Epilogue
Xarius
One year later.
“That just won’t do!” Mom scolded me as I showed off my outfit proudly.
“Why not?!” I demanded, turning around to get a good look in the mirror.
“Your poor bonded will lose his mind if he sees you out in pants that tight,” mother tutted.
I sighed loudly. “He’ll live.”
The door to my bedroom opened, and then Niam appeared. “Nope.”
“But baby!” I begged.
“Nope!” Then he turned around and left the room, without another word spoken.
“Which one of you texted him?!” I demanded, knowing full well they were on his side no matter what.
When they’d heard how Niam’s parents had treated him, they’d decided he was their new favorite son.
I wish I could be mad about it, but Niam needed motherly love more than I did, and I didn’t mind sharing their love with the best man in the world. My man.
“I did,” mother announced proudly, not giving one shit about how much I loved this outfit.
“Fine.” I knew defeat when I saw it, and seeing as this was for our bonding ceremony, I wanted to look perfect for Niam. No matter how good my ass looked in these pants. Sigh. What I wouldn’t do for my Niam.
Since we were the first to bond, we were also the first to get our ceremony, with our bonded vacation lasting a week afterwards.
Then Silver and Wilston would get their ceremony and a week of vacation time.
It made us less anxious still having four of us working and not all being away simultaneously.
It also worked better for the mages here, knowing we were always ready to step in if needed.
It had taken a few weeks for us to get rid of all the “bad” mages, who favored the way the old leaders of the council ruled, and with them gone it was a much better place to live, at least according to the other mages around.
I hadn’t lived in the Realm of Mages for almost seven years, so I felt like my understanding of how things worked might not have been up to date.
Living with my mothers gave me insight to things before I was banished, but even they refused to tell me everything.
And I understood their reasoning, since it wasn’t fun telling your child how someone got killed because they voiced their true opinion on the council.
Now that Mom had retired, they both seemed happier. It had taken a toll on Mom, always being in disagreements with the old rulers, but she’d stuck it out, knowing if someone took her place, the others would do their best to influence them to share their beliefs and world view.
To think only a year had passed, but our world was already so much better.
Not that I took all the glory for it. The six of us truly were tied together from so many lives lived.
We hardly ever fought, and if we did it was over quickly.
Wilston was our voice of reason. Niam our emotional voice, and also the best to speak to the empathic side of others.
Silver was more ruthless and blunt when he spoke, which we truly needed at meetings with those in the council.
We might’ve all been the leaders, but Silver was the one who got respect just from one silent glare.
I liked to think of myself as the more levelheaded leader.
With my ability to sense emotions, I had an easier time controlling conversations and finding out what the end goal was to someone’s complaints or wishes.
Tino and Altair had this amazing ability to connect with our people.
It was hard to explain, but they fit in everywhere, which they themselves thought weird.
With only ten minutes to spare until I had to meet up with Niam, I took one last look at my final outfit, this time approved by my mothers. I wasn’t really nervous, but more excited to share our love with our friends, family, and the council.
What I was nervous about was what I had planned for our vacation.
We’d decided to split it up, so I got to pick what we did for three days and then Niam decided our location for the last four days.
I just hoped Niam would like what I had planned for us.
What I wanted most myself was closure, and I had a feeling he did too.
Now that the harmony of our world had been restored, and we were finally in our rightful place, it was time to enjoy life.
“Fuck,” I groaned, too loudly if the snickers I got were any indication.
I just couldn’t help myself. Niam wore a light blue tight-fitting suit.
And did I mention it was tight? How was he allowed to wear that tight a suit, but I wasn’t allowed tight pants?
So not fair. But I could deal. I would be the one removing said suit off his body later tonight anyway. No one else. Only me.
Niam blushed prettily which meant he’d heard me, but I didn’t care.
He should know just how sexy he was. He stood facing me with Willow and Nujik at his sides.
It had been a decision between the six of us, who’d be with us as we confirmed our bonding.
