Page 22 of The Stolen Bride (Kings of Fury #2)

Wedding Bells and Battlecries: When Cake and Combat Mix

–HOW TO TRAIN YOUR BERSERKER

By Elizabeth “Elle” Darcy-Bruce

I awoke the next morning, expecting to be cuddled in Viktor’s arms. Sunlight streamed in through the lacy curtains covering the floor to ceiling windows of our suite, but he wasn’t anywhere nearby.

Disappointment struck. At least I could hold his words close.

The world will end, but our love and peace will endure.

Tomorrow had officially become today! My fiancé must be overseeing final details for our wedding.

A note waited on his pillow. Grinning, I snatched it up and read.

I will give you time to enjoy your sister. After the ceremony, we won’t be leaving our bed for weeks.

What a darling man. And sexy!

Barely able to contain my excitement, I raced to my sister’s room. She slept, but I shook her awake. “I’m getting married today! Up, up, up!”

She groaned as she opened her eyes. “Are you always Miss Chipper Morning Sunshine? Let me fetch a gallon of coffee or you can expect nothing but complaints from me.”

I wrinkled my nose. The one subject we disagreed on. “Fine. Get your motor oil. But bring me back a kifli. And some biscuits and gravy. Also, add rantotta, szalonna, some kind of sweet pastry and kefir.” My bottomless stomach had more demands than ever.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she muttered, lumbering to her feet. She was a total grouch in the morning, and for some reason, I adored that about her. “By the way, I can totally feel Viktor’s energy radiating from your body, and it’s as freaky as it is savage. If I don’t get marked one day, I will revolt.”

I giggled as she exited, yes giggled. Unable to sit still, I returned to my private bathroom to shower. My excitement amplified with every minute that passed. After I dried off and donned a robe, I returned to Juniper’s room. She arrived soon after with food. We ate and drank and laughed, then prepared for my big day.

Juniper applied my makeup and curled my hair, then helped me into my wedding dress. A masterpiece so elegant, I couldn't believe a seamstress had created it overnight, without taking any measurements. Embroidery in subtle golden hues adorned a fitted bodice. The full-length skirt flowed to the floor, the train a full five feet long, and it too possessed golden hues.

She teared up as she looked me over. “You are the most beautiful, amazing woman in the world, and I’m so glad you’re in my life now.”

Before I teared up too and ruined my face spackle, I hugged her close. “I’m so glad, too. ”

I felt as if I’d waited for this moment my entire life. Never had I experienced such contentment. Such satisfaction. I had won the love of my life, forged a relationship with my twin, and defeated the enemy, who just happened to be our mother. Normally, a girl’s mom helped in times like this.

My shoulders slumped.

As if she’d read my mind, Juniper reached over and hugged me. “Valkara is nothing to us.”

Yes, today was a day for putting the past in the past and walking into my future. And Valkara was definitely in my past. But I wanted her to know I saw her vision of doom for what it was. A lie meant to manipulate me. “Let’s go see her, one last time.”

If any staff and guests thought it odd to spot a bride in full regalia gallivanting down the steps toward the dungeon of Turálvár Kastély, no one said a word.

Juniper chuckled. “Told you. You can’t do anything wrong in the eyes of the turul kingdom. If you decreed every day to be Broadway musical day, the people would learn how to choreograph, guaranteed.”

Lights triggered by our motion illuminated the corridor that led to the dungeon. Cameras followed our every move. Foreboding hung heavy in the air. Considering the time I’d spent behind iron bars in Deco’s fortress, I was chilled to the bone in seconds.

Two armed guards with grim expressions reluctantly stepped aside after giving each other an oh-no look. What in the world?

We quickened our steps. An unexpected flurry of activity greeted us as we passed them, entering the other side. A handful of soldiers scurried about in a constant state of motion. Searching for something? Swinging my gaze to the left, I gasped when I spotted my mother’s cell. Empty.

“Explain,” I demanded of someone. Everyone.

Commander Tabor stepped from a cluster of warriors examining a set of bars, his handsome features fixed in a blank mask. “She escaped this morning.”

My blood curdled. “Does Viktor know?”

“He does.”

Wait. He knew, and he hadn’t told me? We’d have to have a talk about sharing info right away.

Where was she? How had she done this?

“Deco’s still here, though, right?” Juniper picked up her skirt and dashed toward the iron bars. She huffed with relief as I came up beside her. The shifter king still slept on his cot.

I returned my gaze to the slightly rumpled blanket where my mother had once slumbered, the chains open and empty on the ground. “Why did no one tell me?” I demanded.

“No one wished to ruin your special day,” Tabor said. “But we are also forbidden from lying to you or refusing to give you whatever you seek.”

Well, that was something, at least.

The commander gestured toward the entrance. “Come. I’ll escort you to the traveling stones. The time has come.”

I motioned to the empty cell. “Shouldn’t we postpone and, well, do something?”

He shook his head, beseeching me with his gaze. “The people need this ceremony. We are excited to cement you as our queen. Citizens have dreamed of this for centuries. Don’t take it from them.”

Well. I swallowed past the lump in my throat and stepped forward, with Juniper at my side. We peppered Tabor with questions about the investigation as he guided us out of the dungeon, through the castle, and to the round driveway, where he stopped in front of a large glass carriage.

“Seriously?” Juniper chuckled. “My sister is Cinderella.”

“Only your sister and members of the Ten will be witness to your vows,” Tabor explained. “This way, your new subjects can see you in your finery as you head toward the traveling stones.”

Sunshine bathed me as I settled inside the vehicle beside my grinning sister. The commander mounted a horse. Not one of the beauties pulling the carriage, but a black and white stallion. We eased into motion, and he remained at our left.

As he predicted, thousands of people lined the cobblestone road to wave and throw flower petals as we passed.

