Page 48 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
“No,” I say with a slow smile. I don’t know what it means that I somehow knew these words months ago, but it fills me with both wonder and peace. “Love that gives life to the dying, let your heart be reconciled.”
The old man looks back down to his book, his finger tracing the next line of text. “Light that gives life to the shadows, let your soul be reconciled.”
I repeat the words, slipping the ring onto Ashen’s finger when Mr. Hassan nods toward his hand.
“When and where you are, then and there I am,” the apothecary says. I recite the words, and then it’s Ashen’s turn to do the same. He slides a curved band of black diamonds onto my finger, then a second wedding band to follow once the engagement ring is back in place, the dark stones framing the point of the pear-shaped stone like a crown.
Mr. Hassan passes the book to Ediye and pulls another ampule from his jacket. He motions us to hold out our left hands and positions them so they’re both turned upward next to one another, forming a cup. He pulls the stopper from the vial and pours silver dust across our skin. First it scatters like crushed stone into the crevices of our palms, and then it rises, swirling as though caught in a tiny tornado. The tornado flares into a flame before collapsing, doused in a miniature, magical rainstorm. The droplets disappear like worms of light into our skin as soon as they touch our palms. “Terra, ventus, ignis, aqua, amare,” Mr. Hassan says. “Etiam si astra pereunt, sic amor tuus lucebit.Even when the stars are lost, so your love will shine.”
Mr. Hassan takes the book back from Ediye. He flips through the pages and finds the last one where the ledger stops and the blank parchment continues on. At the end of a list, he writes our names.Leucosia of Anthemoessa and Ashen of House Urbigu, wed by Ammon Hassan according to the rites of the Guild of Gilgamesh.
When he’s finished, he closes the book, and looks at us with a smile shining through the glassy film of his eyes. “You are married, young ones. Now warm this old romantic’s heart and kiss.”
I give him a flash of a smile in gratitude before I turn to Ashen.
Time slows. Ediye’s fireworks burst around us, every flash illuminating something different in Ashen’s face. The tiny flecks of gold that glow in his eyes. The curve of his lips as his smile fades away, drifting into a sea of endless longing. The crease that appears between his brows as he steps closer, his hand sliding into my hair to rest at the nape of my neck. I feel every wave of love and hope that floats between us through the tether of my mark, desire so deep it burns like a shard of heated metal in my heart.
“I love you, Ashen,” I whisper before our lips touch. His eyes watch every movement of my mouth as I speak.
“I love you too, Lu. My wife.” And then his lips are on mine, his taste on my tongue, his breath mixing with mine. Glittering light falls across us like rain. There’s clapping and cheering. Music weaves around us. The people I love most in all the world are right here. And as Ashen raises me up in his arms and presses me to his chest, I know it, without any doubt. I know I will choose this man every day, for as many days as we have.
When we part, several guards of theShub Lugalappear, bringing out a table and chairs, setting them up in the orchestra. Everyone works together to dress the table, pulling indigo plates and polished cutlery and simple dishes of food made for sharing from baskets. Candles are lit, flowers are laid out, wine is uncorked. Warm blood spiced with cinnamon and cardamom is poured from thermoses for Aglaope and me. And then we sit, Ashen to my left, my sister to my right, Ediye across from me, her brilliant smile like an anchor in the moments when I feel overwhelmed. As the conversation and the wine flow around the table, it gets easier. There’s so much I want to tell my sister, and so many fears I want to find comfort in with my friends. But not tonight. Instead, we spend more time talking about our distant past and shared memories than the ones we made apart, or the uncertainty that plagues our murky future. We just enjoy the moments we have now.
When the meal is over, the table and chairs are taken away and the band kicks off another set. We dance. We laugh. I smile until my cheeks burn. My happiness swells as I watch Eryx and Ediye and Cole together, their relief of being reunited nearly palpable. I grin as Mr. Hassan leads Aglaope around the orchestra, her dark hair fluttering in the breeze. My heart takes up more space in my chest than I ever thought possible.
“I wish this night would never end,” I say as I sit on Ashen’s lap and we watch the others dance. His hand rests on my thigh and I spin the ring around his finger, the edges of polished gold catching the lantern light.
“I think I’ve had that same wish every night we’ve spent together,” Ashen confesses, and I lean away to meet his eyes with a doubtful, teasing smile.
“Even the infamous night of fangria?”
Ashen pulls me closer and presses a kiss to my shoulder. “You trusted me enough to fall asleep in my bed.”
“What about the night I went wandering at Bianca’s to paint my blood on her bathroom walls?”
“You let me put my arm around you when I thought you might never let me touch you again. And then you made me take my shirt off in your sleep and promptly sprawled across me like a blanket.”
My cheeks flush as I give him a derisive snort. “What about the night I killed you in Cairo?”
“Up until the moment I found a blade sliding across my throat, Idefinitelydidn’t want it to end. I couldn’t believe my luck every second before that.”
A little laugh escapes my lips and I lean into Ashen’s chest. His heart thumps its steady percussion beneath my hand. I close my eyes and inhale his scent. “How does this one stack up in the ranking then?”
“Second best.”
I pull back, looking into Ashen’s eyes, my gaze sweeping between them as though one might tell a different story than the other. “Secondbest?”
“You heard me,” he says, tightening his hold around my waist. “The night we mated. That’s the first. You chose me. You told me you loved me. You bound yourself to me. From that moment, to me, you were my wife.”
I raise my hands to Ashen’s face, framing it in my palms. His warmth is the sun to my cool touch, the perfect balance where we meet. When I look into his eyes, it feels like looking into all the moments of history, stacked up in the strata of time. But I see the future too.Ourfuture. The one that never should have been, but shines all the brighter for its rarity, as precious as a gem cleaved from the depths of the earth. “The night is far from over yet, my husband,” I whisper, and every angle of Ashen’s face seems to change beneath my palms.
I lose myself in Ashen’s kiss as we flow through the music and into the night, light and shadow, darkness and stars.
CHAPTER18
Ashen’s hand has been resting on my mark. I feel the warmth in every line of blue and gold, even when his palm slides across my breast. The hot length of his erection twitches behind me and I smile, wriggling closer in an invitation. He slides into me, my pussy already wet and ready for him before I was even awake. I sigh with contentment as Ashen kisses my shoulder.
“My wife. You smell like the sea. Like a spring wind that carries the scent of ice still clinging to the green shoots of grass,” he whispers next to my ear. I tilt my head toward his warmth and reach back to run my fingers through his dark hair. I trace lines and patterns across his scalp and he hums a purr against my neck, his strokes languid and slow.
