Chapter 40
Larkspur
Whispering a Phynnic memory charm, I passed the guards at the iron gates to Luz Palace. They nodded a greeting, but they would not remember my leaving.
Once again, none of my loved ones noticed as I slipped out of the palace. Mama was busying herself making preparations for Emmerick’s and my travels to the other capitals. We were to leave the next day.
Papa was in the Sahlms since Hurley had been called away suddenly… by me. To Hurley’s inevitable dismay, my admission the night prior wouldn’t be the last shock I dealt my cousin.
When I’d sent him a message by hawk earlier this afternoon, I hadn’t explained. I’d only told him where to meet me and to come alone and tell no one.
Pulling my dark blue cloak hood up, I walked through the streets of Luz. The scars of a war fought before my time still lingered. Points where limestone transitioned into other materials revealed where buildings had been repaired.
Vendors packed their carts, and the streets grew quiet save for the song of crickets and an occasional traveler passing on horseback.
A tall figure stood by the market Egress. When Dritan spotted me, he smiled. I would never tire of his face—I’d memorized every detail.
There was a subtle chip in one of his canines that he’d cracked on a wine bottle we’d once shared in the boathouse, and his eyes crinkled with just the right softness to convey his affection. An unfortunate fishing hook accident had left a moon-shaped scar on his chin.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
Was I sure I wanted to marry him?
Absolutely.
I smirked. “Getting cold feet now? It isn’t too late to find another woman without such a dreary future awaiting her.”
With a firm shake of his head, he held out his hand. “I’d follow you to whatever end comes of me, so long as you’re by my side.”
His words—that level of devotion—may have scared another. They only warmed me. I took his hand and led him into the Egress.
“To Belray Square,” I whispered the command, afraid that if I said it too loudly, someone might try to stop us.
They would fail. With my mind made up, little could deter me.
The Temple of Light towered above us. I squeezed Dritan’s hand, and he squeezed back, pulling me closer to his side. His warmth was a welcome relief from the biting chill as the sunset made the winds colder.
“My aunt Asterie told me about this place—about a Divine she met here,” I explained. “It’s supposedly the original house of Astros.”
“Seems ominous.”
He was not wrong. The limestone spires of the building were imposing.
“Nothing is ever not ominous with Aunt Asterie,” I said. “Some days I think she knows more than she lets on—that she’s seen something she does not want to admit to us all.”
“Such a cheery topic for our wedding night.” His tone was flat, but when I glanced over at him, he smirked and squeezed my hand again. “After you,” he said and pushed the heavy wood door open.
Marble floors greeted us, and the temple ceiling domed into a stained glass roof that revealed the fading light of dusk.
Hurley stood in the center of the temple beside a large sunstone that sat on a round pedestal. He faced away from us but looked stiff and uncomfortable. He’d always hated the formality of the old religions.
We’d had many conversations about whether the Sources deserved people’s adoration and prayers. He’d witnessed the cruelty of Caym that day when Death had risen and dragged the Origins’ descendants into the Sahlmsara amphitheater, him included.
Thousands of stones lay where the amphitheater had sat, commemorating the lives lost in Sahlmkar—people who had placed their faith in a cruel Origin.
Hurley had once asked me, “If the Origins care so deeply about our success, then why not intervene? Why let us suffer loss after loss at the hands of such evil?”
I understood his hesitation. I needed to hold on to the belief that Desidero, the Origin of Shadows, and Isolde, the First Reverist, had a plan for us.
For me.
With the relics, I could end Caym’s reign—if only I knew how.
Hurley turned on his heel. He wore a rumpled tunic and dark breeches, and his brown waves lay disheveled over his forehead. His gaze narrowed on my and Dritan’s linked hands. He’d only met my betrothed in passing at Aunt El’s estate, and I could feel him connecting the missing pieces.
A Divine awaited us at the center of the room. “Welcome to the Temple of Light. Your witness arrived early. I did not expect a child of Aquas in my home, but it lifts my hopes to see you here together.”
He held his arm out toward the stools beside the sunstone for me and Dritan to kneel on.
The Divine’s skin was dark in contrast to the gray hairs framing his temples. He wore a long cream robe with the Sun symbol embroidered on both sleeves.
“Lark,” Hurley gasped with his brow furrowed. His brown eyes searched our expressions. “What’s going on? Witness for what?”
Dritan stiffened at my side—impulsively, he tried to unwind our fingers, but I gripped them tighter.
The Divine lowered his arms with a frown. “Are there matters you must attend to, Princess?”
“None more important than this, my Divine. Just give us a moment.” I pulled Hurley back toward the door, dragging Dritan along with us.
Offering my cousin the warmest smile I could muster with anxiety burning through my gut, I whispered, “I wanted you here to witness our wedding vows.”
Hurley’s face dropped, and he ran his fingers over the stubble on his cheeks. “Your what?” he whisper-shouted far too loudly. “First you need contraceptive tonics, and now you’re getting married?”
“Lark,” Dritan interjected. I couldn’t look at him while his panic mounted—the salty zing of uncertainty hit my palate. His fear centered on my family’s perception of him and his own family’s acceptance.
