Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
ABBY
T here’s hardly enough time to calm down before I’m thrust into another ordeal. At least this time, it’s something quite a bit happier. The wedding is a simple affair, but I’d done my best to make it as whimsical as possible. After Petra told me where it would be held, I enlisted the help of Fern and the same little siren boy I’d given my fish to that first morning here. Together, we’d lined enough soil around the immediate area to allow for me to bring it to life.
Literally.
Vines snake up the few crumbling pillars that remain from the once vibrant city that floated atop the waves. Flowers in all shades of pink erupt from the vines where they dangle above the ceremony, adding small pops of colour that speckle the venue in elegance and warmth. And, more importantly—love.
Petra and Teagan chose this place because it was the spot that could best accommodate the fact that one is bound to land, while the other is bound to the sea. Choosing a place to commit your undying love to another person should be a sacred thing, but they were denied that. The least I could do is make the spot as special as they deserve it to be.
Teagan’s eyes are still alight with the childish wonder that refused to disappear with age. I can’t take all the credit for that, as her eyes keep wandering back to her mate, who stands proudly beside her. Teagan sits on a platform just out of the water, her gorgeous tail swishing beneath her and matching the colour of the flowers above. I doubt anyone is looking at her tail, though. Not with the stunning white dress with deep blue accents she wears. I don’t need to ask to know that the blue is meant to symbolize her ties to the ocean, while the white is traditional for brides in Lunae. Teagan may not have been born there. It may have been the land that destroyed her home, stole her away, and forced her into servitude—but it was a home to her.
I remember the time we stole a book from the king’s library that chronicled the grandest weddings in Lunae’s history. We’d giggled for hours as we tried to imagine us in place of those brides. I could never do it. Not fully. But Teagan? She always wanted the ridiculous white dress. Now here she is, looking as if she were never meant to wear anything else.
Petra, on the other hand, wears a gown of reds and oranges that flow together in such a way that resembles the eruption of a volcano. Long slits trail down its back, leaving room for her massive wings to protrude through the fabric—which is, apparently, customary for dragon weddings.
I glance over at the water and the sun that sinks deeper with every minute that passes. The wedding is happening early to allow Quinn more time in his human form, but as soon as it sinks beneath the waves, he’ll return to the wolf he hates so much.
I stand behind Teagan just as Merrick stands behind Petra. I haven’t been able to look him in the eye since Petra told me what he’ll make her do, and just the thought of having to dance with him has my stomach twisting. I push those thoughts aside and force myself to watch the ceremony. Thankfully, it’s easy to get lost in the joy of this moment. I may not have known Petra for very long—and she may have an attitude more often than not—but I can tell in this moment that there’s another side to her that’s reserved only for Teagan. I see it now, perhaps truly for the first time. Despite the hundreds of eyes on them, they’re alone in a world they’ve created just for them.
“I’ve never been a woman of many words,” Petra says, voice so low that I doubt many people can hear her. She leans forward and clips the golden ring onto the base of Teagan’s tail. I hadn’t even noticed they’d removed it, but I guess it’s all part of the show. “So I’ll just say that I love you now, and I’ll love you forever. Even if you’re bound to the sea for most of that.”
Teagan smiles, but I don’t miss the slight roll of her eyes. She has no need to speak with her hands because whatever needs to be said is only for Petra.
Petra bends down towards her and tilts her head so that Teagan can reach her ear. There’s no warning before she takes the single earring that matches the band around her tail and pierces it through Petra’s flesh. I have to look away because why did no one warn me about that? Judging by the grimaces in the crowd, I wasn’t the only one surprised. Though, to be fair, it’s not like either of them can wear a traditional ring. Not with Teagan’s webbed fingers and Petra’s quickness to summon her claws.
Petra doesn’t even flinch as Teagan secures the earring, and judging my her smile, I’m uncertain she felt it at all.
Aurelia steps forward and— is that a knife in her hand?
“As I am sure most of you know,” Aurelia says as she comes to a stop in front of the couple. “This is no ordinary wedding. The two who stand before us are bonded in a way that many of us could only dream…” Her voice trails off for just a moment, before she pulls in a shaky breath and resumes her joyous demeanour. “To accept a bond is to share your soul. Do you accept the bond?”
“Yes,” Petra says.
Teagan takes the blade from Aurelia and slices into Petra’s palm. Someone definitely should have warned me about this.
“And you?” Aurelia asks Teagan, who nods emphatically as she hands the bloodied blade to Petra and offers her own hand.
Teagan winces through her smile as the metal bites into her skin. In unison, she and Petra hold their hands out in front of them and then press them flat against each other, interlocking their fingers. They hold their hands pressed together as Petra speaks. “I will speak the words for both of us. Bonded by blood, we two are now one. As real as the breath in my lungs and the beat of my heart, as felt as the caress of an invisible wind off the waters and the mountains, and as unbreakable as my vow to you.”
