Chapter 2 Two Solemn Vows
Isaac closed his eyes and took one final deep breath as he walked out into the hall that ran behind the main hall. There were two doors that led to either side of the thrones and he and Lenna would each be taking one of them. This meant that for, what was supposed to be, the barest of moments, the pair would get to see each other before they stepped out into the main hall. As Isaac walked through the door, that the duke’s heir held open for him, he saw an unfamiliar face that was so common anyone would have forgotten it in an instant. The not too sharp and not too dull features of a slightly tanned middle aged man with brown hair and eyes with the shaved face of a servant to nobility smiled at him with a bow. Isaac winked at him as he passed and then turned towards his destination. As he did so he got his first look at his mate and he stopped dead in his tracks.
The simple black dress that the love of his life was wearing matched her perfectly. Both were straightforward and stark against almost any backdrop. Both were solid and unblemished. Neither were flashy nor attention seeking but both drew the eye nonetheless. “You look good.” She complimented him with a smile that seemed to light the hallway around her.
“I, yes, I mean,” He stopped his stuttering to take a focusing breath. “I know I look good but nothing I have ever seen, nor will ever see, can come close to your beauty.”
Lenna smiled with obvious amusement at Isaac’s stuttering. “Smooth.” She told him both sarcastically in relation to his stuttering and to praise his following reply.
“Very.” Isaac said with a chuckle. His response was both self-deprecating and self-praising following both of Lenna’s replies’ meanings. He gestured towards the doors that they were to take. The ten feet separating each door seemed like such a short distance to the pair that, at that moment, wanted to skip the entire wedding and just leave in each other’s arms together. “I would say age before beauty but you beat me on that account as well.”
Lenna rolled her eyes. “There is no before or after, Isaac, we enter at the same time.”
“Well then, shall we?” Isaac replied and shadows started billowing through his white suit, dying it in shades of black and gray.
“Yes.” Lenna replied with one simple word as her entire dress ignited with her aura. The black dress looked like the coals of her scorching flames. Her aura was hot to the touch but not as hot as a real flame, due to its inherent metaphysical nature, so her dress did not actually begin to smolder. The pair stared at each other for a moment longer as they observed the majestic figure that the other posed. Lenna was a living torch of focus and conviction while Isaac was the originator of darkness itself. One was a beacon for her beliefs and honor while the other was the reason why tunnels grew darker the father in one went. With one final smile shared between the two, they turned and let James and Lenny get the doors for them.
The pair stepped out into the main hall of the estate of the duke of their home and were met with total silence. As they entered they caught sight of many familiar figures like Edward Sasston, Alexis and Alecia Bittittiddel, Jessica Silverstrand and her entire family, Stan Ironeye with who could only be his grandson Leo, Celeste and Lucius slipping into the back row now that their duties were fulfilled, Chris Windwalker in a wheelchair next to Claus son of Rock, Priest Harry Lovecraft in gleaming full battle gear as usual, Court Magus Alexander, Sir Michael and Captain Tim, Thadd Tanner and his parents, Clayton Smith, Jala and Fen L’Vore, a certain spy named Thomas who was trying very hard fade into the background behind the Tanners and Silverstrands, Margaret, Madeline and Martha with what appeared to be an empty seat next to them where Shamesh was actually sitting with Shroud cast on him. Everyone in attendance was either a member of their household, someone who had helped them noticeably in the past, or someone that was brought as a plus one, or plus five in Jessica’s case, of someone that had.
They strode inside with steps perfectly matched in time and distance without even looking at each other. They took four steps inside before they both turned to face each other and met in the middle after another four graceful paces each. The pair met in front of Aria Tr’bore who was standing just in front of Duke Izen Von Arbencroft and his wife Duchess Serentia Von Arbencroft. Once the two were only a step apart, they reached out and took each other’s hands as the ceremony began.
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“We gather here today as witnesses of two solemn vows made before mortals and gods alike. The two before us, Lord Isaac Wexler of a land unimaginably far away, and Lady Lenna V’Nova of Contantis of the Drow Empire, are here on this day, that to them will become forever sacred, to set into the hearts and minds of all those present their truth and dedication to each other.” Aria began. “If any dare object then let them engage in firm discourse with the offending party immediately.” Isaac, Lenna, Aria, Izen, and Sera all glared at their tiny audience. It was more of a show than anything as they all knew that none there would make such a claim. “Very good.” Aria punctuated the silence and then looked back and forth between the pair that were to be wed. “As one final inquiry before the pair are to speak their vows, who here is willing to stand as guarantor on behalf of our soon to be husband and wife. One that will swear under El’No, the goddess of Knowledge, that they are certain of the honesty, conviction, and care that each of these will maintain towards the other from now until the end of their very souls?”
