The light in the clearing flashes and changes when our hands meet. I can’t tell if it’s the torch or just us, but the altar dims, the light softening around us into a golden hour glow.
“Welcome, friends and loved ones,” says the priestess. She’s an older Orsan woman, her grey-streaked blonde hair blending into the golden robe of her order, her face softly rounded and lined with wrinkles. Her grasp of Selaran is wonderful. “Today we gather in the light of Kerensa’s infinite love and beauty to join these two souls for all eternity.”
Ronan squeezes my hands and leans forward to kiss me on the cheek, but the priestess stops him. “Not yet,” she whispers.
“Sorry,” says Ronan, his shy smile lighting up his face. “I’m not used to not being able to kiss her.”
“The good news for you, your majesty, is that the Selaran wedding ceremony is short. The Orsan version of this lasts for three days and involves several sacrifices.”
My eyes flash to Taran, who definitely looks over my shoulder for a moment at Seth before looking at me.Good luck with that,I think, raising my eyebrows at him before turning back to Ronan.
“Please. Proceed,” he says.
“In Selara, the betrothed repeat just a single vow to affirm their commitment. Your majesty—”
“Ronan,” he corrects.
“Ronan, repeat after me. ‘Wherever you go, there I am.’”
Ronan looks down at our hands, then he takes a deep breath, smiling and looking into my eyes. “Wherever you go, there I am.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingers lightly brushing my freckles as he pulls away.
“Sylvie, repeat after me. ‘Wherever you go, there I am.’”
My pulse pounds in my ears. After I say this, nothing will ever separate us again. I pull his hands to me, holding them to my chest. “Wherever you go, there I am.”
“May the goddess Kerensa bind you and bless this union. May this torch light your path and guide you to your home and to each other, always.” She looks at Ronan meaningfully, a smile on her face. “You may now seal your oath with a kiss.”
Quinn chuckles as Ronan takes me in his arms, pulling me to him and kissing me softly and eagerly, his lips pulling gently as his hands caress my cheeks and sink into my hair.
I kiss him back, the elation and sheer joy of the moment overwhelming me, leading me to stand on my tiptoes and press myself to him shamelessly, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him to me by his neck.
Kira screeches in joy, which causes us to break the kiss for a moment, but then Ronan pulls me back to him and kisses me again, ending with a few quick, soft kisses, the appropriate kind of kisses for a public display of affection.
No one says anything about the other kiss. I can’t imagine, after months with us, that anyone was particularly surprised.
“To Ronan and Sylvie!” says the priestess, holding up the torch.
“Ronan and Sylvie!” the others shout in response.
Ronan takes my hand to lead me from the altar, and the moment our hands meet again, the world shifts out from underneath us once more.
We’re back in the temple, but this time, there is no temple around us. It’s the empty hilltop of Avaris where the temple oncestood, except now the white stone altar is visible, the dirt around it cracked as if it just broke through the earth.
Ronan leads me to the altar by the hand he’s still holding. From the back of my gown, I pull the sickle. I don’t know how I know to do it. I don’t know what I’m doing at all, really, even though I’m in my body doing it. It’s like I’m acting on some sort of intuition, some kind of instruction that comes from a place I can’t comprehend.
I raise the sickle and press its sharp point into my fingertip. Then Ronan gives me his hand, and I do the same to him. Our blood drips onto the altar, and the torch behind it flashes and then turns red.
The ground shakes beneath us.
Ronan lifts me by my waist, and I wrap my legs around him. He lowers me down onto the stone, which has changed from stark white to the red of our blood.
He kisses me, and I sense his fear. I lift my skirt as he unties his breeches.
He’s going to take me here on the altar. And I need it. I need to feel him inside me. I need to become one with him—
My eyes snap open, and I’m back in the clearing. Ronan’s hand is still in mine, but we’re on the ground now, propped up against something. A log, I realize, as I scrape my hand on bark when I pull myself up.
“They’re back,” yells Taran, alerting the others. “You were out for over an hour.”
