48. Jace

Chapter forty-eight

Jace

As I stood beneath the arch that was placed atop the valley’s most scenic hill, I stared out at the small crowd as we all waited for Lia’s arrival. I turned to face the lake resting behind us, the setting sun casting a fiery reflection off its surface as the breeze blew the tall grasses in the distance.

Gage stood at my side, puffing his chest out as if he were the proudest man alive.

“You do realize that you aren’t the one getting married, correct?” I teased, and he scoffed at my words.

“Can a second-in-command not be happy for his commander? A best friend? A—”

“Brother,” I finished for him while clapping him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Gage. For everything.”

Surprise shone in his stare, and I had to turn from facing him before he managed to get me even more worked up than I already was.

Figures emerged over a smaller hill from where we stood, and I counted three of our women as Nyra trotted around their feet, but still no sign of Lia.

I blew out a nervous breath as my eyes peeled over each of them. “Where is she? ”

“She will be here. Don’t worry,” Gage said softly.

My gaze roamed over the fields and snapped to Zaela from where she sat in the front row. “Where’s Nox?! She would want him to be here.”

She shrugged her shoulders as her lips turned down into a frown. “I couldn’t find him in the yard or the skies.”

“Gods-dammit,” I breathed. Nox and Lia hated being apart from each other, and if he wasn’t hovering over her in the fields or perched atop the war chamber, he was guarding the estate.

Once they arrived, Avery positioned herself on the opposite side of the arch, mirroring Gage, while Veli stood a few paces behind her as we waited for Lia.

My aunt approached me then.

“Handsome, nephew,” she greeted as she cupped my cheek in her hand. “Thank the gods you combed your wild hair.”

A laugh left me without permission, but ceased as we locked eyes. “Where is she?”

“She’s coming. She just needed a minute alone. You must realize that she hasn’t had much of that in quite some time. Lia has lost many loved ones who couldn’t be here today, just as you.”

I dove into our bond, searching for any sign of her, and I was thankful that there wasn’t a single sign of hesitance from her.

Lynelle wrapped her arms around me and embraced me in a hug that I returned. She then whispered in my ear, “ Your mother would be so proud.”

She turned from me to head to her seat beside Leon, who greeted her with a beaming smile ear-to-ear. My throat tightened as the overwhelming feeling of wishing my mother could be here, wishing that she could have at least met my Lia, nearly consumed me.

My eyes collided with Finn, and he gave me a curt nod. Landon then did the same from his side as he reached down to scratch Nyra’s ears as she sat between their legs.

The sound of beating wings then filtered through the air, and everyone turned in the direction from which the girls had arrived.

As if an answer from the gods themselves, Nox appeared on the horizon. My eyes remained locked on him as he landed halfway down the hill we stood upon. Intense palpitations made it feel as if my heart was about to beat out of my chest as the most stunning sight I had ever laid my eyes on peered out from the cover of the wyvern’s shoulder.

Carefully lowering his body to one side, Nox allowed Lia to gracefully walk down his wing while lifting the front of her gown.

She placed her tiny hand on his snout in thanks before turning to face us, making my breath catch at the sight of her in her wedding gown and diadem—looking every bit the gorgeous queen she was and would always be to me.

And now here she was, standing before me at the end of the aisle, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she took her first step towards the edge of our forever.

Elianna

As I took my first step down the aisle, the soft strums of the harp floated around me as the musician began to play. The gentle melody made it feel as if time had ceased and no one else existed in the world but the two of us.

My eyes fixated on the end of the aisle, catching a sweet glimpse of him , the greatest love I had ever known and my sworn enemy. His eyes locked on my own, and in his hazel stare, I saw the promise of several lifetimes together, the two of us sitting side by side on our thrones and fighting alongside one another in battle.

The echo of my footsteps filled my ears as time continued to slow. Memories flashed before my eyes—the shipwreck that brought us stranded together, the sneaky, shared laughter beneath the Sylis trees from euphoroot, and the night in Celan Village, when he had saved me from his own guards and made love to me hours later, locking our mating bond forever, unbeknownst to us both.

A single tear slipped down my cheek as the memories flooded me, realizing just how far the two of us had grown together in such a brief span of time.

More than anything, I wished for my father to be here—to see what I had become and who I was meant to be. His true heir, who he had always believed in and wished to rule his kingdom following his reign.

My breath caught as I reached my mate, but my eyes had drifted beyond him in the distance. The world around me blurred as my gaze narrowed in on the figure that materialized, emerging from between the trees at the edge of the lake—a black-coated stag .

The magnificent, rare creature was a near replica of the one that had been mounted on the wall of my father’s chambers—the one I had always teased him for but secretly loved because I knew how much he had. A smile tilted my lips as a sob of bliss escaped me, realizing that he was here with me after all, always watching, even from the vale.

