The question

Once they got out of the city, she turned to him.

“Are you taking me on one of your crazy expeditions?” she asked.

“No, what crazy expeditions?” he asked. She just raised an eyebrow.

Even though he had calmed down in the years Mary had known him, much thanks to Firlea’s good influence, he still had times when he couldn’t control the urge to do something exciting. The outcome of those expeditions was fifty - fifty if you would come back with a grin and an experience of a lifetime. Or covered in mud and regretting getting out of the bed that day.

“No, nothing like that,” he said.

“Okay, then what? Something is obviously troubling you,” Mary told him.

“Yes, okay. So, I would have asked Tenac, but you know him. As romantic as a fence post,” he sighed.

“Hey,” Mary objected.

“What? Are you telling me he is Mr Romantic?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t know, but neither do you,” Mary pointed out.

“Well, that’s true. I haven’t seen him around a woman like that in about three years,” Jontak said, looking at Mary.

“Anyway, I asked Sinhera, but she said I should talk to you,” he then said.

“I’m your third option? Gese, don’t flatter my ego too much there,” Mary giggled.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he sighed.

“It’s okay, so what is it?” Mary asked. She was really curious now.

“This is why I need your help. I’m hopeless at things like this. And I can’t screw this up, you know?” he said.

“No, I don’t know. It would be helpful if I know what you are trying not to screw up,” she told him.

“Oh, right. I’m going to ask Firlea to marry me,” he said.

Mary gave a little shriek of joy, making both horses take side steps and flickered their ears.

“Sorry, sorry. That is wonderful. I’m so happy for you both,” Mary beamed.

“She hasn’t said yes yet,” Jontak pointed out.

“You big fool. Of course she will say yes. She loves you. She has had her eyes on you since you rowed us over on our first day,” Mary smiled at him.

“She has?” he asked, surprised.

“Yes, why do you think we set up the two of you?” Mary nodded.

“Set us up? I asked her out on that day we all got to gather at the marketplace,” he objected.

“Sure, and who arranged that? And who sent you with Firlea to buy ink?” Mary asked, amused.

“Oh,” he said.

“So, what do you need help with?” Mary asked.

“How should I do it? Should I ask her father’s permission first?” he wanted to know.

“Let’s start with the easy one. No, don’t ask her father’s permission first. She is not a possession to be given away. She is soon to be an aari, she can make up her own mind. You can ask her father but prepare to be beaten up when she finds out,” Mary smiled.

Jontak nodded.

“As to how. That is more of a personal preference. You know her better than anyone. Do you think she wants it to be romantic or straight to the point?” Mary then asked.

She knew her friend would love a romantic proposal, but Mary wanted Jontak to realise that he had most of these answers already.

“Definitely romantic,” he nodded.

“Good. Would you like to recreate one of your best dates? Or maybe do it in a place that means a lot to you as a couple?” she suggested.

Jontak thought about it for a while.

“I think it would be fun to incorporate how we met. Maybe I could come and pick her up?” he suggested.

“I love the idea. But what if we take it a step further? What if we arrange for you to borrow one of the boats? You can pick her up, and then you take her to a romantic place along the river that you pick out beforehand. You will have a picnic basket with you,” Mary thought out loud.

“You will cook the food?” Jontak asked, and Mary smiled. She knew he loved her cooking.

“I would be honoured to,” she nodded.

“It sounds perfect,” he smiled.

“Good, then you will set the date, find a spot and I will make sure you can have a boat and prepare a basket with food for you,” she smiled back at him.

“Thank you, Mary. Sinhera was right when she suggested you,” he told her.

“No need to thank me. I’m just happy for you,” she said.

As soon as Hinat was back in the city, Mary filled her in on the plan. The two of them helped each other to keep the planning from Firlea.

It was a bright winter’s day just before lunch when Mary put a basket full of food in Firlea’s hands.

“Eh, what is this?” Firlea asked.

“Oh, nothing. I needed help to get this food to the people I made it for. Jontak promised to help. Could you take it down to the docks for me and give it to him?” Mary asked.

“Sure, I thought him and me were doing something today,” Firlea said, sounding confused.

“Oh, then I guess he will just drop it off on your way. It won’t take long,” Mary smiled.

“Sure,” Firlea shrugged.

“Thank you. I’ll see you when you get back,” Mary said.

“Have fun,” Hinat smiled.

“See you,” Firlea said as she left.

“Is it bad that I want to sneak after them and watch?” Hinat asked Mary.

“It’s very bad. I want to do it as well. But we won’t,” Mary laughed.

“No, it’s their day. When are we meeting the others at the river field?” Hinat asked.

“In about four hours. Jontak said they would be back around then,” Mary smiled.

She reached out for a book and made it levitate off the desk and into her open hand, where she sat on the bed. As part of their stamina training, they had been asked to do most small, mundane things using magic.

