Chapter 73: 73. Proposal

Aria woke, once again, to a mouth-watering aroma. She had already learned not to resist its call. Without opening her eyes, she reached out to the tray of cakes and snatched one. Two mouthfuls later, she opened her eyes.

Achi in one of the gardens, on his hands and feet, digging in the dirt. She paused to put on a robe - already waiting beside the bed - before taking up the floating tray and teleporting to his location.

“You know,” she said. “Feeding me cake every morning is considered assault in some cultures.”

He turned from his gardening to shoot a smile at her. “Should I switch to pies?”

Aria couldn’t reply. She was starting on another cake. She sighed in pleasure even as she ate it. When she had swallowed, she looked about for a place to sit. Immediately, an upholstered seat, much like a throne appeared beside her, with a matching table on which to put her tray.

“We’ve discussed this,” Aria said, taking the chair. “Stop reading my mind.”

“And I’ve explained that it is impossible.”

“You said that anything is possible if I want it.”

“Almost anything,” Achi said. “And not knowing what you want the moment you want it is one of those impossibilities.”

She wanted to argue, but eating was more interesting. So, she let the matter drop.

He continued his weeding while she enjoyed the cool air and sweet breakfast.

When the tray was half-empty and she felt the first stirring of thirst, a glass appeared on the table beside the tray, filled with something clear but sharp-smelling. She took a sip and, as expected, found it delicious.

Achi finished his weeding and came over to her side. Her chair morphed into a long couch. He sat beside her, lay down, and put his head in her lap.

“What do you want for a wedding gift?” He asked.

She eyed him quietly, “What wedding are you referring to.”

“Didn’t you know?” He asked. “We’re married.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I decided it last night. I’m moving my belongings into your quarters as we speak.”

“And what if I say no?”

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“Then, I’ll drop dead and wait right here until you come back and claim me.”

Aria was tempted to crack a joke, but she decided to seriously consider the matter.

Would she marry him?

“I looked into the future,” Achi said. He twisted in her lap so that he was looking up at her. “It was very disappointing, by the way. My father can see whatever he wants, but I couldn’t see anything that wasn’t related to you. Anyway, I saw that if I asked you to marry me, you would refuse to give an answer. But if I simply decided that we were married, you would refuse to dispute it. In your mind, you would be married and not married. As long as you like me, you’ll play along. If you ever tire of me, you’ll simply decide that we were never married at all.”

“Let’s get married,” Aria said.

Achi looked as if she had hit him boulder.

“What - are you - are you joking?”

“Actually,” Aria said, “I wanted to see if I can do something you didn’t foresee, and it appears that I can.”

Achi’s voice fell. “So, you’re not serious.”

“Actually, I am,” Aria said. “Let’s get married. If I tire of you, I’ll just leave anyway.”

Achi fell silent,

After a long minute, Aria asked, “Did I break you?”

“I - you really mean it?” Achi whispered.

Oh, no. I did break him.

“If you don’t want to -” she said.

He was suddenly on his knees holding both her hands and kissing them profusely.

“You have made me the happiest man in the universe.”

“Really,” Aria said, “don’t get too attached. I’ve never kept a man longer than five months.”

Achi laughed. “Don’t worry. If you live even one day in less than overwhelming ecstasy, I will have failed at my job.”

I’m regretting this already.

When he tired of his celebration, he lay on the couch again, and made wild promises about the future, while she imagined ridiculous things for him to conjure for her: a lollipop shaped like a carrot, a life-sized model of Garo riding a giant duck, a river of chocolate with colored pavilions flowing down past them.

Eventually, they tired of the game and Aria brought up the one thread she had left unfinished.

“I have an agreement with the others,” she said. “I’m supposed to order you to order Tivelo to free them.”

“I know,” Achi said. “You taunted Chalik with it.”

They fell into silence.

“Do you still want to keep it?” He asked. “If you don’t, I can break the vow. It will kill Proivka, though and I think that is unfair. She did not intend to bind you to a bad oath.”

“If I keep it,” Aria said, “then they will go free?”

“From my father’s punishment. But no evildoer can ever be free. Evil always carries its punishment in itself.”

“So, you’re saying you’ll let them go free.”

Achi was silent for a while.

“I promised you,” he said, “that someday you’ll be whole again. I plan to keep that promise. But no, I can’t punish them in the way my father would. It is not the sort of thing that I can do, just like forgiving them is not currently the sort of thing that you can do. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Aria said. “If you weren’t so ridiculously softhearted, I think, I couldn’t love you enough to escape my anger.”

Achi smiled. “I can promise you one other thing,” he said. “I promise that they will one day regret their actions very, very much.”