Two weeks seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and as the Summer Solstice edged that bit closer, the air grew warmer. Stickier. I swung my sword as I spun and it connected with the dummy. Stuffing fell onto the floor and I paused to wipe the sweat from my brow.
"You do realise that Cass gave everyone today off?" Azriel said as he walked into the training ring.
"The ceremony is tomorrow, we easily could've trained today." I reminded him.
He looked over at the dummy, where it was slashed across the stomach, "That's coming out of your pay cheque."
"Oh is it?" I batted my eyelashes as my mate reached me. I looked up at him and he gave a lopsided smile.
"Yes," He said, his voice barely above a whisper, "unless of course you beat me in a duel."
I laughed softly, taking a step back, "Bring it on, mate."
I watched as Azriel unsheathed his sword and we both stood, circling one another, rotating our swords in our hands. The Shadowsinger stepped forward and our swords hit with a clang. Again, the other way. We moved back and forth, in our dance of steel. I spun away from his sword and he grinned at me.
"You know, killing each other the day before your mating ceremony might be frowned upon," Rhysand's voice drawled from somewhere in the training ring. I didn't dare glance away from Azriel, nor did he glance away from me.
Our swords clashed again and Rhysand let out a low whistle, "I guess this isn't ending anytime soon? I thought we were going out drinking," The High Lord huffed and the gravel crunched as if he sat down.
I raised an eyebrow at Azriel, "You're going to miss drinks with your boys."
He smirked as he looked back at me, "The boys can wait."
Another clash of swords, this time faster. I tucked a hand behind my back like I'd practised..
"Now that's just showing off," Azriel grinned. I ducked under his sword with a twist as the speed continued to increase. He did want his drinks, I realised as amusement bubbled through me. I watched his shadows, who usually gave me clues as to which direction he would go, but this time they did not give anything away. Betrayers.
My clothes clung to me now, the black leather and black vest doing nothing to protect me from the sun beating down overhead. Sweat beaded on Azriel's forehead and I knew he felt the same.
A shadow reached out and brushed against my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. It cost me. My sword was knocked from my hand. I blinked as the blade of Azriel's sword was held against my neck. He grinned at me.
"You cheated," I told him, narrowing my eyes.
He laughed softly and released his sword, "You could've used your magic."
"My love, you wouldn't have wanted me to use my magic," I replied, fire crackling into life in my hand. He blew on it, blowing it out as I gawped at him in disbelief.
Laughter sounded from the other side of the ring, reminding me that we weren't alone. Rhysand got to his feet, watching us with an amused expression. "Well?" He asked. "Can we go now?"
"Give me ten minutes to clean up and change," Azriel replied. He flicked my nose and kissed my forehead before heading off.
I shook my head and muttered under my breath, much to the High Lord's amusement, before I made my own way into the house to wash and get changed.
"Can I help you?" I asked later that afternoon as Emerie and Nesta wandered into the room. I was curled up on the sofa reading a book.
"Up!" Nesta said, taking the book from my hand. She scanned the pages and smirked, "Researching for tomorrow night?"
I rolled my eyes, "I'm having a nice relaxing evening and then an early night… extra beauty sleep!"
"We're going out," Emerie corrected, signalling to the black dress she wore.
"The boys are out, can't we have a nice night in?" I tried and Nesta smirked.
"We're taking you to Rita's," She said.
I widened my eyes, "Ritas? The Ritas?" I was still yet to find out any embarrassing stories about when the Illyrian males ventured out there with Morrigan and occasionally with Feyre. Azriel had not given in and no one else had either. Spoilsports.
"Indeed," Nesta smiled. She threw me a black dress. "Here, dress code for this evening."
"You do realise that this hen party thing is a human tradition, right?"
"Well you organised me a great one," Nesta grinned, "So I suppose I'm returning the favour."
It was more like something I'd have worn in the Hewn City. A deep thigh slit and a fairly low-cut front, but it seemed fitting with the dresses Nesta and Emerie wore too. Emerie's was tight-fitting and low-cut, Nesta's was satin with a low back. Morrigan and Feyre showed up a short while later, claiming that Elain had decided to stay home and babysit Nyx this time. They too wore black, although Morrigan's dress had accents of red on it and Feyre's sparkled, ever the High Lady.
We headed to dinner first- a lovely quaint restaurant by the River Sidra with canopies overhead and enough smells wafting around to make your stomach grumble. Our outfits didn't seem to fit with the colourful exterior of the restaurant but the staff didn't seem to notice anyway as we were given the best table in the house and then the best wine and the best foods…
I would have settled for just a nice dinner out, I decided as we sat and tucked into the food.
"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Feyre asked me from across the table as I finished the dessert she'd ordered for all of us.
I gave a nod and smiled, "Very."
It was going to be small and thankfully that plea had been listened to and not pushed by any of Azriel's friends… or family, I supposed they were. They'd been happy when we'd said we wanted a ceremony at the temple and then just a small dinner party. I had no doubt though that Nesta and Emerie had things planned, even decorative plans, to make sure the celebration didn't just slip by.
"I sometimes wish we'd had a proper ceremony," Feyre said.
"Instead of sneaking off and not telling any of us?" Morrigan raised an eyebrow at her. "Very typical of you both."
Feyre stuck out her tongue and Morrigan laughed, nudging her with her arm.
"It'll be nice to have you officially in the family," Feyre said to me, her eyes soft.
"We need all the female company we can get," Morrigan laughed. "It's not easy keeping them all in check."
