The home that love built

Briar blinked with surprise when Artorias suddenly began to untangle himself from her with a comment about their marriage, making her look up curiously as he began to move across the room to the chest where he kept most of his things. She shifted and began to sit up onto her haunches as she watched him. She couldn't help but smirk at how he oh so carefully maneuvered back to her with his back to her in order to hide whatever he had retrieved from his wardrobe. To his credit, no amount of craning and attempting to peer around him had earned her even a glimpse of his surprise until he turned to present it to her. Even though he spoke about his love for her and how he could never tell her how much he loved her, but that he hoped that this gift would begin to show her how much, she never guessed what he might be bringing her.

As he turned around and presented her with the beautifully crafted dagger, Briar gasped softly with surprise, her turquoise gaze widening as she glanced from the weapon to Art and back again. "Art..." she breathed as her paw traced over the scabbard and felt the hardened leather under her paw pads. After glancing up at him one more time almost as if she was asking for permission to pull it free, she pulled the dagger out of his scabbard and revealed the familiar Carpathian steel that was hidden inside. The light coming in from the near by windows caught on the steel as she held it up in her paws and she noticed the subtle blue sheen to the metal and the way that the light made the fire opals embedded in the hilt come to life. A wide grin slowly pulled across her lips as she admired the special weapon, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She was already overly emotional these days due to her pregnancy, but even without that she was certain the touching, thoughtful gift still would have made her cry.

She knew just how rare and special the Carpathian steel weapons were and she had never asked for one for herself because of that. She had wanted to ensure that all of their children would be able to have a family heirloom of their own and that his family members that had the name sake of the steel all had a fair chance at having one as well. She had never seen herself wielding a sword like Artorias anyway so she had been content without it, but clearly her wonderful husband had about that and so more. "Art, it's beautiful," she managed after a moment, her voice cracking a bit with her overwhelming emotion. A realization hit her and she glanced up as she asked, "Are these from the opals we collected up north?"

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"