The Offering

Chapter Forty Three - Alvaryn

He looks up at me suddenly, expression defensive.

"If I only wanted to marry her so some wanker won't then I would just leave her with you. I knew I loved her, I just wasn't sure if I could sit by and watch as she grows old and dies and not be able to do anything to stop it." He answers, expression softening at the mention of Dae dying.

It was something I hadn't let myself think about for too long either. I mean, logically, I knew it would happen, that we would get maybe eighty years together at best, she would age and change and then die. Even though I was aware of it and knew it would happen didn't mean it was something that I wanted to let myself think about for too long.

"I can understand your reluctance." I reply quietly.

He nods again sombrely. "But, then I realised that I would rather have the little amount of time we have together than not have her at all."

We stand quiet for a while, me staring blankly at the books in front of me, images of Dae old and bed ridden filling my mind.

"Maybe that's what Father feels when he looks at Mother knowing he can't do anything to change her mind, instead he just accepts what is and enjoys the time he has with her." Aeris says pulling me from my morbid thoughts to transport me into another.

"She didn't choose to be born with the magic she has, just like Dae didn't choose to be born human." I reply.

"So I guess this is the best option we have then, convincing Father to let us both marry Daella." He says quietly.

"It is our only option. I have no backup, no second option. Without convincing Father I have no idea what either of us will do. Dae said she couldn't choose just one of us, and she wouldn't stay and watch if we were forced to select another chosen, that she would rather be selected by a High Lord."

"It wouldn't really be up to her though, would it?"

"You would still select her and risk her hating you for it?" I ask, looking up at him and trying to gage his seriousness.

He shrugs. "Honestly, I don't know, either way we would lose in some way, maybe it would be the lesser of two evils."

I don't want to think about this plan not working, my already chaotic and exhausted mind couldn't handle another assault of 'what if's'. I needed to focus on this and make this impossible thing possible, for all three of us. Speaking of which.

"So, if this plan does work and Father agrees, you're saying that you would be fine with both of us marrying Dae." I say slowly, again studying his reaction.

He looks up at me, studying me as well and he nods.

"You're my brother, I may not be known for sharing in the past, but this would be different. I don't want to live without Daella, and I don't want to live without you. I have already changed since Daella came into our lives and this would be just another adjustment that I would undertake. I don't really know how it would work exactly, but I know if you love Daella then you will do everything you can to make sure she is happy and cared for, and I have already promised her the same thing. Having you there with me will make sure I can keep my promise to her and not lose you in the process."

I am a little shocked at his words and earnest expression, I hadn't seen him like this, maybe ever, so open and honest, it was true that meeting Daella had changed him, for the better. And I knew that every word he spoke was the truth, that what he truly wanted was to make Dae happy, to make sure she was loved and taken care of. It was what both of us wanted.

"I do love Daella, with everything I am. I want her to be happy and have choices and some semblance of freedom so she doesn't feel so caged. I want her to know she is loved and wanted for exactly who she is not who she pretends to be." I say earnestly. "I don't want to lose you either Aeris, and I believe that together we can give Daella the life she deserves, not just a life she was chosen for. I will do everything I can to make sure we can convince Father to allow this to happen and then we can both keep our promises." He nods with conviction and I stare back at the book in front of me, words filling the old off white pages in lines and columns.

"In all my years I could never have imagined something like this happening, even when Father told us that we would be picking a wife from the Offering I was sure I would choose someone by their looks and continue to live my life as I always had. But then Daella, she was different, she made me stop and look at my life, she made me want to be better, not just for her but for myself. I had been stuck in this charade for so long that I couldn't get out of it. I believed it was better to be that person, always sure and confident, never letting anyone in, never allowing anyone to see the real me. I wanted to always be in control, to control who I was, what I am. But then Daella, she just broke through all of it, with very little effort." He laughs. "She spoke to me like no one speaks to me, like she didn't care I was a Prince, she didn't care I wore this mask. She has this spark, this flame inside of her that burns so brightly when it is able, and the idea of it being smothered out..." He stops himself, grimacing as he reigns in his thoughts. He looks up at me. "I know you would never want that, that you want her just as she is, and while this is not what I expected it's what I want."

"You're right, I would never want that. I don't want her to change a single thing. She has endured so much already just for being herself and I don't want her to change or sacrifice another thing just to make someone else happy. I know right now she is playing this part, and we have agreed to play with her for her own safety, but then, when she is ours none of that will matter. She will be safe and will be able to be herself, no more pretending, no more living in fear, no more threats. We will make her safe, and no one will be able to threaten her again." I say, my finger hitting the page of the book in angry affirmations as I imagine the alternative.

Aeris nods solemnly. "I still have daydreams about melting Varis's flesh from his bones. I wouldn't do it all at once though, that would be too quick and too easy for him. I would do it in parts, so he would live long enough to understand real pain and torture, giving him enough time to beg for mercy and apologize. Not that I would ever forgive him."

I smile, shaking my head at his imagination. I too had imagined quite a few scenarios involving Varis and myself, perhaps not so vindictive but just as painful.

"Well soon he won't be our problem anymore. Once we have announced our betrothal she will be safe, he will just have to accept our decision." I say confident in my conclusion.

"Well if he isn't there is always my plan." He smirks and I can't help but smile back at him. Like he had told me, I never imagined this is a place where we would both be standing, both in love with the same woman, so different in every possible way and yet, if anyone was going to be by my side for this part of my life, I would want it to be Aeris. He was my brother and I loved him unconditionally, while I had my concerns about him and his way of living I can see him for who he truly is now and I know he loves Daella. At the end of the day I couldn't ask for more than to know that Daella would be loved and wanted and cared for and she would have everything she wanted.

Nowall I had to do was make this impossible thing possible so that all three of uscould have the lives we wanted. Easy.