Chapter 112: Very Slim
When a knight presents his sword to a lady it means a symbolic gesture of deep respect, devotion and often love. It means he is pledging his service and protection to the leafy, swearing to act in her name only and suspending himself to her will.
Anytime I read when knights present their swords to their women, I instantly swoon and pray to the gods above that such a love finds me. When I had learnt that I would be getting married to a knight, I got so excited and thought it would be like the books. That Reagan would present his sword to me. Because that meant he would be swearing his love to me but I got none of that grand gesture.
It bothered me for a while but since I knew it was just a marriage based on political alliances. I had told myself it didn’t matter and I was contented with it for a while since we were fulfilling our role to each other. There was no room for romance and I’ll do well to remember that romance stays in the books and in real life, I won’t get to experience it.
Or so I thought!
I stared back up at Reagan who held the sword out to me, surrendering himself to me completely and in front of all these people no less. Presenting his sword was a sign of recognizing my status, strength or importance, giving me the right to wield influence over him!
Someone cleared their throat softly and I looked up to see Heather arching a brow up at me from where she was busy holding a jug of wine in her hand.
She wasn’t the only one who was staring at me. I could feel eyes looking at me, swimming with questions and surprise. I turned to stare back at Reagan who was looking at me with a look of unwavering patience. He wasn’t going to rush me but I could still see the look of uncertainty in his gaze as he stared at me.
He was waiting patiently for me to take the sword to accept his heartfelt gesture.
The whispers in the room grew louder as everyone watched us, probably not expecting something like this to happen. Even Marina watched the whole things with narrowed eyes and I know she badly wanted to interrupt but having enough sense not to interfere in a grand gesture like this.
Heather blinked at me while tilting her head ever so slightly, she was no doubt asking me to make a choice. My fingers tightened into a fist beneath the table as I stared back up at Reagan who still held the sword out to me.
This was what I’ve always wanted, for Reagan to offer me something more than just duty, to offer me something real and here it was, right in front of me!