The bride looked radiant in a full-length dress of sunset orange. Cyril, draped around her shoulders like a smooth feather boa, as her new husband spun and dipped her on the dance floor.
I rubbed my thumb against the inside of the ring that adorned the fourth finger of my left hand. My finger ached but I couldn’t complain about its ridiculous weight without risking offence to my future mother-in-law. Not that the thought of Eloise not talking to me worried me that much, it actually sounded quite nice, but I didn’t want to make things any more difficult for Aethan than they had been. She hadn’t warmed to me at all.
Anyway, wearing the Gabrielle House ring was not something one complained about. Not even when its massive diamond got in the way of one’s swordplay.
I looked down at it and sighed.
‘Having second thoughts?’ Aethan’s voice sent a thrill running down my spine.
‘Never.’ I looked up at him through my lashes. He looked divine in a black suit and bow tie. His hair, even though he had tried to tame it, was ruffled up on top, and for a second I remembered the night before and flames burst into my cheeks.
Aethan’s pupils widened as his midnight-blue eyes met mine. ‘Dance with me.’ His voice was husky.
I didn’t answer. I didn’t protest that I didn’t know how to dance, even though it was true. His eyes held me in a trance as I placed my hand in his.
Garden faeries drifted through the trees surrounding the dance floor, little lights that bobbed and glowed in time with the music. Aethan had generously let Grams and Lionel have their wedding at the castle, and between that, and the fact that a deity had married them, Grams was satisfied that all her friends were green with envy.
I relaxed into Aethan’s arms, trying not to concentrate too much on the feel of him, lest I wrestle him off into the trees to have my wicked way with him. Instead, I examined the faces of the people dancing around us.
Grams and Lionel – well ecstatic, that went without saying.
Radismus and Mum rocked on the spot, their eyes closed, bliss on their faces. Radismus had moved in as soon as they had gotten back from London and it was nice to have a male around the house. Not that I was there that much. Although Aethan and I did split our time between Isilvitania, the barracks, and home.
I was pleased when Turos had turned up to the wedding with a leggy, blonde faery called Priscilla. Watching him mourn me had been almost more than I could bear. She seemed perfect, and if the look he was giving her as they swept past on the dance floor was any indication, she was going to be around long enough for me to get to know her. There was that look, and the fact that while Mia sat on Turos’s neck, Rupert, her baby, sat on Priscilla’s.
Turos’s mother, Gladaline, danced with exuberance, her head thrown back and her arms in the air while Bladimir struggled to catch her. The two of them had moved into a cottage near the castle and Bladimir seemed to feel that the trade-off of his crown for his wife was worth it.
Wilfred spun Isla under his arm and out to the extent of his reach before snatching her back into the safety of his embrace. He held her as tightly as he could considering her expanding girth. She only had three months left till their triplets were born. Well, she told me she was having triplets, two boys and a girl, and whatever Isla said, I believed. She was the Goddess after all.
Thomas led Sabina in an awkward march across the floor. She rolled her eyes at me and smiled. She didn’t care if he could dance or not, he was always going to be her hero. He had joined the Millenium fighting force for real and she had become one of their healers. Emerald and Lance were expecting another egg soon and we were hoping that it would choose Thomas.
A puff of flame drew my eyes out past the dance floor. Arthur was there, sitting with Tiny. I could see a dot of white on Tiny’s leg. Scruffy. I should have known he would be with them. The three were inseparable when they were all in the same plane of existence.
‘Do you think it was right?’
I started at Isla’s voice in my ear. ‘You two getting married without us there to witness it?’ I waved my finger between her and Wilfred. ‘How was that ever going to be right?’
She pulled a face at me. ‘I told you, Gods only.’
‘Oh please. Like rules ever stopped you before.’
She let out a laugh. ‘I wasn’t talking about that.’ She nodded her head toward Tiny.
‘Oh…that.’ The giant now wore tattoos that wound their way up his arms and across his shoulders. ‘Making him your disciple?’
She nodded, a frown of uncertainty creasing her brow.
‘Honestly, Isla. It was perfect.’
‘Really?’
I shook my head. For a Goddess she sure was uncertain sometimes. I was putting it down to the pregnancy hormones. ‘He was peopleless. You gave him a home, but more importantly, you gave him a purpose.’
Her face switched from forlorn to radiant. Yep, it was the hormones for sure.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘You’re welcome, your Deity.’ I poked my tongue out at her.
‘I love you sister,’ Aethan said, ‘but if you don’t mind, I’d like some alone time with my soon-to-be wife.’
My stomach did a flip at his words.
Wife. Eeekkkkk. I was still getting used to the weight of the engagement ring, let alone the word wife.
He spun me around and danced me backwards across the floor. And all the time his gaze mesmerised me so I was unaware of what my feet were doing. We could have been floating for all I knew.
Suddenly, there were trees around us and just the light from the garden faeries to guide our way. He backed me up a few more steps till my back was against an oak.
‘Isadora Scrumpleton,’ he growled, ‘you are far too ravishing to appear in public. If I’d had to fight every man looking at you inappropriately, well, I wouldn’t have had time to do this to you.’
My knees went weak as he traced the length of my neck with his lips, the warmth of his breath caressing my skin. I tightened my arms around him, pulling his lips towards mine.
I stopped when his lips were mere millimetres away. ‘Do you think it was worth it?’
He looked out amongst the trees to where our friends and family danced. ‘Definitely,’ he said. ‘This was worth fighting for.’ He grazed my lips with his and whispered against my mouth, ‘I can’t wait to grow old with you.’
The right to love, the right to live, the right to grow old together, this is what we had fought for. This is what we had all fought for.
We knew they might come again one day. We knew that war might once again shadow the land. And we would be ready. But until that day, we would rejoice in our love and live every day as if it were our last.
I smiled against his lips as I wrapped my arms around him, letting his kiss carry me far, far, away.
THE END