Summoner 20, page 3
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been out, but sometime later, I was awoken by the sound of footsteps in the distance. I sleepily blinked my tired eyes open and lifted my chin up to try to get a glimpse of the source, but all I could see from my vantage point was a tangle of black hair.
“Cyra?” I called out as my eyes adjusted. “Is that you?”
“Hey, Gryff,” the summoner greeted me as she approached the hammock. Then she glanced down at my discarded textbook and raised a dark eyebrow. “Sleeping on the job?”
“I was just resting my eyes for a second.” I smiled, and then I patted the hammock. “Would you care to join me?”
“Absolutely.” Cyra grinned.
I scooted over as much as I could, and the summoner carefully swung her leather-legging clad leg into the hammock. I did my best to stabilize the surface so she wouldn’t fall as she gracefully climbed in, but the moment she joined me, the hammock wrapped around us like a fabric cocoon, and we burst into laughter as we were swept up in the curve of the hammock.
“I didn’t think this through,” I chuckled as the curly-haired summoner and I became a tangle of limbs.
“I have an idea,” Cyra proposed. The chocolate-skinned mage rolled onto her side and then wrapped her arm around my chest and snuggled close to me. The hammock settled down, and I pulled Cyra even closer to me. The scent of her spiced amber perfume filled my nose, and the familiar exotic smell comforted me.
“I like this idea,” I remarked, and I kissed the top of Cyra’s head.
“Me, too,” my girlfriend giggled, and she rested her cheek against my chest. We laid there in silence for a bit and simply enjoyed the pleasure of each other’s company, and then after a while, Cyra cleared her throat.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I stroked her hair. Her thick curls were surprisingly soft today and extra springy underneath my fingertips, and I enjoyed the sensation of them.
“I’m fine,” my girlfriend assured me, but the strange tone of her voice worried me. “But actually, Gryff, I could be better.”
“Is that so?” I wondered. “What can I do to make it better?”
“Well… ” Cyra began mysteriously. “There’s something I wanted to discuss with you. And before you panic, I’ll have you know it isn’t another pregnancy announcement, so no worries on that topic. However, it does involve you and me.”
“Hmm, ominous,” I teased her as I continued to play with her curls. “What’s on your mind? What can I do to make life perfect for you, my lady?”
“Well, Braden and Mati’s wedding kind of had me thinking about some things,” Cyra said. “Namely, about how I feel about you. I know that’s a pretty common thing when it comes to weddings, but ever since I saw you up there with Braden and Mati, I can’t stop thinking about us.”
“Oh, Maker, you aren’t breaking up with me, are you?” I groaned.
“Of course not, you goofball,” Cyra giggled. “What I’m trying to say is literally the exact opposite. Gryff, I really want to be your wife.”
“Really?” I asked, and I tilted Cyra’s chin up to meet her chocolate-brown eyes. “Is this a prank?”
“No prank.” She shook her head. “I mean, I pretty much knew I wanted to be with you from the moment we first kissed, but it’s definitely grown since then. I love being your girlfriend, and love being the mother of your child, but I want to be more than that. I want to be able to hold your hand and call you my husband.”
“Oh, Cyra,” I breathed. “I want nothing more than for you to be my wife.”
“You do?” the curly-haired mage asked softly.
“Give me a little credit here,” I chuckled. “Of course, I do. Ever since the day we met, I’ve fallen more and more in love with you. You’re witty and strong, and not to mention fiercely determined and powerful. You’re an amazing mother to Milo, and I would be the luckiest guy in the realm to have you as my wife. I love you, Cyra, and I want to spend the rest of my life at your side.”
My girlfriend’s eyes filled to the brim with tears, and her lips curved upwards into one of the most beautiful smiles I’d ever seen.
“I love you, too,” she finally managed to say before I planted my lips on hers and kissed her deeply. Then I swept her in closer to me and hugged her tighter than I’d ever hugged her before. Her lips tasted of vanilla and cloves, and once I started kissing her, I didn’t want to stop.
Cyra was so special to me, and I was elated to finally be able to make her my wife.
“Well, I’m sorry I basically proposed to you,” Cyra giggled once we parted. “I didn’t know how else to bring it up.”
“I’d say it was a mutual effort.” I smirked. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re my partner, Cyra, and I would love to be yours for the rest of our lives.”
“I would love that, too,” Cyra sighed as she snuggled closer to me.
“So, now that we’ve established that, tell me all about your dream wedding,” I brought up. “I remember you saying at mine and Nia’s that you wanted something elaborate--”
“In light of everything, I think I’ve changed my mind about that,” Cyra interjected. “Don’t get me wrong, the idea of a fancy fairytale wedding excites me just as much as it does any other woman, but that also requires a ton of planning and time. I don’t want to wait.”
“Wow, someone’s a little impatient, are they?” I teased her.
“Sort of,” Cyra admitted. “It’s not just that, though. As much as none of us want to think about it, there are still two Archons unaccounted for, and we have no idea where or when they’re going to strike. With how strangely time passes in the Shadowscape, there’s a possibility you could be gone for nearly a year again, and I don’t want to wait that long to be your wife.”
