“There,” Hail Vega said heavily, waving a hand to push the door closed at his back and drawing my mom closer to him as she smiled brightly.
“Didn’t I tell you they would accept me?” she teased and he smiled back down at her, grabbing her by the waist and drawing her body flush with his.
“Of course they will,” he growled. “I am their king. They accept whatever I tell them to.”
He leaned down to kiss her hard and I belatedly took in the white dress she wore and the crown which was balanced in her hair. I’d seen images of the two of them wearing these exact outfits when reading reports on the unexpected royal wedding.
Hail had returned from his trip to the southern kingdom of Voldrakia with a foreign princess on his arm and had married her that very day, sending the entire kingdom into an uproar. There had been some backlash from the family of the man she’d been betrothed to in her home kingdom, but Hail had threatened war and the issue had been resolved through some political alliances and the exchange of a substitute bride for him from our own kingdom.
Hail dropped his mouth to claim a kiss from the woman he had fallen so irrevocably in love with and I drank in the sight of them together, happiness clinging to every inch of them as she drew him closer for several lingering moments before pulling back.
“They’ll come looking for us if we don’t approach them ourselves,” she sighed and he growled in frustration.
“Heavens save me from the inconvenience of politics. Let’s get the rest of this over with then, so I can have you to myself,” he rumbled, taking her hand and leading her through the palace to a large room full of guests where my gaze fell on the Celestial Councillors and my throat tightened as Lionel greeted them warmly, offering exuberant congratulations.
I shifted closer, wanting to overhear what they were saying, but my attention was drawn to a group of men and women who stood to the side of the room, each of them wearing a royal blue cloak and looking over to my parents with interest.
One particular member of the group stood out to me, and I stiffened as I recognised Vard. The oily Cyclops hadn’t had the mop of long hair back then or even the scar on his face, but my heart thrashed harder as I took in the sight of him so close to my family.
“Rain!” one of the cloaked women in his group suddenly cried and a few moments later rain began to pebble the windows.
“I could have told you that a week ago,” my mother laughed, glancing up at her new husband with love in her eyes as his attention was drawn to the robed people.
“We haven’t had any great Seers emerge in our kingdom since my father’s man Narbord died eight years ago,” Hail said, his eyes sweeping over the group with slight distaste. “So I was forced to create a group of individuals who had enough of The Sight to be relevant, hoping that the minds of the many would amount to the mind of one.”
“And do they?” Merissa teased, a knowing glint in her eyes.
“There isn’t one among them who can even sit in the Royal Seer’s chair,” he muttered irritably. “Though perhaps that was because it had been waiting for you, just as I was.”
Vard’s head snapped around and he looked at my mother with a whole lot more interest than he had initially.
“The new queen has The Sight?” he asked curiously, though I could tell how threatened he and the rest of his group of less talented Seers felt about that.
“She does indeed,” Hail purred, drawing his new bride closer to his side. “She can see better than anyone I’ve ever known.”
The Seers broke into muttered conversation over that, their attention fixed on the new queen who answered their questions politely with a soft smile on her face.
Merissa straightened suddenly, her hand snapping out to catch an apple which had been aimed at Hail’s face and Lionel barked a laugh, clapping loudly as everyone whirled to look at him.
“My King, I think you truly have found a gem to treasure here,” he cried, looking like he was honest to shit happy, though I knew enough of him after spending months trapped in his company to recognise that dangerous, conniving look in his eyes. “I aimed the fruit at you while she was distracted and yet she still saw it coming! She is a true Seer indeed and her love for you must be fierce for her to sense threats against you so easily.”
People around the room broke into applause at Lionel’s lead and Hail grinned as he tugged his new bride closer, lifting her chin with his fingertips and looking deep into her eyes.
“Yes, she truly is something special,” he said, kissing her in front of all of them to more applause but my attention flicked between Vard and Lionel, both of whom didn’t look the least bit happy about the arrival of the new queen.