Chapter 35
Two Months Later
Nix couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous, and it wasn’t even his event.
Well, technically, Lake had ordered a small part added to the end, wherein he would stand up in front of everyone with him and be publicly announced as the Royal Consort, but that was just semantics at this point.
But this was it. This was the day Lake had been looking forward to practically his entire life.
Nix didn’t want to screw it up.
The ceremony was being held in the palace, as was tradition, and was currently packed with citizens, screened reporters, and even visiting dignitaries.
Members of the Order and the High Council were also in attendance, everyone dressed in the cleanest-looking white ensembles they could find, with all the frill and silk and pearl embellishments that must exist on the entire planet.
Nix was no exception. He tugged at the ruffled sleeve poking from beneath the cuff of his jacket and tried not to shift on his feet awkwardly. Again.
“Breathe, Nixie,” West whispered from the corner of his mouth. “Look, your family came.”
His gaze trailed off to the left where he knew he’d find them, and Nix gave a small smile when his mother and father both waved at him.
They’d come around with a lot of help from Briant, and they weren’t one hundred percent convinced yet this was the best path for him, but they were at least accepting of his choice. That was really all he could ask for.
Grady caught his attention a few people over, giving him a joking bow when their eyes met. At his side, Khloe beamed and waved.
She wasn’t returning to Foxglove, but she’d apparently completed the rest of the semester through online classes, so she hadn’t fallen behind.
The three of them had been talking a bit the past month, nothing major, but they were maybe slowly making their way back to becoming friends again.
Hopefully one day, that would be possible.
There was a lot of hurt and confusion to work through there, and Nix didn’t want to rush anyone through that process.
He didn’t want to rush himself either, but he thought he was doing pretty good, all things considered.
And it was all thanks to the men standing at his side, and the one about to walk through the massive double doors at the end of the golden carpet.
The music finally started up, and Nix straightened, catching Beck staring at him off to the right just as the doors began to creak and pull inward.
Beck gave him a respectful bow, similar to the one he’d given that night in the Roost when Nix had staked his claim on West. Though his father had just been found guilty of committing treason, Beck was still able to stand up at the front of the room.
He was relegated to the crowd, but his presence so close to the dais spoke volumes to the public about how Lake felt about his cousin.
He wasn’t blaming him for his father’s mistakes.
The four of them had sat down and discussed it together and had concluded that keeping Beck around was better than having him fired from the university and banished. There was no proof he knew Nix was really in danger, and in the end, he really had helped them stop Demitrious so…
As long as Beck kept his promise and stayed in line, Nix would allow him to keep his spot at the head of the crowd.
Demitrious had originally been given the death penalty, but he’d cooperated at the end, giving over all the evidence needed, including his contacts with the suppliers of the poison. Because of that, he’d been given the same sentence as Hendrix.
Life in prison on the planet Xovis, where winter was never-ending, and the power often cut out unexpectedly.
No one on Tulniri would ever see either of them again.
As soon as the doors were fully open, Lake appeared.
His suit was made of silk and silver, like it’d been crafted from moonlight, and his blond hair gleamed beneath the bright white lights.
He entered the room, holding his head high, the same enigmatic expression he always wore plastered on his face.
Until his eyes met Nix’s. Then the corner of his mouth tipped upward ever so slightly.
Nix had the funny thought that this must be what a groom feels like when the bride—or the other groom, as it were—entered on their wedding day. He smirked before he could help it, catching himself only when Lake’s thin brow shot up in silent question.
Whoops.
West and Yejun both stood to his left, and he could feel them glancing at him as Lake got closer, no doubt wondering what had just transpired between him and the about-to-be-crowned emperor. Like hell would Nix ever admit to what he’d been thinking.
Lake reached the podium and paused, resting a hand on Nix’s waist so he could lean into him for a brief, captured moment as the coronation officially began. “I saw that.”
Nix swallowed but didn’t dare reply.
“You’ll be punished later for whatever sinful thought you just had,” Lake promised. “You’ll take June’s bite then, won’t you, Songbird? In the bed we share. All four of us, together.”
That did the trick. Losing all composure, Nix pulled back enough to catch Lake’s eye and grinned like the idiot he was.
Because getting punished by his emperor, by his Maestro, on a night like tonight, with West and Yejun joining in?
Nix wouldn’t have it any other way.