Chapter Thirteen

 

 

Torm’s panicked expression eased as he entered the tea shop and saw Meadra sitting and laughing.

Trin watched the flicker of emotion as it moved through him. It was sweet.

“Meadra, I have looked everywhere for you.”

Creata leaned toward Trin and said, “By that, it means he went to my house, and the maids told him where we were.”

Torm scowled at her, swallowed, and refocused on Meadra. He went down on one knee and lifted a hand holding a box. “Meadra Anders, will you marry me... today?”

Meadra blinked and looked down at the box. “What is in it?”

He smiled. “Open it.”

Meadra opened the box, and she gasped. Inside the small box was a ring with a wide stone in it, marked with a swirl of tiny gems. “It is a constellation.”

“It is our family name, the griffon. Will you be Meadra Anders Griffin?”

She smiled and nodded. “I will.”

He fumbled a bit as he handled the ring box, but he slid the ring onto her left hand, and he kissed the knuckle above the ring. “Right. Let’s go.”

He paused and looked at Trin. “With your permission.”

“Take her, just know that a formal ceremony will be in your future. I want to give my aunty-mom away.”

Meadra grinned, and Torm smiled. He pulled her to her feet, and they headed out of the shop.

Trin turned her head and watched them get into a karros to be delivered to the magistrate or however dragons got married on paper.

“Registry office. That is where they are going. His family is surprisingly upbeat for siring such a scowling and brooding fellow. I think Meadra will be good for him.” Brommin spoke from behind Trin.

She whirled. “When did you get here?”

Creata smiled. “When you were watching the proposal. It was so cute. He couldn’t believe you didn’t see him.”

Esty was hoisted up so she could watch what was about to happen.

Brommin smiled, and he went down on both knees with astonishing grace. His wings grew and flared out behind him.

“Trin Lem, diamond dragon, will you do me the honour of being my wife? My mate? My partner in life?”

She liked that he was addressing both of them. “Brommin Lefarge, obsidian dragon, will you be my husband, my mate, and my partner in life, because I am going to live for a very long time.”

He grinned. “I will if you will.”

“I will.”

He reached behind him and pulled out a long and slender object. He extended it to her on his fingertips.

The object was wrapped in black silk, and she blinked in surprise when she opened it. The blade that was inside the silk was small, but it was studded with a march of faceted stones that wrapped around the hilt.

“You had this made for me.”

He smiled. “From the moment I met you I knew that we were going to be together. The family has a ton of jewels, but this is yours and yours alone, as am I.”

She carefully folded the knife so that it laid along her skin, and then, she threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you. All I have for you is the next Lefarge.”

He paused and his hands wrapped tight around her. “How can you be sure?”

“She’s sure, so I am sure. Apparently, it is what diamond dragons do and why we are known to be so benevolent and generous. Fertility goddesses of ancient times. I didn’t know it worked on me as well.”

“It might have been the zenith.” His gaze was analytical.

She chuckled. “So, do we follow Torm and Meadra to the registry office?”

“We will.” He looked around at the others at her table. “Are you coming, too?”

Creata grinned. “Is there room?”

He jerked his head at the window, and a long and dark karros was waiting for them. “There is room for you.”

Trin smiled. “Niida, you are coming with us. Tlian, you can take over for an hour or two.”

Tlian gave her a salute. “Congratulations.”

Niida nodded and took out her communicator. “I am calling Brenner.”

By the time they were all in the vehicle, Brenner was on his way, Vasic was leaving his office for the day.

Even though it was a civil ceremony, folk were coming in from around the city. Even Apraxa and her mate were delaying their departure so that they could attend. Brommin was assigning them a dragon to fly them to Breaker City by nightfall, taking them away right after the ceremony.

Trin sat next to Brommin, her new blade tucked into a sheath in her corset. Their vehicle was driving at a stately pace, and Creata was doing a quick feeding of Esty, so she wasn’t going to be fussing during the ceremony.

The tea shop had been buzzing with laughter and congratulations when they left, and by now, the word was all over the city.

Trin put it out of her mind and leaned her head against Brommin’s shoulder. She already knew his parents, and if his siblings were anything like him, she would fit in just fine.

She had found one family by circumstance, one by accident, and now, she was finding another by saying words in front of witnesses. In less than a year she would start her own. So many routes to family and she knew there were more she hadn’t even explored.

 

The crowd gathered around the registry office was getting larger with every passing second.

Trin cleared her throat. “That can’t be for us.”

“I believe it is, Trin. Come on, let’s run escort for our guests.”

She nodded and brought her wings out the moment she was out of the vehicle. Creata and the baby were tucked under one wing, Niida under the other. Brenner came out of the gathered horde, and Brommin covered him. Apraxa and Romak made their own way through the crowd.

Their group converged and entered the registry office where guards were at the door with wide eyes.

Brommin spoke quickly, and they were allowed in.

Inside, she pulled her wings in but folded them along her back.

Meadra and Torm were still at the office.

“Why are you here?”

“After last night, there was a rash of legal marriages. We are next.” Torm smiled.

Brommin grinned. “I had better get in line then.”

Trin nodded. “We will just do what we have to, but if you want witnesses, you have plenty to choose from.”

Meadra grinned. “I can see that.”

Trin and Brommin went to fill out the registry paperwork, but it had already been done. Trin was suspicious. “How is that possible?”

