“I have only just come to the outworld, and I have many things I need to do before I think of taking a wife and having offspring.” He did not mention that he had been warned against such things. “I cannot provide properly for them at this time.”

Frisha’s heart plummeted further.

“No matter what you decide,” he continued, “I will always honor and protect you so long as I am permitted, but I hoped you might consider accepting me as your prime suitor. When it is time, I will make sure you have everything you need and anything you desire.”

Frisha’s mouth gaped like a fish a few times. As Frisha stared into Rezkin’s beautiful topaz eyes, she could see that he meant every word he said. She truly believed that if she asked for it, he would find a way to give her the world. The fact that he promised to be there for her, whether she accepted him or not, told her that he sincerely loved her. “Oh Rez, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! We’ll have to convince my uncle, but I don’t care what he says. I say, ‘Yes!’”

Frisha flung her arms around Rezkin’s neck, and he did not even tense. He decided that he must have unconsciously anticipated the move. Rezkin released a heavy breath he did not realize he had been holding. Now that the issue was out of the way, he no longer had to worry about his friends replacing Frisha or her uncle marrying her off before he had a chance to promote her to wife status.

Rezkin thought he should have felt more concerned about entering into a contract of any sort at this point, but he was simply relieved that this was one less problem with which to be concerned. Now that he had a future wife lined up, he had no need to revisit the issue in the future; although, he was not certain he would have addressed the issue at all if circumstances had been different. Having a wife and offspring seemed tedious at best.

Rezkin’s instincts went on alert when he noticed Tam was moving in on them quickly. Tam threw his arms around both his friends and squeezed. “Congratulations! I’m glad you two finally got that worked out. I thought I’d be an old man by the time you got through your courtship. It took you nearly a month!” Tam teased.

Frisha giggled and swatted at him. Rezkin did not understand. A month was on the lower end of decent for a courtship that had not been prearranged by family. After a moment, Rezkin realized Tam was making an attempt at humor. Rezkin was not sure he could pull off laughter at this time. He had not prepared for it since he was not playing any particular role. He settled for producing his best smile.

Chapter 18