Page 212 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
He was the Arius Lord.
He straightened, his foot dropping back to the ground as the weight of everything he was about to do pressed in on him.
We can still change the plans, Luka said down the bond, clearly sensing his conflicting emotions.
No,Theon replied.We push forward.
“He doesn’t bear a Union Mark. Give me that,” Rordan was saying in outrage, standing and ripping the document from Kyra’s hand.
“It is done, Rordan,” she said, her tone turning sharp and deadly. “All was agreed to before this moment. You signed the obligation along with the rest of us. It is legal and binding. As the kingdom in charge of upholding the laws and justice, you of all people should understand this.”
Theon stood, removing his suit jacket and draping it over his chair. “Due to our…unique situation, we had to be a littlecreative. The common place for a Union Mark is taken by another Mark on my wife,” Theon said, beginning to roll back the sleeve of his left arm.
Rordan’s head snapped up, his power undulating and coiling around him. “She cannot be your Match. It is not acceptable.”
“It is already done,” Theon said.
Rordan whirled on the Anala Lady. “You accept this?” His eyes flashed to the others. “He has taken her as his wife!”
“What’s done is done,” Kyra said too calmly, her power slowly making an appearance while her Source stepped forward, adding flames of his own.
“Absolutely not,” Rordan snarled. “It upsets the balance of everything we are.”
“I have agreed to all your terms and jumped through every fucking hoop,” Theon said, his darkness falling into place like armor, and Luka drifted closer.
Rordan rounded on the other Ladies. “He has taken his Source as his Match. You find this acceptable?”
The Celeste Lady’s eyes went wide, while the Serafina Lady couldn’t seem to find it in her to care. The Falein Lady tipped her head with interest.
Now, clever tempest,Theon sent down the bond as voices rose and arguments broke out.
A crack of thunder sounded so loudly it vibrated around them, and Theon smiled as everyone lurched to their feet. Luka also removed his suit jacket, draping it with Theon’s on the Arius chair. The air was crackling with energy, and everyone’s power in the room was vibrating with restraint and turmoil. Because Chaos always craved more, and the people in this room were among the most powerful in Devram.
But she was still more.
“What is happening?” the Celeste Lady demanded.
Theon slipped his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels. His smile was pure death and violence when he said, “Our wife is here.”
The doors to the room were thrown wide, a swirling storm of glittering dark mist and light rolling in, and from the center of it strode Tessa. Her dress was a soft cream color, but that was just the base. Swirls of onyx and midnight blue adorned the gown, shimmering in the low lighting of the room. The fabric crossed over her chest, covering her breasts, leaving her torso bare, and gathering at her hips before flowing out for the skirt, where a deep slit up one side reached nearly the top of her thigh. Her hair was down, a mass of gold strands behind her, and her bare feet left prints of her power with each step. Her bow was looped across her chest, and Nylah and Roan prowled at her sides.
The room went utterly silent as she came to a stop before them, and even Theon was blinking twice because all of her Marks were glowing gold on her fair skin. Every single one, save for the Tri-Union mark on her wrist. That was shimmering white and black and midnight blue.
Her violet gaze slid over all of them, the Ladies tense and their power lingering. Lips curving into a slow smile, she stepped closer, and he could feel her. Feel her power wanting to take. Feel her giving it the smallest bit of freedom.
He sent a wisp of darkness to her, letting it curl around her ear, while dragonfire snared her wrist, pulling her closer until she stood between them. Her gaze went from Luka to Theon, a question lingering there.
Theon nodded once, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to her fingertips. She inhaled a deep breath, and she turned to face the other rulers.
The three of them against the rest of the realm.
“What is the meaning of this?” Rordan demanded, finally finding his voice once more. “You suddenly need your Source here for a sense of dramatics?”
“I just sent him ahead to get the mundane things out of the way,” Tessa said, slipping her fingers into Roan’s fur where he sat at her side.
Rordan glared at her. “You have chosen the place of a mere Source instead of what you could have been. How disappointing.”
“You must have misheard me,” she replied, the power around her slowly drifting and sliding along her skin. “I sentmySource ahead of me.”
