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“Your parent’s didn’t teach you that having magic could and should be fun?”
“They tried,” I whisper after thinking about it for a minute. I didn’t allow them to. I was too wrapped up in myself. I was worried about the wrong things.
Halcyon takes my hand and opens the front door to his parent’s house. “We are going to have so much fun together, Jadis.”
Inside, his family is gathered around a huge round dining room table.
“Who have you brought us son?” a jovial older man says, smiling at me kindly.
“Mom, Dad, this is Jadis. My mate.” A hush falls over the table. “Jadis, this is my mother, Evanora, and my father, Halbert. My sister, Calliope and my brother, Jorren.”
“It’s lovely to meet you all.”
“Do you bear the mark?” his mother asks.
“I’m sorry what mark?” I ask, confused.
“Before Halcyon was born, it was said that he and his mate would usher in an era of peace known as the amorous era. The love and peace created by this union last hundreds of years, even humans notice. She bears a mark on her body, one shaped like a pick-axe. Do you have this?” A shiver runs through me. I’m going to do what now? How? How will my love do anything to save anything? I need more information.
“I do,” I say, shocked. I turn my wrist toward the woman. My birthmark is shaped like that. It’s always been angry and red, but it's faded to my skin color in the last few months.
“Good. Good,” she says, smiling at me warmly. She takes my hand and squeezes it.
“Welcome to the Stregone familia. Sit, sit. We eat now,” Halbert says. I take the empty seat closest to Calliope.
“I’ve always wanted a sister,” she says, pulling me into a hug.
“Me too,” I say honestly. “I just have a brother.”
“Is he single?”
“Yes,” I say, laughing.
By the time lunch is over, I’m stuffed. I’ve never had a four-course meal, let alone a four-course lunch.
“Did those hurt?” Calliope asks, pointing at my neck. I reach up and touch my mate marks. A shiver runs through me as I remember last night and all the ways Halcyon made my body his, and I smile. “No one will tell me anything.”
“No,” I say conspiratorially. “They are like the best, most expensive necklace I’ll ever own.” In fact, no other jewelry will adorn my neck, ever.
“That’s awesome,” she says dreamily. “I can’t wait to fall in love.”
“It’ll happen before you know it,” I say, patting her hand. I don’t know how I know that, but I do.
“How’s next week, Jadis?” Evanora asks, interrupting our conversation. I look over to where Evanora, Halbert, and Halcyon are sitting.
“For?” I ask, confused.
“Your mating ceremony.” Uhhh… what?
“Excuse me? Do we have do we did last night in front of people?” Like, hang a bloody sheet outside for proof of deflowering?
“No, no, dear. I know you’ve had the private one. I, of course, mean the public one. For friends, family, business associates and the like. That is also where the requirements for your marriage in the commonwealth of Massachusetts are satisfied.”
“Mom, you’re scaring her,” Halcyon says, coming to my side.
“No, she’s not. I just didn’t think all of that would be so soon.”
“Why wait? You’ve already claimed each other. It’s plain as day. You’d have to be blind not to see those mate marks. Did you really have to put them there?” Yes, I think. I look over at Halcyon, who is already staring at me.
