Moonspear Even Doves have pride

Katmai hardly noticed that it wasn't the same declaration of love that he had given to her. It was enough she wasn't displeased, and that they were both looking toward the same future. His heart felt full to the bursting as she sang, thumping double-time the way it always did when she sang to him like this.

When he answered her, it was in quieter, gentler song:

"You weren't just a girl that I should meet
You were the girl that I would meet
For walks in the forest,
A beautiful daughter,
Lifetimes of summer,
And love ever after — "

He cut himself off, flushed and pleased despite feeling unusually shy.

"So," he asked her, tentatively, eagerly, "Am I to court you properly, now?" he asked her, already planning a whirlwind of gifts and romantic gestures. He would have to speak with her father, of course. Not that Alaric hadn't seen straight through him from the start, he assumed — it was just the done thing, was all!