Chapter 132: Chapter 133: The Wedding vows

Elara’s POV

The council chamber was different arranged this way.

No long table of adversaries. No men shouting over each other. No clerks scribbling notes in the margins. Just the small configuration of a ceremony. Two chairs facing Corvus. A simple table with the wedding papers. A member of the Rendered standing to the side. One of Kaelen’s friends. A man I had never met before. He nodded at me. I nodded back.

The old priest stood near the window. His robes were plain. His hands were steady. He had been in the palace for longer than anyone could remember. He had seen kings and queens come and go. He had married my parents. He would marry me.

Kaelen stood beside me. His hand was in mine. His hands were warm. His face was still. But his eyes were not.

I noticed small things while the priest spoke.

The way the morning light fell across the floor. Golden. Soft. It made the dust motes dance in the air.

The scratch on the table where Petrov used to slam his hand when he was angry. I had watched him do it a hundred times. The mark had stayed. He was gone. The mark remained.

The empty chairs where Malakor and the others used to sit. They were just chairs now. Nothing more. Wood and fabric. No power. No threat. Just empty spaces where men had once tried to destroy me.

I felt nothing for them. Not anger. Not pity. Not even relief. They were gone. That was all.

I was not nervous.

I expected to be nervous. I had been nervous before council meetings. Nervous before addressing the crowd. Nervous before raising a sword to Thorn’s face. But standing here, in this chamber, with Kaelen’s hand in mine, I was not nervous.

I thought about all the versions of this I had imagined as a child.

The grand ceremony in the great hall. The thousands of people watching. The celebrations that lasted for days. The dress. The crown. The feast. The kingdom rejoicing.

None of that would have felt like this.

That version of me would have been a stranger. That version of me would have been marrying a stranger. A lord. A prince. Someone else’s choice. Someone else’s plan.

This was my choice.

I thought: I am marrying the man who was sent to kill me.

I thought: I am marrying the man who stood on platforms and told my people I was failing them.

I thought: I am marrying the man who held me on the floor last night and felt our child move for the first time.

I thought: there is no one else it could have been.

The priest finished speaking. He looked at me.

“Your vows,” he said.

I let go of Kaelen’s hand. I turned to face him.

I had written my vows myself. On paper. In my chambers. Late at night. I had folded the paper and put it in my pocket. I had planned to read from it.

I did not take it out.

“Kaelen,” I said. “I have spent my whole life doing what other people expected me to do. Being what other people expected me to be. Wearing the crown they gave me. Sitting on the throne they built. Making decisions that kept everyone else happy while I disappeared inside myself.”

His eyes were on me. Soft. Steady.

“You came to my palace to kill me. You stayed to love me. You stood on platforms and told my people the truth about their kingdom. You did not hide. You did not lie. You did not pretend to be something you were not.”

I took his hands.

“I am not the queen my father wanted. I am not the queen the council wanted. I am not the queen I thought I would be when I was a girl dreaming of grand ceremonies and happy endings.”

“I am your queen. I am your wife. I am the mother of your child. And I choose you. Not because I have to. Not because of the baby. Not because of politics or power or any of the reasons that brought us here.”

“Because you saw me. When no one else did. You saw the girl behind the crown. The woman behind the throne. The person behind the title. And you stayed.”

“I love you. I will always love you. And I will spend the rest of my life proving it.”

Kaelen was quiet for a moment. His jaw tightened. His eyes were wet.

He had no paper either.

“Elara,” he said. “I came to your palace with a knife in my hand and revenge in my heart. I stood outside your door every night and told myself that you were the enemy. That you were the reason my father was dead. That you were the reason my mother wasted away. That you were everything that was wrong with this kingdom.”

“I was wrong.”

“You were not the enemy. You were never the enemy. You were just a girl trying to survive. Trying to hold together a kingdom that was falling apart. Trying to be something no one had taught you how to be.”

