There was a lot that had happened in the wake of them being trapped and then freed from Corvo’s realm. But would she do it differently if she had the chance?
“No,” Mara said, smiling to herself. “I don’t think I would.”
“Not even the kidnapping?” Vareck asked.
“If I couldn’t hate you after that, I was bound to love you anyway,” she answered. Leaning over she pressed her lips to his, opening up for more. A growl ran through Vareck’s chest and she shivered. Turning on the rooftop, she lifted her leg and threw it over his body, moving to straddle him.
His hands came around to cup her backside, moving her hips to grind into him. Mara moaned, never getting enough of the feeling he elicited in her.
Two raps on the window above them made her pause. Metal screeched with the wind as the windowpane opened.
“Come on you two, it’s almost for the ceremony,” Kaia called.
Both Mara and Vareck sighed.
“Well, at least they’ll leave us alone for a while after the ceremony,” Mara said.
Vareck squeezed her ass and gave her lips a sharp nip before nodding in agreement. She climbed off of him and scaled the side of the roof, pulling her wings back into her skin before slipping through the window. Vareck followed after with a heavy thud.
Kaia stood at the door, urging Mara on. Warm fingers grabbed her hand and turned. Vareck gave her a quick peck on the lips and a smoldering look that promised more before the night was over.
“Go,” he said. She didn’t need to be told twice.
On the other side of the castle in her and Vareck’s quarters, her mom and sister waited. She opened the door and they both jumped to attention.
“Where were you?” Sadie asked. “You’re going to be late to your own ceremony at this rate.” The both started pulling at her flying leathers, helping her undress quickly.
“Vareck and I were flying, and I lost track of time . . .” Her cheeks heated a little. It wasn’t completely a lie.
“Flying,” Sadie said sarcastically. “Pretty sure it was another ‘F’ word you were thinking of there.” Mara glared at her and her eyes darted to their mother. Sadie snorted. “Get in the bath, Harpy.”
The warm water scalded her skin as her mom and sister busily set to helping her bath and then doing her hair. Mara was flitted from one room to the next sitting in a pile of fluffy blankets while Sadie towel dried her hair furiously, trying to get the moisture out while her mom attempted to arrange it artfully. In a land where electricity wasn’t a thing it wasn’t the simplest job.
An hour later, she stood in a dress of cream and ivory. The silky material ran from her neck to both wrists all the way down to her feet where a fifteen-foot train followed her. It was sheer material, but white flower blossoms covered most of her chest and built to be a full skirt to the point where it bunched at her knees and then billowed out in loose swaths of fabric. In the human realm, they would call it a mermaid style and with Mara’s tall frame and lush curves, it fit her like a glove.
Ellie leaned forward and placed a diadem with real diamonds and sapphires and pearls upon her head. Mara smiled as her mom’s eyes watered. She was a badass redcap warrior and still, like all moms, she cried at her daughter’s wedding.
“Why are you crying?” she asked her.
“Because I’m going to miss my baby,” she said with a smile. “I know you’ve been grown up for a while now, but this makes it feel more so.”
“Well,” Mara started. She’d been waiting to tell them, but now seemed as good a time as ever. “I think we’ll be seeing each other all the time still. Pretty soon I’m going to need all the help I can get.” Ellie and Sadie shared a look. Mara cupped a hand around her lower belly protectively and let her eyes drop to it as she smiled.
“Wha—no . . .” Sadie said in shock. “You’re pregnant? Oh my god.” Her sister repeated herself several times while her mom cried even harder. They both flung their arms around her shoulders, pulling her close.
“Surprise,” Mara said and waved jazz hands. “But don’t tell anyone, except dad. No one knows yet. And you know the boys will talk too loudly, so they can’t know either. We want to make a proper announcement.”
“I’ll bet you do,” Sadie said. “My niece or nephew is going to the be the first high fae born to mates in the past six hundred years. And it’ll be a Harpy. No pressure.” She smiled, the light twinkling in her eye.
“You’re going to be a mom.” Ellie smiled. “Before you know it, you’ll be facing this day with your own little ones.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Mom,” Mara laughed, waving them off.
A series of knocks came at the door. Kaia peeked her head in.
“We all good here?” she asked. “I heard crying.”
“All good,” the three Wylde women said at once.
“Excellent.” Kaia pushed the door open. “It’s time.”
Mara trailed down the hallways of the castle. She came to stand outside the throne room where her mother and sister both gave her another hug and congratulations before leaving to take their seats.
There was a time not long ago that this would be such a faraway vision it wasn’t even a possibility. That time had come and gone as she went from being kidnapped, to working side by side with Vareck, to falling in love and mating, and now to this. A ceremony to celebrate them, with a child already on the way.
It was a lot to take in, but Mara meant every word she said this morning.
She wouldn’t do a single thing differently. Not for the whole world.
The double doors opened, and the musicians began to play.
“I Will” filled the entire throne room as she walked down an aisle of flowers, passing the court, a few of her friends, and her family. At the very front, Rigby and Corvo sat next to each other. The cat looked much less enthused as he swished his tail back and forth.
The steward stepped up and began to speak the words. Mara and Vareck exchanged their vows and the room erupted into applause as her mate kissed her hungrily.
“I can’t wait to take you back to our room and practice making another one,” he whispered against her lips.
“And this is why V was a sad king for six hundred years with no one to worship him. He says things like that . . .” Corvo started on. Mara laughed, but in her heart, all was right in the world.
Sebastian
Somewhere between the third and the fourth bottle of wine it started to taste like water.
His problem wasn’t the quality of his drink. It was that even piss drunk, Sebastian couldn’t get a certain redcap out of his head.
She’s lesser fae, he told himself. And Mara’s sister.
If he were being honest with himself, the latter was more of an annoyance than the former. Sebastian didn’t want to be honest about any of it. Not when the little spitfire had been ignoring him since the second they stepped out of that blasted hell realm. For three months she came and went about her life, visiting Mara with their mother and planning the ceremony, carefully keeping her distance. For those three months, he hadn’t seen her.
For three months, he longed to.