Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Lifting the goblet to my lips, I took a small sip and was surprised to find it delicious—sweet and spicy with not even a tiny hint of blood. I took a slightly larger sip, savoring the taste. It warmed my tongue and mouth and burned pleasantly in my throat when I swallowed. I wondered why I had been told all my life that alcohol was no good for women—it seemed perfectly fine to me.
“Very good. And now you, my child.” The priestess nodded for me to hand the Holy Wine to Slade.
The big Enforcer took it—the crystal goblet looking ridiculously tiny and delicate in his large hand. He raised it to his lips and, holding my eyes with his own, downed the entire contents in a single swallow.
This seemed to distress the priestess.
“Be careful, my son! The more you drink, the greater Your Thirst!” she cautioned.
Slade tilted the goblet to get the last few drops before handing it back.
“I’m not worried, Mother,” he told the priestess.
She sighed and shook her head.
“Very well, then we’ll move on to the next part of the ceremony—your vows.”
She had us step close to the statue and stand in front of the youngest face—The Maiden. At the same time, her head swiveled in an impossible way and suddenly the face that was speaking to us looked younger as well.
“Now, children,” she said in a lighter, higher voice. “Will each of you repeat after me? You first,” she added, looking at Slade. “And take your Fated Mate’s hands and look into her eyes as you do so.”
Slade reached for me and my hands were swallowed up in his much larger ones. He looked down into my eyes and began to repeat what the priestess said.
“I, Slade of Clan Cruel, take you, Aurora of L’Crist, as my Fated Mate,” he rumbled. “I swear to give you my youth, my affection, and my enthusiasm for life. To look joyfully into the future with you by my side.”
It was a nice vow, I had to admit—very positive and happy. But I still felt kind of uncomfortable saying it to him since we were only supposed to be together for six months. Why was he even bothering to marry me, for that matter? He could have just taken me home with him and gotten down to the business of making babies.
But I didn’t want to think about that. I tried to concentrate on the ceremony and forget about what lay in store for me in the future.
After both of us had said our vows in front of the Maiden face of the statue, the priestess had us step around to the Crone face. At the same time, her head swiveled again, showing her oldest face, which was deeply wrinkled with tiny, faded red eyes.
“I swear by the Goddess I will live with you and love you until death shall part us with his icy scythe,” she intoned. “Nor shall I go into the beyond unless I have your name on my lips and your face in my heart.”
Slade said all this with perfect calm. Again, I felt uneasy about vowing to be with him until one of us died, but I assumed it was just part of the ceremony. So I repeated the words as well, though I confess I did stumble a little over the “love you” part.
“Very good. And now for the Mother.” The priestess led us around to the next face of the goddess and her head swiveled, showing us the motherly face again.
This time our vows were a little different.
“Repeat after me,” she told Slade, and he did.
“I vow to do my best to give you children and swell your belly with life. I pray that the Goddess will open your womb and make you fruitful. And when our children come, I swear to be the best father I can be to them and raise them to be honorable, truthful, and loyal to Clan Cruel,” he rumbled.
I was shifting from foot to foot when he repeated the part about “swelling my belly” but then it was my turn—which was even worse.
“I vow to do my best to give you children,” I repeated after the priestess, as I looked up at Slade. “I pray that the Goddess will…will open my womb and make me fruitful and I will do nothing to inhibit her will or my fertility. When our children come, I swear to be a kind and loving mother and raise them to be honorable, truthful, and loyal to Clan Cruel.”
It was really hard to say this part of the vows—especially knowing that I had no intention of actually letting the big Brute get me pregnant. But somehow I got them out, feeling like a liar the whole time.
But if I thought that saying the vows to the Mother face of the Goddess was bad, well, saying the Lover’s vows was much, much worse. It felt like the priestess had saved the most excruciating part of the ceremony for last.