Juliet's Surrender [Juliet's Tryst #2]

Chapter 8: Ceremony

Sasha's hands fluttered across the wedding dress fabric, not one detail missed. They were in a chamber adjoining the entrance, uncomfortably close to eachother.

"Excited for the end?" Juliet offered an olive branch. The entrance hall was completely filled with guests, a wicker chair for each. A genius team behind the decor made it look like nature had completely overtaken the expanse over the past eternity. The flowers executed a sort of violence, bursting out of the ceiling, the floor and even the wall. The story of their relationship encapsulated by decor.

Sasha would not look at her in the eye since she "dismissed" Annie. Dee must have vocally disapproved . The more time Juliet spent with others, the more she understood that Dee ruled the whole fucking world. Imagine being criticized by the most powerful being on Earth. Even the thought of seeing her like that made Juliet want to laugh. She was Dee. Dee from the bookstore, from the coffee shop, from the museum. Dee in her home, Dee in their room. Dee was... Dee.

A serenity composed her body. Her dress had echoes of cottage-core, squaring out her shoulders and neatly tying around her wait with a thick white ribbon. Her sleeves billowed out and were tied with two white ribbons at the wrist. Dee liked bows. The top layer was a liquid organza, giving her whole silhouette an ethereal shine. The second layer was a thick taffeta. The skirt was simple, flaring from waist to foot in a perfect symmetry. Her hair sat braided and tousled. How long the hair really took was now a secret of the state.

The dress was love incarnate. Oh Dee, she had cried, please do the dress. The decision fatigue  became a rabid dog biting inside her. Dee simply kissed the top of her head and said "I know, my love. It's already done."

The guests went silent. Sasha stood back, "I didn't want this to be true but you are the loveliest bride."

"Oh, stop it." Music began to play as the two women locked eyes.

"I've worked hundreds of weddings. You're the only one I know for sure is making the right decision. Your love for Dinah-- I mean Dee, it's so clear. I don't know what's going to happen to us. But it makes me feel much better seeing you."

"Thank you," she mouthed in reply. If she talked any louder, the tears would catch her.

The doors opened, and every single pair of eyes were on the left corner. From behind, she heard a "Fuck! Your bouquet!". Sasha shoved the flowers at her. The guests laughed politely. She practically skipped to the beginning of the aisle, a schoolgirl meeting her secret crush. There she stopped, surveying what seemed to be hundreds of faces, humans and Kyrions side by side. At the end of the chamber kneeled Dee, in a modified suit of Kyrion armor. It was royal blue, with pieces of metallic fabric layered decoratively down her back. She prayed to a shrine for Kyria, her head bowed. The ceremony began when she stood.

The flowers shivered. First, only a couple petals fell. Then, faces turned upward in wonder, each petal miraculously falling down to the aisle. Kyria's presence was calm and peaceful. Dee faced her bride.

Juliet let the energies invade her like a pervasive smell. Many were hopeful, others felt that this was a defeat, and still others felt only happy to be invited. A small thread of energy that smelled like blood. Deceit. Despite herself, Juliet looked around with a serene smile plastered onto her face. Their intentions to harm was a knife to her neck.

Juliet neared Dee, and saw her looking away to wipe a tear off of her face. One palm up, the bride rested her hand in the Ruler's hand.

"Friends and foes, we are gathered here to witness a historic union. The esteemed Ruler, Kyria's blood and chosen, conquerer of Earth, Dinairessin has chosen a bride," Bonirrain roared each word, and was met with celebratory shouts. "We, Kyrion-kind, are incredibly honored to enter this union. Just as Juliet is the Ruler's alara, human kind is ours- forever!"

Oh God, we ARE the baddies! She kept her focus on Dee, staring into her eyes, those kaleidoscope eyes. The room erupted into raucous cheering from Kyrion voices.

"For the humans in the room, I do apologize. It is the nature of a Kyrion to talk in such disrespectful terms, for they sound respectful to us. We have a long history of melding with the civilizations we conquer, but none has been as advantageous. We solved many human problems. We can begin to sow the seeds of a prosperous relationship here, in a chance meeting of two very unlikely characters. What was Juliet to Dee that fateful night they convened at the bookstore? A beacon of a future, where there was despair. For that, humanity, we will never be able to repay you. You give us Juliet, and in return we give you Kyria!"

The castle doors burst open and a magnificent two-headed bird flew in. Its feathers were a mix of white and blue, and it had a wingspan of what Juliet guessed to be a velociraptor.

"A marvelous gift from Kyria." The Ruler's voice dripped with power. For a moment, she forgot the abject embarrassment at Bonirrain's speech. In Kyria's presence, Dee seemed to expand. Not physically, but there was an energetic shimmer, like watching water rejoin the reservoir at the bottom of a waterfall. "This union is blessed by our goddess!"

All dissent vanished into reverence among the attendees.

"Dee, in the presence of our Goddess, do you take Juliet as your wife, your alara, your ambition, your conquest?"

Dee stared at Juliet, the one who trusted a vicious conqueror, the one who loved that which took everything from her. A fact stronger than any sort of true love for a Kyrion

"I do," she said.

"Juliet, in the presence of our Goddess, do you take Dinairessin as your alara, your ambition, your conquerer?"

"I do."

"And, do you pledge, as the wife of our Ruler and therefore a Ruler yourself, to do right by all peoples, Kyrion, human or others?"

For once, that familiar fear stayed down.

"I pledge to do right by all," she smiled in response to Dee's absolute pride.

"You may now, kiss."

The wedding kiss was like being plunged under a waterfall. If they didn't hold on, they would be pushed under in more ways than one. Kyria's words of "chaos" and "randomness" were lies. This was an inevitable. Together, they were powerful. 

Author's Note: Juliet has no idea what the size of a velociraptor is, but it was a huge dinosaur sized bird. A little bit larger than a veloci, actually.