He indulges me with a smile, which looks more like a grimace and says, “I told Constantine that he doesn’t get to marry you without me being there.”
“Oh,” I say and look back to CK who isn’t looking happy about it but has to accept it because he has no choice.
“Shall we then?” CK says, holding out his arm for me to loop mine through.
“Yes,” I say and hold out my hand for Cole. We three are Teleported to the mystery destination by CK. It is dark where we land outside, and it takes me a second to figure out where we are. I look back at the looming, dark castle a way behind me and say, “Cassis? There is sacred land here?”
CK points behind me to a small circle of stones. I don’t mean Stonehenge type stones, but actual small rocks placed in a circle. “Many, many centuries ago this was a Pagan place of worship. When I acquired the castle, I kept this spot sectioned off so that it would never be forgotten. I guess the L’orleau’s did the same.”
How come I never knew that? We are in the furthest corner of the grounds, some distance away from the castle itself and I have walked here many times, I guess I just never thought to ask. I want to ask him why he never mentioned it before, but now isn’t really the time, as standing in the middle of the circle is a Druid in a flowing black cloak, hiding his face, ready to perform our ceremony. I smile hesitantly at Cole and then step into the circle with CK. He places a ring of daisies on top of my head and I giggle as I remember making hundreds of daisy chains just like this so long ago.
He takes my hand and the Druid proceeds with the hand fast in the ancient Celtic language. I follow the gist of it, but it seems CK is fully versed, so I just go with it. The Druid ties the rope around our joined hands, binding us together. CK turns to me with my Faerie Silver wedding band and holds it up, leaving it to me to decide where to put it. I look down with a frown and in the end, remove my blue diamond ring and he slips it onto my right ring finger, replacing the blue diamond above it. He hands me the ring I gave to him to cement his commitment to me and I slip it onto his left ring finger. He grips my fingers tightly, his only show of emotion and my throat tightens in my own show and then he says quietly, “I want to do the Blood Magick ritual as well.”
I nod, fully agreeable even though Cole is watching this. “Not the sex part,” I mutter to him and he snickers.
“Since when did it bother you to have people watch?” he asks coyly.
I stick my tongue out at him as he slices his claws across my palm and does the same to himself. We repeat the ritual in Latin and my magick wind swirls up around us as we grip each other’s hands tightly. A ring of fire surrounds us, causing Cole to take a giant step back from the circle. I can feel his anxiety and his pain as he bears witness to this, but he agreed and now it is done. The fire and wind die down and the Druid says, “It is done.”
CK swoops down on me to kiss me and I kiss him back, our joy at finally being together after a thousand and one years, evident by our embrace. I take a moment to enjoy it before I step back, conscious of Cole’s eyes on us. He has been silent and stoic, and I am proud as his sire that he stood by me, but I love him even more as his wife for sacrificing as much as he has to make me ha
ppy.
CK thanks the Druid and he flits off silently into the night, leaving only the three of us again.
What now? I wonder, as again we all stand there in silence.
“Home?” Cole asks, breaking the silence.
“Yes,” I say with a look at CK. He is looking up at Cassis with a faraway look and shakes his head.
“This home,” he says with finality.
I have half a mind he is going to turn around and exclude Cole from this night, but to my utmost surprise and delight, he turns to face him and inclines his head in a “shall we?” gesture. Cole hesitates for only a second before he steps forward into the stone circle to take my hand. CK Teleports us out and I wonder where he is going to take us. As far as I know, he hasn’t entered these premises since he left them hundreds of years ago. However, the old lord’s bedroom is still the master suite and he lands there with an interested look about.
I look around the room too, seeing what he is seeing in his mind’s eye of a bygone time and squeeze his hand.
“It’s so different,” he says quietly. “Gaudy French nobility.”
I snort delicately into my hand at his comment. If I recall, the Italian nobles were just as extravagant, if not more so, himself included.
Cole, eager to draw our attention away from the room and our memories, pulls down the zipper on my dress and CK catches it as it falls to my feet. I am mildly surprised, and impressed, that Cole took the lead on this one. Probably to reinforce his position as still my husband and the one I married first. I find it just a little bit irksome that they are still competing and make a mental note to try and remember to speak to them about it. I have no doubt I will forget, as currently I am struggling to remember my own name as they both proceed to give me a night that I will never forget as long as I live.
I awake in our bed back in England, alone. I am tired of waking up alone. Just once I wish at least one of them had stayed with me. However, I take the opportunity of my solitude to admire my new, well ancient, ring as I lie in the sun-dappled room and grin happily to myself. Everything is just perfect. After so much pain and uncertainty, everything has come right. A dark cloud passes overhead, momentarily blocking out the sun, which brings me back to reality. Something is going to crop up and shoot all of this to Hell. Something always does. I sigh at my negative, yet realistic, attitude and get out of bed. I shower, change, and head down to find my husbands.
Yikes!
Husbands, plural.
It’s quite surreal.
I find them both on the terrace sipping coffee at opposite ends of the terrace table, ignoring each other. Oh, geez, I think, but it reminds me of the discussion we clearly need to have about this.
“Morning,” I say to them both and I have no idea which one I should lean down to kiss first. I choose Cole and he is smug. CK doesn’t let it go though as he kisses me deeply and thoroughly, leaving me very aroused and flustered.
“Please sit,” CK says, pulling my chair out for me. I do and Cole hands me a coffee. Now this bit, I don’t mind. I am used to looking after myself, but this taking-care-of-me business is definitely a plus side to having them both vying for my attention. I scold myself, as I am only encouraging their competitiveness.
CK sits again and pulls out a stack of his ubiquitous royal blue, monogrammed folders.