1988 Build Up (Part 2)
"What? Is it going so badly between you and Kamila that she has already filed for divorce?" Friya nudged at him. "Who's the new unlucky woman? Does she know the hot mess she's walking into?"
"Very funny, smartass." Lith said with mock outrage. "There's nothing wrong with my marriage, I just wanted to hold the ceremony a second time since the first none of my friends could attend."
"Renewing your vows after just one month. Sounds bad." Quylla said with a straight face. "It's better to make sure that the gift is refundable."
"Solus, since the two of you are a package deal, will you stand on the side of the groom as well?" Faluel tried and failed to hide her smile. "How does a three-way marriage work? Isn't it tiring for you to have both a husband and a wife?"
"It doesn't work like that." Solus blushed up to her ears. "Sure, sometimes the three of us sleep together, but that's it."
At those words, everyone turned toward Lith, throwing disdainful looks at him while Tista and Salaark laughed their asses off at his expenses.
"Fucking pervert. You dodged a poisoned arrow there, sis." Friya's upper lip curled up in disgust.
"Ugh, don't remind me of that." Phloria shuddered at the thought.
"Solus suffers from sleepwalking!" Lith said in embarrassment. "She sneaks in our room and literally sleeps with us, no funny business. Ask Kami if you don't believe me!"
Their gazes became only colder at his ridiculous explanation and an awkward silence filled the air. Then, everyone couldn't take looking at his outraged expression anymore and bust into laughter.
"Oh, gods, he really fell for it." Quylla held her belly, gasping for air.
"That face! I'd pay gold to have a Rememberer projecting the moment when the stoic Lith Verhen almost died of embarrassment." Phloria cried with laughter.
"It took us a lot of practice, but it was worth it." Friya said while leaning on Faluel to not fall on the ground.
"You practiced?" Lith's face was twisted in a grimace of horror. "Who told you about Solus' sleepwalking and since when is my private life gossip material?"
"It was me." Tista raised her hand. "Solus told me and I Faluel."
"Why did you do that?" He inhaled sharply in annoyance.
"Because it's funny and because you disappeared for a month." She shrugged. "Everyone was worried for you and pissed off for having missed the wedding. I just kept our friends in the loop. It's no big deal."
Lith clenched his teeth, emitting angry gibberish until he managed to calm down.
"Fine! You are all invited to the wedding. Please, relay my invitation also to Vastor and Marth." He said.
"What about our parents?" Phloria asked.
"Kami has already contacted Jirni. She's going to be her bridesmaid along with Zin."
"Who is going to be your groomsmen? You need two as well to match the bride." Protector' was so excited that his tail popped out of it back wagging furiously.
"That's actually a big deal." Lith replied with a sigh. "I don't have many male friends and none of them actually contributed to my relationship."
"That's not true. I helped you break the news of your nature as a hybrid to Kamila." Protector said, but Lith ignored him.
"Aran is too young and he can't stand for long. I was thinking about asking Morok or Nalrond since they are the boyfriends of two of my best friends and they helped me a lot in the past."
"I'm married to your first mentor and I gave my life for you more than once!" Protector snarled, his tail ruffled by anger.
"Let's hope that Marth and Vastor can attend the ceremony. I've known them since I was little and they are the closest thing to a father figure I have in the magical community.
"I'll keep Nalrond and Morok as stand-ins in case either of the Professors is unavailable." Lith had a pensive look on his face as he mulled over the problem.
"We've known each other ever since you were a pup and you spent more time with me than with any of those buffoons!" Protector partially shapeshifted back in anger, his eyes almost popping out.
"And that's why I want you to be my best man." Lith said after finally turning toward Ryman.
"Damn bastard!" Protector hugged Lith, trying and failing to lift him up. "You got me good, but I'm too happy to be angry with you. Congratulations."
One after the other, they congratulated him on his marriage.
"Wow, I seriously can't believe it." Friya said while patting his back. "You've beaten us to the punch even in love. The only silver lining is that none of us won the bet."
"What bet?" Lith asked.
"We were certain that with your charming character and your bottomless pile of secrets, you would have married last if ever. The bet was about how many years after the last of us you would have found someone." Quylla replied.
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence."
"You are welcome." Tista sighed. "The worst part is that now my parents will never let me hear the end of this until I find someone as well."
The Ernas sisters sighed as well. Jirni and Orion nagged at Phloria for being single and counted the days, hoping that the other two would break up with their respective boyfriend.
***
The ceremony was held a few days later, just in time to receive the replies to the invitations and plan the wedding accordingly. Useless to say, Vastor had plenty of cloaking devices but he trusted none of them to be effective enough to hide his Abomination nature from Salaark.
He congratulated in private with Lith, sending him his regards and a gift along with an apology.
"I'm really sorry to fail you on such an important day." Vastor lowered his gaze in shame during one of the meetings of Jirni's private research group.
"Don't worry. I understand how dangerous would it be for you to participate." Lith replied.
"Me too, but it still sucks." Vastor said with a sigh. "I never thought the day would come when I'd be happy to be a Highmaster in times of war. At least I've plenty of excuse with Zin to cover for my absence."
Meanwhile, in the Overlord's palace, Kamila looked for the umpteenth time at the guest list. Compared with the groom's side, the bride's was empty.
"Don't worry, dear. There are plenty enough of my children that would pay an arm and a leg to attend. Heck, even Leegaain's children will be glad to fill your empty spots." Salaark said while supervising the beauticians' work.
"Why the heck would they? I understand that they care for Lith, but I'm just a human."
"Nonsense, sweetie. You are a part of the family as well now and whoever says otherwise is going to die a slow, gruesome death." The Overlord personally took care of her, using Invigoration on Kamila while combing her hair.
After Salaark was done with the rejuvenation process, Kamila went to the Greenhouse to visit Raaz and Elina. Lith's father spent most of his time there, working on both magical and regular crops until he was too exhausted to think.
