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Ursiana would soon be the Umbraar queen consort, but in a couple of months. Fel was going to wait a little to get married as well, which was silly. If anyone glanced at him and Leah, it was obvious they were in love. Then again, the same thing could be said about Ursiana and her father. Perhaps it was never too late to find love, and Naia was glad her father had dissolved the bitterness in his heart.
Leah smiled. “You look like you belong in a dream”
Naia raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully not a bizarre deathbringer dream.”
Yes, the girl had weird, dangerous dreams, just like her father. They sounded terrifying. She would need to study about her magic with Azir. Leah’s father too, except that the girl didn’t want to call him that, as she said it made her feel like she was Fel’s half-sister, which would understandably be quite disturbing.
“No, a good dream.” Leah laughed.
Ursiana nodded. “It’s a magnificent dress, but you’re magnificent regardless. And you deserve all the happiness in the world.”
Naia didn’t want to feel emotional, so she chuckled. “Don’t we all?”
They were doingthe wedding in the Umbraar tradition, so Naia had to enter from one side while River came in from the other. It meant she hadn’t seen him yet. He was probably dashing and overdressed, likely trying to look as fae as possible. There were friends and family in the wedding, but also royals from other kingdoms, so there was an aspect of spectacle to this, and she knew River.
Or maybe Naia didn’t know him enough. When she entered and saw him, she was stunned. He had tied the top of his hair in a ponytail, so that his pointy ears were visible. His eyes were brighter than usual, very visibly red. Glamour. Not only that, he had them lined in black. He wore two suits, a black one over a gold one, which looked strangely good. His crown was showing, and he wore long earrings with red stones. If his goal had been to look otherworldly and ethereal, he had done a fabulous job. Naia’s crown was hidden, just because it would be too complicated to explain to humans why she was the fae queen before they were even married.
River was walking with Ciara, who had returned to the Ancient city and was now helping settle the Fae Kingdom.
No, it was Anelise.
The two girls were identical, but they carried themselves differently, and there was something just a little stiffer about Anelise, and yet she looked younger. Anelise, a sister River hadn’t gotten along well with for most of his life. Perhaps he was trying to make up for that now. Ciara was standing near the front, her face lighting up watching her brother. Maybe this had been her idea. Forest was not there. Naia feared that he could eventually stir trouble, but his sisters claimed they were watching him and paying attention to any sign of treason. They were good leaders and brilliant strategists, so Naia chose to trust them.
Naia was walking with her father. For this occasion, he had decided to comb back his usually messy hair. Naia appreciated the gesture, except that she wished he had kept his normal hair, which looked better. Of course she didn’t have the heart to tell him that. Not that he looked bad, of course. She was just happy that he was here, supporting her. In fact, he and River got along splendidly well. River’s heartfelt apology had managed to soften his heart. And then, perhaps it was Ursiana softening his heart, making him laugh a lot more than before. It felt good to walk with him towards River, to know that her father was by her side, supporting her, supporting her choices.
Naia saw Fel and Leah, so cute and happy, her brother as handsome as always. She’d been missing him so much. He’d been spending a lot of time in Frostlake while Naia had been jumping between the Ancient City, Umbraar, and the Fae Kingdom.
She looked around to see if she found more guests she knew, and other than some kings and queens—not all—she saw Tzaria and Ekateni by her cousins. She hoped to be able to spend time with them soon. There was so much to learn, so much she still had to know about her family, her father, her origins. At least they were here.
They walked to a clerk, who spoke some words about love and commitment. This was a performance for Aluria, but it was also more. There was magic at work in words and contracts, especially for someone like River. Extremely fae-looking River, which was particularly gorgeous.
After that, they spoke to kings and queens, princes and princesses who were congratulating them. It was hard to know whose congratulations were genuine and whose weren’t, but it didn’t matter, they had to be polite to everyone.
A band started playing. They had both fae and human musicians, which had been a nice touch to promote peace and harmony between the peoples. It was impressive that River and the other Ancients supported all that. The truth was that the humans had acted much worse during the war, but then, they had been fed lies and hatred, especially by Ironhold.
River claimed that it was better to start over than to keep the cycle of hate. Of course, forgiveness would take time and a lot more effort from humans. And then again, the real enemy had been Ironhold, now defeated. What mattered was that at least now the Ancients had a place to live on the surface, not that it made it fair. This land had once been all theirs, and now they had to be confined to a kingdom, but then, it was better than being confined to a city.
River approached her and pulled her hand. Naia thought they were going to dance, but instead he pulled her to a corner, behind a tree.
He probably had something to tell her. “Something wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing wrong.” He pulled her close and kissed her, a long, deep kiss that felt good but also inappropriate in that place, where anyone could see them.
Naia was about to push him, when she felt those tendrils of darkness around her, then opened her eyes and realized she was in the garden of their house.
The Ancient City had been unsealed, but this part of it, for some reason, was still only River’s and hers. Of course they couldn’t spend all the time here, but they came sometimes.
He stopped kissing and stared at her.
“Why are we here?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You break my heart sometimes, you know? When I first brought you, all proud of the house I made for you, you were complaining that it was just us two, as if being alone with me was awful or something.”
That was unfair. And incorrect. “No. Completely alone. How quickly you forget you left during the day, River.”
He scratched his head. “I guess.”
“Why are we here?”
