Freyr rubbed at the subtle circle on the base of his left pinkie finger. It had become a habit over the years to rub the area whenever he started to feel nervous for one reason or another.

The one simple-looking mark was the main reason his family wouldn’t be able to swap him with his sister when the envoy finally arrived to pick up the bride of the Silvius’ heir. His parents had prayed to Ianthe almost every day for years after they found out the twins had been swapped, yet she always refused to answer their prayers.

Freyr had learned over the years that Ianthe seemed to act on a whim most of the time, yet she always held true to her decisions. Having her blessings had put him in quite a bit of predicaments growing up, and, while his sister Freyja actually quite enjoyed crossdressing, Freyr always felt like he was just a replacement for her whenever he slipped a dress over his body.

By the time the twin’s parents realized that Ianthe wouldn’t swap her blessings to the “correct” bride, it was already too late to iron out the misunderstanding and tell Freyr’s future in-laws. The Silvius family was expecting the Frotleikr’s daughter, so they would receive a “daughter”.

Freyr wasn’t sure what his parents were expecting him to do once his in-laws and groom inevitably found out who he was, but it was obvious that they had given up and were just going to dump the responsibility on the eighteen-year-old. Perhaps they expected Freyr’s guardian deity, Ianthe, to sort it all out when it came time. After all, she had been the one who had caused the whole situation and then just went silent when they prayed to her. Freyr knew better, though. Ianthe only did what she personally wanted to do, and had no care for the finer details of the mortal world. He internally lamented the fact that she was the one worshiped as the goddess of fate.

Freyr took a deep breath as he reached for the door handle to leave his bedroom for what would probably be the last time for a very long time—maybe even the last time ever. He was certain he would receive the news of the envoy’s arrival shortly, and he wanted to make sure he spent every last moment he could with his family before getting carted off to finally face the moment he had dreaded his entire life—meeting his supposed groom and future in-laws.

He knew that, in theory, he was ready to meet them—and to continue the accidental charade—but just because he had practiced and memorized everything, it didn’t mean that he would actually flawlessly pull it off. It did help his nerves, at least, that he was forced to admit he had somehow turned out to be the more feminine of the two twins.

Freyr had continued to become more subdued as he grew up—even becoming a shut-in due to the fear and worries he had about whether he was allowed to be masculine, or if he would always have to hide away and act like he was his sister in public. Freyja, on the other hand, had spent her time embracing her chance to focus on learning swordsmanship and running around in the sun with the extra free time she had, due to the fact she didn’t have to take the same extra classes Freyr ended up having to take.

Freyr had ended up letting his hair grow out, since he had no reason to cut it, yet Freyja had chopped off hers as soon as she started training with their uncle on their mother’s side. Her training had led to her dark sun-kissed skin and hardened muscles. Freyr, meanwhile, only spent his time in his room, in the library, or taking various classes he needed for his bridal training, which led to his pale complexion and just a bit of muscle in his arms from always carrying around stacks of books.

The voice behind Freyr seemed to recognize the resignation on his face and started to almost poke fun at him.

See? Even you have to realize I wasn’t mistaken when I chose to bless your bond with your groom.

Freyr could hear Ianthe smirking from behind him even without turning around to face her. She didn’t appear to him often, but whenever she did she was always in one of two moods—either she was in a bad mood, wanting to rant, or she was, on a rare occasion, boastful and wanting to “brag” about what she had done to him all those years ago.

Freyr had learned quickly when he was young that he was the only one who could see or hear the deities of their world. He had never asked her if it was true, but he had always assumed it was one of the “blessings” he had received from Ianthe when she chose him as her Favored One. He had gotten better at ignoring them when a curious god or goddess came to visit, but Ianthe had always gotten under his skin when she visited. Freyr’s anxiety, that he would accidently snap back at her—or at another deity—in public, had become another reason he had shut himself away. He didn’t need to become even more of a spectacle. He had already grown up being viewed as the most blessed mortal in present existence.

