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“Now that, dear sister-in-law, is yer problem. I have enough problems of my own to deal with already. Make sure the kitten is waiting for Astrid tomorrow morning, because that is when I will propose to her,” Flynn replied, squeezing Keira’s arms in excitement.
He still could not believe he was following through with it and had finally decided to marry the only woman who had ever stolen his mind and heart.
“Yer putting me in an impossible position, Flynn,” Keira complained as he quickly made his way towards the door.
“I ken, dear, but if someone can do it, it is ye,” he said, throwing her words back at her.
As he left her bedchamber, her sudden laughter met his ears, which made him feel better. He knew he could do it. He loved Astrid, and she loved him back, and nothing or no one could keep them apart any longer.
* * *
“Meow, meow.”
Astrid stopped on her way to the dining room for breakfast and looked around in concern. She was certain she had heard a cat meowing and was even more certain that the voice had not been that of Bannock. The meow was extremely shrill, much like a young kitten’s, and she looked around worriedly. She knew a kitten was around there somewhere.
The cat meowed again, and Astrid sensed the voice was coming from the end of the hallway, so she immediately ran in that direction. She had always been extremely sensitive towards cats. She had found Bannock on the verge of death when she had been only a kitten, and had nursed her to health before adopting her.
Astrid could never leave a cat who needed her, and this kitten certainly sounded lost.
As she made her way to the corridor, her gaze finally landed on a small kitten who, just as she had expected, was sitting all alone. She noticed that it was a male kitten with beautiful striped grey fur. Astrid immediately picked him up in her arms, softly cradling him.
Just then, her gaze landed on a small note which was attached to the back of the kitten, and she confusedly snatched it away from the ribbon it had been tied to.
She opened the note and read,“Take me to the courtyard.”
Astrid did not know what was happening, but she knew for certain that something was going on. It was evident someone had placed the kitten with a note out here and had most certainly hoped for her to find him.
“Who could it be,” she wondered aloud but decided to follow the instructions and take the kitten to the courtyard. She was certain it would do no harm and was certainly curious to find out who had planned something this elaborate for her.
“Well, hello, little prince,” she said to the kitten, placing soft kisses on his head. The poor thing was love-starved, as he immediately settled into her touch and rubbed his head against her. Her heart melted as she stared into his uniquely large hazel eyes. “Let’s take ye to the courtyard, shall we?”
The kitten meowed in response, and Astrid walked with him in her arms towards the courtyard as per the instructions in the note.
She quickly made her way downstairs and went towards the back of the house, where the courtyard was located. It was a large piece of land that had been beautifully surrounded with crimson brick, and much like the rest of the castle, it had creeping plants and vines along all its walls. Even during the day, it was mostly sheltered except for a few spaces that sunlight could filter through, but otherwise, it appeared like somewhere in the middle of a dark, abandoned cave where habitation had continued to grow.
She was surprised to notice that the courtyard was entirely empty, but just then, her eyes landed on Bannock, who sat comfortably at the one spot on which the sun was shining. She walked towards her cat and pet her as Bannock immediately became alert to the presence of another cat around her.
Astrid noticed a note on Bannock’s paw as well and tore it loose to read it. The mystery was continually becoming more and more complicated, and she could not deny that she was enjoying exploring it.
She opened the note and was even more confused as the note read,“I’ve lived long enough to finally see you married.”
Astrid could not discern what the note was supposed to mean and looked around, still with a confused expression on her face.
“Astrid?” an extremely familiar voice called out from behind, and she turned around with a smile to find the man she had been betrothed to sitting on one knee right behind her.
Suddenly, it all made sense as the note on Bannock came back to her. It had all been written by Flynn. Her heart rate accelerated as she realized what was about to happen, and she did not know how to react to it.
“Flynn,” she called his name in reply, walking closer towards him.
Her smile was hesitant and nervous, but it remained intact on her face. The mere fact that Flynn, the man she had undeniably fallen in love with over the course of the past few days, was sitting on his knees in front of her was enough to make her blush.
“Astrid,” he began again once she was close enough. “I have been meaning to tell ye something. May I?”
“Ye may,” she whispered softly, knowing he could hear her, nonetheless. She cared about nothing or no one else at that moment, besides him.
“I dinnae ken when, where, or how exactly I fell in love with ye, but all I ken is I did. I fell in deep, deep love with ye, and I dinnae ken how to live without ye any longer. In the past few days, I have come to realize that I never wished to break this betrothal since the beginning because I was intrigued by ye since the moment we met a year ago. When I found out I was to be betrothed to ye, I was quite happy. When ye came to live here, I wished to protect ye and keep ye happy, and as we grew closer, I fell in love with ye.
“Astrid, I hope for nothing more than for ye to feel the same way about me, and hence, this is how I wished ye to find out. I ken this betrothal was supposed to be fake, and yer faither is still finding ways to somehow break it, but I truly wish to marry ye and spend a lifetime in yer company. I wish to share all me happiness with ye alone, right beside me. Will ye allow me to do that, Astrid? Will ye love me enough for an entire lifetime to agree to marry me? To become me bride? For real this time?”