“That’s a really valid point,” I agreed with her. “I don’t think I’d be gone very long again, but there are so many factors involved that I can’t guarantee anything. The one thing I can guarantee is I’m going to make you my wife, so you just need to tell me what you’d like for our wedding, and I’ll make it happen.”
“I was thinking we could do something out here again,” Cyra decided as she peered out at the sprawling yard around us. “Not on the same scale as Braden and Mati, though. I don’t want an aisle, or a ton of guests, or coordinated outfits. I want to keep it as intimate as possible.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea.” I nodded as I tried to envision the different ways we could utilize the space. “I like the thought of doing something intimate. It feels a bit more special that way, and it saves us a lot of hassle later. How many people are you thinking?”
“Not too many,” Cyra answered in a firm tone. “Only the important ones. Our family, of course, Gawain and the other guys, and then Maelor, since he was the one who brought us together in the first place. That’s it.”
“Maelor’s going to be over the moon about this,” I laughed as I cuddled Cyra close to me. “He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he’s a total softy.”
“Trust me, I know,” Cyra chuckled.
Sometimes it was easy to forget the curly-haired summoner had once travelled with my adoptive father, but he’d been the one who’d introduced us all that time ago. If anyone knew the ins-and-outs of the old summoner, it was me and Cyra.
“I suppose we should start planning things out,” I mused. “We’ll need to tell the others--”
“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled by the idea of another wedding so quick,” Cyra snorted.
“You know they’ll be over the moon.” I shook my head and laughed. “They love this kind of thing.”
“True,” Cyra allowed. She squeezed her arms around me tightly, and then she started to sit up. “Shall we go tell them now? The sooner we mention it, the better. It’ll make it less of a stressor later.”
“I think we should spend a little more time in this position,” I insisted, and I pulled Cyra back down and wrapped her in a hug so tight she couldn’t move. “They can wait until later.”
“Gryff!” Cyra managed through a fit of muffled giggles.
“Nope, you’re all mine,” I laughed right back at her. “I need you to stay right here so I can drown you in hugs and kisses.”
“Well, when you put it like that…” the curly-haired summoner trailed off, and she planted another kiss on my lips. Then we got into a comfier position and resumed what we’d started earlier.
My dark-skinned now-fiancée and I continued on like that for what felt like hours, and we only stopped when we realized the sky above us had taken on a rosy hue.
“I suppose we should head inside,” I sighed. “It should be around dinnertime, and they’ll probably need some help.”
“Have you watched Freya in the kitchen?” Cyra interjected with an amused expression on her features. “Trust me, I’m more worried about people getting in her way than I am of her needing assistance.”
Cyra was probably right about that. Freya was a talented cook and had a great sense of spices and flavor combinations that I never would’ve been able to come up with on my own, so she tended to take over when it came to meal preparation. She also had a specific way of doing things, and she usually insisted on carrying out those duties alone.
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “In that case, we should probably make sure everything is running smoothly.”
I stabilized the hammock so Cyra could climb out of it, and after some effort, the curly-haired summoner managed to reach the ground. Once she was free of the cloth cocoon, I handed her my textbook and basically rolled off the hammock and onto the grass. It wasn’t my most graceful move, but it was effective enough.
Cyra couldn’t stop laughing as I brushed grass from the knees of my trousers. “That was certainly inventive, Gryff, I’ll give you that.”
“I’ll take what I can get,” I chuckled. “Though I have to say, that was smoother than I’d anticipated.”
After one last dusting, I was free of dirt, and Cyra gave me one last peck on the lips. Then I wrapped my arm around the curly-haired summoner’s waist, and together, we walked back into the house.
The smell of chicken, potatoes, apples, and bread wafted through the air when we entered through the back door, and my mouth instantly watered at the variety of delicious scents. My stomach growled loudly, and I stifled a laugh.
I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.
The rest of our family lingered around our enormous kitchen while Freya zoomed about. The hawk-princess was hard at working manning several pans and pots, and I could tell by the way Arwyn eyed the shapeshifter that they’d been kicked out of the room and told to take a seat, just as Cyra hypothesized. Freya wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead as she fluttered over to the oven, and she was so swept up in her cooking she didn’t notice us.
However, the conversation between the rest of my women suddenly ceased when they finally spotted Cyra and me.
“There you two are,” Ashla said first as we stepped into the room. “We were wondering where you wandered off to.”
“We were relaxing in the hammock,” I replied as I rubbed the back of my neck. “We were a little too comfortable out there.”
“I’m glad you were able to get some rest,” Nia remarked as she smoothed a stray silvery hair back into her long ponytail. “Taking a nap outside in the cold wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but if it works, it works.”
“It wasn’t too cold.” Cyra winked at the multi-elementalist, and then her eyes trailed down my body in a suggestive way. “We kept each other plenty warm.”
“Oooooh!” my women teased us collectively, and heat spread to my cheeks.
Luckily for me, Freya interrupted the noise and changed the subject.
“Dinner will be ready in just a few moments,” the gorgeous blonde announced to everyone as she pulled a large tray from the oven. “If you could put plates on the table--”
“I’ve got it,” I volunteered.
