Chapter 16 #2
Gratia stepped forward, and I matched her steps as we descended the front steps of the fortress. Raes waited out on the protruding rock that would grant a view to most of the realm below.
His brother and father stood with him.
Two thrones were set to the left of the jutting rock, near the edge of the peak, so the realm would be able to see their king and queen too.
I ignored Gratia’s gasped breaths as we neared, and I untangled myself as soon as we reached Raes.
“Go get it, tiger,” I muttered, then joined Carmine. Or Tyran. Or whoever he was this evening. I stole a glance at Athira in the first row on the way there and couldn’t glean a thing from her smooth expression, other than she’d troubled herself to smooth it in the first place.
Demons didn’t tend to select another to speak ceremonial words, so Raes spoke for the both of them.
He said, “Thank you all for joining me and my treasured mate, your princess, this evening as we take our final step to uniting for immortality.”
Carmine leaned over. “You are beautiful beyond words.”
I glanced at him. No ice. “Thank you. And you look very handsome.”
As he always did, whether a monster or not. He wore the tunic embroidered with our ink designs. That was his compromise on not wearing a tunic at all. He wanted everyone to see the markings of our mating. Always. I made a mental note to ask Carmine if that was his decision. I hoped so.
Gratia and Raes moved through the traditional words of the last ritual in their mating, and they only had eyes for one another. When they kissed at the end, the realm roared their approval, bringing a smile to my lips.
Raes had become a champion of the realm, and that wasn’t a small feat.
Demons pretty much always accepted the hierarchy, except in the rare cases of demons like Yiti.
But there still remained an Us versus Them between the fortress and realm.
How could there not be when one of those entities lived in luxury?
Raes’s father wrapped an arm around his mother, whose bottom lip trembled. They numbered among the few up here who seemed genuinely happy for the couple.
Raes’s and Gratia’s magic exploded, and there were surprised murmurs at the show of intertwined crimson and purple smoke. Not a combination demons saw every day.
Raes’s yells rose above the roar of their smoke, and I tensed.
“Calm, enamai,” Carmine said. “She’s vastly more powerful than him, too much for the mating to counter. This will hurt Raes, but it must be done right.”
Considering my history healing Owu after his father shied away from hurting his mate during one of their rituals, I was in total agreement.
I relaxed in my chair but still winced at the yells and then groans from my purple brother-in-law.
The groans changed in nature, and chuckles rose from the crowd.
The cloud of smoke parted to give everyone a glimpse at the newly mated couple. Gratia with crimson scales embedded with a hint of purple, and Raes’s purple scales dotted with crimson. Beautiful.
Gratia arched her neck as Raes kissed his way to her breasts.
This was usually where the female’s family would step in to usher the lust-filled couple to privacy. Athira didn’t move.
I walked over and opened a portal to Gratia’s private rooms behind the couple before ushering them through. As I closed the portal, she shrieked his name.
I faced the guests, and then—aware of the realm still watching below—I released my smoke and filled it will speckles of magus power.
I shot the glimmering black, tinged with crimson, high into the air in spirals and bursts. The demon version of fireworks. The realm’s faint cheers echoed upward.
After a few minutes, I pushed power to my throat. “The king and queen wish to congratulate Princess Gratia and Prince Consort Raes on their new mating. May it last for the duration of their immortality, and may their immortality be long and prosperous.”
Was Raes a prince consort now? I really didn’t know.
Too late.
“And I wish to make a special announcement,” I called for every demon to hear. “In honor of your king, and our completion of the iron ritual in two days’ time, I am declaring a special game of Tiers will be held.”
I paused for the uproar from below.
“Contestants have one week to enter, and the game will run as usual with your king and new queen—who is also a past victor of Tiers—watching on. That is all.”
The ground shook as I returned to Carmine’s side.
He wasn’t Carmine any longer. Tyran watched me from behind his layers of ice. He must not like the chant from the demons of the realm.
Why not? I didn’t mind it at all.
Queen Syera! Queen Syera! Queen Syera!
Even the fortress demons clapped and cheered, minus Athira—and Tsan, who was panting as if he’d sprinted here only to find he’d missed the whole thing.
I sat next to Tyran and took his hand in mine, bringing the back to my lips. “I hope that announcement was not too presumptuous of me, mate. Do you like my gift?”
Tyran’s jaw clenched, and he looked down to our hands, then to the Crave Arena that loomed nearby.
A slow smile spread across his face. “Of course not, mate-intended. We had a deal, and it is time. Thank you for such a glorious mating gift. You have no idea how you’ve honored me.”