“That wouldn’t be very creative of me,” Ben said. “I actually had a different idea for the location of our wedding. But it kind of depends on when you want to get married.”
I looked up at him. “When? Well, when would you want to get married?”
“As soon as you want to,” he replied.
“What if I said I wanted to marry you right here, right now?”
“I would ask if you could wait a day or two, when we could join The Shade’s dragons and their mates in a grand wedding ceremony in The Hearthlands.”
I wondered if this was another joke. “The Hearthlands? Are you serious?”
“Yes,” he said. He stood up and gazed down at me, touching my cheek. “I’m quite serious.”
Oh, my. Is that even a question? “Yes!” I exclaimed, jumping up in excitement. The little girl inside of me was squealing.
He smiled broadly as he braced my shoulders. “Then we should start getting ready, future princess of The Shade.”
Derek
Sofia and I had very little time for preparations once we’d received confirmation from Jeriad that Ben and River were welcome to accompany them, and Ben confirmed they were both happy to take part in a joint wedding.
We made a trip around the island inviting people personally; it was something we wanted to do, given that it was our son’s wedding. Two other couples also decided to join the bandwagon and tie the knot at the same time: Helena and Matteo, and Micah and Kira.
And then there remained only one person I had left to speak to.
My brother.
I still hadn’t had much time to speak to him—and absolutely no time alone. Even though we’d gone together to The Dunes and then Hortencia’s cave, Lucas hadn’t been around much since, being a fae, he’d been helping Ben and the jinn much of the time.
It was time that I talked to him man to man. Brother to brother. Although I was dreading it, there would be no better moment than now.
I told Sofia where I was going before heading off to look for him. I spotted him eventually on the beach near the Port. He was sitting with Jeramiah and talking, their feet submerged in the water.
I felt hesitant to approach, but forced myself to interrupt by arriving at their side and clearing my throat.
Lucas’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked up to see that it was me.
I turned my focus to Jeramiah. “If you don’t mind, I would like a few words with your father.”
Jeramiah nodded curtly. Lucas stood up, his height just less than mine. I found it hard to hold his gaze for long and, it seemed, so did he. We both looked away in opposite directions even as we began to walk together along the beach, away from Jeramiah.
When he made no move to say anything after about a minute, I attempted to break the ice. “Thank you for helping my son.”
Still looking at the sand, Lucas murmured with a dismissive shrug, “I owed him.”
I swallowed. What do I talk about with him? I had decided to invite him to the wedding, but that wasn’t what I’d really come here for.
Trying to converse with Lucas felt more uncomfortable than attempting to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger. At least a stranger shared no past with you. No hateful, envious past.
To my relief, Lucas took his turn in saying something. “You should, uh,” he began, wetting his lower lip. “You should be proud of your son.”
I stopped walking, causing him to stop too. I felt the urge to look him in the eyes. His cold blue irises that matched my own locked with mine.
“I am very proud of him,” I said, steadily holding his gaze. And I wish I could return the compliment to your son. Jeramiah was not inherently bad, but he still had a lot of work to do on his character, a lot of strength to build up if he wanted to be anywhere near the man my son had become.
Though now that Lucas was back, hopefully a changed man, maybe he would become the role model Jeramiah had always hoped for.
I hesitated before speaking again. “Did you really never tell a soul about Jeramiah?” I asked. “Not even Father?”