“I-” Izen, Sera, and a motherly and incredibly warm but gently cool voice that brought with it a blanket of care and serene silver light from the sky began at the same time. However, where Izen and Sera had stopped, the motherly voice of the pair’s patron goddess continued: “The love and loyalty that Lenna holds towards her mate is undeniably pure and steadfast,” Lua told all of those present. The pure divine pressure of the goddess’s projected presence was almost enough to bring Aria to her knees but she managed to master herself enough to stay standing as being chief witness required. “and the ardent care and fervent defensiveness that Isaac has proven time and again that he holds towards Lenna is beyond question.” Lua declared. “They each have my blessing both as individuals and as a mated pair. May your lives shine brightly and for far longer than either of you thought possible.” She blessed them before her presence started to lessen and the silver light from the sky started to fade.
“Thank you.” Isaac said towards the light with a pure and honest smile. The blessing from the goddess that had looked after Lenna for so long, and after him as well, meant more to him than anyone save for Lenna and Lua could ever know. As far as Isaac was concerned, Lua was practically his mate’s mother so her blessing was really the only one that mattered.
Lenna went to bow her head towards Lua in thanks when she heard a whisper in her ear from her goddess: “No one bows on their wedding day.” Lua told her in a warm but admonishing tone.
Lenna nodded. “Thank you, my goddess.” She spoke barely louder than a whisper. A moment later, Lua’s presence was gone.
“As it has been said, let it be remembered.” Aria proclaimed with a slight quiver in her voice before she looked back and forth between the pair once more. “Now, now that your vows have been blessed and your words backed not only by your actions but by the trust of one that knows your hearts unlike any save for one another, you may speak and declare your vows. Who will speak first?”
Isaac grinned. “I wrote mine down so I wouldn’t forget, so you should go first.” He told his mate while he pulled out a folded piece of paper, not out of his Inventory but out of his breast pocket on the inside of his coat. The placement near his heart, in the physical world, of his vows to her was not lost on Lenna and she smiled warmly at him.
Lenna chuckled softly. “I suppose it is my turn. I made a vow to you first, on the first day we met just after you saved me. Long after that, you made a vow to me when you put a ring on my finger. It is only fitting that I go first again.” She told him.
“You have always been the more assertive one of us.” Isaac replied with a wink and a grin. Lenna fought down the urge to blush in front of all of those watching and instead decided to just push through it in true V’Nova fashion.
Lenna cleared her throat and squared her shoulders in focus. “Isaac, in the grand totality of my life, I have never met someone as completely unique as you. There are plenty who speak of their loved ones as though they were the only diamond in a sea of quartz but you are truly different. You are my mythril in an iron mine. You draw me in with a wondrous prismatic display of heart, intensity, and creativity. You are, without a doubt, the greatest adventure of my life and I can do nothing but thank and praise you for it.” Tears were streaming down her face at the pure emotion in her words even though her body language was completely disciplined and steady. “I vow, from now until the day my soul ceases to be, to continue to love and protect you. I will be your shield as you have shielded me. I will be your sword as you have fought for me. I will be your foundation as you have supported me.” Lenna held out her hand towards Aria and the cleric placed an onyx ring in her palm.
“That is hard to follow up.” Isaac told her with a smile and a shine in his eyes from the barely held back tears. “I have poured over what I was going to say for hours until the day became night and the night became day again. No matter what I wrote, no matter how I wrote it, none of it was as perfect as you deserve. Words can be misunderstood but so can actions and those speak much louder.” He began. “In the end, I settled on something that was simple and familiar yet expressed my promise, my solemn vow, to you.” He dropped the paper in his hand without ever unfolding it. “I, Isaac Wexler, of a land unknown even to me, proclaimer and claimer of the title of Lord of all that is Dark, dark mage, blessed by deities both named and unknown, swear to protect you and ours until the end of my very being. My heart is yours as it has been since the first time I laid eyes on you.” He held out his hand towards Aria and she placed the other onyx ring in his palm as well. “I will continue to fight for you, to defend you, to support you, as you have done for me. I swear this before every deity, god, mortal, or otherwise that may be listening. You are mine and I will never let you go.”
The pair placed their rings on each other’s fingers and the onyx rings rotated on their own to fit perfectly into the diamond ones. There was no sound or light accompanying the joining of the rings but they would never be separate again as their magic had fused them together, permanently. Just like that night six months prior, two had become one.