Page 99 of Stolen Threadwitch Bride
She led me to the next door along the hall—to what was nowourroom. Pausing, she took my other hand and squeezed, raising her eyebrows. “Ready?”
Heart skipping, I nodded. “Very.”
This time there was no trace of dimness when she smiled, only warmth. “I’m so happy for you, Ari.” She kissed my hand, opened the door, and led me inside.
After so many weeks, I knew this room well, but I’d never seen it like this. The curtains were drawn and candles blazed on every surface. In all my months in Elfhame, I’d never seen a single candle. The flickering light made me smile, something homely in it.
Then my seeking gaze reached the bed, its canopy decorated with yew and oak boughs, as well as waxy white lilacs, matching the sprig in my hair.
The delicate, perfumed flavour of elderflowers curled around my tongue—the boughs were fromtheyew tree. That wasn’t an offering given lightly, and the idea filled my throat with a lump.
One you’re worthy of. That’s what Ly would say. Something I wouldn’t have believed not so long ago, but… I touched the pendant hanging between my breasts. I could believe it now. Ly was here to offer himself to me in this final, eternal way, and he brought such a precious offering because Iwasenough.
And there he was.
Never mind leaping or skipping, I think my heart stopped.
Standing at the foot of the bed, in low conversation with Boyd, my husband, my beloved, my night. He wore a black shirt of the lightest cotton lawn and plain trousers. The candlelight licked at the contours of his face and brought fire to the violet-blue gleam of his hair.
My thumb rubbed against my fingertips, aching to trace the outlines that I loved so much, that I’d memorised.
Like me, he was barefoot. And that little detail, so comfortable, so intimate, tugged on my chest and the lump in my throat.
Boyd spotted me, eyebrows rising. With a half-smile he nudged Ly and nodded towards us.
Ly turned and his lips parted the moment his gaze landed on me. He drank me in head to toe, and his throat rose and fell in a slow swallow.
That look—it was a wonder it didn’t strip the robe from my shoulders. My pulse jumped at my throat, my belly, my inner thighs, and deep, deep within.
Sylvie had advised me well—clothes that were quick to remove.
Somehow, my feet weren’t as dumbstruck as the rest of me—a moment later, they’d crossed the room, and Sylvie and I stood before Ly and Boyd.
Biting his lip, Ly gave me a smile, both reassurance and heat in his eyes.
With a fluttering breath out, I smiled back.
“Are we ready?” Boyd raised one eyebrow at Sylvie, as though realising he wasn’t going to get much sense out of Ly or me.
“It certainly looks like it.” A chuckle bubbled through Sylvie’s words. She cleared her throat and tugged on my hand with both hers, yanking my attention from Ly. No amusement remained on her face.
This was a sacred ritual, one whose effects would last the rest of our lives. Ly had told me it wasn’t something taken lightly.
With a long breath, I smoothed my expression, ready to begin.
“Ariadne”—she nodded, holding my gaze—“do you come to the bonding freely, willingly, and wholeheartedly?”
I squeezed her hands and nodded. “Freely, willingly, and wholeheartedly, Ido.”
She released me and we faced the men.
Boyd gripped Ly’s shoulder, expression also grave. “Lysander, do you come to the bonding freely, willingly, and wholeheartedly?”
Ly inclined his head. “Freely, willingly, and wholeheartedly, I absolutely do.”
“Then, be bonded,” Sylvie and Boyd said in unison, placing my hands into Ly’s.
I sucked in a soft breath as his warmth suffused me, so missed over this past day and night. He held my gaze, mouth twitching like he was suppressing a smile. His eyes gleamed, as dark and bright as the night sky on a new moon, and he ran his thumbs over my knuckles.
