Chapter 22 Kailia
Kailia
“Are you ready?” Cethin asked, striding into the dressing room.
She’d heard him coming, of course. She’d been standing in front of the mirror for the last twenty minutes, studying herself in her black dress with the slit up the side.
Cethin had said he liked them. Not that it had any bearing on why she chose this dress.
He’d said to wear what she was comfortable in, and this was the closest thing to her usual attire.
She’d thought about asking to retrieve her own clothing, but that would invite questions about where she’d been living before he’d brought her here.
He already asked too many. Her plan had been to go collect them when she could sneak away, but with her magic still not working properly, who knew when that would be.
Turning to him, she was about to say something, but she froze. He was leaning against the doorjamb. Staring at her.
“Is this not appropriate?” she asked, looking down at the black dress.
The bodice and the sleeves were black lace, with the front dipping between her breasts to her navel.
While the black skirt draped to the floor, there was fine silver detailing all along the edging and the slit.
With her shorter stature, it actually dragged a bit like a train.
She looked up at him again. “You said black. You’re wearing black.”
And he was. Black pants that were clearly tailored to fit him perfectly, hugging muscled thighs.
His black jacket with silver threading and silver buttons was over a black shirt with small black buttons, a black pattern woven into the cloth.
Without thinking, she took a step closer, finding the pattern to be celestial—moons and stars.
Everything about him spoke to the king he was. Everything except the bare feet.
“Black is perfect, Kailia,” he said, his voice sounding strange. “You look beautiful.”
Her stomach did something at his words, and she didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she held them stiffly at her side.
“Are you ready?” he asked again, extending a hand to her. His features were soft and coaxing, his silver eyes bright and his hair pulled back. She’d left her hair down, the black tresses flowing over her shoulders in loose waves.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
He smiled, something a little mischievous. “You’ll see,” he answered as she slipped her fingers into his waiting palm.
A moment later, her bare feet connected with hard earth, and she’d never been happier to feel the cool spring air swirl around her.
There were towering pine trees and rocky cliffs looming.
A lake spread out before them, the full moon reflecting on the surface, and the sound of rushing water greeted her ears.
Turning in place, she found a waterfall cascading down the cliffside, pouring into the lake. She’d seen a lot of places in this realm, but this would certainly be one of the most breathtaking if it weren’t for the godsdamn cliffs.
An icy brush of power skated across her lower back, and she waited for his touch to follow, but it never did. Instead, she found herself turning to look for him.
He was standing a few feet away, his hands in his pockets, watching her with a small smile on his lips.
“Where are we?” she asked, tipping her head back. The cliffs were so tall she couldn’t see where the waterfall even began. Even in the dark, the full moon illuminated everything with a soft white glow.
When he didn’t answer right away, she turned back to him. His eyes flickered to the waterfall and back to her. “Lunae Falls,” he finally answered. “A temple lies behind the falls, but the waters only flow under a full moon.”
She whirled back to the waterfall, the spray like sparkling starlight under the luminous orb in the clear night sky. “You’re serious? Are there people in the temple? Are they trapped there when the waters aren’t flowing? Inside the cliffs?”
“Why would I lie about that?” he asked, coming to her side and glancing at her sidelong.
“And no, Kailia. No one is trapped inside the cliffs or the temple. We can come back tomorrow and see if you’d like.
I know the circumstances around all of this are unconventional.
Despite that, I still wanted the night to be memorable. ”
“It would have been memorable either way. Practically speaking,” she said, drifting closer to the water’s edge and farther from the cliffs. “But this is…not what I imagined tonight would be like.”
He huffed a laugh. “And what did you imagine, tiny fiend?”
She shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. Just a standard union ceremony, I suppose.”
“About that,” he replied, shifting to face her. “Things are different in Avonleya in many ways, and one of those ways is our union ceremonies. Some choose…something different.”
She stared back at him. “All of this is already very different from what I’ve observed in other places, I assure you,” she replied flatly.
“Different traditions for different cultures, I suppose,” he said. “But you will need to choose where your Mark goes.”
“I mean, the hand is common, is it not?” she asked, perplexed.
