The trip home to Arimythia was a short and easy one, and so soon as Akorsa had her sheep settled for the night ahead, she ran in search of Fionn, telling Verican to see her father concerning that afternoon�s proposal. She found him finally as he sat alongside the river, watching the waters rush by in their own soothing way. She rushed over to him, skidding to a stop on the sandy riverbank with her knees.
�Ever so punctual, I see,� said Fionn with a laugh. She slapped his arm playfully.
�Do not toy with me in such a manner, Fionn,� she mock-scowled, then taking on a more serious expression. �The Captain-General just asked me to marry him.�
�He did what?� growled the young man, moving to rise from his seat along the riverbank, but Akorsa pushed him back down. He looked her directly in the eye. �Do you love him?�
�I do not, and you know it just as well as anyone else,� she told him, not having the courage to look at him this time.
�What was your reply to him? Did you agree?� he asked, quite anxiously for the answer.
�I told I did not wish it, but that he should ask my father if he was so determined to wed me. I told him that depending on my father�s reply, it is possible that I may reconsider his proposition. He agreed to that, and he is with my father at this very moment,� she answered Fionn. �I greatly do not wish to marry him.�
�Does he love you?� queried her friend. Akorsa shook her head. �Then why would he ask for your hand in marriage?�
�Apparently he wants to help us defeat the Maseriff, though he knows the task may result in his death. He needs an heir to fill the position of Captain-General, so that the Proctors cannot fill the position with anyone they so choose,� she explained, recalling how Verican had described the situation to her.
�Such a noble act of him, indeed! The only thing he truly wants is to get you into his bed and you and I both know that to be the truth. With your luck he shall not die in battle and you will be married to him for the rest of your days! Akorsa, do not do this, I beg of you,� he pleaded with her.
�The man is not in a right frame of mind right now, and I cannot determine why. I have spoken with him before, alone, and he is quite the male chauvinist, Fionn. He is not concerned with having a wife or child! There is something about our people and our home that is making him rather odd, I say,� she told him.
�Perhaps he is mad, then? I know not, Akorsa. I know that I am not entirely fond of the man, and I have only yet spent a spare few moments around him,� said Fionn.
�Oh, Fionn, I do not want to marry him at all, though I do fear that he will not give us aide! I also fear father may think it for the best and have me marry him. I would not willingly do this unless the need for our people was dire, which it is not at the moment,� she said, her eyes filling with the tears of an untold sadness.
�I do not know why you do these things to yourself,� he asked, pulling her close so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. �Every single person here in Arimythia loves you as their very own, Akorsa. No one here asks that you do this dreadful thing; no person expects it of you. We shall survive without military aide, you know. We may be but farmers and shepherds, but we are made of far sterner stuff than to be so easily destroyed.�
�I just want everything to be better,� she sniffed into Fionn�s shirt, leaving it sopping with her tears. �I would give anything to make it so, but I do not want to marry him if it can be helped, Fionn, and I do not want to live within those walls any longer!�
�Then return home, Akorsa, do not return there. I am certain that the Captain-General can find another woman to bed instead of you. Besides,� he assured her, running his fingers through her brown curls gently, �your father shall never consent on this, of that we can both be certain.�
�He might agree to all of this, though. Perhaps he will feel that I trust him enough, that I will consent to wed him, that maybe Verican shall care for me when I return to the city,� she said doubtfully. �You know how mother and father have worried about me.�
�He is your father, Akorsa, and fathers are far more perceptive than that. He will not agree to your marrying the Captain-General; he would have you marry someone you love,� said Fionn, wiping a few stray tears from her cheeks with this thumb. Her lips curved up in a bit of a teary smile before she pressed her face back to its place at the crook of his neck. She mumbled something that he could not discern.
�What was that?� he asked with a grin. �I do not speak in mumbles.� She lifted her head from its place of rest and glanced up at him for a moment.
�I said,� she started, turning red, �that I am beginning to think that I love you.� Fionn�s face maintained its grin as he wrapped is large arms around her and pulled her closer. He leaned in and whispered softly in her ear, making her squirm slightly.
�Did it take you a life in the great city to realize this?� he asked and she nodded against his chest. �That is very well indeed, for it took your leaving for me to come to quite a few realizations. Which means, you do know, that you will be stuck with me instead of that other man, who also seeks your hand?�
�That is only if I say yes,� she said, pressing a finger into his chest.
�Would you say anything otherwise?� he asked worriedly, grabbing a hold of the pestering hand.
