Rafe nods reassurance for her to do it. And when she doesn’t, I gently put my hand over hers and make the cut in her palm and then lead her hand to connect with my brother’s.
Now it’s my turn to say my vows. "Eve, you've endured hell because of all of our choices. I can't undo that. But I vow to make the rest of your sentence bearable, and your life with us a choice rather than a compulsion. You are not our slave. You have never beenjustproperty. You were always serving out your sentence. And from the moment I set eyes on you, I knew the goddesses wanted our lives to be intertwined forever. You are the human woman we love and respect. And I will spend the rest of my life worshipping you and thanking the goddesses for bringing you into our lives.”
I take out my own ceremonial dagger and cut my left hand deeply. The pain feels good as my blood drips down onto the floor. Then I hand my dagger to Eve.
Her brown eyes meet mine as if to say,Again?and I give her a nod.
Rafe uses his other hand to guide hers to cut her palm and then join it with mine. Our blood mixing together feels right and almost magical.
Now it’s Eve’s turn to say her vows. I hope Lira told her about this, but even if she didn’t, Eve is clever enough to come up with something on the spot. I watch her as her eyes begin to shine with tears. But when she begins to speak, her voice carries strongly through the ballroom in a slightly accented Imperial.
I didn’t think I would feel more nervous when it was time for her to speak her vows, but I do. I’m worried that she’s going to tell us she hates us publicly. My heart is slamming in my ears as I will it to stop so I can hear her.
"Sovereign Rafe and Shadow Sovereign Lorian. You hired me under false pretenses, not telling me I had signed a contract to work at a galactic hotel, until it was too late to turn back. You trained me to be your equal, but then made me witness the horrors of the Grand Championships and the Sapien Spectacle. You showed me love and respect, while simultaneously treating other humans without any dignity. Then you sent me away. You let me believe I was forgotten on Alba. You married another while I learned to eat from bowls on the floor." The crowd shifts uncomfortably. "But you also changed galactic laws for me. Sacrificed your own reputations. Lost millions of credits and customers. Restructured your lives for me, and finally risked everything to bring me back to my job, equality, and my home at the Celestial Spire.” She takes a breath. "I can't promise to forgive everything today. But I promise to try to forgive you. And with that, I take you as my Reima Two husbands, in the Imperial tradition, complicated, contradictory, and flawed, but mine husbands forever.”
“Release the collar," the judge says formally. “Eve Eden is no longer property.”
This is the moment I have been waiting for. I pull out the key—the one that's burned a hole in my pocket for almost two years—my hands shake slightly as I unlock her collar. The click echoes through the ballroom, and the collar falls away and clangs heavily on the floor.
Eve touches her throat with wonder.
“You’re free, my beloved, beautiful sinner,” I say.
“Our wife,” Rafe says. “Our beautiful rebel.”
"By the power vested in me by Reima Two, the IGC, and recognized bodies across the galaxy, I pronounce you wed. Eve Eden is no longer property, but wife of Sovereign Rafe and Shadow Sovereign Lorian of the Ascendant Alliance. Still serving her legal sentence, but with all rights that her new status provides."
"The dress!” Zira calls out.
And we all were so happy to have the collar removed we almost forgot. But Lira didn’t forget and is already moving towards us with the dress and other staff behind her, armed with Eve’s jewelry and shoes.
Rafe and I take the dress from Lira, and put it over Eve’s head, and dress her reverently, like this is the real wedding ceremony. Once the dress is over her head, Eve’s eyes meet mine and she smiles. I kiss her forehead as Rafe fastens it up the back.
It's perfect—deep blue like her old uniform but cut in a way that's both fashionable and striking.
Rafe takes her ID necklace from a staff member and puts it around Eve’s neck. Today it’s been cleverly combined with a stunning jeweled necklace befitting her rank as our wife. He kisses her neck after he’s fastened it and says something to her I can’t hear.
Finally, Lira gets to her knees and instructs Eve to put her feet in the shoes she’s holding out for her.
Eve hesitates, only for a second, before complying. Once the shoes are on, Lira stands but bows to Eve and is the first to address her by her new title, “My Lady Sovereign Eve Eden, congratulations.”
Then the rest of the ballroom stands and does the same.
“My Lady Sovereign Eve Eden and her husbands.”
Then the room erupts—applause, shock, and cameras catching the moment, which I suppose is fine now that she’s dressed.
I turn and kiss Eve. As our lips touch, I can’t help but feel how right this all is, and I thank the goddesses silently for the suffering we have all endured; otherwise, I would have never valued Eve as I do now. Never known how lucky I am to have her as my wife. Never been the man I am today.
77
THE WEIGHT OF VOWS, RAFE
“We did it,”I tell her.
"Did we?" she asks through a fixed smile. "Because I still feel very much like a prize-winning human pet on display.”
"You're not a prize," Lorian says firmly. "You're our wife. And in about ten minutes, we're getting you out of here."
