Bryant was right. Seran was happy wherever she was.
Trev gave her a knowing look.
Such a big moment came with so many big emotions. Renna wrapped her fingers tighter around Trev’s as Bryant began the simple words to the ceremony. Her breathing picked up intensity, keeping pace with the swirling excitement in her chest. She wanted to cry. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to break out into a little dance or start singing a ridiculous song from the top of her lungs.
This was what happiness felt like.
The next morning, Trev and Renna lay in bed at the Trevenna family cabin, surrounded by the mountains of Albion. A fluffy gold comforter was draped over them, their bodies meshed together, curving into each other.
“I can’t believe you kicked your dad out of his home for an entire week.” Renna turned her cheek toward him as she spoke.
“Would you have preferred he stay here with us on our honeymoon?”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Well, then, you’re welcome.” He pulled her closer, snuggling against her body.
“He’s just going to hate me even more.” Renna was a little scared of how her relationship with Carver would work out the rest of her life.
“I guess you have a lifetime to figure it out,” he mused.
“And what are you going to spend your lifetime figuring out while I’m doing that?”
Trev sighed. “I’ll probably spend a lifetime trying to figure out how to keep Albion safe from Tolsten.”
“Oh.”
Trev leaned his head up, noticing the disappointment in her voice. “What? You didn’t like that answer?”
Renna stumbled over her words. “No . . . I did. I just . . . thought you were going to say something cheesy and cute like, I’ll spend a lifetime trying to make you happy.”
“Ah, yes. Cheesy honeymoon talk,” he said, letting his head fall back onto his pillow.
“Cheesy honeymoon talk? Is that a thing?”
“It is now.” He switched to his baby voice. “My sweet tender muffin.”
Renna let out a harsh laugh. “On second thought, I don’t think I’m the type of girl that likes cheesy honeymoon talk.”
“Whatever you want.” He nuzzled his face into her neck. For a moment, the only sound was the rhythm of their breaths.
“Sometimes I wonder,” she said, breaking the silence, “if I am the only person in the history of the entire population who has ever lain in this position.”
“What? Like next to a king?” he asked. “I thought you didn’t like cheesy?”
“No, like this.” She jostled her arm a bit, prompting Trev to reach his head up again so he could see the position she was lying in.
She had her left arm straightened out under her pillow with her head leaning on top of it, and her right arm formed a triangle, resting her fingertips comfortably below her chin.
Trev started laughing. “You think you are the only person who has ever lain like that?”
“No.” She defended herself. “Not logically. I’m just saying, what if I was? It’s such a comfortable position; what if everyone else in the world didn’t know about it?”
He wrinkled his brow as if to consider her question. “Yes, I can picture it even from the beginning of time. Adam and Eve not knowing what to do when they lay down to rest—not being able to figure out how to get comfortable. If only they knew they could stretch one of their arms out and use it as a pillow to lean on.” The sarcasm in his voice betrayed any chance of sincerity.
“Seriously.” She nudged him with her right elbow. “What if I was the first person to discover this position?”
“Then you must patent it,” he said. “It would be your patented position.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means no one else would ever be able to lie like that again without your permission or without paying you. It was something they used to do before Desolation.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“For teaching you about patents?” His arms hugged her body tighter.
“No, for letting me talk about stupid things. For letting me be me.” She bit her lip as she spoke, a little shy about her vulnerability.
“I wouldn’t want to talk about stupid things with anybody else. That reminds me,” he threw back the covers on his side and climbed out of bed, letting a rush of cold air snake up the back of her nightgown. “I have a wedding present for you.” His bare feet tiptoed around the bed. “It’s freezing! Why is it so cold in the mountains?” he complained.
“Well, maybe if you put on more than just undershorts, you wouldn’t be so cold.” She leaned up on her elbow, watching him.
Trev stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her with a mischievous smile. “Why would I put on more clothes?” He started flexing his stomach and arm muscles as he danced around the foot of the bed. “You can’t resist my super, amazing abs.”
Renna laughed at his outrageous dance moves.
“I know you love my body,” he said. “You were checking me out the second day we met.” He continued to dance in front of her. “When I was swimming in the pond.”
“I did not check you out!” she said, throwing a pillow at him. “I remember covering my eyes, like a good girl.”
“You were peeking.” He danced over to the cherry armoire and pulled out a wrapped gift, then he danced his way back to her.
She threw another pillow at him just to be dramatic, but he swatted it away, jumping onto the bed next to her.
“Open it,” he said excitedly.
She tore through the wrapping paper and box. Inside were four frames, each with a wrinkled paper guarded inside the glass. Renna smiled, recognizing Trev’s scribbled handwriting.
Trev pointed to the frame on top. “It’s the list I wrote you—all the things I wanted to talk to you about when you lived at Wellenbreck.”
She nodded, loving that he was giving this to her. She had asked to read it several times, but he’d always acted like he had lost it.
“If we ever run out of things to say to each other or stupid things to talk about, we can consult the list.” He held the frame up in front of him, scanning the paper with his eyes.
Renna kissed his cheek. “I love the list, but I don’t think we’ll ever run out of things to say to each other.”
Trev tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, trickling his fingers down her neck on the way. “I don’t think we will either. After all, we’ll always have Tybolt.”
The end
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The Rejected King (FREE book!)
The king hired her to find him a wife. She fell for him instead.