Florian nodded once before taking off.
Keira sighed beneath the weight of her injuries, leaning more heavily into Gareth as she watched him go.
“Come on,” Rhea said, setting ahead of them toward the doors.
“What?”
Lilith came beside her, looping Keira’s other arm over her shoulder. “We’ve got a wedding to crash.”
Caspian
Caspian entered the chapel, feeling the weight of his cape dragging against him with every step. As he caught sight of Priscilla in her vibrant red dress, his heart had constricted. Her full layered skirt mirrored the petals of the roses woven in her hair. Curled blonde locks fell over her shoulders, bouncing slightly as she walked.
Priscilla looked up at him through her lashes. So soft and beautiful. This was never how he had pictured this day. Never who he had truly pictured it with. Caspian swallowed, pushing himself past the wrongness clinging to the back of his throat. But this was the way forward, the best way for everyone.
Somehow he had taken the steps toward her, meeting at the center of the crowded village chapel. The oracle was there waiting. Her silvery hair was braided in an intricate crown atop her head. An eye shaped pendant hung from her circlet resting on her brow, the gleaming obsidian iris ever watching. They joined their hands, Priscilla’s fingers so small and soft in his, and the ceremony began. The oracle spoke about the path of destiny and how some are blessed to carry out their journey with a partner.
“We gather on this day to join the threads of Lord Caspian, liege of Northall, and the Lady Priscilla of Redfield.” With that, the threads were presented. Each was brought on a velvet pillow. Caspian’s was a silken cord of Northall blue with silver tassels oneach end. It had been the traditional cord of the heirs of Northall for generations. Wedding threads were often passed down this way through families, though Caspian had seen those too poor for such fineries use pieces of twine or linen or even locks of hair.
Priscilla took her scarlet cord with great gentility, holding it in both hands as he did the same before facing each other once more. They then each passed an end to the oracle, who now connected them.
“As they twine the threads, the betrothed bind their fates and make the vows that will carry them along their destined paths in a union of balance, fidelity, and love.”
Caspian felt his heart hammering against his chest as the oracle crossed the threads, holding out the red cord to him. He willed his hand to reach for it, to take hold as Priscilla already had. His intent was so focused, he did not even register the crash at the other end of the chapel. Not until Priscilla screamed.
The cord fell from his hands as they went slack in shock. The chapel doors had been thrown open. Keira stood at the end of the aisle, flanked by members of the Blades. It looked as if she’d just stepped off a battlefield, her dark hair ragged and eyes wild. Her clothes were covered in blood that was clearly her own and she was favoring her left leg heavily.
The guests in the pews began to panic at the sight of her, shaking Caspian from his bewilderment.
“Stop this,” Keira said, taking the first limping steps down the aisle.
Behind him, Caspian was vaguely aware that Priscilla had taken shelter in his shadow. He felt the light touch of her hand resting on his arm, but his focus was locked on the sight before him.
Keira was here. Emotion roared through him until he wasn’t sure if he wanted to rage or sing or cry.
“Where have you been?” he demanded, before entirely deciding to.
Keira’s face screwed with pain as she clutched her bandaged leg. Gareth stepped to help her, but she waved him away. “I didn’t leave you, Caspian.” Her voice was thick with strain. “Her cursed bastard of a brother sent me away.” She jabbed an accusing finger at Priscilla’s hiding place.
Caspian shook his head. “You told me that you were leaving, that I had to move on- That- That we couldn’t be together.”
“You know I would never do that!” Her eyes lit with passion, love and fury burning within. “Think, Caspian. Think and remember. What exactly did I say? Where were we? Was it morning or night? What did you say to me? Think about it!”
He did. He thought. Her words swam through his head, but when she asked him to remember, he couldn’t place them to a memory. That night was a black hole with only a voice echoing in the darkness. It didn’t make sense…
“It never happened, Caspian,” Keira pleaded, nearly to them. “Yvette used her magic. She can make you believe things, make you do things. Whatever they told you, it isn’t real. It was all a lie to get you here, to this.” She gestured at the altar with disgust.
Around them, the crowd was watching the events unfold speechlessly. Priscilla’s touch on his arm was shaking.
Caspian shook his head… His thoughts were churning until he felt lost in his own mind.
“Caspian,” Gilbert said, rising from the crowd. “Listen to her. What she’s saying makes sense. You haven’t been yourself since she left, and your mind on the matter changed so quickly. It wasn’t like you. Maybe it was an enchantment.”
Keira looked up at him with emotion so raw, it flayed him to the bone. “Caspian, I love you!”
His eyes locked with hers, and memories played through his mind. Seeing her face for the first time on the mountainside. Thefear that had overcome him as the venom threatened to take her from him all over again. He replayed the wave of passion that had washed over them in the cave, her laughter as they shared ales at the little country inn. It was all so clear, so vibrant, her golden dress the night of the feast, the blooming vines she’d conjured at the festival. The taste of her was seared into his mind, along with every other detail from that last night… but then there was only the darkness, the voice… and it wasn’t even hers.
It never had been.
