I Bore His Heirs, Then I Vanished novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Asking Properly
He asked me at noon, in the kitchen.
I had gone there to eat. I had spent seven years eating in that room standing up, and I wanted to sit down at the long table and not be moved.
The old cook set a bowl of porridge in front of me and wiped her eyes on her apron.
The room was full.
Kitchen girls, stable boys, warriors who had never once been inside it, all packed against the walls.
Rowan sat on the bench beside me, swinging his legs.
Aldric came in through the yard door, and the room fell silent.
He had no crest and no sword. He had changed into a plain shirt, with the sleeves rolled up.
He walked to the end of the table, to the place where I had once scrubbed the stone, and went down on one knee.
"I'm not asking as an Alpha," he said.
I put my spoon down.
"I haven't got a pack. You have it. I'm not asking as the man who is your mate by the Mother's choice, either, because that was never mine to offer and you rejected it with good reason."
His voice was low and rough.
"I'm asking as a man. My name is Aldric. I'm thirty-four, and I've been a coward for most of my life."
"Go on," I said.
"I want to wake up beside you. I want to be at the table when the children eat. I want to be told no and stay, and be told yes and not take it for granted."
He took a breath.
"I will serve in this house under your orders for as long as you say. I'll carry water. I'll scrub that floor. I will stand at your door every night, and it will be you who opens it or doesn't."
Somebody in the corner sniffed loudly.
"I won't ask for forgiveness," he finished. "I'm asking whether you'll let me earn it."
The cook, at the stove, had stopped stirring.
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