A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps

Ashton practically bounces to his feet, rushes to a bedside table and begins digging through the drawer.

He pulls out an intricately carved wooden box and returns to his place beside me on the bed. Wordlessly, he hands me the box. It's beautiful and clearly handmade. It's fairly small, maybe about the size of my fist. I glance at him and he nods encouragingly so I carefully lift off the lid and place it to one side. The inside of the box is lined with blue velvet, my favourite shade of blue actually. There are two items inside. One is a ring, the other is a chain. They're both silver and where the chain is completely plain, no decoration or pendant, the ring is stunning. The silver band has interlocking designs winding all the way around delicately. In the centre is a gemstone. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's a blue-green colour that oddly enough makes me think of the paint Ashton and I covered ourselves in the first time I went to a fae club. It's the exact same shade of green. On either side of it are smaller pale blue gems, so pale they're almost clear. The ring is GORGEOUS, the prettiest one I've ever seen. My mind suddenly catches up to my observations.

"Ashton... Is this an... Engagement ring?" I ask. I'm not even nervous. I hope he says yes, partly because I want to marry him, and maybe a little bit because I want to keep the ring. He beams a smile at me and nods. "Yes. I have been keeping it for you." He says excitedly. I raise an eyebrow.

"Uh, how long have you had it for exactly?" I question. I want to know how long he's been prepared for this. Maybe his mum is right and I have been making him wait. I guess he has been waiting for my feelings to catch up to his. Ashton shrugs.

"A while." He answers evasively and I narrow my eyes at him. He holds up his hands defensively.

"I put in an order for it not long after you moved here." He admits. My eyes widen, he's had it for that long?

"Why did you not say anything?" I demand. He tilts his head to the side a little.

"I didn't want to rush you. I thought that it might not be the right time to ask. I wanted to make sure you were ready. I don't mind waiting for you Kat. While I love the idea of being married to you, as long as you are by my side I am in no hurry." He says earnestly. I want to throw myself at him again. That was so sweet. He knew I wasn't ready. He was waiting, he didn't even bring it up because he didn't want to pressure me. I had no idea. Wait a second, we're alone together and basically engaged. Why AM I sitting so far away from him? I definitely don't need to be. I put the box down on the blankets and without giving myself time to second guess I get to my feet, swing one leg over Ashton's and perch myself on his lap. I throw my arms around his neck and hug myself to him so tightly that I doubt there is even a millimetre of space between us. This close, I can feel his heart racing and hear his breathing get faster. He rests his chin on my shoulder and wraps his arms around my waist. We stay like that for a moment and his hands start slowly moving up and down my back. This might be the one reason I miss the summer fae fashion. The easy access was kind of nice and I want to feel his hands on me properly. But ever the gentleman, he doesn't attempt to take things any further. It might be mean of me but I can't help but tease him a little. I lift my hands up to his hair and stroke my fingers through it. Then, I gently press a kiss to the side of his neck, then down a little lower to his collarbone. I can feel him shiver and I grin to myself as he groans. Perfect. I sit back just enough that I can see his face and the heat in his green eyes makes me want to do it again. "Well... Maybe I am in a LITTLE bit of a hurry." He comments and I giggle.

Not wanting to torture him TOO much, I adjust my position so that I'm sitting sideways on his lap. He keeps his arms wrapped tightly around my waist and I try not to be distracted by his fingers. I grab the box and look at the ring again. "This is stunning." I say, picking it up and tilting it to watch it sparkle in the light.

"I'm glad that you like it. It was designed especially for you. Fae don't usually propose with rings, they're no more related to marriage than any other piece of jewellery for us. But I thought that you might want one. I spoke to Lucy and she told me that it's a human tradition for the male to give his intended a ring when he proposes." He's smiling happily but it suddenly drops from his face and his brow furrows.

"Oh... She also said that it is tradition for the male to kneel when asking. I forgot. Should I do that now?" He asks, sounding a little distressed. I shake my head and lean against his chest a little heavier.

