Proposition

Epilogue

A loud cheer echoed in the rented hall, followed by claps and greetings of congratulations as the after-dinner celebration began.

Ezabella had looked beautiful and Marnya had picked the most stunning of wrap-around dresses for their big day.

The brides made their way around the room to speak to their small amount of guests, to say thanks and accept kind words.

As they neared, I stood up and gave each of them a tight squeeze of a hug.

"Look at you two," I smiled, pulling away to look Ezabella in the face, "I couldn't be happier for you."

Ezabella's eyes were glistening with unshed tears of happiness as she pulled me into another hug.

"Thank you so much for being here."

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Marnya gave a small tug on Ezabella's hand and nudged her head to the next lot of guests.

"I'm sorry," Marnya said, "I'm not being rude, I'd just like to say our thanks and then we can have longer to talk."

"Not at all, we'll be here when you're done."

They gave us a smile and then stepped away from us as I sat back down, turning to Loki.

"That should give you time to feed Eisheth."

I looked down at our daughter, who was giggling merrily at the faces her brother was pulling at her.

"That is a good point, think you can control a four year old by yourself?" I asked with a wide grin.

"I don't know, but I'm willing to try."

With a laugh, I leaned in to give him a quick kiss and then carefully took Eisheth out of his arms, resting her against my hip.

"My brave, warrior husband, I pray you'll survive long enough for my return."

"Pray for me, I shall send you letters."

I rolled my eyes and kissed him again before heading out of the hall, finding a separate room to sit down in so that I could feed my daughter in peace.

It was hard to believe how quickly the years had flown by, it seemed to have sped up as Varian grew older.

Watching him day after day growing more and more into his father's looks, even only at the age of three he looked like the spitting image of a young Loki, it made me realise just how precious our time with them truly was.

Our own marriage had taken place when Varian was eight months and just under a year and a half later, I fell pregnant with Eisheth.

Her birth wasn't nearly as traumatic as her brother's and she was significantly smaller, though Varian had been smaller than I had anticipated when I first laid my eyes on him.

Loki had doted on him and spoiled him with everything a young boy could need and he already held his daughter in the highest of regards.

The man was a natural.

It was shortly before Eisheth's birth that Ezabella had pulled me to one side and broke the news that she had proposed to Marnya, both of them having moved out of the palace and into our old home when Varian was a year old.

We cried together that evening, weeping with sheer joy in each other's arms.

From what I knew, Ezabella had continued with our old job of being a travelling odd-job worker while Marnya worked in the village tailors.

They were happy and it showed.

Watching them exchanging rings and making their own vows in their ceremony was worth every risk that could have been taken in the past to get us here.

When Eisheth had had her fill, I covered myself up and gently held her to my shoulder, patting her back while stepping out of the room and directly into the path of the brides, who had changed from their ceremony clothes to traditional day clothes.

"Ah, just the person we wanted to see," Marnya smiled, swinging their linked hands between them.

"Me?" I repeated dumbly, looking between them. "What is it?"

We all moved back into the room I had just exited, the two brides sitting together at one side while I sat in a chair opposite, still trying to wind Eisheth who was stubbornly refusing to comply.

"Now, this may be a little out of the blue," Ezabella started, chewing on her lip a little, "but it means a lot to us."

"Okay," I nodded, my heart juddering and my blood running cold in worry, "go on."

"We've been thinking of having children of our own."

Instantly, the uncomfortable feeling in my heart lifted and I smiled.

"That would be amazing."

"It would," Marnya smiled in agreement, glancing at her new wife, "but there are minor problems."

"Oh really? Such as?"

"Well," Ezabella sighed, "I'm really not sure if I could carry a baby myself, after seeing you going through what you did and giving it some thought, I just don't think I can do it."

"Which is fine," Marnya said, drawing my attention to her, "but I also worry that I won't be able to carry a child to full term due to," she paused for a moment and frowned sadly, "personal issues."

"I see," I nodded, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's not truly confirmed but I don't wish to take the risk."

"Which is understandable."

"It is," she smiled faintly, moving closer to Ezabella.

"Which is why we wanted to ask you, if we can settle on a donor, you would surrogate for us?"

I don't think my eyebrows could have gone higher into my hairline as they raised and my eyes widened in surprise.

For a moment I was speechless, looking between to two to see if there would be a crack of a smile or a laugh to show that this was some kind of prank.

There were smiles, but ones of hope and happiness, not trickery.

"Eza, are you sure?" I finally asked.

"I can't think of another person I would trust more, we've talked long and hard about it and we both agree on this."

"But if you say no, we'll understand."

"I don't know what to say," I replied, giving a short laugh of surprise, "will you give me time to consider it?"

"Of course," Marnya said hurriedly and a little too shrilly before blushing at her volume. "It's your body, we couldn't ask anything more of you than to seriously consider it."

I chewed on my lip and nodded slowly, looking at the happy couple, their linked hands and then my own daughter, who had apparently thought it better to use my shoulder as a bed for a nap than to be winded.

"I'll speak to Loki about it and get back to you on that."

"Thank you," Ezabella grinned, "that's all we could ask for."

"Anything to help bring a family together."