“Now that you’re the matriarch, I wonder…do you have the authority to perform handfastings?”
Ena’s heart leaped in her chest, and her head whipped to Ty. Was he serious?
Greya arched her brow, looking from him to Ena. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I can,” she answered, a small knowing smile gracing her face.
“Good. Because I want to prove to you, to all of you,” Ty said, looking around the group, “that I will do my best to keep Ena from harm. But most of all, I want to prove that to you,” he added quietly, looking down at Ena.
Ena stood in stunned silence.
“What do you think, viper?” Ty said, turning to her with a deep vulnerability in his eyes. “Will you handfast with me?”
Ena’s heart stuttered in her chest. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought this would be possible. Just hours ago, she was prepared to say goodbye to him forever, and deal with their child alone.
She wanted to break down sobbing. Because did he know that everything she did was for him—to love him, and be with him? She had never dared to hope for such a thing—not after nine years of separation, and all the obstacles between them in the Underworld, but now she realized: nothing in this world would make her happier than to be his wife. Nothing would make her feel more whole and safe and loved than being handfasted to him. To behisforever.
Raising her hand to his beautiful face, she looked at him, deep into his eyes so he would know she meant it. “I love you, Ty,” she said. “I’ve loved you for nine years. I’m already yours, and I always will be. Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife.”
She saw a film of tears spread over Ty’s eyes as he pulled her in for a kiss. His mouth was warm and soft and he smelled likehome. He kissed her deeply, and thoroughly, and Ena wanted to melt into it and never stop. It had been far too long since he’d held her like this, since she’d felt his lips on hers, but she was suddenly reminded that they had an audience when Greya cleared her throat pointedly.
“One problem—I don’t have any handfast bindings,” Greya said apologetically. “I can run back to the house to get some, but I’m worried—”
“No need,” Ty said, reluctantly letting go of Ena’s face and reaching to pull something out of one of his bags.
It was the handfasting ropes. The ones he’d taken from Heran’s house and used to bind her wrists when they’d kidnapped her.
“You didn’t seriously keep those?!” she asked him, disbelief and amusement warring in her voice.
“Of course I did. They’re good ropes,” he said, snapping them tautly.
Greya smiled widely at them. “Well alright then. We don’t have much time, so let’s do this.”
***
The seven of them moved into the center of the Sacred Grove—witches and daemons alike. Friends and family. Allies and rivals.
The trees were illuminated with a soft glowing light from the creeping sunrise, casting them in wintery golds.
Greya stood in front of the burning remains of the fire. She gestured for Ty and Ena to come before her, while the other witches formed a sacred circle around them, Turner following their lead.
Greya looked to them both, pride shining in her eyes. “Mother Gaia, Giver of life and Bringer of death, she who maintains the Turning of the seasons and celestial bodies, and balances theLight with the Dark, I call upon you to bless the union of these two beings.”
Ena had been present for many handfastings before, but her sister had never been the one to speak these words. It had always been Heran, and a chill went through her at the thought. She wished with her entire heart that Heran could have been here for this moment, but she realized with a sad clarity that may never have happened. In all the sadness and confusion of her passing, it had led them exactly here. To this moment.
Ena felt guilty for it, but she felt a glimmer of gratitude for the path that had led them here, despite all the bad.
Taking the decorative rope in her hand, Greya delicately wrapped part of it around Ena’s left wrist—the one that had been broken but had since healed—and continued the ceremony as she spoke the sacred words.
“May your love be like the air—powerful and ever-changing.”
She wrapped part of the rope around Ty’s wrist next.
“May your love be like the water—constant and deep.”
Returning to Ena’s wrist, she looped the rope again.
“May your love be like the fire—passionate and all-consuming.”
Finally, she laid the rope over top of Ty’s wrist one last time.
