Chapter 26 Lily #2
Then he took a step forward and circled it around my back before he clipped it into place.
The cape was weightless, but somehow it felt like a mountain range across my back.
He stepped away to look at me in my full uniform, now wearing the cape of the monarchy.
“The reign of Lily Lena Rothschild has begun.”
We returned to the courtyard after the ceremony, and that was the first time Callum got to look at me head on and take me in, wearing the same pride in his eyes that both of my parents wore.
But he didn’t say anything. He never needed to say anything, not when he could convey so much with his stare.
My father watched us together before he motioned for my mother and brother to head back to the castle.
“Dad?”
He turned back to me, his eyes tired from the emotionally draining day.
“Would you marry us?”
He looked to Callum then me, like he didn’t quite understand. “Now?”
I looked at Callum, asking if this was also what he wanted.
“Yes,” Callum said as he looked at me, staring at me like I wore a beautiful dress that showed most of my skin, even though it was all hidden under rock-hard armor. It didn’t matter what I wore—he desired me the same. Seemed to desire me more this way, like he found my power attractive.
“Let me notify Khazmuda and the others.” My father stepped away to communicate with the dragons closest to us.
Callum stepped closer to me and looked down at me, his eyes taking me in like it was the first time he’d ever seen me. “You’ve never looked more beautiful than you do right now.”
And I knew he meant it. Because he loved my strength and my fire and my sass.
Loved me the moment I’d cut him down with my words and fought back.
While other men found me too direct and aggressive, he found me perfect.
He expressed no issue at the power imbalance between us.
He was happy to serve me as a monarch while he would remain an ordinary citizen, wanting to marry me for me, not my position.
The dragons arrived a moment later, landing in the courtyard, Khazmuda and Shardnada and their children. It was a tight fit with the dragons, and their bodies were pressed close together to accommodate everyone.
My father stood before us, the former king of the Southern Isles, the most powerful person who could unite us in holy union.
I stared at Callum, seeing him standing tall with his arms by his sides, strong and relaxed, wearing a confidence in his eyes.
My heart fluttered, not in trepidation but pure joy.
Callum suddenly reached for his sword that sat across his back in the scabbard and slowly drew it forward, the metal scraping against the scabbard until it came free.
He changed his grip on the hilt, from a battle stance to an inward grip, and then he placed the hilt against his chest, against my family’s crest, a name that he would never share.
Then he took a knee before me. “I forsake any claim to the throne as your king because all I want is you, Xivin. But I pledge my loyalty to your regime, will serve as your queen’s guard and protect you at the cost of my own life, and I will vanquish all enemies that try to compromise your power.
” He rose to his feet and returned the blade to the scabbard across his back.
“To you, Lily Rothschild, I vow to love you for all my days. From the moment I laid eyes upon you, my heart was snatched out of my chest. I’ve loved you from afar and loved you up close, allowed myself only to dream about a moment like this.
I sacrificed all of me to serve you, and when I least expected it, you did the same for me.
” A thin film of moisture moved into his gaze.
I was already on the verge of sobs.
“I’ve suffered for centuries with a slowly decaying soul in my broken chest, and then you landed on my shores and brought the light back into my life.
Returned love to my heart. Others have turned their backs on me, but your loyalty has remained ironclad.
There is no woman in this world, in any century, who could ever make me feel the way you do.
I stand before you now still unable to believe that this is my reality, that we stand here on the precipice, not of horror and despair…
but joy.” My eyes continued to water. “The love I feel for you…is indescribable. There are not enough words in the language of dragons, Xian, or humans that could ever convey the depth of this love. I will love you and cherish you every day and never forget that one thing could have been different…and these moments would never have been ours.”
Tears slowly dripped down my face as I looked at the man I loved with more than just my heart, but with my whole soul.
“There is no man in this world who’s man enough for me but you, Callum Riverside.
You were my shadow in my hardest battles, my adviser when I didn’t know what to do next.
You gave me your power and your strength and asked for nothing in return, even when you thought we would never be together.
I’ve never met a man with a purer heart than you.
Never met a man who made my heart sing like a songbird on a spring morning.
It was never my desire to have children, but now I know I’d simply never met a man I wanted to share a soul with.
We helped each other during the most difficult times in our lives, and we’ve both worked so hard for this, just to be together.
It’s all we’ve ever wanted, despite our circumstances and the opinions of those who never truly knew what we had.
And now, we finally have it, and I’ve never been more excited for anything in my life.
The throne is a familial obligation, but a life with you is what I truly want.
And I’m so grateful to marry a man who allows me to have both. ”
He hadn’t blinked once since I’d started speaking, absorbed in my words like always, because this man listened to every damn word I had to say.
“I love you, Callum Riverside. And I would be honored to be your wife and the mother of your children, to give you this second chance at happiness that you so deeply deserve.”
He inhaled a slow breath, keeping his tears back so his eyes would only shine.
My mom cupped her mouth and silently whimpered as she listened to us. Hawk didn’t smile, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable either, just engrossed.
My father seemed unbothered by these declarations.
His eyes remained focused on us, like every word we shared meant the world to him.
He waited a moment to see if either of us had anything else to say, and when we didn’t, he spoke.
“On behalf of the Rothschilds who came before me, with the blood we’ve spilled in wars, with the power we’ve maintained for generations, I bring you together in holy union.
And as Lily’s father, I happily entrust her to a man who will love her as much as I do.
By the power of the kings in my blood, I name you husband and wife. ”
Callum inhaled a sharp breath the moment it was final, like he couldn’t believe that I was officially and irrevocably his.
He blinked, and then two tears escaped down his cheeks as he moved into me, a man overcome with love and emotion.
He cupped my face, unbothered by the tight braid that kept my hair back, and he kissed me in front of my family, kissed me hard and long like he didn’t care if the passionate affection bothered anyone, because now, I was his.