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“Phineas!” Helene scolds, simultaneously reaching over and smacking Finn on the back of the head while stepping on her husband’s foot as he guffaws.
“Well, if you have no intention of saying your vows now, then I suppose all that’s left is the rings.” Estelle sounds disappointed as she holds out her hands to bless the rings.
“First the blood bond,” I blurt out, surprising Essos. He said he wanted to forgo most of the traditions, but this isn’t one I want to skip.
“Of course,” Essos agrees. He conjures a small knife and slices the palm of his hand without hesitation before handing the blade to me. “With this blade, I slice my skin, so that you may have a part of me with you always. It will be your reminder that my love for you will last an eternity, and that as long as there is blood pumping through my veins, I will be yours.”
As he speaks, I cut my own skin with only a brief hesitation. Sybil cups their hands under ours, catching our blood as it drips.
“With this blood, I bind myself to you,” I say. “Everything I have in me, so too shall you. With each beat of my heart, know that it beats for you.”
We thread our fingers and press our cuts together so that our blood mingles. As it does, our cuts slowly seal. For those seconds, I feel full to the brim, not just with love for Essos but for everyone in attendance here.
Beside us, Sybil and Estelle press their hands together, mirroring our actions, until there is a flash from where their hands are joined. They press their heads together and speak in the old language. I don’t recognize the rough words any better than I would have recognized Latin in my old life.
Essos reaches into his pocket and pulls out something else. With shaky hands, he slides two rings onto my finger, first a simple band braided with small gemstones all the way around, then a band showcasing a sizable oval opal flanked by two small amethyst stones and diamonds embedded the rest of the way around.
When I really look at them, my heart nearly stops beating. They’re the same rings we were married with long ago. I want to lift my hand and stare at them, but Essos tugs it close to him and slides on a third band. This one is different, a ray of half a dozen marquis diamonds designed so that when it settles against the opal, it looks like a crown.
I’m so entranced by how the rings fit together that I almost forget we’re in the middle of something. I hear a sharp intake of breath from someone in the crowd, but Essos silences them by lifting up one hand. He lets me ride the wave of emotions coursing through me from seeing something so familiar.
I wonder if they needed to be cleaned of my blood.
I close my free hand tight, squeezing my eyes as I make a fist, letting my nails dig into my skin. When I open my hand, a small seed rests in my palm. I look away from it and focus my thoughts and energy on my love for Essos. From the small seed, a vine grows and winds its way around Essos’s finger, twisting and twisting until the entire digit is encased. Slowly, the coils press together until a thick wood band circles the base of his finger. I blow on it, and a mild gloss covers the band.
Knowing what’s coming next, I join our hands again, a new vine wrapping around them both.
Sybil starts to close off the ceremony. “With the rings exchanged, you are now bound to each other, your lives together entwined. Your immortal lives are forever linked by this rope, or, because Daphne is a showoff, this vine. While this binding is temporary, at the end of this ceremony there will be a permanent link, and nothing can come between you. Your blood bond and blood-blessed rings are a further sign of your commitment to each other. By the powers of the land and the Supreme power of us all, we declare your union blessed by the Fates. You may now—”
“I don’t recall getting my invitation,” Octavia says, walking down the aisle toward us. She’s in a dramatic form-fitting white gown with a stiff white rose constructed over one shoulder, the other one bare.
“You are aliteralDisney villain, mother,” Helene hisses, getting up to block access to Essos and me. Her twin and husband flank her, Xavier slightly behind her so he’s closer to defending Cat. Essos takes one small step so he too is between me and his mother. Callie shrinks back like she wishes my hedges would swallow her right up.
“My child is getting married. I was overlooked for the other wedding. It doesn’t seem fair that I have to miss the event twice.” Octavia winks at me. “Come now, you can all relax. This is the best part.”
“You mean where you curse me to prick my finger?” I snap. I feel Essos’s hand wrap around my wrist, ready to hold me back.
“Oh no, darling. You are going to need to bleed a whole lot more than just a prick on the finger. No, have your kiss, and just remember who’s going to be keeping you alive tomorrow.” Octavia conjures a chair and settles herself in.
My annoyance and hormones are out of control. The hedge grows out, boxing her in the corner with two fresh bushes. With that extra cover, Essos turns to me, dipping me backward into a dramatic kiss. My leg extends out straight so I can keep some sort of balance, but I know that he won’t drop me.
This kiss is different, and it feels it. My body feels tight and loose all at once, and it’s because something finally goes right.
With our lips pressed together, Ifinallyremember.
I remember nights with my old friends at Solarem University. I remember holding Helene’s children when they were babies, and how I felt during my coronation. There are nights of tears and days of laughter. I remember family dinners and adopting Dave, Shadow, and Spot. I remembereverything. This must be what was needed to unlock me fully—Essos and I being wed again.
My hands tangle in his hair, and I give the kiss my all. By the time his mother gets free, Essos and I are standing again, a little flushed but both grinning like idiots. I can’t wait to tell Essos about my memories, but it can wait till later. Octavia is so angry I wouldn’t be surprised if steam left her ears, but there are notes of pride and disappointment on her face too. She might want to have a better relationship with her children, but she is only poisoning the well further by acting like this.
Essos leads the way out of the garden, still holding my hand like we’re teenagers. Whenever I catch a glimpse of my left hand, I smile, knowing that I’ve truly started to get my life back. We gather as a group on the beach, one long table set up for us all to sit around and enjoy a meal.
Cat and Zara embrace me together, prompting Essos to finally drop my hand. He winks at me before facing his brother and shaking his hand firmly. I have to remember to tear my eyes away from him, knowing that he’s keeping an eye on his mother.
“I always said you’d be the first of us to get married,” Cat teases, pretending to wipe away a tear.
“That issofalse.” I nudge her with my shoulder and go still when my parents approach. Nervous energy clenches my heart, and I smooth my hand over my stomach to soothe myself. As amazing as it was meeting them a few months ago, I don’t really know them. I still hug them, though, laughing when my father wraps both my mother and I in a bear hug.
“I’m so happy for you, baby,” my mom tells me while holding my face in her hands. I open my mouth to say something, anything, about how different things are, but my father shakes his head.
