Chapter 56
VIVIENNE
As I stand before the tall mirror, my gaze travels over the twilight blue silk gown. It’s lovely, with crystals embedded in the bodice like scattered stars. My red hair is pulled back at the top in an elaborate twist of braids while the rest hangs down my back in soft curls.
It’s the day of my coronation. After the ceremony, I’ll officially be queen of the Dark Elves of Valethryn.
A soft knock sounds at the door behind me, and I turn just as my father steps inside, followed by my older brother—Aldric.
It’s been two months since I last saw them, and I’m so glad they’re here.
My father’s gaze sweeps over me and he smiles. “Well,” he says, and I recognize the familiar note in his voice, the one that always sounds as though he has been privately congratulating himself long before anyone else thought to do so. “I knew this would all work out in the end.”
Aldric grins beside him. “So did I.”
Indignation sparks in my chest as I think of how they both lied to me, allowing me to believe I’d been married off to a stranger.
I open my mouth to lay into them, but stop, because the truth is that I’m happy.
Even as I think this, I know that word is far too small for the complete and utter joy that lives inside me now.
I love my husband with a fierceness I never knew I was capable of. I love this kingdom, wild and beautiful and wholly unlike the world I came from. I love the life that has unfolded from that one moment in time, when I thought my life had been ruined.
So instead of speaking the bitterness that once would have leapt eagerly from my tongue, I let out a slow breath and a smile crests my lips.
“Did you?” I ask, and my father, to his credit, has the grace to look at least a little uncertain beneath the question.
“A father knows these things,” he says, though less confidently than before.
I arch a teasing brow, and my brother huffs out a laugh.
That small sound nearly undoes me more than anything else because it’s all so familiar. So absurdly, tenderly familiar to have my brother—my best friend—once again.
Emotions lodge in my throat as I cross the room and throw my arms around them both.
“What’s wrong?” Father asks, worry easily heard in his voice. “Is everything alright?”
I pull back just enough to meet his gaze.
Tears gather in the corners of my eyes, but I blink them back, worried that if I allow them to fall it will make my skin red and blotchy for my coronation.
“Oh, Father, at first I was so angry at you.” I turn to my brother.
“And I was so certain you had betrayed me.”
Their eyes widen with concern, but I continue before they can interrupt.
“But I’m just so happy, I cannot possibly be upset.
” I swallow against the lump in my throat.
“I’m so in love with Auren. And if not for your devious little plan”—I narrow my eyes in mock anger—“I might never have married him.” I sniffle. “Thank you for coming.”
Father hugs me even tighter. “My darling girl, you don’t know how much it means to know you’re happy. And I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
“I’m happy for you too, Viv,” my brother adds. “I was worried you’d never forgive me for not rescuing you at the city gates.” He sighs. “But I told myself that even if you hated me, it spared you from marrying the Goblin King. And I knew Auren was a good man.”
My father glances at the clock on the mantle. “We should probably go take our seats.”
I nod.
Before he leaves, he looks at me once more. “Your mother would have been proud.” He smiles. “You look every bit like a queen.”
My brother grins. “You always did know how to command a room, Viv.”
When they leave, I turn back to the mirror, checking my appearance one last time.
Auren walks up behind me. He slides his arms around my waist and gathers me back against him. He nuzzles my temple, and I let my head tip back against his shoulder.
“Are you alright?” he murmurs.
“Yes. Why would I not be?”
I stare at his reflection in the mirror, my gaze traveling over his gray-blue skin and dark hair, his glowing blue eyes fixed on me with a tenderness that makes my chest ache.
“I thought you might have given them a sharper reception.”
I turn in his arms to face him, cupping his cheek.
“I cannot complain. Not when it led me to you. To us.” The words thicken in my throat, not from sadness, but from the sheer overwhelming weight of how true they are.
I brush my thumb across his lips as I study his handsome face.
“I am completely, incandescently happy, my love.”
His expression softens and he drops his forehead to mine. “So am I, me’lira. You are everything to me.”
Tears sting my eyes. “I love you so much, Auren.”
He wraps his arms around my waist and seals his mouth over mine. It’s not the fierce sort of kiss he gives me in private when he is all heat, and hunger, and fiery possession. It’s gentler than that, though no less consuming for its tenderness, and I melt into his kiss with a soft sigh.
“You have no idea,” he murmurs as he pulls back, “what those words do to me.”
A smile crests my lips. “I suspect I do.”
