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Chapter 71

All was quiet on Rump Island, except for the piercing hoot of an owl and the lapping of the ocean against the shore. The dark always brought the quiet fears of our army's hearts to the surface, and I could sense them tonight like the air was thickened by them, heavier to breathe. The silence was roaring. Every Fae here knew what tomorrow would bring, and none took that responsibility lightly. There was a bid for rest in the hope that it might make us stronger in the face of our enemies, but we all knew the truth. No matter what advantages we'd worked to gain, we were still vastly outnumbered.

Death was creeping closer; I could feel it waiting, just there on the periphery of life. The Veil felt thinner too, like it was preparing to let through the mass of souls it would claim soon. And my own soul was very likely to be among them.

I dragged in a breath of the icy air and looked to Darius who stood beside me on one of the many balconies of Rump Castle. The view here looked over the sea toward Zodiac Academy, a place that had had more influence on my life than any other. It was here that I'd been clad in metaphorical irons by Lionel Acrux, here that I had endured the long-suffering grief of my sister's death, here that I had spent countless hours with Darius, forming a bond that ran so deep in my blood, I would never part from him in this life or the next. Further still, I had found my truest love in this academy, Darcy Vega. With her to inspire me, I had released the chains of my past and grown into a man I was proud to be. One who was ready to die for the love he had claimed on this earth in his mate, his family and his newfound friends.

"This is it then," Darius said. "Our final night in paradise."

"We found real happiness here for a while, didn't we?" I mused and my friend nodded.

My eyes trailed over Aer Cove and the place where Darius and I had secretly practised dark magic in the past, our plans of taking on Lionel seeming almost childish in the face of the reality of that task.

Darius turned to me, pulling me into a hug that I returned with equal fervour, our arms locking tight around each other, knowing this might just be our last embrace in this world.

A flutter of wings announced Gabriel's arrival, and before Darius and I could break apart, he landed lightly beside us and put his arms around us too.

"With war on the horizon, I can hardly think of anything but death," Gabriel said heavily, the three of us stepping away from each other at last. "I am glad to have a distraction in you, Orio. Your endeavour keeps my mind occupied."

"So you know what her answer will be?" I asked hopefully.

Gabriel shrugged. "Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't."

He was so well versed in keeping his Seer knowledge from us that it was impossible to read anything from him. Although I was nervous as fuck, admittedly, I didn't really want to know her answer. Not until she spoke it herself.

"Did you bring it?" I asked.

"Bring what?" Gabriel frowned and as I opened my mouth to curse him out, he smirked and took a small wooden box from his pocket engraved with the Libra and Gemini constellations. "I took the liberty of making this, seeing as you didn't have one."

"That's nice," Darius commented. "Not as nice as gifting him the ring he's going to propose with. But nice."

The two of them shared a challenging look, and I took the box, slipping it into my suit jacket pocket.

"Thank you." I glanced down at my clothes, wondering if I'd gone overboard here, but Caleb and Seth had turned up at my room and practically dressed me. Caleb had done my hair, shoving all kinds of products in it I'd never fucking heard of, before trimming my beard and putting some sort of oil in it. Seth had picked out this suit from my closet and rubbed a star damned cinnamon stick on my neck before announcing me done.

All the while this was going on, Tory, Geraldine and Sofia had swept Darcy away somewhere, promising to have her ready for the night. From what little I'd heard of their plans, they were going to convince Darcy we were all having a party in The Howling Meadow, and I hoped she wouldn't question it too much.

"It's almost time for the ball, Cinderella," Darius taunted, and I checked my watch, finding he was right.

"You look more nervous for this than the battle tomorrow," Gabriel said with a laugh.

"Combat I can do," I muttered.

"She's your Elysian Mate, even if she says no, she'll still be yours, brother," Darius said. "Some Fae just aren't into marriage."

"She did make a comment or two about that before," I admitted. "Maybe I'm a fool to want this."

"Well you've got a ring and you're dressed up like a prime asshole," Darius said. "You may as well shoot your shot."

I exhaled decisively with a nod, though my nerves didn't ease. There was a piece of my heart that was riding on this. Deep down, I knew we didn't need marriage to solidify what we were, but I wanted the promise of a new, beautiful future together, and this proposal was like a vow that we'd make it there.

"Better get going, Orio." Gabriel pressed a hand to my back, pushing me toward the edge of the balcony.

