Chapter 25

W e spent the rest of the night helping the people of Easteria who’d been hit by the curse which everyone kept referring to as the plague. We delivered hot meals to families that were affected in the city, helped carry unseelie who were too sick to walk on their own back to their homes, and brought those who were completely unconscious to the medical ward in the castle. Just like in the Northern Kingdom, it seemed like the unseelie with the strongest magic were hit the hardest.

By the time 5 a.m. rolled around we finally headed back to the castle and passed out. We went back to my old room and Stryker slept next to me because his sleeping quarters now had a giant hole in the wall. Yes, there were many other vacant rooms in the castle he could have taken, but neither one of us felt comfortable being separated right now. When I awoke, there was a note on my pillow.

Meet me in the kitchen.

-S

The kitchen? Was the staff out sick and he needed me to cook again?

I got up to brush my teeth and put on a light blue sundress. Stepping out into the hall I passed through the dining room hoping to see Dawn and any of the others, but it was empty. It was later in the morning since we all got in at such a late hour so they were probably still sleeping.

I pushed the door to the kitchen open and paused when I saw Stryker in an apron with flour up to his elbows and chocolate on his chin.

The counter was strewn with various baking supplies including dirty plates, eggshells, a bottle of oil and about thirty small plates each one holding a weird lumpy chocolate dessert.

I burst into laughter and Stryker spun.

“What are doing? If you were hungry you should have woken me. I would have made you something,” I told him.

There was a seriousness in his gaze that wiped the smile off my face.

“Hey,” he said nervously.

“Hey?” I called back with a smile and stepped forward to wipe the chocolate off his chin and plant a kiss on his lips. “What are you doing?”

He cleared his throat. “I know how much you like chocolate cake.”

I smiled. “You do?”

He nodded. “You ordered my staff to bring you chocolate cake instead of mush, and then I heard how you literally licked the plate clean when I had the cook’s chocolate fudge cake delivered you to.”

I coughed out an embarrassed half laugh and ducked my head. I had licked the plate clean. So unprincess-like.

Reaching forward, Stryker placed two fingers under my chin and lifted my face so that he could look into my eyes. What I saw in his gaze took my breath away. Love. Shining so brightly from his gaze that it was unmistakable. “I wanted to make you something you’d enjoy,” he finished.

My heart exploded with adoration in that moment. “And so you wanted to learn?”

He nodded, grabbing something on the counter behind him that he’d been concealing. It was a small four-inch round chocolate cake. It looked to be two tiers with the upmost tier kind of sliding off and the icing was hastily done but when my gaze landed on the giant decoration on top, I gasped.

“It only took nine tries, but this one tastes good. On try number five, I replaced the sugar with salt on accident.”

I was speechless, staring at the gigantic red ruby ring lying atop the cake. The gem alone was almost the size of a walnut.

“You hate it,” he said, lowering the plate.

I grasped his hands, taking the plate from him. “I love it. But Stryker … is this ring for me?”

He nodded. “Of course. We can’t get married without a ring.”

I laughed, pulling the huge ruby ring from the cake and licking the frosting off the band. “It’s beautiful and so sweet, but I’ll be robbed the second I step outside with this thing on.”

Stryker grinned. “I’ll have to get you your own security detail then.”

Laughter poured out of me. “No way. It’s too expensive. I can’t.”

He frowned. “I’m the richest man in all of Ethereum, Aribella. This is the ring I want to give you. And you deserve ten more. One in every color.”

He took the band from my hand and slipped it onto my ring finger and my heart couldn’t take it anymore.

“I love it,” I told him, looking down at the ridiculous thing. Was it way too big to be appropriate? Yes. But it was a testament to his love for me being more than his love of money, and I liked that very much. Stryker had turned out to be a very generous soul.

“Maybe we can get one that’s a little bit smaller for everyday wear?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But with a matching necklace and earrings.”

“Deal.” I grinned and then Stryker reached out and picked up something else from the counter. This was wrapped in a muslin cloth.

He looked nervously at me. “I feel it only fair to tell you that the day I threw you in my dungeon I had your dagger melted down.”

I gasped but then shook my head with a smile. He wasn’t a stupid man, and keeping a weapon around that could kill him and send me home would have been stupid.

“But the stone survived. Both in your dagger and in Dawn’s,” he said and unfolded the cloth revealing two lumpy hunks of metal. One had Dawn’s sunstone in the center, and the other held my carnelian. “I thought maybe the stone was of value to you and wanted to return it.” He set it on the counter beside me.

I reached up and cupped his cheek in my free hand, stroking his scar with my thumb. “You have a good heart, Stryker Warrick.”

“Shhh, don’t tell anyone that.” He pressed a kiss to my lips and I laughed. When he pulled back I grabbed one of the forks littering the counter.

I cut a small bite of the cake and slipped it into my mouth. Dark chocolatey goodness exploded across my tongue, and I moaned. It was the perfect amount of sweet. Three bites in I hit an egg shell, but said nothing.

“It’s perfect.”

Stryker laughed. “I heard that egg shell crunch from here. But I love you for saying that.”

Now it was my turn to laugh and Stryker set the plate down and pulled me into his arms, peering down at me. “Listen, I know that life with me will not be easy. We have this curse attacking the people, I’m constantly being robbed, there are attempts on my life all the time. You still have your part to play trying to help Faerie but—”

I put a finger to his lips. “And we will handle it all together.”

He nodded, the lightness in his gaze dimming. “You deserve the biggest wedding Ethereum has ever seen, but I can’t give that to you right now. Please know that I want to marry you more than I’ve ever wanted anything, but with the curse having just descended on the kingdom I can’t be selfish right now. We’ll have to wait until the people are healed to have a large celebration or it would look bad.”

