Page 230 of Fallen Stars

“There is no way—” Leo breathed.

“Oh no, there is,” Eli smirked, eyes shining.

Because before Elara, in a baby form, was a living, breathing dragun.

“This isn’t happening,” Elara whispered.

“Yes, it is,” Enzo grinned.

Elara reached out a hand, and the baby dragun sniffed it before harrumphing, a shot of shadow wisping from its nostrils.

“This dragun is a part of you, El. It’s tied to your soul with that one last shadow. The same way you had been able to wield your shadows, you will be able to control this dragun. Whether you need it to return to smoke or grow thirty feet tall, you will be able to command it as you wish.”

“Oh my gods,” Elara sobbed. “My book is nothing compared to this!”

She fell to her knees again, arms outstretched as the baby dragun bounded over to her, its little wings fluttering.

She heard Merissa and Eli chuckle behind her as more murmurs of awe and excitement filled the clearing.

“Right,” Adrian said, clearing his throat. “Now that Enzo has just raised the standard for a man higher than any of us could ever reach, I think it’s time for the rings.”

Elara was dumbfounded, still staring in shock at the dragun before her. She ran a hand over its scales, and it let out a small purr. It felt so different to her shadow dragun, as though something living really was pulsing through it. And she supposed something was—Enzo’s sunlight.

Merissa walked forward, two boxes in her hands. She pressed the peach one, lined in gold trim, into Elara’s hand, and the indigo one trimmed with silver into Enzo’s.

“Now, you each told me how you would like the ring designed for the other. And I think,” Merissa smiled, “that you’re going to like them.”

“Elara,” Adrian said, “if you would do the honour of producing your ring.”

Elara opened the box, looking to the wedding band, one hand still on her dragun. She was terrified if she let go, her dragun would simply disappear.

The ring was perfect for Enzo. A thick golden band, with a large glittering oval gem in the centre. Sunstone, Merissa has called it when she’d first shown the gem to Elara. She’d explained that when the Sun had first awoken, a crystal cave filled with goldstone in Helios had transformed, the sunlight drenching the stone until it glittered, trapped with her love’s magick. Only one small mine contained it, and Merissa had done everything she could to arrange its transportation between the harbours leading to the Goldfir Forest.

Emanating from the centre of the ring were small and delicate rays made of the same gold as the band. She smiled as she caught on the inside of the band. She’d asked Merissa specifically to get the message engraved within—Lions may fly.

She held it out, waiting.

“And now, Enzo,” Adrian continued.

Enzo’s smile was nothing short of arrogant as he opened the blue box before him.

Inside was the most beautiful ring that Elara had ever seen. The band was as silver as moonlight, but it was the gemstones that made her heart ache. In the centre was nestled a tanzanite teardrop that glimmered as though it held the night sky. On either side were two crescents of a pearly white stone. It looked a little like silverstone but flashed blue and was more beautiful—far more beautiful.

“I call it moonstone,” Enzo murmured. “A variation of silverstone, one that I’m convinced holds your moonlight within it. Now you have your own gem.”

Elara pressed a hand to her heart, the other still outstretched.

“Enzo,” Adrian said, breaking the silence. “Do you take Elara as your wife? Do you promise to love her, cherish her, and protect her? Do you vow to remain hers, as long as you both shall live?”

“In this lifetime and the next,” Enzo murmured, pushing the stunning ring onto Elara’s finger.

Her heart pounded.

“And Elara, do you take Enzo as your husband? Do you promise to love him, cherish him, and protect him? Do you vow to remain his, as long as you both shall live?”

“To the ends of the cosmos and beyond,” Elara smiled, pushing Enzo’s golden ring onto his finger.

Adrian was grinning, bouncing on his heels. “Then with the powers vested in me by…well, me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

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