The Light Within Her - Book Nine

Ch. 32- A Golden Cage

"You can romanticize me all you wish, but the devil wrapped in silk is still the devil."

***

My hand wrapped around my father's bicep as I carried a bouquet of roses in the other. The ceremony was going to be downstairs in the main entrance and as we walked closer, my heart started to beat faster and faster. All I wanted was to get today over with so I can finally escape from my own golden cage that Erebus made for me. "Sweetheart, you have been planning this for months. It will work." my father, Sebastian Breevort, whispered as we took one step at a time. "Don't doubt yourself this soon."

"There is still the doubt in my head, Dad. No matter how many times I replay the plan in my head, it is still there." I confessed.

"What do we know, Soari? Tell me the facts." he said. It was how we spoke back in my training days when I used to shake my head because I did not know what to do next. Then he would tell me what I already do know and it helped me a lot back then. Hopefully, it will still help me.

I sighed and my nails dug in his arm without meaning to, yet he did not flinch. "His love for me is an obsession to the point of weakness. The god trusts me enough to know I will not betray him. Erebus is cocky and arrogant, but cares for me most of all."

Sebastian clenched his jaw. "What else?"

"Making me into a Goddess is his plan to bind me to him forever, to force me to be with him for all eternity. He was held in a cage for thousands of years that he feared being alone more than anything. Which is why he made it his mission to find me and make me love him, even kneel for me." My father's black eyes turned to stone, his mouth open in shock. When someone powerful kneels for another, it is important in our Kingdom and we don't do it lightly. It is why I told Erebus not to kneel unless he knows for sure why he is doing it in the first place. Kneeling for me was a way to tell me his heart is mine for the taking, that I have every right to make him weak and vulnerable. That he may be strong and ruthless, his love for me is even more so and that was dangerous. It's why my father was shocked to hear about it because he was the one to kneel for my mother in front of our Kingdom. "I will have his heart in my hands and turn it into ash."

My father tightened his expression now, as though we were not talking about anything important seconds before. "I am proud of you, Soari. And when you stab him in the heart, make sure to hit him one more time for your dear old Father. That bastard god knows better than to hurt my daughter." We were so close to the aisle now and I could vaguely see my entire family turning around to stare at me. And at the end was Erebus, the god of darkness. My lover and enemy all in one. Next to him stood Selene and Achlys in black gowns like my sister and bridesmaids. "During my wedding, I was a fucking mess. But it was also the happiest day of my entire life, besides my children being born."

"Tell me you didn't cry when you saw Mom." I smiled.

His black eyes lowered into mine as his lips pulled into an unapologetic grin. "She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw and that is why I cried. To this day, I am still overwhelmed that she exists–that she loves and cares for a monster like me."

"You're not a monster, Dad. If anything, you are the hero in my story and in Mom's, too. You have been fighting for peace your whole life and now you have it. I hope one day I will have what you and Mom have. A quiet life where I don't have to worry if they love the real me or not. It seems far away now."

"It is closer than you think, my sunshine. Keep looking." he whispered finally. I wanted to tell him I already found it and it was taken away from me before it even began. He and I straightened at the sight of our family and Erebus a few feet ahead, not daring anyone to see us bothered by this situation. The people in my Kingdom told me numerous times I was so much like the great Sebastian Breevort and this is one of those instances. Stand tall, they said. And we listened until it broke our spines. Once we cross the threshold, my plan will be set into motion.

In my mother's story, a wedding was the end. Mine was just the beginning.

As we walked down the aisle side by side, I glimpsed at my family members in formal attire. My uncle Christian and his family. Uncle Jasper with his children, his wife missing from his clan. Ellie and Velia Santos. Mab and her wife. Rosalind's family is next to the two, with her father's former friends standing next to them. Then I found my grandparents standing next to each other, baring fake smiles for me. My eyes brightened at the sight of Luc and Amias Guinivere in the middle row, along with the two new guards Kerim and Vincent. Lastly, I found Lyssa de Blaire next to them. Other guards were posted around the ceremony in case anything happened. But something will happen and they already have the signal to let Moros and Verena enter.

In the front row stood my brother Aeson and mother, an empty seat left for my father when he handed me to Erebus. Finally, my eyes locked into Erebus's gray ones. So terrifying, so enticing. Helios stood tall behind him with a grin on his face–making me want to slap it out of him. And also, hug him. It was complicated. A musician was playing wedding bells and I had to grind my teeth to not snap at them to stop fucking singing. One last act and it's over.

My father and I stood in front of Erebus and he silently kissed my cheek and placed my hand in the god's hand, before silently taking a seat next to my mother. Kalama took the roses out of my other hand and carried it gently on her own while me and Erebus stood in front of each other. He was grinning ear to ear and my sunlight screamed at me to burn. To explode. Not just yet, little sun. Not just yet. It dimmered down in a whisper–not letting the god notice I was able to overpower him today of all days. Erebus wore a black suit with a tiny rose in his breast pocket while his black hair was slicked back, making him look more like a man than a fucking god of darkness. Still, my heart leaped a little at the sight of him.

"Welcome family and friends," Helios announced. "Today, two souls will join together for all eternity. One made from darkness. The other from the sun herself. If anyone objects to this marriage, speak now."

My head turned toward the crowd watching us and my eyes landed on Amias Guinevere immediately. There was a moment between us that could last forever–all the promises we made last night fresh as a daisy. The love he had for me. Since we met, he has taken me by surprise every time. And he surprised me again for standing up slowly as his own hands shook and he was breathing rapidly. Yet, I could only stare into his warm brown eyes. "Soari, do not marry him." This was not part of the plan. We did not speak about him interrupting the wedding. Every single person attending looked horrified at the two of us but were silent. Amias with his messy brown hair and lips that could comfort me in my darkest times.

Erebus tightened his grip on me and I turned my attention on him for a second before looking back at Amias. "Amias, don't. You are going to get yourself killed."

"Lianna–" Erebus warned.

"Soari, I do not care if I'm getting myself killed or not. I don't care if me standing in front of your entire family sends me to the dungeons forever. I love you," Quietly, Helios placed the ring in my hand and I took it quickly while Erebus was glaring at Amias. In my head, I gave Moros and Verena a signal that it was time. "I love you, from death to life. And I cannot stand for one second without telling you that, without even fighting for us."

I gulped, my mind in a frenzy. "You do not know what you are talking about." I said. It was the only thing that would force it out of my mouth at the moment. He was trying to save me from Erebus, I was trying to save him from an eternal cage.

Behind my back, I transformed the ring into the double edged sword with the power of my sunlight. Helios took a step back, not wanting to be any more involved in this fight as is, and Erebus shook his head slightly. "Lianna, what is going on?"

My gaze softened a little, pulling my lips into a smirk. My fingers grazed his shoulder and I leaned in close to whisper in his ear. "I love you, Erebus. But I love him more." Then I stabbed him right in the middle of his chest. Seconds later, I forced myself to stab myself with the other side and twisted until blood seeped out from our flesh.

Pain was agony, but so was these past few months.