"Don't push my daughter for anything that troubles her comfort." Queen Irene planted her legs inside the room, carrying a tiny vintage jewelry box. "Emperor Hades stringently refused to receive any dowry, despite your father and brothers' requests and moral suasion. Instead, he gifted us a thousand chests of precious jewels and gold coins, naming it as his gratitude for bringing up his bride..." She creased her face into a grimace, then sealed her mouth close, stopping the stream of vitriol ready to march forward.
Clicking open the gorgeous lid of the metal case, Queen Irene presented the content before Eliana. "Would you like to wear this gold laurel wreath? It's a special memento from my wedding. Since we can't honor you with any dowry, if you take this with you, it will bear immense happiness to my heart."
Eliana fondly caressed the necklace with the pad of her fingers, as though it wasn't a piece of jewelry to dress up her neck rather a pride to spread on her soul. If mentioned in the same breath as the ones from Firebreath, probably, it wouldn't even worth a dime. But, for her, it was of incalculable value. It would accompany her in the time when she would be pining for her mother.
Without further ado, she motioned the laurel wreath around her slender neck. "Mother, I will cherish this perpetually." She assured, and with that, everyone's fear had been put to rest, as her long naked neck cleaned up well with the addition of the wreath.
"You look darling, absolutely nothing short of glamorous!" Queen Irene failed to choke back her emotional fluid. "Your elder brothers are waiting outside. It is time to get going." She said, wiping the fat drop of tears with the heel of her palms.
….
Eliana wended her way on the aisle, a passage piled high with multi-coloured petals between rows of seats, occupied by guests.
The canopy, a rosy transparent article of clothing that was intended to shade her from the direct contact of dappling sunlight, moved with her commensurately. Two fairy princes at the front and another two at the back held it over her head. Another two insisted to play the roles of the flower girls, and helped to lay out the monarch train that clocked in at thirty feet.
All the guests stood up to welcome her, the bride. Thickly veiled whispers which had been lain preserved in the fear of the God's mighty presence, didn't escape her good set of ears; yet still, she didn't careen her gaze sideways, her green orbs refused to turn away from a certain someone.
Each step ahead accelerated Eliana's pulse, unprecedented nervosity came over to severely debilitate her calmness. The colorful bouquet of tiny wild blooms that firmly perched inside her grip, had been constricted.
"Everything will conclude on a good note!" King Hermes tightened his hold on her hand, sporting a fatherly smile on his tension-laden face.
The set of comforting words did enter Eliana's ears, yet couldn't be registered for her brain had been preoccupied beholding the beastman standing upright in the altar, under the crown of an oak tree.
Golden brown skin, six feet four-inch and two quarters muscular frame, loose curls draping his shapely forehead, prominent eyes the color of eternity—lookalike to the image etched onto her memories.
Hades's gaze, scorching hot, shot through the distance and pierced the organza veil hanging over her face. The overwhelming maleness of his body odor, the scent that made him stand out from the sea of crowd, had been carried to her nostrils by the invisible element of nature.
The nearer she edged, the more prominently she sensed his formidable dragon aura which had overshadowed everyone else's. Never in a million years did she ever think of marrying this certain dragon, yet here she was! Destiny presented her such a circumstance she could no longer afford to say no to.
The canopy over Eliana's head came to a halt together with her brothers. King Hermes escorted her to the beautiful floral structure, nestled in the grass acreage next to a spring.
Hades crossed the distance in a single stride from muscular legs which were graced with giraffe's tallness. Endless hours spent in training earned them strength thrice of a war stallion, and agility horned in every cord of muscle in them surpassed even the one of black panther.
He proffered his spread palm, and was brisk to clasp his fingers around hers, the moment her father placed her hand upon it, helping her on the stage.
Every guest sat down. "In this moment of auspiciousness, the groom may remove the veil concealing his eternal partner from his rightful eyes." The grand saint, appointed as the head priest in the universal confederation, rigged out in white cloak, announced.
Eliana's shoulders heaved in the effort to draw some air into her lungs. She watched as a pair of sturdy hands approached her, in no time, they lifted the veil baring her face naked to his dark eyes.
Eyes met, and breathing hitched. Familiar and yet unfamiliar, she stared at the pair of inky black eyes staring at hers.
Dappling sunlight played across the planes of his chiseled face—low eyebrows, piercing gaze and strong jawline—lethal handsomeness that made females from all across the universe swoon over whenever he fell under the radar of their gazes. His dark gaze traveled all over her face, before landing on her green orbs, and for a brief moment, something came afloat from beneath the cold exterior of his eyes. A flicker of warmth that cracked the chilly eyes that iced over, as if unceasingly undergoing the spell of cold.
Nah! How could that be? This was the same pair of eyes which used to disrupt the calmness her heart would possess without any exception.
He had ninja reflexes in his possession, yet he never tried besting her bites, allowing her to sink her fangs into his flesh, as though she was nothing but a newborn kitten who would at best scratch him playfully! What actually pulled at her skin and inspired her not to keep a guard on her tongue was the fact that her violently potent venom had absolutely no impact on him!
They hit rough patches in almost every single mission they had been sent together, and never tried to iron out their differences. And, thanks to the eight century into their antagonism, she developed a very nice line in war of words!
Hades's black eyes powered by the terror of a stormy midnight would force anyone down their knees, but, somehow Eliana escaped that quotidian—the typical picture. Being observed didn't thwart her from openly scrutinizing the observer. She let her gaze freely roam all over the handsome face that held her curiosity.
Did the last century humble Hades Costello Alarie, incorporating a bit of positive change in his cold personality? Or, perhaps, his tyranny had been overlaid by his new acquired power—the Godhood. Reality must have been leaning towards the second assumption, after all, a single curse from him now could distort the equilibrium of the world!
For the reasons unknown to Eliana, Hades's chiseled hard face softened. He reached out and arrested her other hand within his firm grasp, maintaining eye contact all along as they stood facing each other in the center of a framework that had climbing plants and blooms on it.