Jace’s stare followed my own to where the stag lingered, its attention locked on us.

I stepped up to my mate as we continued to gaze down toward the beast. “Father,” I whispered.

Jace’s stare moved to me, and he smiled so radiantly it nearly made my heart stop. I then realized that everyone’s attention had wandered to where ours had been. Avery’s fingertips flew to cover her mouth as her cheeks flushed, and Finn wore a proud grin—each of them feeling his presence here with us, too.

My mate extended his hand to me, and as I placed mine in his, a surge of completeness washed over me, knowing that all of my loved ones were here with me—with us .

Veli stepped up behind us in the center of the arch. “Well, now that we are all here…” She winked at me. “It is time that we now begin both the ceremony and joining.”

Embodying the role of a High Priestess, Veli spoke the words of the gods into the vast expanse of the sky, sealing our ceremony of marriage with their blessing, ensuring our lives together would be filled with love and longevity.

“Do you, Jace Cadoria, Commander of the Mortal Army, take Elianna Valderre to be not only your mate in this life but your gods-favored wedded spouse? ”

He looked at me then, and the entire realm melted away as I stood beneath his unfaltering, blazing stare.

“There is not a moment, nor has there ever been one, where I have not loved you with every fiber of my being, even since the moment we met. I believe I had always known there was something about you that I wasn’t able to shake. Even as your prisoner, I found myself staring at you, wanting to know you— needing to. And while I tried so hard to despise you, I knew I never could. My feelings for you, my mating to you, have melted away a hatred that cut so deep within me that it had consumed me since I was just a boy. You are everything to me. I vow to be your protector and shield, and any enemy that dares cross you will meet the edge of my blade—but that is, of course, if they don’t meet your own first.”

A prideful smile graced his face before he continued. “And as we stand here before our family and the eyes of the gods, my answer now and will always be that I do. I take you to be my wife, my mate, and my queen for eternity. From now until my very end.”

My eyes never left his, and my lips parted at his words.

“And do you, Elianna Valderre, Rightful Heir and Queen of the Velyran Realm, take Jace Cadoria to be not only your mate in this life but your gods-favored wedded spouse?” Veli’s voice broke the silence.

“I never thought I would find a love so great, one that flows so deeply in my veins that it has become the very essence of my existence. A man who was my mirror in our enemy’s ranks had shown me a kindness that hadn’t even been granted by those who had sworn themselves and their loyalty to me. Jace, you have gifted me a love that I never believed existed, and in turn, you have also gifted me the courage and support needed to reclaim what is rightfully mine by birth and blood. There will never be enough in this realm that I could provide that would feel worthy of repaying your constant love and aid, so I will start by offering you both my heart and soul forever. For they are yours—always have been, and always will be. And as we stand here beneath the eyes of the gods, I do, as well. I take you as my husband, my mate, and the king of both of our people. In this realm and beyond.”

With these words, Veli’s stare began to glow, their golden hue projecting onto us, mixing with the fiery shades of the setting sun cast in the distance. Ancient, forgotten words left her in a whisper, and with each syllable, the gold in her irises intensified as her spell draped us like an invisible cloak—its presence not seen but felt.

Lightning crackled through the clear sky, a phenomenon I never thought possible. A wind-like tunnel surrounded only the two of us, our hair swirling in its mix as we stood with our fingers intertwined and locked with one another’s.

Suddenly, we each began to glow ourselves—our skin illuminating a golden, radiant light as the gods gifted us their blessing.

Faster than we could blink, the wind ceased, dropping from us instantly, and the lightning vanished as Veli’s words halted.

I sucked in a breath through my nostrils, refusing to break our gazes, as everyone in the crowd remained eerily silent and still, watching the ancient ritual of merging mated souls.

“As a blessing bestowed from the Velyran gods above, I am honored to pronounce the two of you as not only husband and wife but fated mates of the soul. May your lives and love be everlasting. You must now seal your joining by kissing your bride.”

“You will never have to tell me twice,” Jace breathed as he cupped both of my cheeks in his calloused hands and pressed his lips firmly to mine.

My heart melted, and my knees buckled as his hands moved down my body—one supporting the arch of my back as the other was placed on my hip. He twirled me, gently guiding me into a dip beneath our wedding arch, his lips never leaving mine in a soul consuming kiss as everyone around us clapped and cheered.

“ Always .”

His voice filled my mind as his mouth remained on me, stunning me as I was held in his arms.

He broke our kiss and gazed down at me with a knowing grin as he held me in the dip. A smile cracked my lips as I realized that the bridge-bonding to each other’s minds had been successful, feeling him and his comforting presence so much more now than I ever had before.

“Always,” I echoed in a whisper.