Page 42 of The Chains You Defy

To stop my thoughts from spiraling, I directed my attention to the ornate box in my hand. The small container was a masterpiece in itself, carved from a wood whose light red hue sparked my suspicion that the piece was a Galantan craft, since trees of such a color didn’t exist in Ivreia. My fingers trembled slightly as I lifted the elaborate lid and peered into the chest. My eyes narrowed, and all the progress I’d made in softening toward Dion vanished into thin air. “Princeling—”

“No, hear me out. This isn’t what you think.”

“Looks like jewelry to me. The kind I despise.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“Not much room for a misunderstanding here.”

“But how can you dislike something you simply misinterpret?”

“Then enlighten me.”

Dion placed his ass—his perfectly sculpted ass, godsdammit—on the table across the chaise. “After the Rite of Binding, it’s customary to wear jewelry to cover up the divine marks because they are considered something immensely intimate that you don’t allow just anyone to see. Since I wouldn’t want us to wear the set symbolizing our sham marriage, I went into the ruins of the Galantan royal residence in Amalach to retrieve this. Mygrandfather had always kept some parts of the crown jewels there, and luckily, what I searched for had still remained where the treasure had been left. Most of my grandfather’s riches are incredibly gaudy, but knowing you, you’d go for something not too flashy. If you want my opinion, this will suit you very well, provided you’re willing to wear the neck cuff. If not, a scarf or a piece of cloth would also be acceptable, as long as you cover the mark.”

Dragging my glare back from Dion to the golden choker lying on a bed of dark green velvety fabric, my vision blurred for a moment—I was spiraling.

The matching bracelet was nestled in the middle of the larger circular piece. In the back of my brain, I vaguely remembered that Dion had once mentioned that we humans had modeled our wedding jewelry after the Galantan tradition to hide the divine patterns of bonded Wielder and Amplifier under finery, and admittedly, I preferred this old fae custom over the Ivreian matrimony laws. The meaning between the two acts couldn’t be more different. One protected something special that no one had the right to see, and the other was a blatant display of possession.

As I pondered about similarities and differences, my gaze was caught by a round pendant dangling from the choker, and I couldn’t stop myself from brushing the pads of my fingers over the six sparkling stones encased in gold.

“There are rumors that these gems had been a present from each of the six ancient fae tribes to an ancestor of my family long before I was born. Our family chronicle mentions how finishing crafting these took almost ten winters, as my forefather was hard to satisfy. He neverfound an Amplifier, though, nor did those coming after him, so the set has never been used before.”

“According to your chronicle.”

“Yes, and I tend to believe that this is the truth. As you can see here, the middle of the pendant has a slight indentation, an empty socket for a seventh stone. In your case, a black jewel should be added since you’re a darkness Amplifier. The other six gems symbolize all the magical elements, which is quite fitting, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Because I carry all predispositions.”

Dion’s fingers joined mine as he nodded, tracing the precious stones before settling his hand on mine. “I haven’t managed to find a gem worthy of you yet, but I plan to redeem that as soon as possible.”

“It’s gorgeous.” Nothing but the truth. And the closer I inspected the beautiful gemstones, the more I perceived. The red one glowed and burned with an inner fire, the blue precious stone flowed at the slightest movement as if liquid were trapped inside, the green shifted its hue with the tiniest change of angle, the yellow gem appeared to contain a miniature tempest, the white one radiated brightness, and the black jewel was darker than everything I’d ever seen before.

“Would you grant me the honor of wearing my gift?”

Without an ounce of hesitation, I nodded. The prince had been correct when he’d confronted me about letting my prejudices get in the way of what felt right.

Faster than I could blink, Dion had picked up the golden choker and held the treasure in his hand. Despite all the differences between the customs, my throat tightened for a moment as I remembered the last timehe’d attached a cuff around my neck months ago, before traveling to Marsia.

From the expression in his eyes, the fae recalled the same. When he reached over to brush my hair to the side, a trickle of wrongness creeping down my spine made me quiver, and Dion halted his approach.

“Bad memories?”

“No. No, nothing like that. But you—you’re all wrong.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Your face.”

“What is wrong with my face now? You've never complained before.” How he touched his cheek in confusion made him appear younger, almost boyish.

“Maybe I’m pedantic, but when you wear that mask—”

Dion’s eyes widened as he finally realized what I’d been trying to convey to him. “Oh. You mean my Glamour? Well, I figured you would be more relaxed if you had time to get used to the thought of me being fae without reality being rubbed in your face the whole time.”

Yes, I was more comfortable with his human appearance at the moment. He was right, but my sensitivities didn’t matter now. This was about customs, something that, according to my friends, fae took seriously, and since the rite had wanted him to wear his real face, we’d better obey the same rules in this extension of the ceremony.

Instead of waiting for my answer, Dion changed in front of me. Gray eyes transformed into sparkling amethyst ones as the human man turned into the fae male, who still made me uneasy.