2605 Gift Exchange (Part 1)



"Phloria put her life on the line for her family, her duty, and because she loved the Kingdom. Even if you never returned from the Desert, Reaver and her Blade Tier spell made her too big a threat to leave her alone." Solus said.

"Thrud would have kidnapped and killed Phloria anyway. The only differences would be that now the Mad Queen would be sitting on the throne and, thanks to the mass-produced Reaver, the other countries would be under siege in a losing battle."

"How do you-"

"I know because I'm in here so often that I've built my summer home." Solus patted on his heart. "Don't look at the pendant. We are not here for Phloria. Today we are here for Quylla. Look at our friend and if you can't, look at Kami or me."

Lith scratched his head in embarrassment, finding himself covered in a cold sweat.

"I knew that taking out that pendant was a bad idea." Kamila held his hand, caressing it with her thumb. "Too bad that the front row is for family members only. If we sat in front of Jirni and Orion, this could have been avoided."

"It's not their fault. I should-"

"No matter what the idiots out there say, you are still human. So yeah, it's their fault. You already lent them your Mansion for their daughter's wedding and are hosting Ryla. The least they could do was to avoid putting you into this position."

Kamila snarled, putting his hand on her womb where Elysia kicked in agreement. Actually, they still had no idea if the baby understood their language. The "one kick for yes, two kicks for no" was just an inside joke between them.

An inside joke with an unsettling accurate record.

The double doors opened, letting the couples in.

Quylla walked arm in arm with Orion as he walked her to the altar while Ryla the Fomor acted in place of Morok's mother. He had tried to write her a letter in which he explained everything and invited her to the wedding, but she had never replied.

Ajatar had stood in the shadows, watching the human woman burn the letter without even opening it the moment she had read Morok's name. For a moment, the Drake had hated her. He had gone this close to barge in her house and force her to listen to him.

To tell her that Morok was a victim as much as she was and that he was blameless. That Glemos had already paid with his life and he couldn't hurt her any longer. Yet Ajatar had never moved from his hiding spot, waiting until he had recovered his cool.

'No matter what I said, I couldn't change the past.' He thought while looking at Garrik walking in front of the couples. 'Forcing her to come here would have ruined this moment for everyone and added another scar in her heart.'

Morok's half-brother was shapeshifted into a tall seven years old boy to not alter his height too much. In his human form, he bore a striking resemblance with Morok, sharing his brown hair and eyes.

Garrik acted as a flower boy, throwing red and pink roses petals in his wake.

Ryla had been shapeshifted into a woman in her early forties with dark hair and chestnut eyes. Even though she had been made shorter than Morok and her features smoothed to a less preternatural beauty, the unanimous consent among the human guests was that the former Ranger had to be adopted.

The Fomors moved with lithe grace, their high collared clothes hiding the presence of the Harmonizers, whereas even after plenty of rehearsals Morok was as stiff as a walking stick.

'We should have shapeshifted you shorter as well, Dad.' Quylla pouted, barely hanging from his arm despite the high heels and feeling like a sloth clinging to the high branch of a tree.

'I can always carry you on my shoulders if you prefer.' Orion replied with a warm smile, flooding her mind with the memories of all the father-daughter activities they had shared after her adoption.

Back then she was already twelve years old but being an orphan, she had gladly taken part in silly things suitable for someone much younger like playing horse.

'Not a chance.' She chuckled, smiling from the deep of her heart at those images.

After being adopted by the Ernas, her life had changed in ways she had never imagined. Many good and bad things had happened to her, many of which she had suffered due to the name she now carried.

Yet overall, Quylla considered her life a blessed one, filled with more happiness than sorrow. The only sour note that tainted the recollection of her life while she walked among the people she loved was the absence of her sister.

'I "died" because of Deirus' plot but Mom managed to save me. We all have gone through thick and thin, fighting deadly battles against old and terrible monsters yet we always survived.

'It took a war to split us.' Quylla's heart bled at the sight of the golden lily pendant and to hide her sorrow she clenched Orion's arm so much that it hurt. 'Maybe it was wrong of me to ask to have Phloria's mementos brought to the ceremony.

'I know how much pain their mere presence must bring to my friends and family because I feel it too. My heart still refuses to accept that Phloria is really dead. That I'll never hear her laugh or cry again.

'Yet I refuse to forget about her, to pretend that she never existed just to hide from the pain that her memory evokes. She has been an important part of my life and she still is. Even if she's not here anymore, Phloria is my sister.

'She was with me while I was at my best and my worst. She was there for me after I killed Yurial, when I didn't know what to do with my life, or simply when I needed someone to listen to my inner demons.

'I refuse to abandon her on the day of my wedding. I want her to be with me, with us. I want to face my pain until I'm capable of looking past it and remember only the good things we shared as friends first and sisters later.

'Phloria's death is a tragedy, but her life was a blessing to us all. Every day we spent together was priceless and I want everyone to realize that the only reason her absence hurts us so much is because of how special she was and how much we love her.'

Quylla noticed how pale Lith was, his blank stare fixed on the empty seat. When Solus snapped him out of it, Quylla replied to Kamila's reproachful glare with an apologetic nod, but she didn't stop nor did she regret her choice.

The couple was left in front of King Meron, who was going to officiate the ceremony. The Royal Family always took care personally of marriages between important members of society and the Ernas were one of the four founding pillars of the Kingdom.

On top of that, most of the members of the Ernas family and their friends were heroes of the War of the Griffons.