Obsidian and Stars (Ivory and Bone #2)(15)

And when I see Kol’s face, his answer is there.





SIX


I see Kol’s face, and a little part of me dies. I have seen his smile before. But this is not a smile.

This is more.

The twist in his lips, the quickness in his eyes . . . they speak to me in a language I don’t completely understand. He opens his mouth and I think, Yes, now I will know what the words are, all these unnamed feelings will have a name.

“Mya,” is all that he says.

But spoken by Kol, that one word is enough. Because tucked within that word—tucked within my own name—are all the things that have no names. The sound of my name from Kol’s lips calls to me like the echo of a long-forgotten dream. He moves toward me, and all the coldness in me is replaced by the heat I see in his eyes. A heat that cancels out my fear of marrying the High Elder of the Manu.

At least for now.

“Mya,” he repeats, but in my name there is something different—a secret tucked away. “I have something for you,” he says.

He returns to the place where he sat beside his mother, and he picks up the pack he carried in with his spear. He brings it to the center of the circle and sets it at my feet. Everyone watches him. Every move he makes seems infused with meaning. He flips the pack open and takes from it something small.

A waterskin. A small waterskin that might belong to a child.

But then I recognize it. I’ve seen it before. It’s the pouch of honey—the very same pouch of honey I rejected when Kol tried to give it to me on the first day we met.

“I wanted you to have this once before as a gift from me, but you wouldn’t accept it. I wonder if you would accept it now, as a token of this day.” He lifts my hand and places the pouch in my palm. The honey inside feels warm from the heat of the sun. “Mya, will you honor me by being my wife?”

And at that moment I know what Kol has done. Yes, he’s found a way to take away the horror we’ve all felt since last night. He’s given us something to look forward to for tomorrow, after his father is buried today. And he’s done it all with this simple gift, something he brought with him here, to prove to me and everyone else that he hasn’t been backed into this betrothal, but came seeking it.

“Yes,” I say, and I bring the pouch of honey to my lips, bringing Kol’s hand with it. I press a kiss to the inside of his wrist, holding it there long enough to drink in the scent of his skin mixed with the salt breeze and the sweet honey.

Behind our backs, people stomp their feet and cheer. A ripple of words passes around—congratulations to our families. Kol just keeps that smile on his lips and that fire in his eyes, and I realize it might truly be possible for me to love the future High Elder of the Manu.

Kol tips his head close to my ear. “You are so beautiful. You are the only reason my heart is not consumed by sorrow today.”

I pull back and look at him, at the muted glow in his eyes. The muted smile on his lips. I nod, and walk with Kol back to his place in the circle, where I sit down beside him on a wide bearskin pelt.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see something stir the dune grass that spreads toward the path. Something is there. If the circumstances were different, I wouldn’t even notice it, or maybe I’d assume it was a bird or a vole.

But I know that it’s not. I know it is my sister Lees, staying hidden, listening. I can only imagine how much she will have to say to me in the hut tonight.

My brother, who had been hovering just at the edge of the circle, returns to its center. His eyes are a bit puffy and his cheeks slightly flushed.

“I would like to speak now about my younger sister Seeri and the second son of Arem and Mala, Pek.” My brother hesitates, raising a large hand to his face and covering his eyes. He draws in a long, slow breath. Could it be that he’s overcome with emotion? He’d wanted Seeri to marry his friend Morsk. She and Pek had fought him—had worked to change his mind. Could he have found their love so moving?

“Chev.” Kol’s mother leaps to her feet like a rabbit escaping a snare. “If Seeri is interested in a betrothal to Pek, such a betrothal would honor and please our family, as well. My husband and I have always wanted a union between Seeri and Pek. If that is what she wants.”

“It is,” Seeri starts, climbing to her feet as quickly as Mala had. She is so lovely. There is a vulnerability in the way she stands—her hands floating at her sides, all her weight tilting forward as if she is about to unfurl wings and fly. “It is what I want, as long as it is still what Pek wants.”

With all eyes on him, Pek’s chest gives a single heave, and he raises his face. Wordlessly, he gets to his feet and moves to Seeri, who takes his hand.

They worked to be together, I think. They suffered through uncertainty and worked to change Chev’s mind, and now they have a future. My thoughts are distracted by the sound of cheers. Pek holds Seeri out at the end of his arm, as if presenting her to the gathered clan leaders, and she blushes. But I don’t see even a hint of embarrassment on Pek’s face, damp with tears. I stamp my own feet in approval.

“I know Arem would be filled with happiness at these betrothals,” Mala says, emotion breaking through her voice for the first time today. “Even though we will lose Pek to the Olen, we know that he will not really be gone to us, as the Manu look forward to a strong alliance with the Olen. In fact, I think it won’t be long until we will have a third betrothal, between our youngest, Roon, and your sister Lees.”