The blood running down their wrists seems to pause a moment before it flows backwards. It travels up and over their hands, as if it were a rope meaning to tie them together. And then, just like that, it’s gone, as if it simply absorbed back into their skin.
They release each other for only a moment, and then share a kiss, once again, back in the world that belongs to just them.
Cheers erupt from the crowd behind us, only to be drowned out by joyous music. People scurry off the platform that is clearly meant to be where we’ll be spending the remaining of the evening dancing.
I turn away from the couple and spot Quinn in the crowd. He’s near the back, casually leaning against the side of a ruined building, hands clapping slowly, though I know his eyes were probably locked on me the entire time. I take a step towards him, but a hand clasps mine and spins me around into a too-warm, shirtless chest.
For just a moment, I think it’s Jade, but it’s Merrick’s face smirking down at me. “Did you forget about our dance?” The wings that had been spread wide during the ceremony are gone, but he hadn’t bothered to find a shirt.
We’re moving to the center of the dance floor before I can object. And that’s just it. I can’t object. I knew a single dance with him was part of the deal, but it’s just as stomach-twisting as I’d expected.
“No,” I mutter, aiming my gaze just over his shoulder.
“But dancing with me is the last thing you want to be doing right now.” He spins me out and then pulls me back into him. I’m surprised that he can dance at all, so I didn’t expect him to put so much effort into this. “You’re angry with me. If this is about Jade—”
I cut him off. “Not everything is about Jade. No matter how much he wants it to be.”
Merrick laughs, more boisterous than I’m used to. His apparent joy makes this so much worse. “That’s probably true, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve done something that upset you. Which is strange because you haven’t yet thanked me for ensuring Quinn is safe at night.”
“Thank you,” I say quickly, deciding it’s not worth it to point out that Quinn, in fact, did make it into the forest in his wolf form. If Jade hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened. Merrick had nothing to do with that, but he deserves credit for using his influence on the other dragons. Even if they would have agreed on their own.
Merrick rolls his eyes and then spins me around again. “Just tell me. If we’re going to war, I’d rather not have animosity between us.”
I plant my feet, forcing us to come to a stop. I allow him to sway us side to side, but I’m done being towed around the dance floor when all I want to do is hit the man I’m dancing with. “Petra told me.”
A look of confusion crosses his face. “Petra told you what?”
“Who’s it going to be? Ory? Wyatt? Jade? You ?”
“So that’s it.” He sighs. “You will never understand what it’s like to be the last of your kind. Two hundred years ago, humans drove us to the edge of extinction. The only way my kind could survive was to meld our blood with that of a human’s and become this thing that is neither dragon nor human. Only for Lunae to slaughter us again.”
“That doesn’t give you the right. They have to do what you tell them or they die. You can’t—”
“I’m not.”
What? I can’t speak, so I wait for him to continue.
“I’m not going to force any of them to do anything. Nuri volunteered to carry my heir. An heir was necessary. We all knew that. Either our salvation is in Dragoria or our species is already lost. Petra is free to do as she wishes. If she weren’t, I would have never approved the union.”
“But then why…?” I don’t know how to finish the question, or maybe I’m too shocked to do so. I was fully prepared for an argument, but it’s suddenly not needed.
“Why did Petra mention it? Probably because she and Teagan want a child. Did you ask them?”
I didn’t. I assumed this wasn’t their choice, but if I read this wrong, then I’m the one who should be apologizing.
Merrick continues before I can. “To answer your question, I suspect if she makes this choice, it will be Wyatt or Ory. She wouldn’t want Jade’s child, and I only need one heir.”
“She said as much about Jade,” I say with a laugh, finally able to relax.
“Speaking of Jade,” he grumbles. “Has Quinn made a decision about his prisoner?”
Jade’s prisoner .
That’s such a harsh word to describe a boy who only joined the army to ensure he had enough food to live. He may be a Guardian, but I can’t think of him as anything other than the young man who always looked away when someone was whipped. I made a point of remembering the faces of those who seemed to hate the cruelty as much as I did, and there were so few of them that it was disappointingly easy.
“I think the better question is, what are we going to do about Jade?”
Merrick snorts a laugh. “Fair point. He’s still my heir until my child reaches the age of ten, so I can’t just kill him.”
I stop swaying to the music and take a step back.
“I’m sorry,” he says, sounding like he means it. “That was in poor taste.”
“It was, but sometimes I wonder. Do you think we’ve lost him for good?”
He blows out a heavy breath. “I hope not.”