There wasn't much time left and while I had anticipated this wedding, I all of sudden no longer felt ready. I was too young. Too juvenile to do this and I felt horrible for even doubting everything. I knew I wanted Islo more than anything in the entire world. He was my world.

As I looked at him in his white wedding suit, getting it properly fitted, he looked so handsome. Amazing how such a man could love someone like me.

"What do you think, Quinn? More space for my shoulders or no?"

I smiled and took a sip of my coffee. "It looks good as it is now. You don't wanna feel like you're in a strait jacket either. And now it's perfect."

He smiled, his cheeks turning slightly darker as he straightened the jacket a little. "Alright, it's done then." He pulled the jacket off and handed it to Àbram. "Just needs the buttons and we're good to go."

"Yes, my lord. Buttons on the shoulders and for closing it," Àbram said and bowed.

"Tell me honestly, Àbram, does it even look good? You can't get a straight answer out of Quinn." Islo smirked at me as Àbram's pale cheeks reddened.

"Yes, my lord. You look very handsome." He bowed again, maybe to hide his blushing. Seemed like I wasn't the only one crushing on my fiancé.

"You can leave us Àbram. Let my husband change into his normal attire," I noted, not wanting to encourage this.

Islo glanced at me as he slid his black suspenders off his shoulders. He came to the couch, limping with the cane by his side.

"Do my eyes betray me or are you jealous?"

Àbram didn't stop to hear my answer, he dutifully left the apartment without hesitation. I frowned up at my fiancé.

"Don't encourage him, please."

"I wasn't," he chuckled and sat down next to me. "You have nothing to be jealous of, Sweetness. But I can't help but be flattered that you are."

I rolled my eyes a little dramatically, but in reality, I wasn't bothered by his attention.

"Are you afraid of losing me?" he murmured and leaned in, kissing me.

"Yes," I breathed. I wasn't really. I trusted him enough to not be afraid he'd leave me anymore. Mostly. There was still an underlying fear, he, like everyone else, would disappear out of my grasp.

"You will never have to be. No one is as beautiful as you."

I pulled back and pretended to be offended. "Are you only with me because I'm pretty?"

"Oh by all the spirits and the gods, yes." He laughed and pushed me down on my back, placing soft kisses on my cheek. "And because you are strong. Kind. Hilariously funny. Because you're nice to my daughter. And... You like my freckles."

I snorted and kissed him. "I fucking love your freckles."

"Okay, it's time to ask the real golden question: why?" He pulled up and smiled at me, the most handsome and beautiful smile in the world.

"I don't know. I just find them really adorable. Especially the ones going over your nose." I freed my hand from under his body and ran a finger over the bridge of his nose.

He closed his eyes briefly, looking so blissfully calm.

"And then the ones on your chest." I opened his shirt and ran my fingers over his skin. His eyes flew open when I grazed his nipple.

"That's not a freckle," he chuckled.

"No?" I lifted up and kissed him and he groaned into my mouth, pressing down on me.

"How do we always end up here?" he murmured as he kissed my throat. I tipped my head up, smiling and revelling in the softness of his mouth.

"Because we're in love?"

"We ended up here before we were in love too," Islo chuckled while his fingers went for the buttons on my shirt.

"I fell for you so fast, Islo," I whispered. "You saved me. You stayed with me. Supported me when I needed you. Made me laugh when I desperately needed to not be sad. Islo, you loved me when I didn't think I deserved it."

His eyes widened a little and he had stopped opening my shirt halfway down. He looked absolutely stumped and I was afraid I had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"No, Sweetness," he murmured and lowered himself down, his elbows on either side of my head. "I just don't know what to say. That's... I've never been... Told something like. Before."

I lifted my head and kissed him to bail him out. He didn't have to say anything. I just needed to profess my undying love for him right now. I needed to not only tell him but also myself, that this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Even if it wasn't our choice to get married now, I wouldn't be surprised if we wouldn't have waited long anyways.

We were in love.

"I am happy to announce that the insemination was successful, and you are to become fathers. Congratulations," Dreki said and looked so pleased with himself as he looked over the cloth samples for the vests. "This one. And have thorns with rosebuds embroidered on it." He handed the piece of cloth to one of the designers who bowed for him. As he was the king.

"Thank you," I muttered under my breath.

"It's a most joyous occasion, is it not?" Dreki asked and looked away from all the samples on the dinner table.

"Yes," I said, keeping my gaze on the floor.

"You don't seem happy, Quinn. You're about to become a father. It's merely days until your wedding. What's wrong?"