Usually, using magic for everyday tasks wasn’t a good idea. It took just as much energy as doing it the usual way. Sometimes it required more. But as they needed to train their stamina, they needed to use magic as much as possible.

For Mary, it came with an unforeseen difficulty. As she got used to using magic for everyday things, it became harder for her to hide her fire magic. Her impulse to use it to light a candle or heat the wax to seal a letter was hard to control.

Four hours later, the two friends were rowing over to the river field. Sinhera and Tenac were there waiting for them.

“They’re not here yet?” Mary asked.

“No, haven’t seen them,” Sinhera smirked.

The four of them watched the river, waiting for their two friends. Tenac pointed at something, and Mary saw the small boat with her friends come rowing. She smiled when she saw the elated look on both their faces. The group of friends descended on them as soon as Jontak had tied the boat to the dock.

“Congratulations!” both Mary and Hinat squealed and hugged Firlea.

“Thank you,” she smiled.

Tenac and Sinhera were shaking Jontak’s hand and giving him firm slaps on the back. As they rotated, Mary drew a surprised Jontak into a hug.

“Congratulations,” she smiled.

“Thank you, Mary. And thank you for your help. It was perfect,” he smiled back.

“Any time. You are both my friends, and you make each other happy. That’s a perfect situation,” she told him.

“We are treating you to a dinner on the town,” Sinhera told the couple.

“You are?” Jontak said, surprised.

“Of course we are. We need to celebrate,” Tenac said.

“I know just the place,” Mary smiled.

She led them to the small restaurant that her parents had taken her to when they celebrated her adoption. They always went there for celebrations.

“Mary, have you booked a table? This place is really hard to get into this time of day,” Jontak asked.

Mary smiled and ushered everyone inside.

“Dorma,” Mary called out as she entered last.

The small, older man that owned the restaurant swirled around and smiled as he saw her.

“Mary!” he shouted.

“I have your table ready, over here, please. How are your parents?” he then said, showing them to a table by the fireplace.

“They are well, thank you. Thank you for having us here,” she smiled.

“It’s my pleasure. I don’t need to ask who the happy couple is. I can see the love from far away,” he beamed.

Without them ordering, a variety of dishes appeared from the kitchen.

“Does he know we haven’t ordered?” Firlea whispered to Mary.

“On occasions like this, you don’t order. Dorma just gives you what he thinks suits the occasion,” Mary smiled.

They spent the evening eating, joking, and celebrating. Firlea and Jontak looked blissful and in love. Mary was happy for her friends. She was sure they were the right fit for each other, and seeing them like this just made her more certain of it.

As they rounded off the evening, Dorma came around. He cried a bit and whished the happy couple many loving years. They thanked him for a wonderful meal.

Firlea and Jontak walked away in one direction. For an evening stroll, they said, to the amusement of everyone else. Mary and the rest of her friends walked back to the river field.

“Thank you for a fun evening,” Sinhera smiled.

“The same,” Hinat said.

“I’ll see you in a week?” Tenac asked Mary.

“Yes, next Saturday well go out riding as usual,” Mary nodded.

Mary and Hinat got into a boat and started making their way to the sanctum.

“Do you think that will ever be us?” Hinat asked Mary.

“You mean getting engaged?” Mary asked.

“Yeah”

“I think it definitely will be you. I’m still not in a place where I can see it for myself,” Mary admitted.

“Is it bad that I think I’m over Donte?” Hinat asked as they docked.

“Of course not,” Mary told her.

“He was an idiot, and he didn’t deserve your feelings,” she continued.

“But if I loved him, shouldn’t my pain last longer?” Hinat asked.

“I don’t know. Some things will kill love even if it’s pure and true, I think. I don’t think that love conquers all, and I certainly don’t think it should,” Mary said.

“You are the least romantic woman I have met,” Hinat giggled, and Mary joined her.

“Probably,” Mary agreed.

“So, if love doesn’t conquer all, is there even meaning with it?” Hinat sighed and threw herself down on her bed.

“Certainly. Just because love isn’t absolute doesn’t make it meaningless. There are no absolutes in life. That doesn’t mean that life is meaningless. You just need to find that someone that you can trust your love with and the two of you will keep it alive,” Mary said.

“How did you get so wise?” Hinat laughed.

“Oh, I’m not, I’m just putting words together that sound good. And I have had a lot of time to think about things like this,” Mary confessed.

“Do you think aari Terway is cute?” Hinat then asked.

“Hinat, no,” Mary said, looking at her friend.

“What?” Hinat asked.

“Just no, he is our teacher,” Mary pointed out.

“So? He can’t be cute because he is our teacher?” Hinat said.

“It’s a bad idea to have a crush on a teacher,” Mary told her friend.

“Well, I didn’t say I had a crush on him. I just asked if you thought he was cute,” Hinat corrected Mary.

“Sure, but best not to go there,” Mary said.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Hinat grinned.

“Oh, just go to sleep and stop thinking about our practical magic teacher,” Mary told her.