The Vow That Seventeen Years Erased

On Midsummer Eve, twice as many people as usual had crowded into the village.

Over a hundred young men and women clutched their tokens as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

I was the only one bundled up in a long cloth coat, covered from head to toe without a single gap.

"Nick!"

Henry Ritter, the guy next door who had always been like a big brother to me, walked up, sounding surprised.

"Why are you dressed like that? The whole village is saying today's the day you and Kat make your match official. Why aren't you wearing the wedding jacket your Grandma Agnes sewed for you by hand?"

I didn't want him to know I was allergic to rosewood, so I made up an excuse. "The long coat hides my token. I don't want anyone else to see it."

"Stubborn kid! Wait till you see Kat. Let's see if you can keep it hidden then!"

He dragged me to the front row.

The crowd was buzzing.

Kat spotted me right away, but she didn't walk toward me. Instead, she stopped right in front of Jason Bates.

The two of them ran into each other every single day, yet the moment their eyes met now, they both blushed at the same time.

"Kat, do you want to see my token?" Jason asked. He was dressed in a bright red wedding jacket and gazed at Kat with deep affection. "Or... or I could look at yours. That works too."

Everyone in the village froze in place, every head turning toward Kat.

Anyone could look at a token, of course.

But an open invitation like this meant, nine times out of ten, that someone was about to declare their feelings in front of everyone.

"Sure! In fact, I'll show you mine first!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Kat opened her hand to reveal the token in her palm.

Everyone present held their breath.

By the understanding we'd reached years ago, Kat should have come to me first.

Ever since we were little, the whole village had taken it for granted that we were a match made in heaven.

But now she'd gone straight to Jason, which meant the match she wanted today wasn't with me.

"It's a wild rose carving! Kat and Jason have matching carvings! Their hearts are one, and they may set a date to marry!"

Elder Dennis Statham, the clan elder in charge of verifying the tokens, stroked his white beard as he made the announcement loud and clear.

The entire crowd stared, dumbfounded.

Henry was the first to bristle. "Kat! How could you show Jason your token? You and Nick had an agreement. Where does this leave him?"

Only then did Kat spare me a backward glance. "Aren't tokens meant to be shown to people? Am I supposed to hide mine away and try to guess who my match is?"

"But you and Nick grew up together. Everyone in the village has seen what you two have. Even if you wanted to show someone, it should have been him first!"

Jason, who had been standing quietly off to the side, spoke up timidly, "Henry's right. Kat, maybe you should just forget about me.

"In my situation, I don't deserve to be matched with anyone. I just thought the ceremony looked fun. I'm sorry..."

With that, he deliberately forced a strained, lonely smile.

Henry's eyes instantly went red with anger. "Jason, quit the act! You're Kat's brother-in-law, and ever since her sister died, you've been clinging to her.

"You get a headache, you go to Kat. Your clothes rip, you go to Kat. Even for the tiniest household chores, you go to Kat. Any idiot can see what you're scheming!"

"Enough!"

Kat snapped at Henry and stepped in front of Jason. "Matching tokens are fate. Jason's already had it hard enough living alone in this village. You're both men. Why give him such a hard time?"

"You!"

Henry started forward again, but I grabbed him.

"Kat's right. Whose token matches whose is up to fate. Jason lost his wife, but that doesn't mean he's lost the right to look for love."

"But you..."

I signaled for Henry to stop.

My unusual calm stunned everyone.

Especially Kat.

She knew I was madly in love with her.

Once, while hunting for wild mushrooms for her, I'd nearly been eaten by a starving wolf.

The bite it left on my calf was still a scar to this day.

Henry thought I'd be heartbroken, too.

But I wasn't.

"Nick!"

I turned to go find my own match, but Kat called after me.

Gripping a rose carving identical to mine, she gritted her teeth and jabbed it hard into the back of her hand.