Page 91 of The Maleficent Faerie
He blinks, lifts a hand to his brow.
At the sign of movement, the crowd breaks into a frantic roar of gladness, and Malec startles. “By the Void, what is going on?”
“Your awakening is a rather public affair,” I murmur, leaning in. “I’m sorry for it, but it had to be this way. And we’re not done yet. We have to save the realm. Do you trust me?”
He blinks again. Then a smile widens on his scarred face, transforming it into the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Confidence shines in his dark eyes. “I trust you.”
“And you love me?”
“And I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper fiercely, clutching his fingers so hard he winces. “Sorry.” I let go, and he chuckles.
“Little viper.” His voice rolls beneath the ongoing joy of the crowd. “What’s next?”
“You greet your people.”
Anxiety tightens his features. “After my failure, Aura, I can’t—”
“Today isn’t about that. They don’t need your apologies right now—they need you, on your feet, by my side.”
“I probably look awful.” He touches his hair self-consciously.
“Nonsense. I had the servants comb your hair, preen your wings, oil your horns, and line your eyes with kohl.”
He grins, delighted. “My heroine.”
“I knew you’d want to look good for your wedding.”
“My—my what?”
With a laugh I rise, helping him up. The servants dressed him in shimmering black robes for the occasion, complete with a collar of glossy feathers. He flares his wings, eyeing the feathers before giving a satisfied nod. Then he lifts both hands to the crowd, and they roar thrice as loud as before.
“My what?” he says out of the side of his mouth to me.
“I’m the Queen, you’re the King—it’s a matter of course.” I nod to the Hellevan High Priestess, and she mounts the steps of the dais.
Malec catches my hands, pulls me to face him. “You’d bind yourself to me before the goddess? Me, the Spinner of Darkness, and you, the heir of Caennith? It’s unheard of.”
“Exactly.” Now that he’s awake, I can barely contain my excitement. “It’s so simple, Malec. It’s always been this simple—so plain we refused to see it. I don’t have time to explain, just—marry me. Please.”
“You don’t have to beg, little viper.” His eyes darken with desire, and he tugs me closer, my body pressed to his. “You and me, fighting and fucking for the rest of our lives? It’s all I’ve wanted since I met you.”
The herald had ceased broadcasting our voices, giving us privacy; but for some reason he reactivates the spell during Malec’s “fighting and fucking” speech. The entire city breaks into frenzied cheers, so loud I can barely hear the High Priestess as she takes her place, facing the crowd, with Malec and me before her.
I glance over at the Three Faeries. Tears glaze Elsamel’s cheeks; I’m not sure if they’re tears of joy or heartbreak. Sayrin stares, tight-lipped and stony-eyed. A vein bulges in Genla’s forehead, a complement to her ferocious frown. My father’s face is purple and swollen with rage.
But my mother—my real mother—has a sly smile on her lips, a glint of approval in her narrowed eyes. When she meets my gaze, she gives me a single nod.
She may have ruined all chances of my loving her the way I should. But perhaps she and I won’t be enemies. Not forever.
I exchange a look with the Caennith Priest, too, letting all my defiance shine through my eyes. I’m violating the Caennith law, the rule that says Fae and humans may not marry or procreate. The Priest looks utterly horrified and disgusted, which makes me grin more widely as I prepare to repeat the vows.
“Before the goddess I bind you,” says the High Priestess. “Here in Daenalla we do not use the same vows for all couples, because every pairing is unique. I will lay hands on you both, and you will be free to speak what is in your hearts.” She reaches up and places one palm on Malec’s head, right in front of his horns. The other hand she lays on the top of my head. “When you feel so compelled, speak, and swear to each other.”
A brittle silence falls over the dais, over the square, over the city.
And then Malec speaks, his velvety voice sending chills over my skin. His eyes are soft and serious.
