The Bound (Ascension #2)(117)

“Cyrene is coming with me,” Dean said defiantly. “You are forcing her to leave in the morning. All I have is today.”

“That is precisely why she should not be on the royal boats.” Queen Cassia wasn’t a hardened ruler. She seemed sympathetic to her son’s problem. But the threat of war still loomed, and she wouldn’t allow anything to hurt her people.

“I refuse to go without her, Your Majesty,” he said, his voice formal.

The Queen held her head higher, as if the title alone threatened to weigh her shoulders down.

“But I implore you, as your son, to allow me this one morsel of happiness before you rip it from me.”

Queen Cassia closed her eyes, and for a second, she looked like she was going to fight Dean. But then she nodded. “Okay, but make sure she knows how the ceremony works.” The Queen turned on her heel and disappeared into the throne room.

“Well, that went better than anticipated,” Dean said.

Cyrene let loose a breath. “I didn’t mean to put you in this position, Dean.”

“It’s not your fault, but I’m not going to let anyone dictate my time with you from here on out,” he told her. He ran a hand back through his hair and then diverted his eyes.

“You seem a little nervous,” she said softly.

He laughed, his voice rising an octave. “Do I?”

She nodded. “A little. But it’s okay. I get it. I’m a little nervous too and sad about everything that’s happening.”

He took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “I am nervous, but I don’t want you to be sad. I would do anything I could to change that.”

Just then, the Queen and King and all of Dean’s sisters and their husbands walked into the throne room. Dean offered Cyrene his arm, and they ducked into the back of the line behind Brigette.

“Okay, so fill me in on this ceremony,” Cyrene whispered.

“The Bride of the Sea is the biggest holiday in Eleysia. Eos is big, of course, but since Eleysia has always relied so heavily on sea travel, we celebrate the coming of spring in a very traditional way.”

They walked out of the palace and down onto the grounds. A group of boats just a little bigger than the normal gondolas were set up on the docks.

“Traditionally, the royal family takes the official family boats out and rides through the city. The Queen speaks to the crowd, and a priestess says a prayer over the Bride’s Ring.”

“The bride has a ring?” Cyrene asked in confusion.

Dean nodded. He offered her his hand as they got into the boats. They were seated with Brigette behind them and Alise and the twins in front of them.

Alise turned around and sniffed at Cyrene. “Who let her on board?” she asked.

“Mother,” Dean said. He gave her a look that begged her to argue with him.

“She wouldn’t let Robard ride with me.”

“That’s because Robard is a soldier. He always has been and always will be.”

“Who knew you were obsessed with nobility?” Alise sneered. “That’s not how I remember it.”

Dean glared at his sister, and Cyrene’s cheeks heated. She didn’t want to know what that meant.

“Mind your own business, Alise,” he said.

The boats started moving, and once they were out of the gates and on the main canal, Dean took a deep breath and continued his story, “Where did I leave off? Oh, right, the Bride’s Ring. It’s a special gold band inscribed with the date of the ceremony. It symbolizes our marriage to the sea. So, after the prayer, in front of everyone in the queendom, we pass the Bride’s Ring down the royal family line. It begins when the priestess gives the ring to the Queen, who passes it to the King. It goes down the line of their children before finally reaching Brigette, the Crown Princess, Maiden Bride of the Sea.”

“So…you pass a ring to your sister, and that’s it?” Cyrene asked.

They were already moving past crowds of people on their way to this ceremony, and she wanted to make sure she understood what would be happening.

“No. Brigette says a prayer and then tosses the Ring into the holy pool. This is an offering to the Creator for safe sea travel for the next year and serves as a remembrance of her blessing upon us. This completes the official ceremony. The Eleysian people also toss Bride’s Rings into the water all over the city in remembrance today. After they have celebrated separately, a festival is held on the water, and the palace throws a huge ball.”

“That seems simple enough. I’ll just follow along as we go,” she told him.

He kissed the top of her head and held her hand as they made their procession through the city. The closer they got to their final point, the more nervous Dean got. The crowds were thicker, and people were craning their necks and pushing people out of the way to see into the royal boats pass.

She even thought she’d heard her name being called a few times, but that couldn’t be. How would anyone know my name?

Their boats finally stopped in front of a temple on the water. It was made of the same sandstone as everything else in Eleysia, but it was simple and elegant. The crowds were swarming, and gondolas clogged the passageway as nobility sought to witness the ceremony.

The priestess walked out of the temple. Her pale hair fell to her waist, and she was dressed in an all-white robe. She had a serenity about her that Cyrene had never seen on another. Byern wasn’t exactly pious even though everyone celebrated the Creator and honored her on holidays. Temple wasn’t required, so few would go, and there weren’t religious ceremonies like this. It was beautiful and humbling for Cyrene to be a part of this.