A Proposal to Bliss, a Tender Kiss

Lieve would have her eighteenth birthday in less than a month. Her parents believed she was at the Scholar's Archives, meeting Mr. Willow for her lessons. Instead, she was visiting Haldrid. His home seemed to reflect his personality, dark, slightly forbidding, with here and there a bright detail. He himself seemed to be in a brooding mood, so she played her harp for him, hoping to lighten his spirits. As he listened, he looked up at her, giving her one of his dark smiles, which made her heart skip a beat. She stopped playing the harp and they gazed at each other wordlessly for a while, neither willing  to break the silence. After a long pause, he said he had been thinking about her situation a great deal. He got up and went over to the chest in the room, opening it and taking something out, hiding it in his closed hand. He turned towards her then, saying the words she had been hoping for; he suggested that he marry her. She carefully put the harp on the floor before looking at him for a long moment, her heart beating swiftly, unsure she had heard him correctly. He merely held her gaze, saying nothing, moving closer to her. 'But Haldrid, you know I would never marry someone who does not love me,' she replied. Still gazing deeply into her eyes, he went on one knee before her, taking her hand and saying the words she had been longing to hear. 'I love you Lieve,' he said. 'I could not bear for you to get hurt again. Marry me so I can keep you safe.' Opening his hand, he showed her a glittering golden ring. The tears came then, her joy knew no bounds. 'Yes! Oh, yes!' she replied, laughing and crying at the same time, happiness and relief vying for precedence inside her. Haldrid loved her, he loved her! And she would be safe now, safe from her father's plans, from his attacks. She would have pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming, but Haldrid was still holding her hand, putting the ring on her finger. Then he stood up, wrapping his arms around her; his lips, warm and gentle, on hers. Closing her eyes, she knew nothing for a time but his nearness, conscious only of his presence permeating her senses, feeling that this was where she belonged. Then he broke off the kiss, giving her another of his dark smiles, saying she had stayed quite long enough and  would get into trouble with her father. She nodded, breathless from the kiss but realising he was right, unwilling to go but knowing she had to. One more kiss and she was gone, almost skipping home, her heart singing like it never had before. How could anything ever be wrong again?