and arms seem twice as powerful. His smile, however, was what touched Dari at her deepest levels. Her grandfather’s happiness for her claimed his entire face, and set his dark eyes to a dancing twinkle that rivaled the flames on the torch she carried. When he bowed to her, his oiled beard and ponytail rested against the gryphon like dark waves bearing the creature aloft.
With Lord Ross was Tiamat Snakekiller, dressed in the simple gray robes of Stone, austere yet somehow no less splendid than Dari’s grandfather. Her benedets moved and swirled in the firelight, and it was difficult for Dari to grow accustomed to seeing a Stone Sister completely unarmed, and not even wearing her belt of pebbles and poisons and elixirs. “We are honored to stand Strong beside you,” Snakekiller said, and bowed as deeply as Lord Ross.
“Thank you,” Dari said, grateful that these two would be the ones pledging themselves to defend and support her new husband. It was unusual for a woman to stand amongst the Strong in a Fae ceremony, but Dari would challenge anyone to present a more worthy warrior and protector than Snakekiller. Nic would need her, and Lord Ross, too, Dari had no doubt. And so would she.
“They’re coming,” Lord Ross said, nodding in the direction of Triune’s main gate and keep as a swell of voices and shouts and moving feet began to claim the morning. Soon after came the unmistakable rattle and clatter of blades and bows being surrendered and stacked in piles outside the designated ceremonial area. No one in all of Eyrie brought weapons to a wedding, and the Judgment Day crowd, even surprised by this additional festivity, would be no exception.
The sky above Stone’s stronghold grew lighter, and lighter still, and the bells began to ring again, still brightly, but more slowly. Dari’s heartbeat took up their rhythm, and she found she could barely swallow as she took her place behind Blath and in front of the two who would stand Strong. They walked almost in step, winding down the path that led to a small platform resting against Triune’s east wall. In normal times, it was used for weddings for the sheltered, and promise ceremonies for Stone Brothers and Sisters. Sometimes traveling minstrels gave performances there, or set up shadow-puppet shows for the children. Today it would serve as a uniting point for two dynasts and two cultures, and two people who never expected their lives to take them east at dawn, to marry each other and hopefully stave off a terrible battle.
As Dari drew closer to the platform, she saw two lines of Ross Guard forming a corridor for her approach. On the opposite side, Cobb Guard comprised the corridor. As for the platform itself, the wood had been decorated with white wildflowers and dark green ivy, with light golden-brown stalks of new grain and sprouting fallow grasses, and even bright red winter berries already strung to dry for powders and wines. How very like Stone, to select practical adornments that would later be put to use. That made much more sense than silks and cloths and flowers no cow or goat would enjoy.
Lord Baldric was already waiting atop the platform in his gray robes, and beside him was Stone’s rector, who held a quill and a thick parchment that would be Triune’s official record of births, deaths, and marriages. The bells subsided, but Dari’s heart beat even faster when she saw a torch-lit procession approaching from the other side of the platform, with Aron in the lead. As Nic’s help-mate, he moved slowly, careful to allow Nic to keep up with him. Lord Cobb and Stormbreaker walked behind Nic, prepared to stand Strong for him—and catch him if need be, to get him through this journey to the platform.
I love these people, Dari thought as she climbed the steps of the platform behind Blath, scarcely able to remember a time when she considered Fae to be loathsome and dangerous, worth less than a moment of her time and consideration. I love them all, and if they’re here, they love me, too. Fae and Fury, dynast lord and Stone Guild—such an unlikely gathering. As Blath stepped to the side and left Dari facing the man who would shortly become her husband, Dari understood completely that “family” and “people” were not always decided by birth or bloodlines, and that love and respect were perfect antidotes to the poisons of prejudice and fear.
Nic’s golden hair and blue