Islo squeezed my hand before I lost it. I could feel that darkness roll around in my chest and I wanted to unleash it. Something wanted to get released and wreck the whole place. But with Islo's hand in mine, I subdued it.

Please don't do anything stupid.

I frowned and glanced up at my fiancé and he met my gaze, arching a brow at me.

Relax. Deep breaths.

I gave him a faint nod and the edge of his mouth twitched. So maybe there was something to his theory about my powers. When I touched him, I picked up on random fragmented images and thoughts. We shared dreams if we fell asleep, bodies entangled. It just seemed too outlandish for it to be reality.

"Nothing's wrong," I said and plastered on a smile. It was forced and fake, but it seemed to please Dreki.

"Good. We do want your big day to be perfect." He left the table and sat down in one of the plush armchairs, motioning us to go to the couch. He snapped and the servants and designers were fast to leave.

"You are both ready to comply, yes?"

"Of course. It's not like we have a choice," Islo said, keeping my hand in his.

"No, you're right. You don't have a choice. But it will be more convincing if we won't have to drag you to the temple, kicking and screaming."

I took a deep breath and met the dark pits of oblivion, otherwise known as Dreki's eyes. "We all know the people need this. If it hadn't been for that fact, I wouldn't comply. But they do."

"And you still want a fiancé that can walk, naturally." He looked so smug as he pulled down on his sleeves.

"Naturally," I gritted out between my teeth.

"So, I've got another surprise for you." He pulled a box out from inside of his jacket and tossed it to me.

I opened it hesitantly to find silver bracelets inside.

"You've been such a good boy, Quinn, so you won't be wearing the collar on your wedding day."

They were undeniably beautiful. Very simple and they'd fit with the rest of my wedding outfit, but I couldn't help but think they resembled handcuffs. Shackles. And my wrists already bore the proof of my time in the dungeon, wearing actual shackles. The skin was rough and course, wrinkled too from the scarring.

These were nothing like them. These bracelets were very thin and had thorn engravings in the smooth surface, much like the head of Islo's cane.

"Here," Dreki tossed Islo a key and he caught it.

I tilted my head to the side, and he found the small keyhole, opening the choker. It felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. My skin felt raw on my throat and Islo inhaled sharply through his clenched teeth.

"We need a doctor to look at this," Islo muttered. "It's raw."

"I'll send for one. Put the bracelets on and toss the key back."

Islo tossed the key back and Dreki put it in his pocket.

"How... How do these works?"

"You know how the Aatskina uses wyrmroot to power their roprosthetics?"

"No." I didn't know shit about roprosthetics.

"It's a magical root that stores the power that we use for electricity too. Why do you think everyone wanted Aatskina land? It's harvested there."

I shrugged again.

"Gods, Quinn, don't you ever read? The roots are in the bracelets. Funnily enough used in the right way, it dampens spiritual energies. We use it in Bursaaq. I didn't think it'd actually work, but it looks like it does. Not to mention, there's that neat function of it electrocuting you whenever I push a button."

I regretted even asking. What were I supposed to do with this information? It'd do nothing for me. Some root was powering shit. It wasn't like I could burn it when it was encased in silver.

"Why did he go through the trouble of telling me all that?" I asked Islo.

He unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged while doing it. "Maybe because he knows we can do nothing with the knowledge and that I already knew about wyrmroot, considering I used to be head of every dealing in and out of Andaheim."

"I didn't know that's what you did," I muttered and pushed the covers aside for him so he could climb into bed. He leaned his cane against the bedside table, made two jumps on his healthy leg and landed on the bed. He grimaced as he pulled his leg up with him. I pushed his back against the headrest and massaged his thigh.

"Thanks," he sighed, his eyes closing.

"Don't thank me for this, Islo. I'll do it gladly." I dug my thumbs into the ruined muscle, making him groan. I got a nice excuse to feel up my fiancé's nice thighs. This was the opposite of work for me. "Is it still very sore?"

"Yeah. Hurts every time I walk. The doctor said it'd be better over time though. It just needs to heal and that takes time."

"Until then I'll keep doing exactly this." I bent my back and placed a kiss on his skin. His fingers ran through my hair as he made a very content sound. I moved up and kissed him before laying down next to him, my head on his chest. He kept his fingers in my hair, softly massaging my scalp. I ran the tips of my fingers over his chest and he sighed contently.

"Are you ready for the wedding?" he asked softly.

"I think so. We'll try and make the best of it, right?"

"Yeah. It's about us. Forget about everyone else. It's just you and me. And Isla."

"Yeah. It'll be good."