Filed To Story: Spit or Swallow: Kiss Of The Basilisk
“I can do this,” Tem said.
Both men stared at her.
“You can do anything, Tem,” Caspen said quietly. “Of that I am certain.”
The gentle clinking of a glass broke the moment.
Maximus was standing on the edge of the stage, facing the aisle. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, his voice floating over the crowd. “It is time.”
Without another word, Caspen disappeared.
Tem looked at Leo.
She was immediately struck by the peaceful expression on his face. Was it possible that he felt freedom in this moment? For him, defying his father was his greatest wish. He was happy to be here with her-marrying her. For Leo, the limited time he had with Tem began today. And she knew he had no intention of wasting it.
Leo leaned in.
The rest of the world disappeared as he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Tem lost herself in their kiss, pretending that nothing was remotely wrong, pretending that this was simply her joyous wedding day. She focused on Leo’s cologne, on the way he smelled like summer. She’d always loved that smell.
The crowd was filing into their seats.
Leo led Tem to the end of the aisle, where her mother was already waiting for her in a dress made of silk.
“You look beautiful,” Tem told her.
“As do you, my dear.”
Leo extended his hand. Tem’s mother took it.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said graciously. “You raised an exceptional daughter.”
Tem’s mother blushed. It was her first time experiencing Leo’s uncanny ability to say exactly the right thing, and it was something Tem was sure nobody had ever told her before. The words were even sweeter given the fact that her mother had raised her alone.
“Thank you,” her mother said, her eyes wide. “You are too kind.”
Leo smiled.
“Kindness is not my specialty, I’m afraid. But I intend to practice it every day with Tem.” He released her mother’s hand, leaning down to give Tem one more kiss. “See you up there,” he whispered against her lips.
Tem didn’t reply. She watched him walk down the aisle, his blond hair gleaming in the early moonlight.
Her mother touched her arm. “I can understand why you love them both.”
For the first time that evening, Tem smiled.
Then her mother said, “Are you ready, my dear?”
Tem took a deep breath.
The time had come to do what she was always meant to do-to become who she was always meant to become.
“Yes.”
The crowd turned to look at them as the harpist began to play. Nerves threatened to overtake her as her mother’s arm linked in hers and they walked down the aisle together. Tem searched desperately for something to focus on, and her eyes found Leo. He was standing in the center of the stage, his hands clasped behind his back, watching her.
Tears gleamed in his eyes.
His sincerity touched her. There were far worse things, Tem realized, than to be loved by two people. She had no desire to live an ordinary life-a life devoid of passion and challenge and truth. She had always been destined for more. Her path may not have been a conventional one, but it was hers, and she wouldn’t trade it for anyone else’s.
Tem parted ways with her mother at the base of the stage, taking the steps up onto the platform alone. When Leo extended his hand, Tem took it, standing so they were facing each other. Maximus stood between them, and although she could feel him glaring at her, Tem ignored him. Instead, she looked out over the audience.
There was Gabriel, with the caterers. He winked at her when their eyes met. There was Vera, seated next to the other girls who had been eliminated. Her arms were crossed, her nose scrunched in displeasure. The basilisks stood at the edge of the clearing. There were fourteen total, one for each girl who had participated in the competition, and then Bastian. Rowe and Caspen stood beside each other, their shoulders six pointed inches apart.
Tem touched the golden claw around her neck. The moment she did so, Caspen’s gaze flicked to hers. She saw an eternity in those eyes.
“Honored guests,” Maximus said, drawing her attention back to the stage. “We are gathered here today to witness a union.”
Leo’s fingers wove into hers.
“My son has chosen his bride from a selection of the finest women this kingdom has to offer.” Maximus turned to Leo. “I pray you may find happiness in each other, and it is my honor to wed you here today.”
His speech was as bare as could be. There was no emotion behind it-no love. Maximus spoke as if he were reciting a list of ingredients. He turned to Tem.
She dearly hoped he wouldn’t be the second king to betray her tonight.
“Temperance,” he said, his cold eyes boring into hers. “Do you take my son to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, until death do you part?”
Tem looked at Leo. Was it her imagination, or had he flinched at the “forsaking all others” part?
“I do,” she said.
Maximus turned to Leo. “Thelonius. Do you take Temperance to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, until death do you part?”
Leo smiled widely, looking at Tem as if she were a flower in a field of ashes. “I do.”
“Very well,” Maximus said. “I pronounce you husband and wife.”
The words sounded bitter on his tongue. And why wouldn’t they be? Maximus did not approve of Tem. He did not want Leo to be king. Nothing that was happening right now was even remotely in his favor, and Tem could relate to his disappointment. She felt the same toward Bastian.
“You may now kiss your bride.”
Leo’s lips were on hers before Maximus could finish his sentence.
The crowd cheered, although Tem barely heard them. She only felt Leo’s hands pulling her closer, his entire body pressing against hers. Every ounce of longing he had harbored for her spilled into his kiss, enveloping Tem in an insistent rush. He kissed her deeply, for far longer than was appropriate. And she let him.
When they pulled apart, the crowd cheered. It was deafening.
“Kora,” Tem whispered. She never would have expected such a response to her nuptials.
Leo only held her tighter. “See, Tem?” he murmured in her ear. “They love you as I do.”
Tem smiled. The silence of the crowd when he’d kissed her in the town square had been humiliating for her. Now it seemed like a distant memory, another lifetime. Tem was struck suddenly by the enormity of what Leo had just done. Not only was he going against his own father, but he was forsaking the only world he’d ever known-a world that greatly benefited him. And he was doing it at great personal cost, on nothing but Tem’s word.
For her.
Tem wrapped her arms around him, tucking her head into his shoulder so she could whisper right in his ear, “Thank you, Leo.”
She felt him smile. “Anything for you, Tem,” he whispered back.
Maximus clapped his hands together, and the crowd quieted. “Honored guests,” he said, his gaze falling to Leo. “Now that my son has wed, he is ready for the responsibility of ruling this great kingdom with his wife by his side. To rule well means to take every citizen into consideration, to prioritize every human life.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.