Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Sierra
“Did you bring the gifts?” I asked Farah as I swallowed down my nervousness.
“I did.”
“Did you remem—”
“Yes.”
I swung my gaze to her. “How did you know what I—”
For the first time all day, she smiled. “Everything is arranged like you asked and more, my lady.”
I would have squeezed her hand, but it was occupied with its match, both hands holding my wedding bouquet of winter irises and eucalyptus. Instead, I bit my lip and nodded.
“Don’t bite your lip. You’ll ruin my work.”
“Right.” I nodded nervously, taking a deep breath instead.
We were waiting at the threshold of the cavernous gathering area, one of the main meeting places in Ordelpho where the ceremony and the Longest Night reception were being held. Above us was a stone arch from which hung glittering mistletoe and white holly. Ahead, possibly hundreds of Ongahri waited for my entrance, but until I received my cue—the peals of silver bells announcing the beginning of the ceremony—I had to wait right along with them.
I could feel needles of sweat prickling my scalp but couldn’t feel my feet. My mouth was dry, but my eyes weren’t. I was a mess.
Big, slow breaths, in and out. I said the words over and over in my head until it became a chant.
Farah had outdone herself on my make-up and hair, complimenting the gorgeous dress the seamstresses had created for me. Unfortunately, because of my nerves, the pile of white hair on top of my head felt too heavy, and the knotted satin at my breasts was tightening me to the point where, for an alarming few seconds, I feared I might just untie the whole dress and expose my nakedness to all and sundry.
Panic threatened to have me bolting from the premises, which I might just do…
“Breathe, Sierra.” A masculine hand met my back, his touch a lifeline.
Too focused on what was ahead of me—both literally and figuratively—I closed my eyes and did as Ander instructed, breathing deeply, letting the warmth of the room into my lungs.
“Better,” Ander said soothingly. “Not too much longer now.”
I nodded, still focusing on each breath until they finally evened out.
Life was funny, I thought as I stared straight ahead. It was the very man next to me who, not too long ago, I had been promised to, a prince of the Ongahri. Now that same man was standing in for my father—a father who had no idea that the man he’d agreed to marry me to was the one giving me away, to the chieftain of a rival House, no less.
At last, the bells rang, and instead of setting in more panic, the sound was ethereal, adding a blessed layer of calm to my caged anxiety.
“You look beautiful,” Ander whispered. “Let’s do this.”
Gripping the bouquet like my life depended on it, I let Ander take my elbow. Slowly we walked down the path that would turn to the left, to where Lucius, my mate, my groom, waited. The room was dim, lit by hundreds of candles, and I had to admit that the effect was dreamlike, and incredibly romantic.
The haunting bells rang, the pauses between each sound a gasping breath. My white slippers padded gently on the flagstones as Ander’s boots tapped in sync with my steps. I was very aware of my hips, my bottom, and more, as I glided down the path. The satin of my dress was like water, a white cascade that fell to my ankles. The style was a replica of the strapless knotted tunics the women here wore, with silver embroidered stars and moons that bordered the hem and seams. The front, only tied with the knot, was left loosely closed—only gravity held it in place. At any moment, a peek of my stomach, my sex, my thighs could reveal my body to all. Luckily, I would be standing through this ceremony. Sitting would be a different story, I thought dryly.
The path turned. Up ahead, Lucius stood with his hands folded in front of him, booted feet in a wide stance. He looked… gods, he looked like the Lord of Dawn. His brocade tunic matched my dress—snow white with silver threading of icy filigree. A silver belt cinched his waist above dove-gray leather breeches. His sable hair was parted in the middle, its length an inch or two past the top of his muscular shoulders. But it was his eyes that entranced me. Their silver depths shone like the very bells that rang in the air—eternal sterling that haunted.
The invisible power coming from him was arresting.
His full mouth lifted slightly at the corners as he drank me in, his expression too intense to look happy. Instead, he looked like a man possessed by desire, by the need to consume. When I realized it was me who was the intended subject of said consumption, I swallowed the primal urge to flee, before my heart caught up, remembering that Lucius had become my soul’s mate.
And just like that, all my pre-wedding nerves disappeared.
It was only me and Lucius.
Us.
Ander kissed my cheek, but the act was a passing thought as I took the steps up the dais to stand at Lucius’ side, as we both turned to face the other.
The bells’ final call echoed, dying slowly, inviting the silence that filled its place.
“Chieftain Lucius Dega and Lady Sierra of Providence,” someone said beside us. I had been so focused on Lucius that I hadn’t even spied the Ongahri elder who would marry us.
With teardrop shaped tattoos on his cheeks, and dark skin the color of wet mahogany, the shirtless Ongahri male smiled kindly at us. In his hands he held a scroll, the paper black as coal, chalky and thick.