I bid them goodbye and stepped up onto the stone railing, leaping off of it and falling at a wild pace towards the ground. I wielded the air to slow my descent then hit the dirt running, racing across the island, passing over the bridge to campus and speeding towards The Howling Meadow.

It was just as I'd left it earlier; the whole meadow covered in snow cast there by my water magic and a willow tree made entirely from ice at its centre. It was a nod to our first real date, when I'd taken Darcy to my family home and shown her one of my favourite places in the world.

Jars of everflames sat all around the tree, the glow of them making the snow sparkle, and the willow fronds hung low to the ground with icicles clinging to them. It was overcast tonight, and I willed snow to fall from the clouds above, the flakes fluttering down to cover the tracks I'd made across the meadow. I used my air magic to part the willow fronds in front of me like two curtains and I found the most spectacular creature on earth standing there at the edge of the meadow in a lilac gown. It was strapless, the bodice fitted and stitched with little diamonds, and the skirt fell to the ground in a pool of shimmering material. Beyond her, Tory, Geraldine and Sofia were in dresses of their own, their commitment to the lie bringing a smile to my lips.

Darcy glanced back at them in confusion and Tory moved forward to kiss her cheek before they hurried away into the trees, leaving her to her fate.

She turned to look at me across the field of snow where I waited expectantly and I used air to crush the snow at her feet, making a path that ran all the way up to me. As she walked along it, a lump built in my throat, all words abandoning me at her beauty.

There was no glimmer of starlight in the air tonight, no onlooking sky. It was just us.

She stepped through the parting in the willow fronds, and I let them fall shut at her back, securing our privacy a little more.

"Lance, what is all this?" She gazed around at the everflames, then up at the tree which was made of glittering ice.

I gave her an explanation in the form of dropping to one knee and her eyes widened as they landed on me.

"It could be our last night on earth, Blue, so I wanted to make it count," I said, my voice thick around those words, because the idea of her life being lost was too suffocating to consider. "I know our tomorrows aren't promised, but if they were…" I took the ring box from my pocket, popping it open and holding it up for her to see, making her gasp in surprise. "I wish to belong to you in every way a person can belong to someone. The stars mated us, they wove our fates together long ago before our souls were cast inside our bodies. They may have marked you as mine and me as yours, but I want us to choose each other regardless of what the sky might think of it. Because if we hadn't been mated, I would still love you like this, like the world begins and ends with you. I would have walked just as willingly into the depths of Darkmore, I would have destroyed myself to have a single taste of you. And if this is it, if our final sunrise crests on tomorrow's horizon, then I need to know that you would have chosen me too. In a time when you weren't a queen and I was nothing but a broken man, and together we denied the impossibility of us. I want a chance to do so again in the face of our downfall. So Darcy Vega, sovereign of my heart, will you defy all fates that deal our deaths and promise to marry me?"

She stared at me in shock, her green eyes watering and her hands cupping her mouth. Then she was nodding, tears rolling down her cheeks as she threw herself at me, knocking me to the ground and pressing her lips to mine.

"Yes," she said, kissing me again then again. "I'll marry you, Lance Orion."

My heart swelled and I kissed her back, losing myself to her as we tangled together in the snow. When she sat up, her dress bunched around her knees as she sat over my stomach, smiling from ear to ear.

I grabbed the ring box I'd dropped in the snow and took the ring from inside, offering it up as she held out her left hand.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"Everyone you love had a part in it," I told her, sliding it onto her ring finger and a knot unfurled in my chest.

I placed a kiss on the ring, then on the back of her hand before gazing at my bride-to-be with melted snow dripping from my hair and joy filling every corner of my chest.

"Let's chase life in tomorrow's battle and swear to claim it on the other side," Darcy whispered, admiring the ring, her smile falling a little as she looked to me, her fear over breaking that promise clear.

I sat up, pulling her closer in my lap and rubbing my thumb over her cheek.

"I swear," I vowed, knowing neither of us could do any such a thing, but voicing it made it feel possible. "I'll fight for us out there with every drop of strength I possess, Blue."

She rested her forehead to mine, our fingers intertwining and our breaths falling in sync with one another's. "Once upon a time, I was a girl afraid to be burned by the world, now I'm a queen who rules the fire. I will win this war for you, Lance, and I swear to the stars I will meet you at the altar."

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