"No. I would rather stay like this, I am quite comfortable. I do not care if you kneel. I do love this ring though. It is perfect." I tell him and kiss him gently. I meant for it to be a little peck, but I linger longer than planned and somehow between the two of us we get a bit carried away. Several very enjoyable minutes later when we stop to breathe, I slide the ring onto my finger and hold my hand up to admire it.novelbin

"Thank you for considering human traditions. You actually might appreciate this one. Wearing a ring indicates to other humans that I am not available. It should serve as a deterrent to flirting." I wink at him and he laughs happily. More than once while we've visited the human realm he complained about men being too flirtatious with me. It seems like he gets jealous easily. Then again, by his standards, a brush of the hand or any touch that I would consider to be nothing, or even accidental, would be calculated and very intentional. If another fae guy randomly touched my hand while I was out here somewhere I would be SHOCKED and a little scandalised so I can kind of see his point. I doubt wearing a ring is going to stop the innocent and likely unintentional contact I get from others but at least there will be a visible reminder for the few people who ARE trying to make a move.

"If the fae do not give rings to propose, what do they do?" I ask curiously. Ashton smiles and unlinks one of his arms from around me long enough to pick up the box again and holds it up for me to take the chain.

"I realise that this necklace doesn't make my point as clearly as it might because it's also an accessory, but when fae propose they give a gift that is meant to represent the relationship or something they wish to contribute to it." He explains. I hold up the chain. It's plain, but pretty. Still, I have no idea what it's supposed to represent.

"I might need more information about this necklace." I prompt him to continue.

"It's something I was working on with my mother. It has been charmed to allow you to use some of the magic you have inside of you, the magic I gave you. You might be able to get other charms which will allow you to do other things, but this one in particular is special because it allows you to travel through a portal to the human realm unassisted. It can't be used too often, maybe once every three days, but you wouldn't need to take anyone with you. Not even me if you didn't want to." He takes the chain from me and clasps it around my neck. I run my fingers over it as it settles on my neck, feeling the cool metal.

"That is... Really impressive. I... Can you explain why you chose this as a proposal gift?" I ask, still not totally sure what this has to do with our relationship. He's giving me a way to leave without him?

"What it means is that in this relationship I don't ever want you to feel trapped. You can travel freely, as my wife you wouldn't need my mother's permission, nor mine to travel between realms, and with this necklace you wouldn't need my help either. You can come and go as you like under your own power and authority. Obviously I would much prefer to go with you, I want you to be safe after all, but I won't ever force you.” He pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing. "I chose to have the charm attached to a chain because you have often described the connection between us as us being 'stuck together.' I'm hoping this will show you that I don't want to use it to keep you trapped, but rather that you can use that connection, that chain, and be even more free than you ever were, free to travel two worlds as you like." He finishes with a nervous smile and I stare at him. I hadn't really thought of it that way before, but he's right. Sure, we're technically stuck together. But I've never had as much freedom as I do with Ashton. Not just in travelling, but in how I want to spend my time, what I want to do, how I want to act or dress.

"You always support me, no matter what I choose to do." I say quietly. Ashton nods, agreeing.

"Which is exactly why I will always choose you." I say firmly. I know it's the truth, I'm never going to change my mind. I'm never going to want to leave him.

"I do not have a gift for you, I did not exactly plan this." I point out with a frown. Ashton shrugs.

"It's fine. I didn't expect you to have prepared anything." He says kindly and I shake my head, not happy about it. An idea occurs to me. I don't want to go into this marriage with him still believing that he owes me anything.

"I do not have a gift, but I can give you a promise. I will promise this to you now in private and again later in front of everyone when we get married." I say firmly. Ashton's eyes widen and I think he might be holding his breath. Fae take their promises very seriously, especially ones made in public.

"I promise that there will never be any debts owed between us and that you will never owe a debt alone again. I promise that I will take an equal share of any responsibility you have or any favour you owe. Any favours owed to me are just as much yours as they are mine." Ashton is definitely not breathing. I had better finish up before he passes out or something.

"I also promise that I will always choose you. My home is wherever you are." I finish, looking him straight in the eyes. Ashton grabs me and pulls me into a kiss.

"And mine is with you." He murmurs against my lips.

"Can I take this to mean that you accept my proposal?" Ashton says, almost jokingly. I think it's a little obvious at this point. I laugh.

"Definitely. Should we go tell everyone? I bet your mum will be excited." I point out. He frowns.

"Maybe not yet? I would like to keep you all to myself for a little while longer." He says pointedly, his eyes dropping back to my lips. I smile.

"Of course. You have waited for me long enough. I love you." I add, realising I haven't said it since we became officially engaged. Wow, engaged. I'm getting married. That is so surreal. For a moment I'm sad, my dad won't be able to walk me down the aisle. But I push the thought from my mind, he would be happy for me and I don't want to be sad at a moment like this.

"And I love you my darling Katerina."