Chapter 5 The Commander Takes Me Home

I heard footsteps outside the shed. Without thinking, I turned my head toward the door.

In that moment, our eyes met.

A flash of surprise went through me. He had deep, sharp eyes, like the sea at night. They were so dark that most people would not dare to look straight into them.

I could also see his face clearly now. His features were fine and smooth, as if an artist had painted him with great care, without a single flaw.

He stepped into the shed, and his face became even clearer. He wore a soldier's uniform that made him look proud and far away. He did not belong in this broken woodshed, yet he filled the room with a heavy feeling nobody could ignore.

I looked at him calmly. My face did not change, and my eyes did not move away.

My calm seemed to surprise him. A small flicker crossed his dark eyes, and then it was gone.

The corner of his mouth moved a little, as if he was interested. I guessed that this girl was not what he had expected.

I found out later what he had been told. His mother said I was a hard-working, sensible, kind girl, but a little weak. But the girl in front of him had no weakness or fear in her clear, bright eyes. They were full of life, and she dared to look right back at him. I was even studying him while he studied me.

He was tall, so tall that I had to tilt my head back a little to meet his eyes. His shoulders were wide, his back was straight, and he stood like a man who had never bent for anyone.

Lucian walked toward me one slow step at a time, without a sound, until he stopped right in front of me.

He looked down at my face. His thin lips parted, and he spoke in a cold voice. "Yesterday, your grandmother came to my house. She said you agreed to marry in your stepsister's place, and that nobody forced you. Is that true?"

The first thing he said was not "I have come to take you home." He wanted to know if I really agreed, or if my family had forced me to say yes.

"It's true," I said.

A moment of surprise crossed his face. Then I smiled a little and asked, in a playful voice, "Are you asking because you think I'm not as pretty as my stepsister, and you don't want to marry me?"

His lips twitched. He had not expected me to turn the question around. He also seemed surprised that I would think I was less pretty than Isolde.

But the truth was, as he stood there, he could not even remember what Isolde looked like.

"You misunderstand," he said. "I was afraid you would regret it. I can tell your family to cancel the marriage if you do not want it. You do not have to hurt yourself."

I listened, and I understood more about him. He told me the story himself in short, plain words. Years ago, his father fell and hurt his ankle while picking herbs in the mountains. Old Mr. Thornfield found him and saved him. When the old man learned that his son was a soldier, he used that favor to suggest a marriage between the two families.

"I would never have agreed to it," Lucian said. "And I only met your stepsister last week, when the elders talked about the wedding date. I glanced at her once. I did not look again."

So he did not remember her at all. That made me want to laugh. Isolde had given up a man who could not even recall her face, and she had no idea.

Because the truth was, I had already looked at myself in the memories I had. The girl I now was had her mother's bright eyes and skin as white as snow. She was a real beauty. Isolde and Fiona looked like their father, and they were very plain. That was why they had always been jealous of Elowen.

Weak, his mother had said. That girl was gone. The one standing here now was a woman nobody in that house would ever forget.

Lucian hid the feeling in his eyes. Then he said, in a serious voice, "I am a soldier. A soldier's marriage cannot be ended. Once you marry me, there is no room for regret."

"So you really must think this over..."

I did think, but only for a breath. I thought of the children waiting at his home, and of the quiet strength in this man. Something told me this marriage would not be nearly as bad as everyone believed.

"Just tell me," I said, cutting him off. "Will you marry me or not?"

I looked at him with a firm, honest gaze. "I am sure I can be a good soldier's wife. I will be a good wife and a loving mother. We have no feelings for each other now, but that is fine. Feelings can grow after the wedding."

"If we support each other and trust each other, why can't we take good care of our little family?"

I had no way back to my old world, and I could not stay with the Thornfields. So I might as well marry Lucian and build a good life with him.

And, to be honest, his looks had already won my heart.

I have always loved a handsome face, and Lucian won easily. Beyond that, I already had a good feeling about him, and he was a soldier. Can a man trained by the army be bad?

So only a fool would say no to a man like this.

Oh, there was a fool. I would not say her name.

Maybe it was the word "family." Maybe it was my steady, honest words. Something slipped slowly into Lucian's heart and began to melt it. It had been as hard as ice.

His throat moved. He straightened up and held out his hand to me. His voice was still a little stiff, but it was much softer than before.

"Let's go. Let's go home."

Before I could answer, he lifted me into his arms.

Then he carried me out of the shed.

His steps were steady, and his arms were strong and safe.

When we stepped into the yard, every neighbor stopped talking. Somewhere in the crowd, I heard Big-Mouth Winnie whisper, "Did you see that?" By evening, the whole village would know. Grandmother's mouth fell open. The sunlight hit my face, and for the first time in two worlds, I did not feel alone.