“This is Dritan,” I said. “Yes. We are to be wed, and I didn’t trust anyone else. So, do not prove me wrong, cousin. I want you here.”
We didn’t need a witness.
In the eyes of a Divine, we could wed on our own.
Yet having no family there would feel wrong. I knew in my heart that of all people, Hurley would understand. His fate had been decided for him, too, as a boy when my mother found him in the Sahlmsara town square and pulled him into the courts.
Hurley gawked, stunned into silence. His arms fell to his sides, and he paced forward and then retreated. I’d shocked him thoroughly.
“Lark...” Hurley pleaded.
“Both of you stop ‘Larking’ me,” I scolded. “Dritan and I have known one another since we were children. We are Source Matched, and nothing will stop this. So please, Hurley. Be here for me.”
Hurley’s shoulders slackened. With widened brown eyes, he nodded. “Your parents are going to kill me,” he grumbled. But he stepped aside and allowed us to approach the Divine. “Lark?”
I looked over my shoulder at my cousin, waiting for him to throw a fit or tell me how foolish this all was.
His gaze softened, and instead he said, “I’m happy you called me here. And you deserve all the happiness this world has to offer.”
“Thank you,” I whispered and then returned to the spot next to Dritan. We gave our attention to the Divine, who cleared his throat.
“I have long awaited you both here in the Temple of Light,” he began. “The Last Daughter of Isleen, Origin of Shadows. And the lost Origin of Light—flame and sun guide you. You both are what the realm has long awaited. Please, kneel.”
Why did Divines always speak so damned cryptically? And how did he know so much?
Dritan and I knelt before the sunstone. A long pause passed and the air went still and stale. My mounting excitement made my hands shake as they lay on my knees.
The Divine smiled down at us. “I am the Source of the Sun—I visit here only to complete this task.”
“You are Astros? That is impossible, isn’t it?” I asked.
The Divine chuckled. “What you deem possible or not possible only exists in your heart, child of Isleen.”
Straightening, I blurted out, “I have so many questions.” When I opened my mouth to rattle them off, Astros raised his hand and shook his head.
“Your path awaits, Princess. No answer today will help you. Do you wish to be wed, or do you not?” he asked us.
Dritan glanced over at me, the whites around his blue irises showing. He nodded firmly. “Of course we do.”
“Then, let us continue without further discussion.”
Dritan’s knees shifted on the stool below him.
“I have one more request,” I chimed in, hoping not to anger the Sun Origin.
His brow rose. “And what is that, Princess?”
“You will bind our powers too. Link our lives and abilities. We shall never live apart.”
“I hope this man knows how many people will kill him if he so much as harms a hair on your head.” Hurley’s words echoed through my mind. I wouldn’t let a soul hurt my husband.
Dritan’s gaze found mine; it searched me, inspecting for any uncertainty or doubt. I swallowed hard and placed a hand on his cheek.
“Are you sure that is wise, child of Isleen? You would sacrifice your life if his was to end?” Concern etched into the deep lines of Astros’ mouth. “I do not recommend that course for you.”
“Me neither,” Hurley growled from the corner, but I shot him a cutting look.
“I’m certain—there is no world I want to live in without my betrothed.”
“Very well,” Astros said and approached the sunstone, lighting three candles. His hand shook, as though hesitant.
Our vows flew out in a frenzy of Brennac, one of the lost languages. Dritan fumbled over the pronunciations, and I translated the verses in his mind as we spoke them.
Finally, Astros asked us to stand and face one another.
We exchanged rings, and tears spotted our cheeks.
When Dritan kissed me, a flash shone through my closed lids. When I opened my eyes, the sunstone was illuminated with a golden light. Every sconce on the temple walls burned hotter and more fiercely.
My skin prickled, and my Shadows vined around us. Dritan’s Source power encased us both in rays of golden flames. Darkness and light melded; the weight of our power threatened to knock me off-balance. I collapsed against Dritan’s chest as Astros completed the ceremony.
When the light flickered out and my Shadows retreated, only the glow of three candles lit the room.
A parchment fell from thin air at our feet—our marriage contract. Astros no longer stood with us.
I glanced around and found Hurley huffing with fear, his palms plastered to the stone wall of the temple. “What the fuck was that?”
A laugh burst out of me, and I let my head fall onto Dritan’s chest as he snaked his fingers through my hair and caressed my scalp. His chest rose and fell, steadying me.
“That was a Source Origin binding us,” I answered.
When Dritan leaned down, he asked, “Does this mean you are now my wife?”
“Yes.” I met his gaze and bit my lower lip. “Hello, husband. When should we tell the family?”
Hurley huffed a sound of disbelief from behind me, still clearly shaken. “For the sake of your hides, never, Lark. Never.”
“He’ll come around,” I whispered to Dritan.
We left the temple with proof of our union in hand. Hurley trailed us, like an on-edge watchdog.
I’d leave tomorrow to tour the Corridor Capitals with Aunt El and King Mattock, but only after spending the night with my husband.