Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Wedding Vows and Kiss *

Orvyn produced a small, ancient book from within his robes.

“We will begin with human custom. The Dragon Breeding ritual will be held afterwards.”

He looked at Adonis.

“My King, you’re the groom, and the man two women seeking eternal protection from. You should speak first.”

Adonis didn’t respond for a moment.

He was not a man who struggled to find words. In two lifetimes he had written many words, spoken with kings and enemies and people he loved and people he intended to destroy, and in none of those situations had words failed to arrive when he reached for them.

This was different.

He looked at Mariana first.

She was watching him with those amorous eyes.

Their gazes connected as he spoke directly to her:

“Maria, you disguised yourself as a boy to stay close to me. You renounced your name and your kingdom and stood in a room full of ancient dragons and told them no with a conviction that made several of them step backward.”

“You got a spear through your chest and your first concern when you woke up was whether I was alright.”

Hearing this, her chin wobbled slightly. Nevertheless, she refused to break today..

He continued on,

“I did not deserve any of that. Not at first. But I intend to spend whatever time I have earning it properly. You are the 2nd person in this life who chose me without conditions and without calculation. Just me.”

He paused, then added:

“I will not forget that. Not in this life, and not in whatever comes after it.”

Mariana made the sound of someone who had been holding something together with considerable effort and has just felt the first crack appear.

“You are not allowed to say things like that in front of people,” she said, barely holding her crying.

“I just did,” he replied.

She laughed, a short wet sound that was crying wearing a laugh’s clothing, and pressed the back of her hand briefly to her eyes.

From his robes, he pulled a special purple ring, then slid into Maria’s finger.

“It’s beautiful, husband. I will cherish it my whole life.”

Next, he turned to Sapphira.

She was watching him with those fathomless sapphire eyes, composed and still, giving nothing away on the surface.

“I knew nothing about you. But you flew across two seas to pull me out of a crater.

You told a king and his assembled powerhouses that I was under your protection, alone, without hesitation, when every rational calculation of risk and political consequence argued against it.”

Her Sapphire blue gaze simmered with affection.

“You offered yourself as a concubine to spare Mariana’s feelings, which was either extraordinarily generous or extraordinarily strategic and I suspect it was both simultaneously.”

The corner of her mouth moved.

“You have given me your people, your land, your name, and your future.

I do not take any of that as a given. Not the dragon race’s faith, not your personal sacrifice, and not you.”

I will be worthy of all three. That is not a promise I make lightly. I do not make promises lightly.”

With that he placed another wedding ring into her long finger.

“I believe you, My King,” she said, kissing the ring with love and sincerity.

Orvyn cleared his throat gently.

“The brides may speak now.”

Mariana went first. She had clearly prepared something.

“I have been in love with you since before you knew I existed,” she said with naked honesty.

“I know that is embarrassing. I do not care anymore.

You are infuriating. You are reckless. You collect catastrophic situations the way other people collect debts. You made me cry for two days and then sat outside my door on a stone floor in the cold until I opened it.

I did not think people like you actually existed. I looked for you in every story I was ever told and never found you, and then you appeared in my life as an illegitimate nobody with a smart mouth and a sword that laughs at inappropriate moments and somehow you were exactly what I had been looking for the entire time.”

She glanced briefly at Sapphira beside her.

“I am still working on the other parts. But I am working on them.”

Sapphira looked at her, understanding.

“As am I,” she said quietly.

Mariana nodded once, then took his left ring finger and slipped his wedding ring, bring silver in colour.

Next, Sapphira turned to face Adonis fully, and the whole race moved their ears to hear her clearly.

“I have been Queen of the Dragon Kingdom for longer than most human kingdoms have existed.

I have made decisions that determined the survival or ending of bloodlines. I have negotiated with gods and outlasted empires. I have carried this race on my back through its darkest centuries and I have never once asked for help because there was no one to ask.”

She paused.

“And then a bloodstained 18 year old boy attracted me from two seas way. This is honestly embarrassing to admit.”

A murmur moved through the crowd that was somewhere between laughter and reverence.

