There are so many people. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to crowds such as this after a lifetime in the valley. There are at least a hundred partygoers filling each courtyard, not to mention the main amphitheater below.
Maidservants walk around with sparkling wine-filled glasses and mounds of food on golden trays, offering them to anyone who wishes for a drink or a bite.
I think back to the harvest supper, how different things are. There are no barrels of ale or roasting pigs or drunken elders. Everything is elegant, like Fia.
The moment I spot Alexus speaking with the queen in the middle of the stone stairs leading to the last courtyard, my heart starts beating fast. He must sense me, because he turns, wine in hand, and his eyes fix on me, brightening like diamonds as he smiles.
So easily, his attention becomes solely mine. He looks starstruck. So unabashedly in love.
As ever, he’s dressed in sleek black, matching the night sky. Tonight though, his tunic has gold embroidery down the front and along his tall collar. Hair down and perfectly tousled, he starts up the steps toward me, unblinking, as though he might miss something if he looks away. Then he’s with me, kissing me softly, the purest happiness gleaming along our bond.
He takes my hand and steps back to look me over. “My gods, you are a vision.”
I chose a different color tonight. The dress is a warm ecru with gold, embroidered starlights covering every inch. The neckline plunges, something I know Alexus appreciates, and the sleeves are sheer and full, gathered into long cuffs at my wrists. The skirt is flowing, with two slits that expose my thighs when I walk. I’m wearing the pearl necklace he bought me, and my witch’s marks are bright. I’ve also dusted my skin in a golden powder that isn’t Fever Lilac dust, but a simple cosmetic offered by my maidservant to match the dress. From the look on Alexus’s face, I chose well.
He kisses my hand and gives me the darkest, most deliciously wicked smile I have ever seen. “I need five minutes,” he whispers. “That isn’t nearly long enough to do all the filthy things I so desperately want to do to you, but for now, it’ll save me from utter misery.”
He trails a finger down my chest, lingering at the skin over my heart, sending a frisson of longing straight to my core.
“If you can’t spare the time though,” he says, still smiling as he leans closer, “I suppose I must endure the rest of this night in agony, looking at you in that dress, wishing more than anything that I was buried inside you.”
I smirk. “You will survive,” I sign. “We are in public.”
His eyes flare with a challenge. “If you think I’m too reserved to drag you into the shadows and take you like the beast that I am, then you are sorely mistaken, my love.” He glances beyond the amphitheater toward the deserted and darkened entry to Asha’s temple, just beyond the ancient pylons. “If you’re willing, I’m more than happy to prove just how wrong you are.”
I consider taking him up on his offer, but the crowds begin dispersing down the courtyards to the amphitheater. I’ve never imagined such an event for a wedding.
“Later,” Alexus says, “I’m going to ruin you in the best of ways, the way I’m certain you’re going to ruin me every single time I look at you tonight.”
On the way to our seats, which are more like wide stone walkways that wrap the oval arena, we pass Rhonin and Hel, hand in hand. They look lovely and happy, as though nothing can touch them here.
They join us, and we find Keth, Jaega, Callan, and Zahira, and take the seating area in front of them. I don’t see Nephele and Joran, which is concerning. Nephele wasn’t in her room all evening, which was odd, but she and Joran have been acting so strange. When I mention him, she cuts me off, but I can see the physical tension between them. It’s more intense than what I felt when this journey began. There’s fire between them now, whether she can admit it or not.
We take our seats, and I note the way the locals are sitting. Lovers or not, people sit in pairs of two, one nestled between the other’s legs. I sit between Alexus’s legs, and he bends his knees, caging me in as he leans back on his hands.
“You smell so good,” he says. “We might have to leave early.”
I drape my arms over his knees, loving the comfort between us as he leans down and kisses my shoulder.
Then, the music begins. Clusters of musicians stroll down the stairs lining the terraced courtyards toward the amphitheater which is bedecked with floral arches, beautiful, layered rugs, and glowing lanterns. A magi stands in the center of it all in a crimson and gold robe.
We turn to watch the procession. Behind the musicians are dozens more people, all dressed in golden finery, throwing red and white flower petals to the sand.
When the grooms appear at the tops of the stairs, everyone awwws. Alexus looks at me with a smile and winks.
We watch the couple move down the stairs, slipping glances at one another, their smiles bright in the night. It’s such a happy moment. Such a beautiful evening filled with love.
Until my sister races across the top terrace behind the grooms, distracting every eye.
Because Neri, the god of the North, is at her side.
69
NEPHELE
“I told you to calm down, witch,” Neri says through gritted fangs.
I spin around, not realizing that he was even here. He must’ve followed me and… just appeared in proper, wolfish Neri fashion.
