Born of Silence (82 page)
It was terrifying to think of all that responsibility. It was hard enough to raise a child. Period. To raise one who was destined to lead a vast empire…
Darling was lucky she wasn’t running for the door.
But as Maris walked her down the aisle and she saw Nero in the crowd, she relaxed. Nero had been right to tell Darling to show her the papers that Darling had found.
Even now after she’d seen them and read the files, she still didn’t believe it.
The reason why Darling’s father had brought him to her home that very first trip was so that her father could meet the boy he was betrothing her to.
They’d been destined for each other from the moment of her birth. It gave her chills every time she thought about that.
Nero’s words haunted her.
“In all incarnations, except one, he would have always married you.”
And in that one exception, Darling had died as a teenager.
“You are the only woman he would have ever married, Zarya. Never doubt his loyalty or his love for you.”
She curtsied to Maris before he handed her over to Darling.
Darling bowed formally and kissed her inner wrist. It was so scandalous an action that several gerents gasped. But she didn’t care. Lacing his fingers with hers, Darling tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and held it there while the people cheered for them.
Ever since their return, the Caronese people and gerents, and especially the Resistance and royal guard had embraced their emperor. They had declared him their pride. And referred to her as the heart of the people.
Her throat tight, she was so grateful that now the only ones
they had to fight were the League. It wasn’t an easy war, but it was much better than having to fight their own.
And when she placed his father’s ring on his hand, Darling trembled.
“Where did you get this?” he whispered, clenching his fist just the way his mother had demonstrated.
She indicated Natale with a tilt of her head. “Your mother brought it for you. She wanted to make sure you had it for your wedding.”
A shocked smile played at the edges of his mouth as he turned in his mother’s direction and gave her a formal bow.
Natale dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief as she wept silently.
Darling took Zarya’s hand and returned her ring to her finger. “I expect it to stay there, this time.”
“I will never again remove it. I promise.”
Then to her complete surprise, he took her other hand and slid her mother’s original wedding ring onto her finger—the one her father had been forced to sell for food.
Stunned, she gaped at something she’d never expected to see again. “Where did you find this?”
“I had Syn track it down since Pip lost your other one. It still has their initials and wedding date engraved inside the band…” He kissed her fingers. “I’m so sorry I lost the one you gave me. I know how much that ring meant to you.”
Tears flowed down her cheeks. He’d lost his finger trying to protect it.
Before she could think better of it, she threw her arms around him and held him close while she wept on his shoulder.
“Um, Your Majesty,” the priest cleared his throat, “we’re not to that part of the ceremony yet.”
Still, Darling held on to her and whispered in her ear with that
deep, damaged voice that sent chills all over her body. “In all my life, I have only had one haven that sheltered me from my hell. One woman whose smile made me fly even after I’d hit the ground so hard that I didn’t think I could ever stand again. There is nothing in this universe that could destroy me, except you, Zarya. You have taken a monster and made him human. My wounded soul was healed because of your smile. So long as I live and even beyond this life, I am and will always be ever yours.”
Her tears fell even harder as she heard the sincerity behind those words.
“Ever yours” was what he’d engraved in the band of her wedding ring…
She tried to get a hold of herself, but it was impossible. “Gera and Ture are going to kill me for destroying all their hard work.”
He gently wiped the tears from under her eyes. “Even with your makeup blurred, you are still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“And you are the sexiest man who ever walked. Perfect in every way.”
His smile widened. “I’m going to remind you of that later when you start fussing at me about all my annoying habits.”
The priest cleared his throat again. “Majesties? Are we to finish?”
Darling winked at her. “What do you say, my lady? Are you ready to finalize this marriage?”
“Absolutely, my lord. And I look forward to many, many more years of scandalizing your gerents.”
In just two years, Sherrilyn Kenyon has claimed the #1 spot on national bestseller lists seventeen times. This extraordinary bestselling author continues to soar to the top of every genre she writes in, including manga and graphic novels. With more than twenty-five million copies of her books in print in over one hundred countries, her series include The League, Dark-Hunter, Lords of Avalon, Belador, and Chronicles of Nick. Since 2004, she has placed more than sixty novels on the
New York Times
bestseller list, and her manga is an international bestseller. Proclaimed by critics the preeminent voice in paranormal fiction, Kenyon continues to blaze new trails that blur traditional genre lines. To learn more, you can visit
www.SherrilynKenyon.com
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Sherrilyn Kenyon
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ISBN 978-0-446-57332-0