Brommin chuckled. “Dr. Dredock works on the bloodwork to make sure that no apocalypse dragons are born. She would have filled out the paperwork the minute that the selection was done last night.”

Apraxa asked from behind them, “So, is our stuff in there as well?”

Brommin waited until their file was put in line for the magistrate, and he waved Apraxa forward. Her paperwork was done already, so she would be in after they were.

Meadra called out, “We are going in, come on!”

The gathering of folk in the hallway surged into the office and divided along the bride’s and groom’s sides. The bemused magistrate looked at the North American senator standing on the groom’s side, and he nodded. “Right. Okay.”

Creata was standing with Meadra, and to her amusement, so was Vasic. Vasic was holding his daughter and bouncing her gently.

Torm was surrounded by those who had been raised at or lived in the capitol, including Brommin.

The magistrate straightened his paperwork. “Right. Torm, Meadra, please stand in front of me.”

They stepped forward.

Trin watched them say their vows, and Meadra turned to her when a witness was called for. Trin stepped forward and signed her official name for the second to last time.

Trin signed with a flourish and handed the pen off to the next witness, Senator Lefarge.

She gave Meadra a hug and congratulated Torm with a handshake the moment that they parted after the magistrate’s announcement that they could kiss.

The magistrate cleared his throat. “If you could all clear the room for the next couple?”

Trin and Brommin stepped forward. “We are here.”

The magistrate noted that no one left the room. “Right. Okay. Well, Adolla Venatrin Lem and Brommin Artur Lefarge, please step forward.”

Trin and Brommin smiled.

“I have been given special instructions by the senator for this registration. Just a moment.” He picked up a piece of heavy parchment and raised his brows. “Right. Okay. Well, Adolla, who gives you in marriage to this dragon?”

A raucous shout from behind her sounded, “We do.”

She whirled, and her friends were all there, including Mirbella. They were all smiling and laughing.

The magistrate continued, “Brommin, who gives you in marriage to this dragon?”

“We do!” His family roared to outdo Trin’s side, but theirs didn’t have a wailing baby for emotional impact.

The magistrate got down to business. “Trin, do you?”

“I do.”

“Brommin, do you?”

“I do.”

“You may now kiss the groom.” The magistrate tapped the page in front of him.

Trin wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. He twisted her and dipped her so that her wings were across his knee and their friends and family were getting a very good view.

He pulled her upright and released her. The magistrate remembered that they hadn’t signed anything, and they ended up signing after the kiss, which meant another kiss. Brenner was her witness, and Rish signed for Brommin.

They moved back into the crowd as Apraxa and Romak stepped up. Their ceremony was surrounded by those who wished them nothing but the best, and when they called for witnesses, Meadra was called, as was the sea dragon who had not found a mate, Temmor.

Their kiss was more formal but no less heated than the ones that had preceded it.

The magistrate looked rather relieved when they all filed out.

Rish came up to them and smiled. “Congratulations. We are having your clothing from the tower sent to our country home, and we will send someone to Creata’s to do the same.”

Creata was smiling softly. “It’s okay, Trin. The sleepover couldn’t last forever, but now that you are mated, you will be closer to home.”

“I won’t need to run, that is certain.” Trin smiled.

Vasic came up to her and hugged her. “Thank you for being Creata’s friend and Esty’s godmother.”

“It has been fun, and I have an entire chest of baby items for her that should be arriving in the next few days.”

Vasic rolled his eyes. “Small tools?”

Trin clapped him on the shoulder. “You wish.”

Brommin wrapped his arm around her. “There is a huge crowd. I think we should head to the family estate via the roof.”

“Got it. Full form?”

He looked impressed. “Can you change in mid-flight?”

“I have to, I am too damned big to launch off this roof.”

Brommin chuckled. “I love every inch of you, my bride.”

She blinked. “Huh. I guess I am that, husband.”

There was a visible shiver that went through him. “Right. Let’s go.”

They moved through the crowd inside the building and headed for the roof. If the folks from the Delarm Valley tried to make a claim on Meadra, they couldn’t. She was pregnant and married. That broke all ties to her family. It was as safe as Trin could have made her without burning the valley to the ground.

The light that streamed in when they opened the roof door was welcome to her gaze.

She let out a happy shout, flared her wings, and propelled herself off the roof, climbing upward with wide wingbeats. When she was high enough, she let her dragon free and glided until the change was complete, using her wings to keep her gently aloft until her body and wingspan were balanced once again.

Brommin changed into his magnificent and faceted obsidian dragon. His fire could melt stone and carve through the earth. The edges of his wings could slice as easily as hers if it came to it. They were a match, and they were flying.

Trin paused in midair. She had no idea where they were going.

Brommin’s dragon laughed and led the way. He knew where she needed to be, and she trusted him enough to follow him today. Tomorrow would be its own situation.

As they flew, she idly wondered how many types of family she could experience in her lifetime. She was already at four—soon to be five—perhaps more were lurking around the corner.

 

* * * *

 

Mirbella smiled from inside the crowd and watched the two dragons flying for a bit of privacy.

It was so nice that the first of the prophecies had come to pass in her lifetime. She was going to have to write to her cousin in Rekker City and find out if there were any signs of the new dragon who was supposed to be appearing there.

The diamond dragon was the first sign. The world as they knew it was about to undergo a powerful change, and watching it was what Mirbella lived for.