“Tonight, we celebrate the eternal union of Alpha and Omega, Woman and Man, Ongahri and his Beloved.” His voice carried in the room, spreading cold chills on my arms. “Let us honor this couple as they add a chapter to the story of the Ongahri, of Ongar and his Consort.”
Another bell rang, this one a deeper tone.
“Please join hands,” the elder said.
Farah and I had practiced this part just last night, but now as I stood here, I forgot who and how to release my bouquet. But Ander came to the rescue, taking the flowers from me.
My eyes were on Lucius as I placed my trembling hands in his warm ones. My claiming mark pulsed at his touch. I saw him swallow, saw his chest rise and fall. He was just as nervous as I was, and the thought had me stepping just a bit closer as I looked up at him.
“Do you, Alpha Lucius Dega of House Dega, take Omega Sierra Linden of Providence, to be your mate in life and in death?”
“I do,” Lucius said with feeling.
“And do you, Omega Sierra Linden of Providence, take Alpha Lucius Dega to be your mate in life and in death?”
“I do.” My eyes were watering with happiness.
“Do you both swear to one another and to all gathered here that you will honor these vows that are made today?”
“Yes,” we said as one.
“Chieftain?” the elder asked with expectation.
Lucius cleared his throat and took a breath.
He was nervous.
“I, Lucius Dega, swear to protect you, Sierra, with my body, my heart, and all that I have. I swear to honor you all my days and nights. Will you accept me as your husband?”
A whoosh of emotion swept over me with the force of a storm, and I slowly breathed in through my nose. I wanted to take in the moment as those words ribboned themselves around us. He had spoken with such solemnity, such profound truth, that my knees shook.
Finally, I made my own vow. “I accept you as my husband. I swear to give myself to you, Lucius Dega, all that I am, both in body and soul, until death.”
Through the bond, I felt his joy like a rush of ocean coming home to its shore.
“And now,” the elder joined in, “the presentation of the token.”
Neil, looking dashing in his own brocade tunic of white, stood beside Lucius, a blue velvet box in his hand. He opened it at Lucius’ nod, and I saw that it was an osnat of silver, the chain woven flat and close to each link. In the center was a thumb-print sized smoky gem, its face cut in dozens of facets that sparkled just like my mate’s eyes.
Lucius’ tattooed fingers lifted the osnat and kissed it before setting it around my neck with a clasp. His fingertips touched my mark, lingering for just a moment.
I swallowed at the immensity I saw reflected back at me in his heated gaze and became ridiculously aware of my naked sex under my dress. By the expression on my mate’s face, he was thinking of the exact same thing.
Clearing my throat, I looked at the elder. “I have a token as well.” I turned my head to where Ander now stood beside me. Instead of a blue box, my gift to Lucius was in a slim, ornate wooden box Ander had kept in his pocket. Ander opened it, revealing the silver chain with a simple pendant in the same silver. The smooth circle looked like a miniature pool of mercury, and etched into its smoothness was a spray of tuberoses with the letter L looping through the delicate trumpet-shaped petals.
I held it gently in my hands, then kissed it as I looked up at my husband, whose awed expression made my heart beat fast in my chest. When I offered him a view of what I had purchased for him, his lips parted, his eyes lifting to mine. I had surprised him. In less than a second, his large hand went to my nape, and he took my mouth with a vigorous swipe of his tongue before releasing me, leaving me breathless and smiling like a loon.
Around us the Ongahri chuckled at their Chieftain’s lack of control.
Lucius ignored them, though, and stood straighter, waiting for me to adorn him. When I fastened the chain around his neck, he grabbed my fingers and took them to his mouth, where he anointed them with a kiss.
As one, we both looked at the elder once again. He was grinning broadly.
“With myself and those gathered here, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
A cheer rent the air, and I laughed, but it was stolen away from me as Lucius lifted me in his arms, his mouth glued to mine as he kissed me with everything he possessed.
I couldn’t stop touching the osnat. All through the Longest Night, the words “Lady Dega” were repeated over and over, both from the mouths of Ordelpho’s citizens and from inside my own head, where it became a whispered tattoo. Everyone had been so gracious, and it was a nice change meeting all these people as someone claimed instead of vulnerable and hidden.
As far as the night’s festivities went, it was the usual fare of food and drink of a Longest Night, with dancing, music, and lots of laughter. Gifts were exchanged. From Ander and Neil, I received a lovely set of silver hair combs encrusted with periwinkle gems. Pateus had given me a book of poetry. My favorite gift, however, was from Lucius: a scroll with the announcement that an arts center was being built in my honor, and that an apprenticeship would be exacted by the end of the coming year.
All the gifts I’d given to my loved ones tonight had been genuinely received with joy. Ander especially crowed over the hand-painted deck of cards that featured a quote from Ode of Thorns by St. John hidden in a floral mosaic. Neil had received a hand-painted cameo of Fear, and for Lucius, a sextant with his House seal for his cabin on the Freedom.
