Page 29 of Sinful Pride

The angels had their chance to be nuisances… now it was the demons’ turn.

“Halt!” Lucifer stopped our procession. “If you want to pass, you must prove your dedication to your bride.”

I stepped forward.

“Bring it on.”

“Not you, bride,” Lucifer snorted. “I’m talking to him.”

Aurelius blanched when the Hell ruler’s gaze bore into him.

“Put me down!” he hissed, no longer content with being carried in my arms.

For a brief moment I contemplated just leaving, but Aurelius would kill me if the big ceremony did not take place, so I resigned myself to this charade and put my huffy lover down.

The demon representatives unsubtly herded me behind them, separating me from Aurelius, who stood in front of the five demons proudly.

The shaking of his hands was almost imperceptible. It reminded me of when we were discussing the preparations and Aurelius said ‘I want to get a good grade in wedding, something that is both normal and achievable’. I suspected it was one of those Earth meme curiosities, but even if I didn’t know the context, the words still showed how nervous Aurelius was about this.

Lucifer, Beelzebub, Hellion, Azazel, Malachite.

“I will be gracious enough to let you pick who you want to start with,” Lucifer decided.

That may not be the mercy he wanted it to be, considering the nerves eating Aurelius up. His gaze scanned the crowd, jumping between the familiar figures.

“Azazel,” he said, picking the Archdemon who he had the least personal connection to and wasn’t afraid of disappointing.

“One of the traditions is to pay for the bride. I suppose livestock is more traditional, but I will take gold,” Azazel extended his palm imperiously.

There was a lot of gold on my lover. Trouble was, each shiny material, embellishment, or jewelry was picked to compliment Aurelius’s wedding outfit and I knew parting with any of it was unacceptable to my lover’s exacting vision. I prepared myself for trouble but had to blink in surprise as Aurelius remained calm and smugly reached into his sleeve, producing a pair of golden bangles.

He had backup jewelry. Of course.

Good God, I loved that ridiculous man.

Appeased by the golden offering, Azazel nodded. Beelzebub was chosen next.

“Let’s get it over with,” Aurelius muttered under his breath.

“As the groom, you must appreciate the bride’s friends and family. Go on then, pay me compliments. And if they are good enough I will let you pass.”

Beelzebub’s smugness was palpable.

“You are an exceptional individual with a unique array of skills,” Aurelius said with a wide, too wide, smile. “I just love how you don’t care how you come across. And your style? A bold choice. You are smarter than you look.”

Beelzebub soaked the insults thinly veiled as compliments like a sponge.

“Hmmm, I can see that you are trying and that’s admirable,” the Archdemon fired back. “I suppose I will accept your effort.”

With that exercise in passive-aggressiveness we moved onto the next target.

“I thought you would choose me first. This would be much funnier that way,” Hellion pouted. He produced a fake mustache from his pocket. “Wear this.”

The sparks from Aurelius’ eyes promised retribution as he snatched the prop from his friend’s (frenemy’s?) hand. I couldn’t help but huff a laugh at the sight of my lover with a hilarious, curled mustache. Fortunately, my indiscretion was covered by the reaction of the rest of the welcoming party and the gawkers; hoots of laughter were coming from all sides.

“Lucifer,” Aurelius said through gritted teeth, trying to hurry things along.

“We are here to judge your character, but to be honest, I don’t trust myself with that task. Thankfully, as we all know there is one foolproof way to discover if someone is good at heart,” Lucifer said dramatically, the crowd eating his impassioned speech up. “Bane! Come here!” A fluffy ball of white launched itself at Lucifer. “If you can convince Bane to like you, I will give you my seal of approval.”

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