The expression on Stryker’s face told me waiting was the last thing he wanted to do, but I knew exactly what he was saying, and agreed. Now wasn’t the time to pull our resources, or attention from his people. It would be selfish to have a big wedding at such a time as this. Once upon a time a big wedding might have been something I desired, but right now I just wanted to be with Stryker, as his wife, as the lady of the Eastern Kingdom.

“Who says it needs to be big? I’ll marry you right now in this kitchen, just fetch me a priest,” I joked.

His eyes went half lidded. “Don’t toy with me. Are you serious?”

I gestured to the messy kitchen. “I was half serious. I wouldn’t mind the reception hall though. With Dawn as my maid of honor and your brothers present.”

He stood erect. “Go round up Dawn and my brothers. I’ll be back in an hour with the priest.”

He sidestepped me to move for the door and I laughed. “Wait, Stryker, are you serious?”

He peered back at me. “Do you want to marry now or in several months’ time when the land is healed? I will do whatever you want, but if my vote matters I would not live another day without you as my wife.”

I couldn’t believe how much we’d changed over the past month. From being a tortured slave in his basement to his wife.

“I’ll meet you in the reception hall in an hour.” I grinned.

He matched my smirk and went in search of a priest as I ran screaming in excitement toward Dawn’s room.

An hour later I stood in a pale pink silk gown with little white flowers Dawn had tied in my hair. Dawn was at my side, tears rolling down her face as she clutched wild flowers from the garden. Zander, Adrien, and Zane all stood next to Stryker as Elisana and the castle staff that were still on duty sat in chairs in front of us.

For a fleeting moment I missed my mother and father, wishing they could have been here, that he could have walked me down the aisle. But I had hope we would see each other again. Life couldn’t be that cruel.

The ceremony was quick but perfect, and Stryker’s and my vows were simple but powerful. We pledged our lives to each other and as I looked into Stryker’s eyes I knew that there was no one else in this realm or any other that would love me as much as this man.

When the priest finally declared us man and wife, Stryker leaned forward and slipped his arms around me, dipping me backward like you would while dancing. Stryker’s brothers, Dawn, and the small crowd seated before us erupted into cheers and then he placed his lips on mine.

“I’ve never been a big fan of Fate. But now I want to meet her one day and thank her for sending me you,” he whispered against my mouth.

I smiled and then we pulled away and the priest raised his arms.

“May I present Lady Aribella Warrick and Lord Stryker Warrick.”

Stryker scooped me up into his arms and I peeled out in laughter. Dawn was basically sobbing at this point and I wondered if it was the pregnancy hormones. I’d never known her to have a reputation of crying easily.

A small little area off to the side had been set up with candles and flower petals and a violinist.

I smiled.

“All I could get on short notice,” Stryker told me.

As the violinist began to play a soft melody, Stryker spun me around on the dance floor and indicated that his brothers join us.

Zander clung to Dawn as Adrien pulled a delighted Elisana up to dance and Zane just sat there with his arms crossed. “This isn’t awkward or anything,” he grumbled.

“Care to take an old lady out for a spin?” the head housemaid asked him.

Zettie was in her seventies and still as smart as a whip. Zane took her hand and led her in a beautiful waltz as Stryker smiled down on me. “I never thought in a million years that I would ever love again. True love,” he told me and then peered around at his brothers.

Zander burst into laughter when Dawn did a funny dance and Stryker’s smile grew. “Or that this house would be filled with joy, with family.” He then peered at me. “And that’s all because of you.”

I beamed at him, my heart full. Perhaps too full considering it felt like the world was falling down all around us. We’d lost so many good souls in the rebel battle, the curse was growing daily both here in Ethereum and back in Faerie. Fae were suffering, and it wasn’t fair.

I hadn’t forgotten any of those things. I now carried the weight of two kingdoms on my shoulders, but for this one perfect afternoon, I pushed it all aside.

I didn’t know what the future had in store for Stryker and me, we may only have today. Perhaps some would accuse us of being selfish, but I believed we deserved to have this moment of happiness. To look into each other’s eyes and focus on one another without letting the rest of the world in. To celebrate the fact that with everything we’d been through, we still found each other. That we still found love.

Leaning in, I captured his mouth in a kiss. “What can I say, I’m a sucker for a man that can make chocolate cake after eleven tries.”

His deep laughter shook his whole body against me. “Nine.”

“I love you,” I breathed against his ear, stroking my fingers against his neck. The shadows in the room moved a little and it startled me until I realized it was Stryker. His eyes were half lidded as he gazed at me.

“Thank you all for coming!” Stryker said loudly and suddenly. The violinist stopped playing and everyone looked over at us just as Stryker scooped me into his arms. “Aribella’s reallllly tired so we’re going to go to bed, but carry on and have fun.”

Zane grinned. “It’s noon.”

I fake yawned, and Dawn smiled too. “Good night , love birds.”

I was red-faced by the time we reached my room, which was now our room.

“Listen,” Stryker said as he cupped my face in his hands. “Just because we are married now doesn’t mean we have to rush anything. If you aren’t comfortable with—”

I reached up and tore his shirt open, the fabric ripping in my hands like it did in the romance novels I’d read.

Stryker’s eyes went wide. “Or we could do that.”

I burst into laughter and he tossed me onto the bed like I was made of feathers. Boxing me in with his arms on either side of me, he leaned forward and peppered my collarbone with kisses. “Lady Aribella Warrick.”

“Yes?” I panted.

“I promise to love you forever and to kiss every inch of your body any night you will let me.”

I smiled and then he made love to me while shadows danced on the ceiling and I cried out his name.