Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
The night was clear. The stars shimmered over Solmiris, spilling their silver light across the palace gardens. Roses swayed faintly in the night air, their scent heavy and sweet, carrying with it the hush of secrecy.
Jesenia stood among them, wrapped in a dress she had sewn herself from linen that Val-Theris had given to her in secret. It was simple, unadorned, and a deep blue. Moonlight clung to her shoulders, making her seem almost ethereal.
Val-Theris stepped toward her without the golden cloak and armor of his station—only a simple red tunic, hair gleaming, wings folded low in humility. In his hands, he carried the promise cloth, blue and gold and silver threads woven into the Lunareth crescent.
There were no priests, no councilors, no crowd. Only Rohannes stood close by, keeping quiet vigil at the edge of the gardens, his eyes respectfully averted. Jesenia’s heart thudded as Val-Theris stopped before her. His voice was soft, unsteady, but sure in intent.
“In Solmiris,” he said, “they would demand we kneel before priest and crown. But I would rather stand here, with you. By the stars, Jesenia, I give you my vow.”
He unfolded the cloth, wrapping it gently around their joined hands, binding them together in a ritual he had been studying for weeks. His eyes lifted to hers, luminous in the starlight.
“My life is yours, Jesenia,” he whispered in her tongue, perfectly.
Tears welled in her eyes as she repeated the vow, her voice trembling but radiant.
“My life is yours, Val-Theris.”
Their bound hands closed around themselves, fingers twining. Jesenia laid her free hand over his heart, feeling the strong, steady beat beneath her palm. “I am yours,” she whispered again. “Not for Seraveth. Not for Lunareth. But for the man beneath the crown. For the heart beneath the wings.”
He lowered his forehead to hers, the cloth binding them warm between their palms. “And I am yours,” he breathed. “Not as king. Not as god. Only as a man who loves you.”
They sealed their simple vows with a sacred, passionate kiss. His wings spread wide, folding around her like a canopy, as though even the stars themselves were not worthy to see her.
For that moment, there were only two souls, bound beneath the heavens. When they pulled back, Jesenia smiled through her tears. “We are wed. Husband and wife,” she whispered.
“Husband,” he repeated. Val-Theris pressed his lips to her hand. “That is the only title I have ever earned.”
When they retreated to his chambers, where he could love her properly as a husband upon soft sheets instead of cold marble, he promised that they belonged to no one but each other.
When he bent to kiss her, he was almost trembling.
Jesenia’s hands slid to his shoulders, then down to the strong lines of his back, feeling the faint tremor in his wings as they fluttered open slightly, like sails catching wind.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and the night unfolded in tenderness: kisses pressed to collarbones and temples, hands wandering, laughter breaking softly between them when nerves tangled with desire.
After, Jesenia lay curled against his chest, her fingers idly combing through his pale hair as his wings folded protectively around them.
The palace had gone still for the night, as if it somehow knew the king needed it.
Rohannes stood at the end of the west hall, his back to a pair of gilded doors. Behind them, the king was not holding counsel or writing decrees. He was not discussing strategy or prophecy. He was doing something far more important: devoting himself to his wife.
After the ceremony, the Angelicus Prime felt it necessary to preserve their happiness just a bit longer, and so he stood guard long after his shift had ended.
He folded his arms across his chest, pretending to study the tapestry opposite him—a depiction of the Light of Val-Or. The angels carved into the threads all looked so solemn, so cold. But behind him beyond the privacy of the doors, he knew the angel was warm.
A guard from the lower ward came striding up the corridor, stopping short when he saw Rohannes stationed there.
“Captain,” the man said, bowing stiffly. “I didn’t know anyone was assigned to this post tonight.”
“They aren’t.”
The guard hesitated. “Then—”
Rohannes leveled a look at him, calm but immovable. “Then you’ll find somewhere else to be.”
The soldier opened his mouth to protest, thought better of it, and turned away without another word. When the echo of his boots faded, Rohannes allowed himself a quiet sigh. He reached for the torch beside him, lowering the flame so it cast only the faintest glow.
Through the heavy doors came the sound of laughter.
Rohannes smiled to himself.
He had guarded this man through countless battles, watched him return bloodied and unbroken, had seen the light dim in his eyes after every vision of loss. But never, not once, had he heard his king laugh.
He leaned his shoulder against the wall, allowing his mind to rest for the first time in years. When the next patrol passed by, one of the younger guards nodded at him. “All quiet tonight, Captain?”
“All quiet,” he said with a small, knowing smile. “Exactly as it should be.”
Morning light fell soft and low through the halls, breaking into thin gold ribbons across the marble floors. The air was still damp from the night’s rain, carrying the faint scent of cedar and jasmine from the gardens below.
Rohannes stood in the courtyard, arms folded behind his back, watching as the city below began to stir. Servants moved like ghosts through the halls, lighting braziers, drawing curtains, returning the world to order.
He heard footsteps behind him. Val-Theris appeared in the archway, robes loose, the faintest trace of sleep still softening his features.
For once, the weight of his crown, literal or otherwise, was gone.
He looked younger in the morning light, softened by the peace and serenity of the night before.
“Captain,” he said quietly.
Rohannes turned, bowing his head. “Majesty.”
They stood there for a moment, the sound of the fountain between them filling the silence.
“I hear you were stationed outside the west hall last night long after you were meant to return to the barracks for rest,” Val-Theris said finally. Not a question.
Rohannes inclined his head. “I was.”
A faint smile touched the king’s lips. “And you heard nothing, I assume.”
“Nothing worth reporting.”
Val-Theris’s expression softened. Something between amusement and gratitude flickering behind his eyes.
“You’ve kept my secrets, even the ones you shouldn’t have.”
Rohannes didn’t look away. “Some secrets are worth keeping, Majesty.”
The king studied him for a long moment. Then, in a rare gesture, he stepped closer and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve given me many things in your service,” he said quietly. “But last night, you gave me peace. That is no small gift.”
Rohannes’s throat tightened, though he kept his composure. “Every man deserves one night where the world can’t find him.”
Val-Theris nodded once, his eyes distant now, thoughtful. “Then I hope the world forgives me for wanting another.” He turned to leave, the sunlight spilling over him as he crossed the courtyard.
Rohannes smiled to himself, shaking his head. “Foolish, impossible man,” he murmured.
Val-Theris turned to throw a smile over his shoulder, but continued onward into the future he had so delicately carved for himself.