Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Ode was to my left, stunning in a gold silk Victorian balloon-sleeve gown. An ornate gold choker with yellow diamonds adorned her neck, and hanging lower was Nerilla’s seal.
“We’re both here for you,” she whispered, her eyes welling with tears but not spilling over as she smiled at me.
Beside her was Zev, resplendent in a pale-gold three-piece suit, the flower pattern on the vest in gold brocade with a white glove on his left hand. Clean-shaven and smiling, with his mane pulled back, he was stunning.
On Varic’s right was Hadrian, all in black, wearing Cassius’s livery collar. Varic had wanted his brother there as well. Tiago was next to him, clad head to toe in black too, looking as beautiful as his mate.
My breathtaking groom was all in black but for the red-and-gold tapestry Victorian cavalier vest he wore. The suit perfectly matched those of Hadrian and Tiago, as if they’d planned it instead of the rush job it was.
“Who has come before the council and this assembly to be bonded in blood for all time?” Sabira asked the room.
“We do,” Varic answered, and turned to face me, taking my hands in his, crossing them, left hand in left. “Myself, Varic Maedoc, Prince of the Noreia, and my intended, Jason Thorpe.”
With the sash of the house of Maedoc, Sabira wrapped our hands as she spoke in Latin about the enduring bond we would share. I only knew that because Varic had explained all the parts of the ceremony to me.
Ode and Hadrian came forward then and placed a goblet each under our tied hands. Moments later, Sabira used the ceremonial dagger and made a small cut on my wrist and then Varic’s. Sabira unwound the sash then, draping it around my shoulders, as was custom for the consort, while blood dripped into each glass. When enough was collected, Varic lifted our hands and then bent so he could lick over my wound, then his, to stop the bleeding.
“Drink from the font of one another.”
Ode was so nervous holding my goblet, I could tell from the shaking, but Zev leaned over and said she was doing everything perfectly, and that helped her pass it to me without issue. I drank mine down quickly, as did Varic, making the gallery laugh and lightly applaud when he licked the inside of the goblet.
“You’re gross,” I whispered to him, and a mischievous smile lit up his face.
“You taste good,” he growled, and his tone made Sabira chuckle softly.
“The prince will speak his vows now,” she directed, presenting Varic with an imperial wave of her hand.
Varic took a breath. “I will shelter, nurture, and treasure you from this moment on, and my body, soul, and blood are yours for all time. You are my consort, and I am your prince,” he said hoarsely, his voice going out on him as he slid the ring onto my finger that Hadrian had passed him. When he lifted my hand to kiss it, everyone sighed in unison as though they’d practiced instead of it being the spontaneous reaction it was.
Sabira then turned to me. “Jason,” she prodded softly.
I smiled at the love of my life. “I will love and cherish you from this day forward as I have since we first met. I am yours, body, soul, and blood for all time. You are my prince, and I am your consort.”
Ode passed me the ring, I slid it onto Varic’s finger, and then surprised him by bending to kiss his new and most important piece of jewelry. I got applause for my gesture of love.
Sabira shot me a look, since this wasn’t how we’d practiced it, but I was overwhelmed. The words had gotten a bit jumbled too, but the important ones—body, soul, and blood for all time—made it into both our vows, and those were necessary for the Noreia.
“You may kiss your mate,” Sabira said to Varic.
He stepped in close and gave me a very chaste kiss because this was a wedding, not a floor show. When he eased back, though, I saw his eyes glow gold. Everyone gasped, and I chuckled because I knew how happy he was, how replete, how content with his life. I was his, the realm was his, and he would care for and love both of us with his whole heart.
The moment I grabbed his hand, his eyes returned to the gorgeous deep emerald I loved, that I’d been bewitched by from the moment we met.
There was wild applause then as Sabira’s voice rose above the crowd’s.
“I present to you His Royal Highness Prince Varic Maedoc, and His Royal Highness Prince Consort Jason Maedoc, fyrir-einn of Maedoc, who are now mated under the eyes of the king and of this gracious assembly. Let it be recorded that the mating is complete and they are wed. May all the blessings be upon them.”