Page 148 of Stars in Mist

Dance for me, my light has not gone out yet

Let me live today and see tomorrow until the sun sets

Dance for me, my solemn end has not come yet

Let me indulge in foolishness until the sun sets.’

‘I hear you,’ Kisan said with a faint smile. ‘Read me more, brother, please.’

Riv inclined his head, warmed by his friend opening up to his beloved prose and its ability to sanity check.

As time wore on, and more stars and nebulas rolled past the view, he read from his booklet, his sonorous voice like a lush yet cool wind, lulling the whispers and mutterings of the long-gone ghouls in Kisan’s mind.

26

Poems of Ecstasy

ÉLISA

It only took a month after the Riders’ return from Devansi for Riv and Élisa to turn their whirlwind engagement into fast-tracked nuptials.

Élisa was even more keen than Riv to amend for the lost years. ‘We’ll cut out twenty-odd years apart and take a few weeks to get married instead of waiting six months or a year.’

‘Planning and executing a wedding in just one month will not be without its challenges, my angel,’ Riv quipped.

Yet somehow, it all came beautifully together with Mirage’s precise organization and support.

Early on the blessed day, the couple slipped away for a civil ceremony at Eden II’s Courts, where J’Kuu Kabi bore the honor of uniting them for life. They repeated vows repurposed from the first covenant they wrote themselves decades earlier.

Only Killen, his two trusty K?str?l companions, Riv’s fellow Riders, and their spouses were present.

For the small, formal event, Élisa wore a slim-fit suited jacket with straight-cut large pants in a xentium and gold weave.

At the larger reception on the Rings, she went for a sexier, bustier dress in chrome.

A silver, diamond, and chrome braided arm piece was strapped around her left bicep, trailing down to her hands. More diamond jewelry adorned her waist, right hand, and neck.

Gems sat in her open and wild hair, showing off her Katánian crest andkoyafeathers that rippled and shone like a true K?'nere bride of Katánian high society.

When Riv pulled her to his side to kiss her forehead, her body was suffused with a longing that raised the temperature in the room. The mere sight of his chiseled face and pale eyes gazing at her with such adoration left her feeling breathless and elevated, as if she were on top of the world.

He wore a fitted silver-colored silk ankle-length Edenite kanzu tunic. Open to the waist to show off his pale, muscled chest, covered with a silver Katánian talisman and jewels.

She devoured him, her eyes raking from the top of his lengthy, flowing silver hair, trimmed silver beard, and captivating mouth. ‘You are my heart’s desire.’

‘Can you say that once more in front of all our waiting guests?’

With a chuckle, Riv squeezed her hand as he led her into the plexiglass pyramid constructed on a vantage point of the two halos that encircled Eden II.

When the couple walked into the venue with over two hundred guests, the place erupted in cheers.

Elisa gasped, grateful for all their friends and guests who’d forgiven her for her actions long ago.

‘Don’t think about it,’ Riv murmured as he saw her eyes cloud with regret. ‘We have each other now, and we have our son.’

His soft chiding helped halt her sorrow, and her eyes turned to Killen, who loomed tall and proud as he shared an ancient Katánian blessing before their much-awaited wedding reception began.

His deep base resonated through the glassed-in atrium, where he stood facing his parents and their guests.

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