The last thing she wanted was a husband
The last thing he needed was a wife
Erykka "Ekko" Blackwood is of a rare race called Nightwalkers, they are a hybrid mix of Shadow Wolves and Vampires. After years of darkness and loss, she is put in...
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Ekko
I sigh as the carriage finally stops at our destination, it's a huge castle on a hill, looking over the village we just rode through. My aunt and uncle smile at me.
"Ready to meet your betrothed and his family?" Ester asks
"Sure, I guess, you got his gift? We can't forget it" I remind her
"Yes, I have it. Let's go"
We get out and enter the castle and are greeted by a dwarf woman with dark hair and blue eyes, who I assume is Dis, a man with the same features, who must be Thorin and two young men/dwarves, one has dark hair and eyes and looks younger than the other, who I assume is Kili, I look at the other who must Fili, my fiance, he has his mother's blue eyes and his hair is blond, he is taller than me, even with heels.
"Welcome to our home!" Dis says "lovely to see you again Ester and Alec, ah this must be your niece"
"Lovely to see you and Thorin again as well and yes this is our niece Erykka," Alec says
I glare and hiss at him at using my full name, he chuckles at me, shaking his head.
"But she prefers to be called Ekko" He quickly adds, I smile.
Fili steps forward and smiles at me. I return it, though I still am not too happy about marrying him.
"I um have these for you," He says nervously, He then puts a ring on my left ring finger, it's a white gold band with three tanzanites and some diamonds.
"It's beautiful," I say to him.
"Thank you, I made it myself" He responds, my eyes widen in surprise but I smile.
He then hands me a book, the cover is made of red leather and has gold designs on it. All the pages are blank.
"I thought you could use it as a journal or a sketchbook, your aunt told me how you love to draw and how you always kept a journal so I thought this could work for either of those" Fili says
"Thank you, I have something for you as well, seeing as we all agreed on joining our customs together," I say and grab the wood box from Ester. I open it and Fili's eyes widen and he lets out a small gasp.
He pulls out the dagger, Dis, and the others look at with wide eyes. I smile.
"I made it myself, I modeled it after one of my father that we have hanging on our study wall. I hope you like it, I didn't know what else I could give you" I say nervously
"Thank you Ekko, I love it!" Fili says and hugs me, I return it gladly.
Dis approaches us and hands Fili and I each a bead, they are silver and have intricate knot designs, but the one Fili is holding also has a rose on it. I know what comes next, putting a braid and the bead in each other's' hair.
Fili takes some of my hair that is under my right ear and braids it and puts the bead in it, I do the same with him.
"Now it's official and next week on Wednesday, we will announce your engagement to our people. Then the next while, you two will get to know each other better and then we will set a wedding date" Dis says, we nod.
Dis, Thorin and my aunt and uncle leave, leaving me with Fili and Kili. Kili smiles at me widely.
"So Ekko, you're going to be my new sister huh?" He says
"Yeah, it seems so. And seeing as such, we a should get to now each other better" I say
"Yeah," Fili agrees with me smiling.
We all go out to the gardens and sit down on a bench, me in between both of them.
"So Ekko, what's your favorite color?" Kili asks
"Black and purple, what about you two?" I ask
"Green," Fili says
"Blue," Kili says
"Favorite thing to do?" I ask
"Hunt, fight and I enjoy drawing," Fili says
"I like to shoot my bow and arrows and sword fight and wrestle with Fili," Kili says
"That's awesome, I enjoy drawing, singing, dancing and fighting in general," I say
"Cool, I'm gonna go," Kili says and leaves before Fili or I can say anything.
"So what now?" Fili asks
"We need to talk about this marriage thing, I take it you didn't want this, just as much as me," I say "just tell me the truth, you won't hurt my feelings"
"No, I wasn't happy about this but, it wasn't because I wanted to marry or anything like that, I just didn't want to get married yet but I am and I'm ok with it now." He says
"Why? What changed your mind?"
"That I realized I just might be able to learn to love you eventually and that I have no choice"
"I think maybe one day I could learn to love you, maybe once we spend more time together," I say