�I do not know, you have yet to ask me,� she said slyly.
�Well, then, I suppose I should ask, what say, eh? Akorsa of Arimythia, daughter of Alvis and Aroha, will you swear, as the stars do shine in the night sky, to plight your troth to me?� he asked, using part the oath they had created as children.
�As those stars yet shine and as the sun and moon do rise and set, I do swear to henceforth plight my troth to Fionn of Arimythia, son of Myron, and no other,� she said, completing their pledge. He smiled then, and, taking both her hands in his and holding them over his heart, he leaned forward and kissed her, gently and as chastely as he could; making Akorsa�s head feel like it was spinning.
�I have no right to steal a kiss from your lips; I have not your father�s blessing that we might wed, nor do you yet belong to me,� he reminded her and she nodded.
�We should return to the village now, before it gets dark. We will need to announce it as soon as we arrive, though, to avoid a later conflict with the Captain-General,� she told him and anger flashed in Fionn�s eyes for a brief moment, which Akorsa recognized as jealousy. �I know you do not care for him in the least, but do not do anything foolish, please? I could not bear it were anything ever to happen to you.�
�Very well, let us go and announce ourselves to our loved ones, what say?� said Fionn, rising and assisting Akorsa up from the sand of the riverbank. She smiled at him and the two walked back to the village hand in hand.
- - - -
Upon returning to the home of Alvis and Aroha, it was discovered by Fionn and Akorsa that all present, safe for the little Keihl, were in a very solemn state of mind. Akorsa�s mother and father, as well was the Captain-General Verican, were sitting at the small wooden table in the kitchen drinking steaming mugs of tea. The two young people walked in cautiously and stood silently, waiting for something to be said. Finally, Alvis spoke.
�I have considered Captain-General Verican�s proposal, my daughter, as has he told me of your response. I have determined that no child of mine will give away their right to love whom they chose for the sake of the people of this village. Our need for assistance is not as great as we would resort to having you destroy your hopes of love and happiness. Thus, my answer to the Captain-General is, and shall remain, no,� said the father. Akorsa smiled and looked at Fionn, who took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers.
�This is well father, for though I think the Captain-General to be a noble man on occasion, I harbor no desire to be his wife,� said Akorsa, sending an apologetic look in Verican�s direction. He nodded in complete understanding.
�You are quite right, Akorsa. Something different has come over me. I do not yet feel like myself, and you are wise to decide as you have,� said the Captain-General.
�I must say however,� she said, looking at her hand which was entwined with Fionn�s, �that it was Fionn who helped me to realize this in all truthfulness.�
�We also realized that despite all we have led ourselves to believe, we do in fact love one another. For many years have we only mistaken that for friendship,� said Fionn. �I know it is customary among our people to request the father�s permission before proposing to his daughter, but I have already asked Akorsa if she would plight her troth to marry me, and she has agreed. I beg of you, her father, to forgive me for my haste, but to grant us both with your blessing.�
Aroha, who was now crying something awful, rose from her seat and embraced her daughter, being unable to contain her happiness. She then turned to Fionn and embraced him as well. He bent his head so that the shorter woman might bestow her motherly and affectionate kiss upon his brow as she had done to her daughter before him. Alvis too rose from his chair, clasping hands with Fionn.
�There is no young man I would trust my daughter more with,� he said. �You may not be a seasoned warrior or be a rich politician, but you will care for her in a way that no other man can. I give you my full permission to wed my daughter.�
�I thank you from the bottom of my heart,� said Fionn. Akorsa hugged her father and pressed a kiss to his cheek by way of daughterly thanks.
�Get you two gone,� said Aroha. �I am most certain that your father will wish to hear of this, Fionn!�
Fionn nodded and, grabbing hold of Akorsa�s wrist, pulled her out of the house to go and tell his father the news, leaving Alvis, Aroha, and Verican alone in the kitchen once more. Verican could not help but smile over his mug of tea as the older couple sat back down.
�I am glad she is happy,� he admitted. �For she would never have looked at me with the same adoration and love in her eyes as she looks at him.�
�You will yet find a wife, my lord,� said Aroha sagely. �You shall soon be back to your good old self and his bout of foolishness shall leave you. Besides, for as long as our daughter has her way, she will find you someone to make up for what she has denied you. My daughter has this way of doing things, a way that none of us fully comprehend, but it makes everything work out for good in the end. �
�I do hope that you are right. I do indeed hope that you are right,� he said softly.