“Thank you, my husband,” the hawk-princess said as I stepped over to the cabinets and began to unload a stack of plates.
Arwyn crossed over to help me, and I offered the crimson-haired professor a grateful smile as she relieved me of some of the stack.
Then Arwyn and I crossed over to the round walnut kitchen table and began to set it for the rest of the family. As I set plates at each seat, I couldn’t help but sneak glances over at Cyra. The beautiful summoner was going to be my wife, and I was bursting to tell the rest of the family our news.
My women seemed to take notice of my giddiness.
“Okay, out with it,” Erin stated with narrowed amber eyes as she caught me in a stare. “What’s going on, you two?”
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently, but Erin gave me a pointed look.
“Oh, c’mon, Gryff, you can’t fool me.” The mimic pursed her lips. “What’s the big secret? Is Cyra pregnant again?”
“Cyra, are you?” Arwyn gasped, and she nearly dropped a plate in the process.
“I’m not pregnant,” Cyra assured the healer mage, but Arwyn and Erin didn’t seem all that convinced. They continued to look between Cyra and I with scrutinizing stares, which I did my best to ignore as I continued to set the tableware down.
“No more suspense!” Layla insisted with a childish stamp of her foot. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Cyra and I were just talking about the future,” I remarked vaguely.
“Annnnnd?” the petite summoner urged me as she flapped her hand. “What about it? You’re killing me, Gryffieeeeee. I am literally growing gray hairs as we speak.”
“Shall we tell them?” I grinned over at Cyra. “Or should we let them sweat over it a little more?”
“They look miserable,” Cyra observed. “Let’s just tell them already.”
“Okay, okay,” I agreed with the chocolate-skinned mage, and then I peered around at the rest of my family. “Cyra and I had a long talk just a little bit ago, and we’ve decided we want to get married.”
“Holy shit, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Layla gasped, and her enormous hazel eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Are you two engaged?”
“We are.” I grinned, and my women all let out cries of excitement before they descended upon us and swept Cyra and me into a massive group hug.
“Guys, I can’t breathe,” Cyra complained, but I could tell by the high-pitched quality of her voice that she loved it.
“Good,” Erin retorted as she squeezed even harder.
“Oh, Maker, I’m so happy for you two,” Nia gushed. “Cyra, you’re going to be the most beautiful bride.”
“Stop, Nia, I’m going to cry,” Cyra replied to the ashen-haired mage, and sure enough, when the group hug fell apart, the summoner’s dark-brown eyes swam with tears that spilled out over her round cheeks.
“Wow, there’s been so much good news around here today.” Ashla shook her head back and forth. “I don’t know if our family can take much more happiness around here. We’re full to bursting.”
“There’s no such thing as too much happiness,” I decided. “It’s my main mission to give you all the most fulfilling and amazing lives possible.”
“And we love you for it, my darling husband,” Freya said as she slipped her arm around me. “You take such good care of us and make us so happy.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I smiled at the hawk-princess.
We splintered off to bring the dishes to the table, and my stomach began grumbling again once we all took our seats and began to distribute the food. I happily loaded my plate with roast chicken, mashed potatoes, warm bread, and baked apples.
“Freya, this is delicious,” Arwyn complimented the hawk-princess once we began to eat.
“It really is,” Nia agreed.
“Thank you.” Freya nodded, and there was a sparkle to her golden-brown eyes.
“So, onto more interesting topics,” Layla began through a mouthful of chicken. “Let’s discuss this wedding!”
“We’re going to have so much to do,” Nia realized, and her piercing blue eyes widened into perfect circles. “Maker, I can’t believe we’re doing this all over again. Should we have kept the decor from Mati’s--”
“We’ve decided to do something small,” I brought up, and my ashen-haired wife relaxed her stance ever so slightly. “Even more so than Braden and Mati’s.
“Oh, good,” she replied after she took a long sip of water. “My mind had started spinning out already.”
“That’s precisely why I’d rather do an intimate wedding.” Cyra shook her head, and her curls bounced with the motion. “There will still be work involved, but not so much that we’re all stressed out messes. I want to keep things easy and simple, you know?”
“I think that’s a grand suggestion, Cyra.” Arwyn grinned over at the summoner.
“We will find you the perfect dress,” Freya declared, and her gold-flecked brown eyes twinkled at the thought. “My sister-wife will be the most beautiful bride, even if the party is small.”
“Thanks, Freya,” Cyra said, and she took the hawk-princess’ hands in hers. The two women shared a smile so loving it made my heart swell. Of all of my lovers, Cyra’s closest friend was Freya, and I was glad the curly-haired summoner had the shapeshifter in her life.
“What about the date?” Erin asked in a wary tone. “Is this going to be another five-day situation?”
“Oh, Maker, no,” Cyra insisted with raised hands. “No, I’m not putting anyone through that again.”
“Thank the Maker,” Layla sighed heavily.
My women still wore the telltale signs of exhaustion from the stress of planning Mati and Braden’s wedding in only five days, and there was no way I was ready to repeat that.
“I think we should make it soon, but not that soon,” I proposed to the group. “Maybe in a few weeks? A month or two, maybe?”
