velnin chapter 30
Third Life, Second Proposal
I prepared for the upcoming ball by shopping for an engagement ring. Soon, I would propose to Aloree, and if she declined, my father would marry me off to Soraina. Though I prayed to God to help me be at peace with however my marriage turned out, I was determined give Aloree my best shot.
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Eventually, I settled upon a ring customized to my specification: a band in the color of Aloree's golden hair, set off by an enormous sapphire the shade of her blue eyes, with a smaller ruby on each side. It was fancier than the ring my brother Velwin had proposed to her with before his death, but I was not in enemy territory, and could do better than he.
I also prepared by sparring with practice swords, and practicing on training dummies with my sword, Swelfalster. In combat I found a stoicism I had not had when my father explained his plans for me. I remembered Veldin's dying words regarding his duel with Soraina, and what she had said to him afterward. "Okay, Soraina," I muttered to myself, "we'll see how it turns out."
By the time I was ship-board sailing to the Isthmus for the ball, I was thoroughly prepared. I would be charming, forthright, and bold. I would not propose right away, but woo hard from the very start, for I was not a tame lion. And if it didn't work out, well, honestly, I really liked Soraina.
I arrived at the ball in leathers, a royally-embroidered cape flowing from my shoulders, my sword Swelfalster in a scabbard on my hip. The maître d'hôtel met me at the entrance and nervously explained that I would be announced as guest of honor, but in view of the political situation, there would be no speeches. Surely, he volunteered, the comradery of this ball, the casual meeting and dancing of the leaders, heroes, and maidens of the kingdoms our region, would help all come out all right.
His nervousness pleased me—no doubt rumors of my father's plan to marry me off to the Dark Empress and help her conquer the other kingdoms if their military help was not forthcoming had begun to take hold. I suspected getting their aid finishing off the Dark Empire's forces would not be so difficult this time around. He whispered to his staff and motioned me forward. Soon I entered the ballroom, and was announced as Guest of Honor, Hero of the Battle of Soppressatas, and Prince of Tarmel. There was some applause, and the eyes of a number of the maidens present rested upon me with interest. As I descended the stairs, a girl I vaguely recognized blocked my way.
"Looking for someone to ask to dance, hero?" she said, extending her hand and smiling. I remembered her from one of the many balls Veldin had attended before copying his memories over to me—a princess of some minor kingdom he had never taken any interest in, beyond some dances.
"Yes, indeed, I am. Do you know where Princess Aloree is?"
Her expression changed to a scowl of disgust. "That way," she said, pointing to a raised dais. She grabbed a random ship captain and began pulling him to the dance floor, scowling and glaring daggers at me the whole time. I ignored her and walked to the dais she had pointed out. I noticed a few beautifully dressed maidens casually begin walking in the same direction as me, furtively giving me glances of interest.
Ignoring them I proceeded to the dais. Aloree's guards, Jom and Pol, were at the bottom of the stairs, turning away any and all young men seeking a dance. They nodded to me and made way. As I climbed the stairs, they closed ranks, then began chatting up some of the maidens who had furtively followed me. I grinned and turned to give them a thumbs up.
Contrary to my expectations, I had not found Aloree—magic user, Princess of Tarmel, and professional diplomat—either dancing or hobnobbing with various leaders. Instead, she was seated at a table, beautifully dressed with her golden hair up in fancy braids and ornamented with gold and jewels, in a resplendent white dress with blue and gold embroidery, nose deep in a book. By the light of the golden orb that lit up her table, I could see the title was "Magic Space Princess Time Loop", with a stylized drawing of a blonde princess with unusually large eyes, a fancy hairdo, and a pretty dress, standing in front of the moon with a clock in the background. She read intently a few seconds longer, marked her place with a bookmark, closed the book, and laid it on the table.
"Veltrin! I've missed you," she said.
Suddenly our arms were around each other and we were kissing fiercely. I felt her soul touching mine, warm, happy, excited. We whispered sweet nothings of affection to each other in between kisses. We talked about everything and nothing. Soon we were making our way to the dance floor.
The orchestra began an epic waltz. I spun Aloree into an embrace and danced a couple measures with her wrapped in my arms, and spun her back. We danced some basic steps and danced and turned our way through the crowd. I spun Aloree to my side and we promenaded forward.
Now the spotlight shone upon us and the other dancers gave us room. I knew many looked on but everything had disappeared for me but Aloree. We held hands left-to-left and circled each other and swung back into a dancer's hold. Aloree did a silly move imitating the girl on the cover of the book she'd read earlier and I played along. I spun her into an embrace and kissed her cheek and her neck, spun her back and danced some basic steps cheek to cheek. A few figures later we danced nose to nose, staring into each other's eyes. As the orchestra reached the final crescendo of the waltz we found ourselves barely moving our feet and just kissing, me leaning forward and holding her as she dipped back and I kissed her deep. The music ended and I heard some applause around me, and realized how many had been watching.
We both blushed. As the orchestra started a new song I took Aloree by the hand and led her to a curtained alcove by the side of the room. Jom and Pol had grabbed their respective maidens and danced nearby us to surreptitiously guard her, and now moved to follow, Jom apologizing to his maiden, Pol bringing his along. They stood guard outside the alcove.
"I'm in love with you," I told her. She didn't reply with words, but put her arms around me and kissed me passionately. Her soul pressed close against mine and flashed with passion, love, joy, excitement. I felt her heart beat wildly against my chest. I realized that if any moment was the one, this was it.
As the kiss ended I pulled out the ring. "Will you marry me?" I asked.
Suddenly a serious look came to her face, pensive and a little bit sad. Her breath caught, and she grasped at something hanging from a necklace around her neck, lying under her dress. Time stood still as I awaited her answer.
The Lives of Velnin chapter 31
The moment had been right. I'd pulled out the ring and asked Aloree to marry me. Now she stared, a sad expression on her face, clutching at whatever lay hanging from her necklace, under her dress. She closed her eyes, lifted it in her hands, and gave it a kiss. I now saw what it was, and recognized it from an image accompanying my brother Velwin's dying…
Book 1 now out on Amazon! The Lives of Velnin: THE BLACK CITADEL collects Chapters 1-14 of the story so far.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZPF7QN2 (paperback)
https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DZJ7R5VH (or if you want to give Royal Road some money and have them pick your region automatically. I did post the story there, after all.)
I would be extremely grateful for any Amazon reviews you could muster. Amazon review link: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B0DZJ7R5VH