Since Niam and Wilston didn’t have any family to join them, we figured Willow and Nujik were our best people for the job, and luckily my mothers understood and were happy just to watch from the chairs in the front row of the Emerald castle.
This was where important people got bonded and where their babies were blessed upon entering the world.
It was a huge castle with windows in all the colors of the rainbow.
When the sun hit just right, it reflected those amazing colors down upon us, blessing us with their beauty as we showed off our bond.
I didn’t have eyes for anyone else as I walked with quickening steps down the path covered in flower petals.
I had Leon beside me, which we learned from the book was tradition.
It seemed like something we should honor so we decided to give it a shot, glad to see Leon and Snowflake seemed to remember this part, even the old building.
Snowflake was in front of Niam’s legs, sitting regally as we approached. It was truly special, having them be a part of this, too.
Wilston, Silver, Tino, and Altair stood to the other side, giving us their blessings.
The council leaders didn’t bother with bonding ceremonies unless it was for someone in the council, so luckily, we wouldn’t be doing this all the time, just those special occasions where our magic was needed and welcomed for blessing the bonded couple.
“You look good enough to eat,” I whispered as I stood next to Niam.
He grinned, then whispered, “Just wait till you see what I’ve hidden under my suit.” He winked, which was almost enough to make me groan again. Sporting a boner in front of our friends and family wasn’t in my plans for today.
Nujik stepped forward to address us. “We’re here today to confirm the bonding between our council leaders Xarius and Niam.
Will you hold out your hands and join us in front of our council, as well as your family and friends.
” I was glad we’d decided not to use our last names, it felt more intimate this way, which was what we aimed for with our rule.
We wanted these mages to feel like they could approach us.
Not fear us like with the previous leaders.
I followed Nujik’s lead and Niam followed Willow’s, then, hands clasped together, we stood facing everyone as we poured our magic out in a small showcase of our combined powers.
I made leaves which we flew around the room, adding rain and small fire orbs, too, creating a beautiful wave of magic as it surrounded everyone in its path.
Combining magic was something only bonded mages could do, but if you had a strong connection with someone, like a friend or a family member, you could lend them your power to become stronger together.
This thing we just made was for bonded mages only, showing all our elemental powers.
Everyone stood from their chairs and clapped, celebrating we had in fact bonded.
Not that anyone had any doubts, but this was tradition.
Next up was the others’ blessing of our union, which they’d kept secret from us.
I didn’t like not knowing what they’d planned, but considering they also had to get their blessings from us to look forward to, I figured it wouldn’t be too bad.
Silver and Wilston went first, both smiling at us with fondness.
We kneeled in front of them as Nujik and Willow stepped away, leaving the four of us in the center front.
We had to look down at the floor as they blessed us, meaning we had no way of knowing if they were going to douse us in water or whatever they had planned.
But I could still feel their emotions and they were happy, not gleeful.
Suddenly I felt a weight on top of my head. Something was moving around my hair, not unpleasantly, just touching me as whatever it was got formed. The weight got heavier, not too heavy, but I knew something was on top of my head without a doubt.
“You may rise,” Willow said. I looked at Niam first, not able to stop myself from checking on my bonded.
He was wearing a beautiful golden crown.
It was almost like leaves had been dipped into gold and then woven into a circle.
Looking closer, I found small gemstones scattered around the crown, making it shine as the sun hit it.
“Beautiful,” I said in awe.
Niam smiled. “Yours is, too.”
“What does mine look like?” I knew it probably wasn’t important at the moment and I could easily take it off myself to look, but I was too curious to let it go.
“Golden leaves with different colored stones,” he replied. “Mine?”
“Same,” I grinned, then looked at Silver and Wilston. “Thank you.” They bowed slightly as they stepped back to allow Tino and Altair to step forward. We kneeled on the floor again as they took their place before we looked down again.
This time, I felt a tickle around my neck, then a weight was added.
They’d made us a necklace. I was genuinely surprised by their blessings.
From what I had gathered it was customary to be sprayed with water, or buried in leaves or grass.
It all seemed to depend on what elements were at play.
But these blessings? They were perfect. Something we would treasure forever.