Prisoner of Chaos (Redemption Book #4)

Chapter 53

Kyla

"I'll admit I wasn't sure how I felt about you with Rift, but now... I'm--I'm so happy for you two, Kyla," my mother says, teary eyed. "I can see you two have made each other stronger. He is certainly not the man we thought him to be and your father would be proud of you, I believe."

I'm not sure how to take her words. It's hard doing this, knowing my father hadn't exactly been on the Rift fan club, but I can't let that alter what my heart is telling me. I want to marry Rift.

Before the world ends.

"You ready, Princess?" Rift asks, offering his arm and giving me one of those grins of his that melts my heart.

Without a doubt, Rift is the man I want to marry. I can't imagine anyone else I'd want to share my life with. As screwed up as the two of us are, I believe we bring the best out of each other.

Not long ago I resolved to journey alone in my strange life as creature set apart from her own race, now I'm gazing up into the magical amber eyes of the dangerous mage who is about to vow to love and want only me for the rest of his life.

I'm ready to vow the same thing to him.

Who says your wedding dress can't be black and have the appearance of drakon scales?  I muse to myself, unable to help a bittersweet smile at how fitting this gown is for me, the princess who always wore black, to get married in.

Father Ryland and my mother are the only people witnessing Rift and I's marriage and the only thing that would make this moment happier would be if my father were standing beside my mother. I don't want anyone else here.

The Princess and beast sides of myself are in complete agreement. I shall not deny who I am anymore. I shall not hide or be ashamed anymore. My father would desire that for me. Whatever I am now... I wouldn't want to change it even if I could.

"May the God of Light bless this union," Father Ryland begins the ceremony.

Raia is curious, her bright amber eyes gaze up at us from where she's settled in the garden, watching as her father takes her mother's hand in his for our first steps as husband and wife.

*

"You're my wife," Rift says to me as soon as my mother and Ryland leave us after the exchange of vows.

"And you're my husband," I answer with a grin, kissing his chin. "I rather like the thought of it."

"Same, Princess," Rift says, placing his hands on the flare of my hips to pull me in for a proper kiss. "Should we tell anyone?"

"No," I say, sucking in a breath. My nerves won't settle. There is too much happening at once to truly enjoy my own wedding, yet I don't regret marrying him. "Let's not share with anyone. I've been thinking about something and I want to put it by you."

"Please, share," Rift says, he lets go of me and draws back to gaze into my eyes, his expression earnest.

"If we do defeat the Dark Lord, and if we do restore peace to Axus, I believe you and I--we need to--to disappear," I say.

Rift nods with understanding of my meaning. "Axus doesn't need us anymore once the Dark Lord is destroyed."

"Exactly," I say, relieved he's got the same way of thinking about this as I do. "I do not want my children to grow up ostracized as I was. We already know even with the Curse broken we are different than the other humans here in Axus."

"We will live anonymously on Nyst, no one there needs to know where we came from or who we are... or what we are capable of," Rift states. "I too do not want the connections from my past life with my mother having any kind of hold on my family."

I answer this statement by kissing him hard on his perfect mouth. "Thank you for understanding, Rift," I murmur against his chin.

Rift holds me close to him. "I knew the Dark Lord better than anyone because he lived inside my head and I already know his fate is sealed. We will destroy him."

"How can you know that?" I ask him shaking my head at Rift's assuredness.

"Because he doesn't have anything to lose, he cares about no one," Rift says, his brow creases thoughtfully. "My mother told me that loving others makes people weaker. That love itself is a weakness. If you care about something you won't do whatever it takes, including forgetting the needs of others, to have power... but she didn't understand that love has it's own incredible power. When you're fighting for something you love... you have to win." Rift's eyes get glassy and glances over at Raia. "When you have people depending on you, you have everything to lose. The Dark Lord thinks he's got the upper hand, but he's got nothing to fight for. He's a lonely, dark, bitter soul deep down and it makes him weaker than you and I."

My heart swells with pride over how far my Rift has come. The man who once told me he couldn't love... now saying love makes him more powerful than our adversary. "Let's hope you're right," I say, smiling at him and clasping his face in my hands to kiss him once more.

Raia takes that moment to decide she's hungry. She screeches at us, her little wings flair out like a baby bird's and she opens her mouth wide showing sharp baby teeth.

"She needs to be fed," I say.

"How can you tell?" Rift asks.

"I understand her, even though she's not human, it's a mother thing," I say, rubbing my nose with his. "Now, I'm going to hunt down something I never thought I'd be feeding my baby, and then you and I are going to discuss battle plans, husband."