Page 144 of Nash

Every queen receives a jeweled gift with gold lions. Each gift is different, but the meaning is the same: honor, loyalty, bravery, and dignity. Lions are sacred icons and the only symbols from the Kholodov crest that The Queen and her sons kept.

With suspicious eyes, Vale watches Seven carefully clasp the bracelet around her slender wrist. “Thank you,” she murmurs, admiring it. “It’s beautiful.”

He bows slightly before rising to back away.

Vale doesn’t take her eyes off him as he takes his seat on his seventh throne. Even Wren leans forward, studying Seven with equal awe and scrutiny.

“Ahem.” Sire clears his throat. “Now that all are present, let us continue.”

Vale slides her stare back to me, worried I’ll resist, but suddenly, I’m too concerned about Seven being here to protest what’s next.

I feel adrift at sea in this initiation, and the only way to shore, the only way to have Vale forever, is to finish this.

“Kneel, our king and queen,” Sire commands, so Vale mimics me, kneeling by the platform’s edge. I reach for Vale’s right hand while he continues, “Which brother here will vouchsafe as a second king, declaring this union honorable and protected? Who here is pleased to join their bed, mercifully granting that they may live long and bountiful lives but pledging, should her first king perish, he shall guard our queen and their children in his stead?”

“I do.”

Jace stands, speaking for the first time tonight.

With hands clasped before him, he approaches the platform. He keeps his eyes on me, avoiding Vale’s nude beauty, and I know it’s to keep me from losing it.

I feel the beast threatening, clawing to emerge. I still don’t know if I can do this, but there are enough brothers here to hold me back should rage overwhelm me.

“Will you, Nash, allow Jace to honor your queen?”

I squeeze her hand. Painfully, the words choke my throat. “I will.”

It’s not rage. It’s raw emotion.

“Will you, Jace, honor Nash’s queen?”

“I will,” his voice strains with it, too.

It’s this next part that grabs my soul every time.

“Will you, her kings, be subject to her as she is subject to you?” Sire evokes the sacred orthodox text and the scars on our mother’s back. “Will you love your queen as you love your own bodies?”

This is the vow her first husband defiled.

This is the vow her second husband honored.

“For he who loves his queen loves himself.” Sire exalts. “For no noble man ever hated his own flesh. He nourishes and cherishes it, as every king shall nourish and cherish his queen. Every king shall protect his queen,allqueens, for they fill our lives with children, prosperity, and all good things. This is the love you will give her. State your vow if you agree.”

This is the reason for our bond. For all that we risk and fight.

I’m trapped by Vale’s gaze, holding her hand while I promise, “I vow to my queen.”

“I vow to my queen,” Jace echoes me.

Vale blinks back tears, the magnitude of our tradition settling in her eyes.

“May those present declare this union sacred,” Sire concludes. “Have mercy on us and save us. Protect and preserve us for many years to come.”

“Here, here.” Nick knocks on the wooden arm of his chair. The brothers join him.

“Each queen decides how to receive a second king.” Axel takes over the ceremony. “A queen may receive more than two kings if that is her or his desire, for we are here to honor our queen’s flesh. Be it tonight or any other, we always serve our queens.”

Deference and desire crawl through Axel’s deep voice. Slowly, our ceremony shifts from the exalted to the erotic, too.

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