He captures my mouth again in a searing kiss. And even though I’m supposed to be crowned in less than an hour, I want him so desperately I would reschedule the event entirely just to spend the day in bed together.
He threads his fingers through my hair. Gripping the silken strands, he angles my mouth to his as he curls his tongue around mine.
Gods above, we make love at least twice a day. If he keeps touching me like this, we won’t have just two children like I’ve planned, we’ll have a dozen at least.
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts the moment and we turn to the door to find Tarin.
“My apologies,” he says, his cheeks flushed dark.
“You are forgiven, but just this once,” I tease.
That earns a ghost of a smirk from him, and I think of how far we’ve come. Where once I saw only cold judgment, I now see the truth of him. He’s loyal, protective, and fiercely devoted to those he loves. And somehow… that devotion has come to include me.
“It’s nearly time.” He grins. “And I figured I might find you two here, doing exactly as you were when I entered the room.”
Auren and I laugh. “Just wait,” my husband says. “One day you’ll fall in love too, and you’ll understand.”
Tarin arches a playful brow. “Perhaps.”
He holds a box out to Auren and smiles. “I brought it, just as you asked.”
Auren takes it from him and carefully opens it. Inside is a delicate silver necklace with a round, moonstone pendant on the end. “This belonged to our mother,” he says. “It matches your wedding ring.”
He moves behind me and I watch his reflection in the mirror as he carefully drapes it around my neck, fastening the clasp. “She wore it on her coronation day as well.”
Emotions lodge in my throat as I brush my fingers over the silver chain. “It’s lovely.” I turn to look at them both, tears in my eyes because I know how much this means to them. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Mother would have wanted you to have it,” Tarin says.
“It has been in our family for several generations,” Auren adds. “Perhaps someday you will give it to our daughter.”
My heart squeezes. Stretching up on my toes, I give him a tender kiss.
Tarin clears his throat, and we turn to him. “Sorry to interrupt again,” he teases. “But you have a ceremony to attend, remember?”
“I remember.” I smile as Auren takes my hand. Together, we walk with Tarin toward the temple.
As I stand at the front of the temple before the crowd, the priestess names me mate of the king, queen of this realm, protector of its people, and keeper of its future. The titles settle around my shoulders like a mantle both heavy and wondrous.
Then she lifts the crown. It is a perfect match to Auren’s, forged of twining silver metal with tiny crystals that gleam like captured starlight.
As she holds it overhead, I think of the past and all that I’ve been through.
I was a girl who sat in her father's throne room not so very long ago, sharpening herself into a weapon because it was the only power she had.
I was a princess who insulted every man who came for her hand, not out of cruelty, but out of the fear of being claimed, controlled, and reduced to something useful rather than known.
I believed a crown could only ever be a cage.
And I was not entirely wrong. A crown can be.
But this one, this kingdom, these people, this life…
none of it was placed upon me without my consent.
I think of my journey in the woods, beside a campfire, through grief and fury and a love I never expected and could not outrun.
Through all of this, I have chosen this path.
The weight of the crown settles against my hair, and it does not feel like a cage at all. It feels like I’ve found the place where I belong.
After the priestess places it on my head, I glance at Auren. He’s dressed in his ceremonial black and silver robes, his crown nestled in his dark hair. Pride shines in his eyes as they meet mine.
The priestess tells everyone to rise, and Auren moves to my side, offering me his arm. I place my hand upon his forearm, and his free hand covers mine a moment before we walk through the temple toward the doors.
The people lining the aisle bow as we pass, their fists pressed to their hearts in a show of support. Dain and Lyrea bow as well, and little Ailyn smiles brightly. Olly is beside her, wagging his tail happily.
At the end of the temple, great doors stand open to the balcony beyond. The bells echo through Elyrith as I gaze out at the city stretched before us.
The streets below are packed with people, cheering as we wave. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Auren looking not at them, but at me. When our eyes meet, he smiles.
He slips his palm into mine and raises our joined hands overhead as we look out over the kingdom. The crowd roars, calling out blessings and congratulations.
As I gaze out at Elyrith with its glowing mushrooms and crystal-lit spires, over the faces of people who are mine to protect now, just as surely as they are Auren's, peace and certainty settle deep in my chest.
I think of my mother, who sang us to sleep and left too soon. I think of the bargain that was supposed to ruin me. I think of a garden bench in the dark, and a Dark Elf soldier who smiled at me when no one else dared. Somehow… impossibly and perfectly, he became the truest thing I have ever known.
Beside me, Auren stands unwavering. He is mine, I am his, and my heart has never been so full.