My feet were killing me by the time midnight neared. Soon we would all be going outside to see the lighting of the cerei, a giant wax candle that would stay lit for the next four days in remembrance of Lady Winter.
Strong arms wrapped around me, and I could smell summer rain. I tilted my head back and smiled at my new husband.
“Hello, little dove.” His warm mouth kissed my shoulder before tracing a torturous path to my ear, making me squirm.
“Hello there,” I hummed. A contented sigh escaped my lips. I hadn’t seen him over the past hour. Ander, Neil, and Pateus had been entertaining me at one of the tables after Lucius had disappeared with a few of his men, saying he had business to discuss. I had been so occupied after I’d seen him this morning, that I’d never had a chance to ask him about what he had found at the watchtower.
“Everything all right with whatever business you had to see to?” I asked now.
“Mmm. Just the usual. Now, never mind that. Let’s see to this blasted cerei. I have plans for you back at the house.” Confirming that point, he squeezed my waist, one hand cupping my bottom.
With a squeak, I turned in his arms and looked up at him. It was hard to believe that this was the same man that had me questioning his character several times a day up until a week or so ago. The man that made me uncomfortable with his innuendo and ability to get under my skin. A man I was irresistibly drawn to, even more so now.
He must have seen something in my eyes, because his jaw tightened and his nostrils flared, as if he were barely able to stay human.
My heart raced at the thought of being alone with him again, which couldn’t come soon enough.
Apparently he had the same thought. Before I knew it, I was being dragged outside to stand in front of the cerei. Already a few groups were here. The lighter of the event blinked as she took in her chieftain and his lady, her eyes wide.
Poor woman. I could imagine what Lucius looked like as he stared impatiently at her.
“How much longer, Edifah?” he growled.
My hand squeezed his, and he looked down at me in question. “What?”
I coated my demand with a suggestive smile, hoping my eyes conveyed my feelings, as I whispered, “Be patient.”
He huffed a breath but smiled at the woman, who looked more relaxed now.
“Five more minutes, my lord.” In her hand was a long stick that would light the top of the wick, which was ten feet above her.
In Providence, it was a straw effigy of Mother Harvest that was lit by my father. The festivities there were more reserved and much shorter than here tonight among the Ongahri. Back home, once the Constant lit the effigy, we all said a prayer and returned to our dwellings, where our parents would give out presents to the children, followed by hot apple cider that we’d drink after singing Song of Light at the top of our lungs.
Speaking of gifts, I looked back at Lucius. “Do you like my betrothal gift?” I hoped he did. I wasn’t sure if I’d been too bold in assuming the tuberoses meant something joyful to him or not.
Gods, what if they reminded him of something he’d rather forget and that was why he’d locked all those things away in that room?
But he captured my chin and held it gently. “I absolutely love it. Thank you.” His silver eyes were sincere, burning like a cerei we’d be lighting any minute now. “And your osnat? Is it to your liking?”
I licked my bottom lip, and he traced the action with a heated glance. Now I was being the impatient one, wanting to run off with him right this second. “It is. It’s beautiful.”
“There you two are,” Ander crowed, coming up to us. “Been searching everywhere.”
“I told you they’d want to hurry up and get this part over with, Ander.” Neil stood by his side and winked at me, a drink of ale in his hands. His cheeks were red from either the warmth of the room he’d just left or from the drink.
A hush went around, and as one, we faced the cerei.
Edifah lit the long stick and held it high, then with a wide smile at us all, began to sing.
Just like the bells that rang during our wedding ceremony, the melody, one I’d heard once a year my entire life, became its own entity. The words heralded in the wakening of spring, months from now; but sung in this woman’s voice, I could hear the goodbye of Lady Winter, her sadness at finally leaving Titus. Yet underneath the melody, there was joy in Winter’s returning some day in the future.
As I listened, an image came to mind, of another woman. A woman made of ice and cold and crystal. Of tears that fell in the snow, freezing mid-fall. Her pain had been so great, her heart broken irrevocably. And not too far away, an evil far greater than anything on Titus watched her fall apart.
With a gasp, I blinked, and the present moment bled back into focus. Gods, the image had seemed so real. Was it something I’d seen in a dream?
Lucius looked down at me, his expression turning alarmed. “What is it?” he demanded.
But I shook my head slowly. “Nothing. I’m—I’m fine.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. Just tired, I think.”
He didn’t believe me, but he let it go, eyeing me with concern.
It was time for the last line of the song, when everyone would join in. Once I started singing, the image and the visceral effect it had on me left.
“May the light shine upon the lands while Time turns its hands. Titus bright, may the Mother’s light be long,” we sang as one.
Edifah raised the still-lit stick, touching the wick high above her until it caught the flame. With a cheer, everyone clapped—slowly at first, then building to a crescendo, right as Lucius grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction of home.