Juniper practically jumped on her cushioned seat, joining in the revelry. “You’re the one they’ve come to see. Give them a show.”

Commander Tabor’s words echoed. We are excited to cement you as our queen. Very well. I threw myself into my new role, waving and smiling, thrilled to include these people who wished me well on my happy day.

“Do all royal weddings take place at the traveling stones?” Juniper asked.

Did her adoptive parents not explain, even hiding truthful information in fairytales, as my mother had done? “Each house is different, but all royals must meet a peer’s firebrand and that firebrand must prove capable of calming the royal’s beast. The only requirement is that each meeting take place on neutral territory. Hence, the traveling stones.”

Her features scrunched up with confusion. “How do you prove you’re Viktor’s firebrand?”

That, I didn’t know. I glanced Tabor’s way.

From his perch on the horse, he told us, “All but two royals remain in their doorways and consume gelu root to deaden their emotions. The groom and the royal best able to rouse his temper. Rage then sparks between the two, and a fight follows. If the groom doesn’t erupt in a berserkerage, the union is accepted. But that isn’t what’s happening here. Viktor is an original. His chosen is already accepted. The royals serve as witnesses for the union only.”

My spine straightened, and I knew I projected a queenly air. “I’m okay with that.” With my mother on the loose, I wanted my man battle ready, not in recovery mode.

We passed through the barbican gates, and the horses picked up speed. Juniper and I chatted until fog settled over the land. We were close.

Nervousness overtook me the second we halted. The time had come!

The commander helped both me and Juniper exit the carriage, and the three of us aimed for a circle of large black stones. Not the stones we’d used to enter Deco’s world, but bigger and more menacing.

Tabor stopped at the threshold and motioned us on, not speaking.

I didn’t speak, either, the moment thick with anticipation. Arm in arm with Juniper, I walked forward. The fog parted, revealing eight males and two females standing in the stone doorways. Though one of those women occupied a spot with a black-haired blue-eyed hottie in a kilt.

They must be the other royals, since Malachi stood among them. But oh, wow, I had never seen a more ferocious bunch of people. Aggression seeped from their pores. Especially the woman who stood alone. A tendril of smoke curled from her nostrils. Embers flickered behind her, each momentarily displaying an outline of wings.

A weird mix of anger and gratefulness sparked as I focused on Malachi. He was the one who’d started me on this journey. But where was Viktor?

Juniper and I marched to the king of griffins, already irritated by all his gorgeousness and Hollywood charm.

“Hello, ladies,” he said with an unrepentant grin.

Juniper pointed a finger at him. “I owe you big time.”

I glared at him. “Yeah! What she said.”

“I agree,” he said, perfectly at ease. “You both owe me. I introduced you to each other and your firebrands.”

My hands fisted. “Juniper hasn’t met her firebrand yet probably.” Don’t be Deco. Anyone but Deco! “But don’t play the innocent. You instructed me to turn Viktor evil, knowing he’d have to kill me to lock in his primordial form.”

Malachi lifted his arms in innocence, projecting, who me?

“That’s the worst acting I’ve seen since your last movie,” I snipped.

“Ouch,” he said, though he remained unoffended. “I knew the Valkara plotted something awful against the primordials. I also knew a woman from the House of Griffin would see right through her and overcome for us all. I played my part. Expertly, I might add. You believed me.”

“Hmph.” Maybe he’d told the truth, maybe not. But I’d let it go because this was the happiest day of my life (so far), and he had, in fact, introduced me to my firebrand.

The beauty with Mr. Kilt raised her hand, as if seeking permission to speak. Long brown hair flowed over an elegant shoulder. “I’m Elle,” she announced with an American accent. “This guy’s wife.” She hiked her thumb at Mr. Kilt. “I’d like to officially welcome you into the wonderful world of berserkers.”

“I’m Clover.”

“I’m Juniper.”

“Let’s do tea and cookies after my honeymoon,” I said. “And pancakes. And sausage patties.” Now where was Viktor?” No way he’d changed his mind, as Benjamin had.

“I’m here,” his familiar voice called as he stepped from the only open stone doorway, seeming to appear out of thin air. “I wished to recapture your mother and offer her as a gift to you. Alas.”

My knees went weak at the sight of him. Where once his white hair stood out in spikes, it now hung in soft waves that invited my fingers to touch.

His once wild eyes devoured me, taking in my gown, and he went predator-still. He looked me over a second time, slowly, savoring. Instead of displaying a face frozen in rage, he smiled, sending shivers over my spine.

I kissed my twin’s cheek and rushed to him. He caught me with strong, steady arms and kissed the air from my lungs.

“You’ll agree to take him as your own, then, I assume,” Malachi piped up with a dry tone.

With a growl, Viktor wrenched his face from mine. He didn’t glare at the other king for daring to interrupt, as I expected, but stared down at me. “Well? Do you?”

“Yes, I take you as my own,” I called with a laugh to one and all. “And if you or anyone ever threatens Viktor Endris again, I’ll destroy you, super-villain style.”

“We both will,” Juniper said, chin high. She cracked her knuckles before waving her fingers. “These little babies can do damage.”

The griffin king held up his hands in a gesture of innocence.

“I take Clover as mine and accept responsibility for the world’s worst mother-in-law,” Viktor announced, still staring down at me. He flashed me a grin. “And now, by decree of the King of the House of Turul, we are wed. This has been witnessed. Everyone go home.” He swept me into his arms. Without another word, he carried me from the crowd.

I grinned up at him. “We’re going to get a happily ever after, aren’t we?”

“Love, I won’t settle for anything less. But first, I’m going to give you many— many —happy endings.” He winked at me and shouldered his way into our bedroom.

The Fire Bride–Coming Soon

Book 3 in the Kings of Fury Series