“If that is what you choose,” he answered. “We do things our own way.”
“Our own way,” she echoed, her dreams chasing her memories.
He nodded as a figure appeared from the trees, a glass bowl in her hands.
Her dark skin glowed in the moonlight, and her hair was piled atop her head, while a silver circlet adorned her brow.
Her bare feet were soundless on the ground, and she came to a stop before them, placing the bowl at her feet.
“Thank you for coming, Niara,” Cethin said with a smile.
The Witch returned it, clasping her hands in front of her. “There are few I would do this for. You are one of them,” she replied. Then she turned to Kailia. “You are doing well?”
She nodded, unsure why the Healer was here. “I am.”
“While Niara is our primary Healer, she is also the High Witch of Avonleya,” Cethin explained, but Niara rolled her eyes, the moonlight making the brown color look almost violet. “A title she does not like to flaunt,” he added with a wink. “She rarely performs these rites.”
“But exceptions are made for some,” Niara finished. “Are you both ready?”
Cethin glanced at Kailia, and she nodded, briefly wondering what he would do if she said no. If she suddenly changed her mind. He’d made it clear he wasn’t about to let her go any time soon. Or ever, considering he’d reminded her multiple times that the union was binding.
“Step into the water,” Niara instructed, and Kailia suddenly realized why Cethin was barefoot.
He stepped into the lake first, deep enough for the water to meet his ankles, the water lapping at the hem of his pants.
Then he reached for her hand, keeping her steady as she did the same, the train of her dress floating atop the surface like a night sky with its silver detailing.
The icy waters distracted her from the burn of his touch.
The burn she’d been mentally preparing herself for all day.
Niara stood on the shore, stooping down to pull a braided cord of silvers, fiery orange, and blacks from the water.
“Place your palms together,” she said.
Confused, Kailia looked at Cethin. Unions required merging blood by slicing their palms with ceremonial daggers.
But Cethin was holding his hands up, palms facing out and towards her.
He nodded in encouragement, and tentatively, she did the same.
Bringing her hands up, she pressed them against his, so much larger than her own.
“A rope representing your bloodlines, bathed in water enchanted by the moon,” Niara intoned, beginning to wind the braided cord around their wrists in an intricate fashion. “As the rope binds your hands, your souls also bind.”
Her bloodline? She didn’t know what her bloodline was, but something in her soul warmed. Not the burning of a physical touch, but something…more.
“The gods,” Cethin said softly. “The colors represent the gods our magic comes from. I had it made the day you agreed to the bargain.”
He had?
“Call your power,” Niara ordered.
Inky dark tendrils appeared, winding and tangling with the cord on their wrists, and after studying what he was doing, Kailia called forth her smoke and ashes.
Sucking in a breath, her muscles tensed as she worked to hold herself steady.
Because that something in her soul was more than warm now.
Intensifying into something hot and heady.
“As your magic merges into one, your souls also merge,” Niara recited, and Kailia could swear the waters around them had stilled. As if even the lake was holding its breath to observe…whatever this was.
The Witch turned to Cethin. “If your intention is binding, speak the words.”
Silver eyes held hers with an intensity she was unsure what to do with, but his words were strong and steady, not an ounce of trepidation.
“Beneath the moon and stars, I claim you in the night and shadows. A bond that is eternal, and a union that marks my soul and makes it yours. Your heartbeat in my soul, this night I bind myself to you.”
When he finished, Niara stepped forward, the glass bowl of enchanted moon water in hand. She poured the water over one set of the linked hands. It shimmered there, but before Kailia could ask, Niara turned to her.
“If your intention is binding, speak the words.”
Kailia swallowed, her throat going dry because this was all so much more intimate than she’d imagined it would be. She now understood why the union ceremonies took place privately rather than in front of others. She couldn’t imagine the emotions if they had actually cared for one another.
Swallowing again, her words weren’t nearly as steady as she recalled what Cethin had said a moment ago.
“Beneath the moon and stars, I claim you in the night and shadows. A bond that is eternal, and a union that marks my soul and makes it yours. Your heartbeat in my soul, this night I bind myself to you.”