“May both of you bring stability to Mountheim,” Malory said as she retrieved the paper.
But before the magister left, I spoke with a small smile on my face. “Your Honour, you might want to bring an umbrella to court tomorrow, if you’re planning to work late.”
Her eyes narrowed, her thin white brows flattening. Reagan shifted beside me, leaning closer. Malory studied me for a moment before walking away, offering no reply.
Reagan exhaled. “Did youhaveto show off?”
“I’m just giving her another proof,” I murmured, shrugging one shoulder. “If she doesn’t like that I have information about her and her future… well, there’s nothing she can do. And you don’t have to worry about her anymore.”
Caed nudged me so we faced one another, his eyes pinning me in place.
“What is bonded shall never be unbonded,” Matron Maelthine said, her voice loud enough for the whole room to hear. “We bear witness to your union today where you’ll choose each other. You shall not abandon one another, sever this bond, nor die by the other’s hand.”
I pursed my mouth in a poor attempt at humour. His lips twitched, but the intensity of his eyes remained unmoved. Reverent. The warmth of it spread across my skin.
“Thus, the sigil shall not be borne upon hand or chest, but upon the forehead. You may now speak your vows.”
Caedmon inched closer to me, taking my hand in his. We were meant to pledge ourselves by speaking the vows at the same time.
“Before Zara and Godric, I offer myself as gift. And accept the gift returned. In suffering, I will be your fortress. In peril, I will be your shield. I am yours, and you are mine. From this day until the end of my days. I am bound.”
The sting in my forehead was swift, warmth following as a drop of blood slipped free. Caedmon brushed it with his fingers and licked them.
The same bonding sigil appeared upon his forehead, two crossed lines cutting clean in the centre, glowing ice-blue like his eyes. I reached up for the bead of blood, wiped it with my thumb and lifted to my mouth.
The warmth of his blood was exhilarating, leaving my body humming. Keeping still took effort as an urge built, a restless pull that demanded I move closer to him.
Caed showed no such restraint. He surged forward, and before I knew, his mouth was on mine, stoking that unknown feeling I couldn’t explain if I tried.
This wasn’t a small kiss. It was a claiming kiss. A promise.
When he broke away, he did so reluctantly. As far as I knew, the kiss wasn’t part of it, yet the Druid before us remained unfazed. “Jane Darling, please kneel and repeat after me your Ladyship oath.”
A strange, peaceful calm settled within me as I knelt. The Druid Matron uttered the oath, and I repeated after her.
“I swear to protect the realm, to guide the people to prosperity, to wield great power with wisdom, and to act for the good of the many.”
“I, Druid Matron of Magekin, do hereby name, Jane Darling, the Lady of Mountheim.”
The sting in my forehead warmed.
“Rise, My Lady.”
I gathered my skirts and took Caed’s hand as I stood, meeting the Druid’s black eyes.
“From this day until your last, you are Lord and Lady of Mountheim,” the Druid declared.
A flap of wings surged through my mind in response, my hair stirring by a gentle wind coming from the balcony doors.
“Now, at the Mage Lord’s request,” the Druid went on, “you shall now pledge the human rite of union.”
My attention snapped to her as startled murmurs rippled through the gathered guests. A mischievous grin spread across Caedmon’s face, and he winked, far too pleased with himself.
My heart pounded.
“You will have to forgive me if I do this incorrectly,” Caedmon murmured. “Joy wasn’t too patient to teach me.” His voice was assured and entirely unlike the swarm of emotion he’d just set loose in me. “I commit myself to you, Jane, as your husband, in joy and in sorrow, in health or in illness, to love and to cherish, till death parts us.”
Warmth swelled in my chest, and he smiled.