Freyr gritted his teeth and quietly snapped back at Ianthe under his breath before opening his bedroom door. “I don’t need you rubbing it in that you refuse to fix a choice you made on a mere whim of yours. You should have been blessing Freyja’s engagement sixteen years ago—not mine. I didn’t need to have the most blessed engagement in history if it meant having to pretend to be my sister for my whole life. I don’t care how amusing this must be for you, but I would much rather you leave before the envoy arrives. Unless, of course, you want the envoy to believe the bride they were assigned to escort had inherited the same madness ‘her’ guardian deity, the goddess of fate, is rumored to have.”

Freyr knew the “madness” mortals believed to have overcome Ianthe was occasionally a sore spot for her, but he wasn’t sure how he would feel having her hover over him as he said his goodbyes to his family. Ianthe was the reason he was forced to leave them and travel so far away that he would rarely be able to see them—so seeing her smirking the whole time might actually drive him to the same type of madness Ianthe was rumored to possess.

Ianthe seemed to take his outburst in stride.

I will allow those hurtful words, but only because you are my precious Favored One. I understand that you still don’t want to admit my decision was the right one, so I’ll leave it for now—but remember that your words have hurt me. There is a chance that if you ever seek me out, I won’t respond to your prayers. I guess you will just have to see where my “whims” lead us. . .

Ianthe seemed genuinely frustrated with Freyr as her presence behind him vanished, leaving behind a small cold void.

A small part of Freyr felt a bit bad about letting his own frustration at the situation boil over and lead to him taking it out on his guardian goddess—yet the majority of him squashed that feeling as he reminded himself that she was the source of most of his problems. It was not like she had even shown remorse for cementing the bond between him and Aleksei, so why should he show any remorse for his words?

As the unfamiliar feeling of referring to his future husband by his first name—instead of his status—rolled around Freyr’s head, his anxiety about meeting him soon returned. This only cemented the feeling of frustration he held for the guardian deity whose only “blessings” seemed to be curses instead. Even though Ianthe had already left, Freyr couldn’t help muttering one last thing on the off chance she still could hear him. “You don’t have to worry about me seeking you out. There is no chance I would ever do it out of my own volition.” Having said his own piece, he finally opened the door ahead of him and left his room.

Freyr had a bit to walk before he would reach the waiting room where he expected to find the rest of his family, so he spent the walk mulling over, yet again, the reasoning behind why all three of the Triplet Deities had even shown up for a simple arranged engagement ceremony of a pair of toddlers.

He could understand why Lucretia answered. He was of noble lineage and she was typically the one who answered the engagement prayers of nobles. She seemed to choose to mainly bless noble couples due to the amount of wealth that they typically dealt with. Considering how much wealth both his family and the Silvius family possessed, Lucretia seemed to be a given.

Freyr could also make a point and see why Sláine answered. Sláine was the god of all forests and plant life, along with being the main deity of the Dragonkin race. Given that Freyr had strong ties to the forest, since his mother was raised there, and both of his parents had Dragonkin blood, Freyr could see how Sláine also had motivation to be there and bless the union.

Like always, all of Freyr’s mulling had narrowed it down to one thing—the single whim of the third deity of marriage. Freyr knew that if it was just Sláine and Lucretia who had responded, his life growing up would have been easier. He would have been able to just pass it off as having a few extra blessings in life until he and Aleksei were old enough to end their engagement. Yet the third name was called—and only for tradition's sake, at that—causing the offer and prayer to be put out there—and, even though she was believed to never answer anymore, Ianthe had ended up answering the customary prayer.

Maybe the mischievous goddess was amused by the mix-up of brides, or maybe it really was true that she had been driven to madness all those centuries ago—but whatever the reason, she had responded to the call and refused to take back her decision.

So there Freyr was, trekking towards an uncertain future that would probably lead to his demise if he wasn’t careful.