Kate wanted to know how they had met and come to fall in love. “It is difficult not to fall in love with a man who has taught you how to live,” Ariane beamed. “Indeed, I should be glad that he chose me over my ladies, as I am sure they felt the same natural attraction to him.”
“I would hardly say taught you how to live,” Ferand interrupted for the first time. “A few of the finer points of the Auveyr, I think, but you have an inherent talent for living. I have never seen anyone quite as adept at living as you, and for that I was immediately drawn to you.”
“But imagine: I was in an entirely new place, doing things I had never done before. I needed to cook in order to survive, and as you taught me that it was you who taught me the most basic aspect of a life I had never experienced. It is to be expected that I became attached, and we quickly discovered that our feelings for one another were romantic and mutual.”
“Yes, but you were the daughter of my sovereign; an outside guest in a strange place. As I am a gentleman my mind was slow in conceiving that I might actually fall in love with you. And even once I did, I did not dare to think that you would deign to return my feelings.”
Kate disrupted this dialogue for more details. “Was there a moment?”
“A moment. Yes, I suppose one might say that. Or there was a quality. There is something unique and lovely about the way you moves her shoulders.” Despite Kate’s having asked the question, Ferand spoke toward Ariane. It was the sort of thing that might portend poorly of his relationship with us, but in this circumstance it marked how deeply in love he was. “It is free and elegant and graceful, as though you carry yourself so lightly that when the wind moves you your body does not resist. It is though every one of the muscles in your entire body is relaxed at every moment. Ariane Masdilt does not try; she merely is. And your loose, shaking shoulders are a manifestation of that. I noticed them one day as I showed you how best to clean your lettuce leaves. They moved so smoothly and I realized how careless and unaffected you were.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it.
“That is not what I meant at all,” Kate complained, a smile upon her face. “I wanted to know the exact moment you realized your love was mutual. When did it grow from two independent thoughts in each of your head into this union?”
“And that will be Ariane Masdilt for you again!” Ferand laughed.
“I told you after a meal. We had just finished eating that fluffy egg dish you make and there, in front of all three of my ladies, I told you I was in love.”
“I was speechless. I must have turned bright white at the sound of the thing I most wanted but least expected. And I suppose I said something silly, like ‘me too’, and then it was settled thereafter that we had adopted a courtship.”
“My moment had only been about three hours earlier. I used to read by the window of my bedchamber, and I could hear the sound of any horse as it approached. Well I was expecting you that evening, and I discovered a peculiar little sensation. I heard the sound of hooves early and my face was overcome with glee. I threw down my book and looked out the window, only to find that it was some man bringing a letter from Andrew. I tried to read the letter but found I could not focus. When I put it down and returned to my book, I still understood nothing of what I read. It was then that I realized my mind was so distracted by impatient expectations of you that I could think of little else. I could not wait to see you, and when you finally did appear in the distance from my window my throat was a-hum and my feet were a-tap. I threw myself down the stairs and to the little gatehouse, intercepting the porter and greeting you myself.”
“So Ferand fell in love because of Ariane’s shoulders, and Ariane fell in love because of Ferand’s horse’s hooves?” I asked.
“That seems to be the case!” Ariane exclaimed to laughter. “The remaining two months together were bliss. Then Ferand asked my hand in marriage and I panicked. I feared that I might become too enchanted with that little life, so I hastened here to remind myself of what I had loved and left behind. At that point I knew that I must have them both: Ferand and the Appero. So I returned to the Auveyr and offered myself to him by the terms upon which we had previously agreed.”
“Previously agreed?” Kate asked. “Then you must not have left him on his knee, as you make it sound. Did you discuss marriage with him before you rushed here?”
“Of course we did. I told him about my loyalty to this place and to you, and he understood that I needed to come here and would likely return there.”
“But that is not to say that I was not terrified of losing you,” Ferand explained. “For if you believe you waited for the sound of my horse’s hooves in impatient expectation for a few hours, then you cannot understand the anxiety of those several months while I fretted about the state of your heart. I constantly sought any sign of a messenger bringing word for you. I opened all of my senses to you, hoping that the fastest among them—whichever it was—would sense where your heart was and sooth my nerves over your decision.”
“And so she did,” Kate beamed. “Hum. What a romantic tale.”
“It did not seem quite that way at the time, but that is what it has become.” Ferand smiled at Ariane, and I sensed that he understood that, despite the flighty character of her soul, she always returned home. She might be unpredictable in the short-term, but he trusted absolutely that she would always lovingly keep her word to him.
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