Accordingly

Aloy was angry, that much he could tell. It burned in every line of her body, in every thrust of her spear as she took down another Scrapper. She'd been angry since they left Meridian, though Erend didn't think it had anything to do with him. He smacked a Scrapper upside the head with his hammer and Aloy thrust her spear through its chest.

"That's the last of them I think," he said tentatively. Aloy just nodded and set to work stripping the dead machines for parts.

Erend took a deep breath. "You okay?"

"Fine."

"You sure? Cause it seems like you have something on your mind."

"I don't want to talk about it, Erend."

"Fair enough." He moved to one of the other Scrappers. Though he wasn't as good at it as Aloy, he did know how to strip a machine. They worked in silence, Erend trying not to steal glances at Aloy, when she finally sighed and sat back on her heels.

"Avad proposed," she said and Erend's heart stopped. It shouldn't have surprised him, not really. Aloy was the Savior of Meridian, a capable huntress and a skilled fighter. She could tame machines and had an understanding of the Old Ones and the Metal World that was nearly unmatched. Add to that her beauty and why wouldn't Avad want her? He knew he should say something, but nothing made it past his closed throat.

"It's like he doesn't know me at all," Aloy was saying. "Expecting me to be happy locked in some palace wearing silks and listening to nobles complain day after day like it's some honor. I can't - I won't be caged like that. And I won't be some political pawn either."

Erend blinked. "Wait, you said no?"

"Of course I said no. I don't know why he expected my answer to be different this time, nothing has changed."

"This time?"

Aloy's expression shifted to one of reluctance and guilt. "He . . . he asked me once before. After we told him about Dervahl and Ersa."

Erend's hands clenched around the Scrapper heart he'd been stripping, ignoring the metal cutting into his hands. He hadn't known the exact nature of Ersa and Avad's relationship, but he knew there was more between them than just friendship.

"He was grieving, Erend. He wasn't thinking straight and I told him that."

"Not thinking straight, right. He finds out my sister is dead and immediately tries to replace her like she was nothing."

Aloy crouched beside him, pulling his hands away from the Scrapper. "He loved her very much. Grief . . . sometimes it makes people do strange things."

"Like propose to you? Twice?"

"Apparently." She sighed, gave his hand a light squeeze, and moved back to her pack.

Erend watched her, the way she moved as she confidently pulled out the valuable machine parts and stored them away. "So, not gonna be the new Sun Queen?"

"No."

"I'm glad," he said without thinking. She looked at him strangely and he rushed on. "Not that you wouldn't have been a good queen, you're good at everything you do, I just mean . . . well, you'd be busy and we wouldn't get to do stuff like this anymore, would we? I would have seen you around, sure, but it wouldn't have been the same."

Aloy smiled. "Exactly why I'd rather stay plain old me."

"I hate to break it to you, but I'd hardly call a woman who tames machines 'plain'. Crazy, maybe, a touch unusual and definitely a bit wild, but not plain."

"Crazy, huh?"

"Absolutely." He grinned and she just shook her head, moving on to another dead Scrapper. Erend wondered what she would say if he told her the truth - that he was smitten with her, head-over-heels hopelessly smitten, and he didn't know what he would have done if she had married Avad.

Often, I turn to the dictionary to help with these prompts. "Accordingly" is defined as "consequently, therefore" and so arose this - a series of consequential reactions to one simple proposal. If it gets my brain going, I write it.