Page 227 of Fallen Stars

Eli chuckled, his own laugh shaky as he embraced Elara again.

“Thank you,” Elara whispered. “For everything. And thank you two as well,” she said, hugging Isra and Merissa.

Eli pulled her away, wiping her eyes with his thumbs.

Merissa tsked, coming over. “You’re making it worse. Here.” She swept her hand over Elara’s face, rosy magick fixing her tear stains.

“Ready?” Eli smiled, offering his little finger. Elara linked it with her own. “Ready,” she whispered back before taking his arm.

Elara heard music start up, deep into the forest.

Merissa and Isra fell behind her, holding her train. “I’m ready,” she said again to herself before setting off down the path.

The forest was awash with glitterbugs, the insects dancing gently as they lit up the dusk. Violet and blue hues tinted her right, and burnished orange and gold tinged her left. It was a perfect marriage of light and dark—a marriage of her and Enzo.

The path was winding; the deeper into the forest they walked, the richer and more beautiful the wildlife became. A wild deer drank from a small, glittering pond to her right, unfazed by the proceedings.

“Nearly there,” Isra murmured behind them. “I think even my frozen heart is about to melt.”

Elara heard Merissa chuckle behind her.

The music was at its loudest now, and Elara could make out the forest clearing before her. The music was coming out of a battered contraption that looked a lot like the one they’d used when practicing Aphrodean dances in Helios. She smiled. Merissa had thought of everything.

And then, as she turned the corner, Elara saw him.

Her beautiful Sun.

Enzo was dressed in swirling gold and white, fidgeting with something in his hands.

She knew he would feel her presence in a moment as he looked around agitatedly, and she took the moment to blissfully drink him in.

And then his eyes found hers as they always did.

His mouth hung open a little, before he clenched it shut. Elara observed him, wondering what was wrong. And then to her utter disbelief, his face crumpled, and he brought his fingers to his eyes as tears began to flow.

Leo chuckled beside him, his own eyes shining as he patted Enzo on the back. Enzo shook his head, finally grinning even as his tears flowed, and a golden glow began to shine from him. Leo gave a small wave, winking.

Adrian was beaming too, from ear to ear as he stood next to Enzo. He’d conveniently informed them all that since he was still technically a captain, by mortal proceedings, he was well within his right to marry them.

Elara still had the veil on, careful to watch where she was going as Eli led her to her future. The beautiful crooning music began to drift away, trailing off as she finally found herself before Enzo. Eli squeezed her hand once before giving Elara away to Enzo and taking one of the few seats scattered around the clearing.

“Can I?” Enzo whispered, his voice a little shaky, face still wet as he motioned to her veil. She nodded, biting her lip.

Enzo’s deft fingers plucked the veil up, brushing it gently over her head. His hands cradled her cheeks as he took a moment to look at her, his eyes roving over every inch of her.

“You are everything I have ever dreamt of,” he whispered.

Elara couldn’t stop her own tears from falling then. “You are everything I neverallowedmyself to dream of having,” she whispered back.

They stared into each other’s eyes, the bond so strong between them that she could feel it, as though their soul-tie was yanking them even closer.

Adrian cleared his throat to catch the couple’s attention, and Elara offered him a soft smile.

“Tonight, we’re gathered here to celebrate love,” he began. “And who better to oversee this than their favourite person in the world?”

Enzo rolled his eyes as Elara laughed.

“There are both Helion and Asterian traditions during a marriage ceremony, and tonight we wanted to respect both. So firstly, Helios.”

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