Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Apprehension rolled through them all, and Ellis lifted a bony, spindly hand. “I know it’s hard to process, to accept when we’ve been instructed to live so differently, but I believe we must trust in what Aria says.”
Agreement seemed to move through the crowd, and a chatter rose through the ranks as Laven moved toward those they knew lived closest to them, their conversations hushed as they made plans to meet in the day.
Ellis let them talk for a time before he cleared his throat. “My children, even though we must pivot during the day, we cannot become distracted from our original purpose. Finish your plans, and then we must prepare to descend. The time is coming near.”
Pax edged forward, and he pushed a hand out to stop their family from rising, silently asking them to stay back as he brought Aria to stand directly in front of Ellis.
“Not yet, Ellis. I need you to do one thing for me.”
Confusion knitted the old man’s brow, though in it, Pax saw that he was willing to do anything.
“What do you ask?”
“I want you to marry me and Aria. Tonight. Right now. In front of our family.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Aria—Tearsith
They gathered beneath the great tree. Verdant branches stretched out overhead as if hands were reaching out to cover them with a blessing.
Facing each other, Aria and Pax held each other’s hands. Their bodies remained a foot away from each other, though they couldn’t be closer.
Their gazes locked, their shallow, choppy breaths meshing with the energy that glowed in the bare space that separated them.
She felt it as a weaving.
As a knitting together of their beings.
Body, mind, and soul.
Ellis stood to her left, and the rest of their Laven family sat on the grass on the other side.
Love surrounded them.
A bright, unending glow.
How strange that just weeks ago she’d harbored so much guilt and shame over her love for her Nol, guarding it like a dirty secret.
Yet here they now stood in front of them all, boasting of who they were.
Ellis had not discouraged them, but Aria had still sensed his reticence. It was hard to dismiss nearly a century’s worth of conviction. Hard to accept his own loss as his wary gaze traveled to Josephine in a whisper of longing.
Then, without a word, he had led them to this spot beneath their sacred tree.
“Dear Laven family, I stand before you today, entrusted with this commission. A commission I’d once believed would lead to devastation. To certain death. But our vision had been shortsighted. Skewed. Hindered by the lies we’d been fed—lies that I’d unknowingly then transferred to you.”
He lifted a quivering chin as he continued, “It leaves me both aggrieved and gratified. Anguished and heartened. But for now, for this one moment, I’d like to turn from the sadness and instead focus on the overwhelming joy of bringing Pax and Aria together. As Nols. As partners. As lovers. As defenders. As everything they were meant to be.”
A rush of that joy sped through Aria as Pax squeezed her hands even tighter, the man drawing her forward another inch.
Those gray, fathomless eyes swam with their own gladness. With desperation and devotion.
With a love unending.
With everything she’d dreamed of him one day watching her with.
Ellis looked between Aria and Pax with a self-conscious grin. “I’ve attended many weddings in my lifetime, but it is safe to say that I have never officiated. Please forgive me, as I may not have all the right words, but my meek soul tells me that Valeen has given me the authority. And that authority may be given here—in Tearsith—but this binding transcends all realms.”
His gaze was intense as it settled on Aria. “So, Aria Rialta, as you stand in front of Pax Morrison, do you accept him as your husband? Both here and on Earth?”
Her attention drifted back to Pax. To his striking, unforgettable face. This man the very thing that possessed her thoughts and mind.
Her throat was thick as she whispered, “I love you, Pax Morrison. Forever. So I accept you as my husband, both here and on Earth, and far into the afterlife.”
Emotion rushed from Pax. A gush of it that breached and pervaded. It wound through her with threads of reverence and need.
Their connection thrashed between them.
Ellis turned to Pax. “And do you, Pax Morrison, accept Aria Rialta as your wife, both here and on Earth?”
Pax stared at her.
Intent.
Vivid.
Stark and hard and so utterly soft.
His voice was gravel when he spoke. “I was told since I was a child that my Nol was only meant for me in one way: as a partner in a war I’d been picked to fight. But I should have known all along that she was meant for so much more than that. That she was everything that ever meant anything to me.”