Princess of Faerl

67. Before the Wedding

*Elentari*

It was that time. The week had gone by without incident, thank goodness. No new family members dropping out of the sky, no surprise deities trying to bring the world crashing down. I got to focus this week on making my wedding exactly what I wanted. Though there wasn’t much for me to do. Apparently, mom had been planning this for eons and knew me better than I thought. I smiled as I walked through the garden the day before. It was lovely. An arch way of white lilies and white roses adorned the front of the walkway, where we would be married. I was only 19 and I was getting married. This was crazy.

“Hey bride to be!” Lily snuck up behind me and gave me a hug, “How are you doing?” She was cheerful as always. Whenever conflict came up she tended to hide away till it was dealt with, and Eliza hadn’t shown up in a bit. I knew that drama wasn’t over. I hoped she would make a good decision and try to fix her bonds, but who knows what would happen. This was only the beginning.

“I’m doing well, how are you, lovely?” I felt a heaviness and wanted so much for tomorrow to be here and to go off without a hitch. I had a sinking feeling that something might go wrong.

“It’ll all be okay, you know that right? The wards are up, and I’m pretty sure some super powerful being is coming to officiate for you, so I don’t think you need to worry about the goon squad.” She tried to reassure me. I appreciated her kindness.

“I know it’ll be wonderful. Are you excited for Scottie’s birthday? He’s finally going to feel the pull the same way you do.” I was happy for her and my brother. She could fully feel it and had been head over heels for him for the last year, and he accepted her with open arms. Mom, my dads, and Alisee were planning a surprise party for the twin’s 18th birthday.

“It will be the best experience of my life, I think. I’m just worried about Eliza coming and ruining everything. She’s been too quiet but I know she hasn’t given up on your brother. Which is pretty pathetic if you ask me. I mean, why would she reject Stacie and think that it means that he is gonna reject her too?” I sighed softly.

“She’s misguided. And I think her family is against her being with a woman at all.

Stacie, bless her, has hidden her orientation most of her life, probably due to her biological mother as well. But things will come together. I wouldn’t worry so much about that. Things are going to change here soon. But we’ll make it through all of this. Don’t worry too much. It’ll be okay.”

I stood and looked around the room, taking it all in. Tomorrow I will be married and marked. Tomorrow I will be a wife. Something I had never been, even in a past life. Tomorrow.

Lily went on her own way, and I went to my room. Hep and I had been told we couldn’t see each other for 24 hours, damn traditions. Oh well. I went to bed early, wanting to make sure I had gotten enough sleep for the upcoming festivities.

“Selene?” We hadn’t spoken straight forward in quite some time. We had perfected the art of speaking without speaking. “Do you think I’m ready for all this? Is everything going to be okay?”

“My dear child, you are everything I could have hoped for and more. You are ready for anything that will come your way. Adalith will be protecting you for the next month. That way you can enjoy your time. During that time, I won’t be with you. I’m going to my home. Call me a family outcast, but I don’t want to be present for your…. Consummating your marriage with my nephew.”

I had to laugh knowing exactly what she meant. “No, I get it, I wouldn’t want to do that myself. Will you be physically present tomorrow?” I had no idea how she would be there if not within me. I was her only host body at this time.

“I will not physically be there, but I will be there. You’ll know I’m by your side. Until I return, your animal demigods will be more active. The amount of power we all have is difficult for a mortal body to contain, so they aren’t present fully when I am and vice versa.”

I nodded to myself. “After this, we go get your man, okay? You deserve your happily ever after too. Once you’ve gotten him back, then we move onto Chaos, Aphrodite, and all that.”

“I’ll hold you to that, my child. I’ve missed him for so long. And I haven’t been able to visit him since I’ve been with you. I will be spending my month in the meadow, giving energy to his body to prepare him for truly living again. It will take me that long, at the very least.”

“Thank you, sister of my soul. I promise we will be successful. No matter what.” I closed my eyes, letting myself drift to sleep. I felt like I was pulled through a portal, into an alternate plane. A beautiful dragon sat before me. Brilliant red adorned with jewels, regal even. She felt familiar.

“Hello, Elena. It has been a long time since we’ve spoken. I have missed you.” The dragon started to transform into a beautiful woman with red hair, pale skin and glowing eyes. She was absolutely radiant.

“Raza!” I exclaimed, “I just read about you!” I blushed a bit, realizing what I had just said. “Sorry I’m sure that wording seems odd.”

“Not at all, I was told you would lose your memory and would need to read to remember. You asked me to infuse my essence into the pages so you would be able to recognize me. I’m very glad it worked.” Her smile was so genuine. “I’ve been told one of my dependents is wreaking some havoc on your family.”

I sighed, “A bit, Eliza Bronzetail rejected her female mate in hopes my brother would reject her as well, and it would be just the two of them. I get the feeling Eliza isn’t the issue though, but her father. I believe they have an issue with differing orientations.” I rubbed my temple a bit, “I’m truly hoping she doesn’t ruin my wedding or my siblings birthday. Her female mate is my sister.”

“Well that does sound complicated. When is your wedding? Perhaps I can help.” I wasn’t sure why she would want to help so badly. She seemed to sense the unspoken question. “I know you don’t remember our time together, but you are dear to me. You are also the hope of a great many existences. If the greedy gods succeed in taking over your reality, do you think they would stop with just that? They wouldn’t want to expand their power? They will come for every existence with great power. Mine would not be far down on that list. We need you, we all need you.”

I nodded softly, “Is that why you came to me in dreams?” I have never had anyone from an alternate time come to me. This was very strange. “So that way you could aid me and I could help protect you?”

“Partially, yes, but this is the first time I’ve been able to reach you. You are difficult to get to when you house a goddess within you. She said you weren’t ready yet, but now you must be since I got through.”

“She wants my wedding to be my own, and my uhm… honeymoon after. I’m marrying her nephew, and she’s going to spend time with Endymion. Next month we are going to retrieve him. That’s the first part of the journey to defeat the rest.” I smiled at the dragon, my dragon stirring a bit. “Thank you for all you taught me, even those things I do not know about yet. Over the next month, I will be learning it all, and I hope to master it. But now, I need to sleep. You are more than invited to come tomorrow. It would be a pleasure to see you in the waking hours.”

She nodded and faded leaving the void we were in. I returned to a dreamless sleep, resting until the morning. Until I am to be wed. A new woman.