The Touch of Salvation

41: Coronation

GOLIATH

She's in a pale yellow wedding dress that hugs her curves with a lace cape that hangs from her shoulders. The entire gown is bejeweled and styled to her whimsical yet sexy tastes. There's a long slit that runs up her thigh and stops right in the middle. The sight of her bare skin underneath nearly brings me to my knees.

The sight of her in her perfectly crafted crown and a small, priceless smile on her face does. I lower myself before her as she walks into the styling parlor. She comes to me, her hands cupping my face as she stands before me in the gown where she would become my wife. Her hair is delicately folded into a bun with decorative hair fashions and stands of wild yellow hair falling down her face. She's breathtaking.

She smells like sunflowers and sunlight, and the ring I made for her on her middle finger. I take her hand in mine and kiss her knuckles. She's smiling as she asks: "are you ready to become a Regent?"

The answer falls from my lips with an absolute affirmation. She kneels with me and moves her hands to my shoulders. I can practically taste her nerves as her eyes shift back and forth between my eyes and the mirror behind me.

"If you want to wait, we-"

"Oh, no no," she says emphatically. "I do. I really do. But I just...I did a thing."

"What thing?"

"Please don't be mad at me," she says. I think she's insane that she believes I could ever be. I nod anyway and then I hear footsteps down the hall, followed by a shadow, and that shadow whispers to me a name. A scent invades my senses.

Demise.

Demise.

Another pair of footsteps. Another shadow. Another scent.

And then...another scent.

My eyes shift to my mate who looks guilty. "They're your friends."

"They hurt you."

"Ophir did, never forget the man that actually put his hands on me. Demise had been used. Manipulated by a Regent...and then he helped rescue me. He helped you and he kept the secret of my rescue until I was fit to return to duty. They're your friends," she repeats. "They should be there when you take your oath."

They appear as regal and genuine as ever. Demise is in a tunic and slacks with a yellow scarf, and Grace wears a yellow, less ornate gown than Adalind's. She's smiling and Demise is weary, holding her to his side. My eyes lower to the pup in her arms. The baby is fast asleep in a yellow blanket.

"Goliath!" Grace says enthusiastically. "You look...different," she says and then she sighs. "Happy - you look happy."

"Our lives are already so filled with hatred and anger," my mate says to me, unbothered by their presence. She invited them, I realize. "I am sick of it. We can be together and you can have your best friends."

Looking into her sunlit eyes, I believe her and nod. I stand and help her stand as well. She looks at me and then turns to the guests. She plasters on that genteel smile and I know she's faking comfort. Kissing my cheek, she says, "I'll see you soon."

"Daylight," I call out. She stops in her tracks to turn to me. Again, I am breathless, but I muster enough air to say: "thank you."

As she leaves, Grace hands the pup to Demise and runs to me, encircling her arms around my shoulders. I relish her hug and realize just how much I have missed her. Her feet lift off the ground as we hug and I can hear her carefree laugh in my ear.

She looks healthier than she once was. Stronger. Larger. Maybe even slightly taller. Her hair has grown in curls and buoyancy and her skin has darkened into a similar shade of Adalind. Her eyes are now green, greener than the leaves on the trees outside. She's happy. She's so happy.