“The forest,” Ash said as he mounted behind me.
Ash slapped the reins, and we galloped off. His brothers followed closely, and we rode through the woods for at least fifteen minutes before Ash pulled up short before a crumbling stone church. I frowned at it as he dismounted. Then he helped me down, and the brothers led me into the abandoned building.
“What's going on?” I asked as I saw a priest waiting for us at the end of the building, where the altar used to be.
There was a stained glass window behind him; several panes busted out. Still, it was beautiful with the sun shining through it, and the whole place seemed magical with its crumbling walls covered in ivy and the wooden beams crossing a ceiling that was missing in several places. Wooden pews were set to either side of an aisle, most of them broken. A place that the forest had reclaimed.
“Maddie,” Ash said as he went to his knee before me, “I have never known a woman like you. You've made me feel real again, like I was a statue before I met you. Please, make me real forever. Marry me.”
“What?” I gaped at him.
“I love your laugh,” Wes said as he too took a knee before me. “I love your smile and the way that nothing holds you down. I need that every day. I need to wake up and see you smiling beside me. Please, Madelyn, will you marry me?”
“I ...”
“Dear God, you drive me mad,” Brax knelt beside his brothers. “You know that's why I gave you that nickname. But I can't live without your madness. I can't imagine spending another day without you chiding me or challenging me to be a better man. Make me better, Mads, and marry me.”
“I can't marry you,” I finally spoke. “Your parents would disown you if you married a servant.”
“Let them,” Ash shrugged. “That's why we're here instead of in the royal chapel. They're not here to stop us.”
“I'm sorry that we have to do it this way,” Wes said. “But once we marry, our parents will have to accept you.”
“Then we can have the grand wedding that you deserve,” Brax added. “And we can present you to the kingdom as our wife.”
“What about Lily?” I asked softly.
“Lily was a dream,” Ash murmured, “you are real.”
“We were chasing a fairy.” Brax shrugged. “And my time for fairy tales has long passed.”
“We want you, Maddie,” Wes said firmly. “Not Lily.”
“Just say yes,” Ash begged. “Say yes.”
“Yes,” I whispered.
The men smiled brilliantly and stood.
“She said yes!” Brax shouted to the priest, who smiled indulgently.
“Come forward then, and be bound together before God,” the priest said gently.
We walked down the leaf-ridden aisle and up to the broken stained glass window. I felt as if I were walking down the aisle of the grandest cathedral. Standing beside them made everything more beautiful. It was a shocking revelation, but it was true. I loved those three lechers. I loved them more than anything in my world, and I was both relieved and grateful that I could continue loving them for the rest of our lives.
The ceremony was simple, but it was perfect for us, and when it was over, the priest gave us his blessing and quietly left. There was no one to proclaim our new status to, no one to ask to hold their peace forever. It was just the four of us pledging our commitment to each other.
“To us,” Ash held up a glass of wine after he'd passed glasses out to each of us.
“To an unusual love that will last forever,” Wes added.
“To madness”–Brax smirked–“may I never know sanity again.”
“To the princes who saw past the cinders,” I added.
We clicked glasses and drank deep. Then they looked at me with wicked smiles. I deliberately placed my glass down and opened my arms. Ash rushed forward and lifted me into his embrace as the other brothers hurried off behind a pew. When I pulled away from Ash's kiss, I saw that Wes and Brax had laid furs down on the ground, right below that beautiful window.
“Came prepared, did you?” I asked, and they all smiled sheepishly.