“I watched you. Night after night. I watched you fight. I watched you cry. I watched you fall asleep at your desk because there was too much work and not enough time. I watched you stand in front of men who wanted to destroy you and refuse to break.”

“And I fell in love with you. Not because I wanted to. Not because it was part of the plan. Because I could not help it. Because you were you.”

“I am not the man I thought I was. I am not the revolutionary. I am not the voice. I am just a man who loves a woman. A man who will stand beside her. A man who will fight for her. A man who will protect her and her child for the rest of his life.”

“I love you. I will always love you. And I will spend the rest of my life proving it.”

The priest was quiet for a moment.

“By the authority vested in me,” he said, “by the crown and by the gods, I pronounce you husband and wife.”

He looked at Kaelen. “You may kiss her.”

Kaelen kissed me.

It was not the kiss from last night. That one had been desperate. Hungry. Full of everything we had been holding back.

This one was soft. Gentle. A promise.

When we pulled apart, his hands were on my face. His thumbs were on my cheekbones.

“Wife,” he said.

“Husband,” I said.

He smiled. It was small. Tired. But real.

The old priest shook Kaelen’s hand. His grip was firm. His eyes were sharp.

He turned to me. He looked at me for a long moment.

“Your father would have been frightened of you,” he said. “I mean that as the highest compliment.”

I did not know what to say. So I said nothing. I just nodded.

He walked away.

Corvus handed me the papers. No ceremony. Just the papers.

I signed my name.

Kaelen signed his name.

Corvus signed as witness. Kaelen’s friend signed as second witness.

It was done.

Corvus picked up the papers. He tucked them away. He looked at me. Then he looked at Kaelen.

“Congratulations,” he said. “I will leave you to… celebrate.”

He left. The priest left. Kaelen’s friend left.

We stood alone in the council chamber. The morning light fell across the floor. The scratch on the table was still there. The empty chairs were still empty.

“King consort,” I said. Testing it.

Kaelen made a face. “That sounds terrible.”

“You will get used to it.”

“Will I.”

“No,” I said. “Probably not.”

We walked out of the council chamber together. His hand was in mine. The crown was on my head. The morning light was bright through the windows.

The corridor was empty. The palace was quiet.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“To consummate our marriage.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

He laughed. It was quiet. Tired. But real.

We walked down the corridor toward my chambers. The guards bowed as we passed. The servants pressed themselves against the walls. No one met our eyes. Everyone knew what we were about to do.

Kaelen stopped walking.

“What is it?” I asked.

He looked at me. Then he looked at my stomach. Then he looked back at me.

“Elara,” he said. “You are already carrying our child. We are already… you know… we already did the thing that makes the baby.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Your point?”

“My point is… do we have to consummate? Is that not… already done?”

I laughed. It was loud. It echoed off the walls.

“We are married now,” I said. “It is traditional.”

“Traditional?”

“Very traditional. We cannot skip it. The old priest would be offended.”

“The old priest is gone.”

“Corvus would know.”

“Corvus would not know.”

“Corvus knows everything.”

Kaelen stared at me. I stared back.

“You want to consummate our marriage,” he said. “Even though I already got you pregnant weeks ago.”

“Yes.”

“And you think that is funny.”

“I think it is hilarious.”

He shook his head. But he was smiling. “You are impossible.”

“And yet you married me.”

“And yet I married you.”

We reached my chambers. I opened the door. We walked inside. The door closed behind us.

The room was exactly as we had left it. The fire was dead. The blanket was still on the floor. The crown was still on the table where I had left it.

Kaelen looked at the floor. Then he looked at the bed.

“I am not sleeping yet.” He said

“Good. Because we are not sleeping.”

He raised an eyebrow. “We are not?”

“We are consummating.”

“Right. Consummating.”

I walked to the bed. I sat down. I looked at him.

He did not move.

“Well?” I said.

“Well what?”

“Are you going to stand there all day? Or are you going to consummate this marriage?”

He laughed. Then he walked toward me.

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