*These characters and the world they are written in do not belong to me. Rebecca Yarros is the author of the Empyrean series and these are her characters.*

Violet

Tairn shut me out the minute I agreed to the terms. I knew he'd be against it, but I didn't think he'd block me completely. Now I'm cut off from both of the dragons who chose me, and I can't even blame him. He's not only mourning my decision but also the path forward with his mate is so uncertain that he's afraid he'll lose us both to an unalterable dark wielder. His words, not mine.

I look around at the pillars and the sky above. I'm not sure how exactly we arrived at this temple, I've been told I'm on a "need to know" basis, and while I've never liked being left in the dark Xaden begged me to trust him just this one last time and I have never been very good at denying him.

I climb the steps of the dais and spot him standing near the priestess who had asked me about my hair moments before the wyverns attacked Dunne's temple in Aretia.

As soon as he sees me he stills and rakes his newly-turned ruby eyes over me from head to toe.

I knew this gown would look stunning on you but my imagination did not do it justice. You are beautiful Violet and I do not deserve you. He caresses my mind with an ease that he's never had before.

I smile at him as I smooth the fabric down in the front. My arrogant and beautiful Xaden asked someone on the isle of Deverilli to make me a wedding gown "fit for the best rider Navarre has ever seen" he stated.

The gown is made of the softest silk and lace. The bodice fits me like a glove, sheer black lace with just enough coverage of my breasts, and the skirt portion of the dress is plain silk that hugs my curves with a slit up to my thigh on my left leg. On that leg, I'm wearing a lacy garter with an alloy dagger attached, which he insisted upon. The dress is of the darkest black with hints of shimmer throughout. It's breathtaking and perfect, and a tear slips down my cheek knowing he'd bought this intending for the events of the last few hours to have played out as they did, knowing he would turn, knowing this would be what he must do while he is still him enough to do it.

I shake off my dread and decide to live in this moment. This could be the last time he allows me to be near him and I cannot bear to spend this time sad. After all, it is my wedding day.

He stands waiting for me to climb the last few steps and I openly gawk at his appearance. He might be full-blown Venin, but he's still the most beautiful man I've ever seen. He's wearing a tux the same shade of black as my dress and a bow tie that has a tiny blue dragon on the left bow. He's donning the smile he only reserves for me as I take his hand and join him under the stars of the open temple.

Tairn and Sgyael stand behind us to bare witness to our union. Tairn hasn't spoken a word to me but he's here in this moment and I've never been so thankful that he's my bonded dragon, my anchor to still me when this all becomes rocky waters.

The priestess turns to me as I approach, "Shall we begin?"

"Not quite." Xaden retorts back to her in a voice that is his but with a lack of emotion that breaks me.

He turns towards me and the warmth of his smile relaxes me as if I'm the only person he cares to be kind to, it reminds me that at least there is some part of the man I love still within him.

He takes my left hand and bends, and suddenly I'm looking down upon him as he is on one knee before me. "I have to do this properly, even if all of this is not at all proper. You deserve so much more than I can give you, you always have, even before I became what I am now. While I do not regret my decision to become this superior version of myself, I do regret disappointing you. You will always be who breathes life into me, the reason my heart once beat, the last piece of my shredded soul. You are all that is good in the world and while I should be selfless and walk away from you, and I will, first I need to bind myself to you for I have never been a selfless man when it comes to you. I love you, perhaps even more now. I am yours if you'll still have me, even if what we are now will be the most complicated version of ourselves we've ever been. Will you do me the honor and the absolute fucking privilege of marrying me?" He pulls a ring out of his pocket and slips it on my finger. The emerald is stunning and set in a simple setting, it is everything I didn't know I wanted.

I look into his red-rimmed eyes, seeing past the turmoil that is swirling on the surface, and stares straight into that small piece of soul he claims I own within him. I am not afraid of this changed man, I am sad that this is what card fate has dealt him. Despite my sadness, I am still so deeply in love with him and so I say the only possible response I can, "Of course I will."

He smiles at me and we both turn towards the priestess. "Now, we may begin."

Xaden

I'm slowly losing my former self and I'm relishing who I am becoming, but when I look upon her in that fucking "take me to my knees" gown I remember how I had planned for this event and I'm happy to oblige the priestess with her ceremony, if only to see Violet smile as I know I'm limited in how many more she will grace me with.

"Tonight we gather underneath the stars and within the presence of Dunne to intertwine two souls to become one." The priestess looks upon Violet and me with a soft smile and continues. "These two humans have both chosen a difficult path to walk as they stand upon this altar. While they have chosen their direction as individuals, tonight their paths become one."

The priestess turns to me, "Please look to Violet and bare your innermost thoughts."

I slowly turn towards Violet and gently touch her cheek, feeling the pull of the magic that lives within her. There is such a strong part of me that wants to draw all of the magic out of her, but a small and somehow more defiant part of me that could never do that. Her skin is so soft and it grounds me as I stare into her very soul.

"Violet, you are the only thing I have ever wanted that I know I shouldn't have. I told you in the beginning that you shouldn't fall in love with me and here I stand as a testament to why. You are the very air I breathe and without you around I am and will be half a man. I am captivated by your beauty, drawn to your strength, infatuated with your brilliant mind, and enraptured by your very nature. There is not a moment that I do not think of you and I will be forever ensnared within your web. The last bit of my soul belongs to you, the love of my life, my wife."

Tears stream down her face as she leans into my hand. That was beautiful.

"Violet, please look to Xaden and bare your innermost thoughts." The priestess continues.

Violet takes my hand from her face and laces our fingers together. "Xaden Riorson. Your name alone commanded authority from the moment I met you. You took a chance on me, the weakest first year in the quadrant. You saw me for who I could become and never let my weaknesses define me. You helped me realize that I am beautiful, strong, and brilliant. I cannot imagine a world where you aren't with me and I refuse to accept any fate other than one where we are together. We are at a crossroads currently but I will never not fight for you, I will always believe in you, and there isn't a place in existence you could go that I wouldn't find you, Riorson. Every bit of my soul belongs to you, the love of my life, my husband."

She looks at me with such conviction as she bares herself to me and I can't quite place the feeling I have that sparks within me as I look upon her.

"Tonight these two have bared themselves to each other under the guiles of Dunne. You are now woven two souls into one. It is my pleasure to bless this union as you have become husband and wife."

I pull Violet to me so fast I think it knocks her breath from her lungs. I kiss her lips with reckless abandon. It's a rough and deep kiss, to punctuate the finality of our vows. She melts into the kiss and then deepens it. I could live in this moment forever. Her hands on my face, her body pushed into mine, my fingertips barely touching the top part of her delectable ass. I give myself a few more moments of pure bliss that is Violet before I pull away as fast as I pulled her towards me.

Make sure everything else is in place and tell Tairn not to let her mourn me. I stare into Sgyael's eyes and then walk down the temple steps. I turn back to Violet one last time as I memorize her in this moment, my stunning wife. Then I turn around before I do something to ruin it all and I vanish.