"How hungover are they going to be tomorrow?" I dared to ask, an eyebrow raised.
"Cassian will be incredibly fragile," Nesta smirked.
"Rhys… probably fragile too. Illyrian baby." Feyre snorted and Morrigan laughed at that.
"Az is usually the most sensible," Morrigan said to me, "It took us centuries to get him to Rita's."
"I'd like to hear all the embarrassing stories tonight," I said to her and she clinked her wine glass against mine.
"That can be arranged."
Rita's wasn't like anywhere I'd ever been before. It was a pleasure hall, a bar, a gambling hotspot. I'd not been anywhere like it. And I knew then why my blue tunic I'd been wearing all afternoon just didn't work. All kinds of fae were there drinking, playing games, dancing… Some with skin colours and facial features I'd never seen before. A band played on the stage, catchy songs that fae sang along to as they danced and others sat in booths, watching and observing. It was clear that here, everyone was welcome. Groups of fae shared kisses with each other, males kissed males, females kissed females. No ridiculous traditions or laws here stopping anyone from being themselves. Emerie raised her eyebrows as she watched and I wondered if she'd ever witnessed anything like it before. If, perhaps, for the first time she realised that it was okay to feel how she did.
A fae female waved us over to the bar, a warm smile on her face. "Mor!" She grinned and then bowed her head, "My Lady, a pleasure to see you again." Then she looked at the rest of us. "And your guests, welcome to my establishment."
"Gwyn here is getting married tomorrow," Morrigan squeezed me against her side.
"Ah yes, the Shadowsinger is your mate," Rita smiled. "Congratulations." She waved towards the other side of the pleasure hall. "There's a booth over there for you females, I'll have my finest drinks sent over to you. Did you leave the males at home?"
"They're out elsewhere, drinking themselves silly," Morrigan snorted. "But who knows, they might drop by in time for karaoke later."
"Karaoke?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You're banned," Nesta said to me, pointing a finger, "You're only allowed to join in with karaoke if you're drunk and a bad singer."
"One of those we can fix," Feyre said with a laugh. "But I'm not so sure about the other…"
I decided I liked Rita's. Even if it was incredibly eye-opening. Morrigan and Emerie sat making bets on which couples were leaving with whom as Feyre and Nesta caught up with one another and I listened to the band. They were good and my foot tapped under the table, in time to the music.
"Let's play a game!" Morrigan declared. "Let's play Never Have I ever!"
"Ah, the game that never happened on Nesta's evening," I said and she grinned across at me.
"Be glad it didn't," Feyre murmured.
"Each of us takes it in turns to make a statement and if it applies to you, you have to drink." Morrigan announced.
"Good luck," Feyre whispered and I laughed softly.
Morrigan cleared her throat, "Never have I ever been a Valkyrie." She signalled to the three of us that the statement applied to and we each drank from our glasses.
"Never have I ever been in a threesome," Feyre stated and my eyes widened as Morrigan took a drink.
Emerie smirked, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "Never have I ever slept with an Illyrian Warrior." She watched as all of us took a drink. "I like this game!"
The pleasure hall just seemed to get busier as the night went on, even after the band had long-finished playing. We were all pretty giddy now and were on another bottle of wine as we sat gossiping and listening to the start of the evening's karaoke. The first few acts had been terrible but the current one was more bearable as he moved across the stage singing a song that I did know. I looked across the table at Emerie and Morrigan whispering to each other and I smiled as Feyre returned with more drinks. Perhaps I was going to be hungover the following day too. I was glad the ceremony was at sunset, I was going to need to sober up.
"We're up!" Nesta said, grabbing Emerie and I by the hand as the song finished.
"What?" I blinked, but we were already being towed to the stage.
"And now, the Valkyries!" The host announced and I didn't even have time to respond before we were up in the spotlights and the music had started. Thankfully I'd heard Stronger before and it was a song that I'd often hummed to myself in our first few months of training. The drink flowed through me, giving me an edge of confidence and we sang our hearts out together, three Valkyries forming some kind of girl band, singing and dancing around the stage.
And then, when the song was over, we bowed as the crowd cheered and I made a quick exit off the stage. I slid back into the booth and grabbed a drink as the host announced a break in the karaoke.
"He's really happy, you know," Morrigan said to me, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm glad, Morrigan," I said with a smile.
She let out a laugh, "Mor, please, you're in our family now. Besides, Rhys only calls me Morrigan if I'm in trouble."
"I can imagine that's often."
She laughed again, "It's in the territory." Her face was serious again, "But really, I mean it, it's so nice not to see him brooding all the damn time. You're great for him, G."
"G?"
"My new nickname for you," She replied and then she stood up, "Come on, let's dance!"
She pulled me onto the dancefloor, Emerie, Feyre and Nesta close behind us. We found a space in the crowds and it moved apart as a few people glanced our way, presumably recognising Mor, Feyre and perhaps even Nesta. The beat was quick, upbeat, and nothing like the music I'd danced to at the parties we'd been to. No, this was dance music, and bodies around us moved in time to it, not a single rehearsed dance routine in sight. Everyone was free. Relaxed. Without a care in the world.
I moved between each of my friends, joining a hand with them as I danced, throwing my head back, singing along to the catchy music and moving my body in time to the rhythm.
I had no idea what time it was when we finally made it back to the House of Wind, but at some point, I curled up in my bed with Nesta and Emerie either side of me and we fell asleep.