“I did not choose this just because of this attraction, I also chose for my race. I chose their survival and their future. That is what I told myself.”

She looked into his gold eyes with her sapphire ones.

“But I am 400 years old, Adonis Kingsbane. I have learned to be honest with myself about my own motivations.”

I chose you as well. Not only for them. For reasons I have not yet finished understanding.”

The mountain air moved through the valley in a slow, cool current.

Adonis nodded as she continued in a solemn tone,

“I do not make vows easily either. In four 400 years I have made very few and broken none. So understand the significance of this one.”

She confessed,

“I will stand beside you. Not behind you, not in front of you. Beside you. As your Queen, as your wife, and as the person who will tell you clearly and without softening it when you are wrong. Because you will occasionally be wrong.”

Adonis smiled,

“Maybe.”

Sapphira pulled her ocean blue ring and slipped it into his left ring finger.

Adonis looked at his two wedding rings and smiled.

He feared his ten fingers would be full of wedding rings.

Orvyn looked between the three of them with the serenely satisfied expression of someone watching something arrive exactly where they calculated it would.

He closed the ancient book.

“I have officiated many ceremonies. In my considered opinion, the vows are concluded.”

He looked out at the assembled thousands.

“Does anyone present wish to object?”

Ten thousand dragons looked back at him.

But, not one of them made a sound.

“Excellent,” Orvyn clapped. “Then by the old covenant of the Dragon Kingdom, by the human custom of the western kingdoms, and by the witness of everyone standing on this grass beneath these mountains today, they are now husband and wives.”

He gaze moved to Adonis.

“According to human custom, my king, you may now kiss your brides.”

Adonis hesitated, thinking about whom he should kiss first. It was then that Sapphira signaled with her eyes toward Mariana, just like an older sister would.

Seeing this, he felt relief. His impression of the Dragon Queen also increased considerably.

He went for Mariana first. The kiss was light at first, but then she pushed her tongue out, sliding it inside his mouth.

The kiss soon turned wet and sensual, and everyone watching felt their faces burn.

After thirty seconds, Adonis forcefully broke it, mindful of the wedding ceremony. If he had left it in that succubus’s hands, she would have never let go.

Mariana, feeling the connection break, was momentarily at a loss. But soon she showed a mature smile, surprising Claudia.

“The Princess is growing up,” Claudia thought.

Next was Sapphira’s turn.

Her sapphire blue eyes simmered like a calm lake as she waited for him to make a move.

Her mature, tantalizing red lips were slightly parted as if readying herself for this moment.

Adonis was a little apprehensive as they had only known each other for a few days. But he also was not the type to show rejection toward such a tempting invitation.

Sapphira was beautiful and captivating. It would be a loss to simply give it away.

And thus, he placed his firm hands on her shoulders, feeling the strong yet soft muscle beneath his palms.

Slowly, he pulled her closer, their lips closing in with quiet, electric intensity.

The thousands watching felt their hearts leap out of their chests.

They waited with bated breath to witness the kiss of their King and Queen.

Sapphira watched with calm eyes until he domineeringly began pulling her toward him.

Her heart started beating faster as his lips crept dangerously close to hers.

She closed her eyes.

Peck!

Adonis finally planted his lips upon hers, instantly feeling the soft texture of her lips.

The feeling of kissing a Dragon Queen, someone far above him in terms of power, was heavenly and deeply satisfying to his male ego.

Soon, he started pushing his tongue inside her mouth, just as Mariana had done to him.

Feeling the foreign hot tongue against her teeth, she resisted at first.

But soon that resistance gave way to her curiosity and desire to explore the unknown.

As a virgin of four centuries, she was clearly inexperienced.

The moment her pink wet tongue touched his forceful one, a jolt of electricity ran through her body.

She tried to retreat, but his hands held her firmly in place, as if telling her not to act like a child.

As his tongue explored her sweet mouth and drank her taste while pouring his warmth in return, she started squirming.

Her body began to shake.

She had never felt anything like this before.

There was also a sudden tingling sensation between her legs.

Even as a virgin, she understood what this physical reaction meant.

Her body was ready to mate. And this had never happened before.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep