escondida

Chapter 71

Okay y'all here is Kaia's wedding dress.

KAIA'S POV

My hands shake as I grip my father's arm, focusing on taking one step after the other. So many thoughts move through my head that it's overwhelming.

Don't trip and fall in front of so many people.

What if somebody objects?

I feel dad squeeze my arm and I take a deep breath. I lift my gaze from the ground as we turn the corner, and like always, my eyes fall straight on Archyn. And like always, any worries I had disappeared.

I thank whoever decided who was Mated to who for Mating me to this fine man. He's wearing a black suit, the jacket hugging him at the waist like it was made for him - who am I kidding, it probably was. His black hair is slicked back and I can see the gold in his eyes shining from here.

He looks ravishing.

I watch as he looks me up and down, the lust in his beautiful eyes are obvious to me, even from metres away.

And so is his arousal.

I fear we may not even get through our vows before he whisks me away.

Dad lets go of my arm and I realise we made it to the altar. He walks to the side and I slowly walk up the three steps until I'm standing in front of Archyn. He looks at me with his dazzling eyes and I smile.

He leans forward, "You look beautiful." He whispers and despite everything, I still blush. He leans back and turns to the pastor, but I zone out. Probably not good, but the only thing that matters to me is Archyn.

And then he speaks. He takes my hands in his, looking me in the eyes the entire time.

"When I first met my Mate, she tried to kill me, and I hated her. I hated her for the way she made me feel. How I felt more of a connection with her than I did with who I thought was my Mate at the time. I hated how she made me hard just by looking at me," There are a few gasps from the crowd at his last few words, but I just laugh, "I hated how she wouldn't listen to me, how she put me in my place, how she wasn't scared of me."

He smiles down at me and takes my hand in his, "But now, those are the things I love about her. I love how she challenges me, I love her eyes, I love how violent she is, I love her dirty mouth. I love everything about her. I'm glad to have her as my Mate, as my wife, as my Queen." There's a round of applause as he lifts one of my hands to his mouth, gently placing a kiss on it.

Once the cheers go down, I start to speak. "When I first met Archyn, he scared me shitless, though of course I never showed it." He smirks at the admission and I roll my eyes before continuing, "I hated that he had a Mate. Because that meant that I couldn't have him. I hated how he could read me like a book, how he would always say things with no expression. How he would only look at me with an annoyed expression.

"Though I now know that he was annoyed about the way I made him feel." He smiles at that and I smile back, "Despite how much I hated him, I know now that my determination to hate him was just a way for me to ignore how I felt about him. Though I hated him the most when he renounced his protection over me. I'd been whipped, tortured, forced to kill, but the way he looked at me broke me. I came back to the Palace a fortnight after that night, planning to kill him."

There were a few gasps from the crowd at my words, but Archyn's smile just widens.

"But my plan backfired, I suppose. Because instead of killing the person who shattered me, I fell in love with him. And he was the one who picked up the pieces he broke. Making me whole again. Making my heart whole again." I finish, though instead of planting a kiss on his hand, like he did to me, I step closer and place a kiss on his cheek. I stifle a laugh when I pull away and see a heart shaped stain of red lipstick.

At that moment, music starts playing and I turn to see Haevyn walking down the isle, holding a large pillow with two rings on it. And I smile as I watch Ryda dragging his feet along behind her, throwing petals in the air, his face grumpy.

I heard them arguing earlier today about who would hold the rings. Ryda said that Ezra told him to carry the rings because Haevyn was a girl and could carry the flowers, but that made Haevyn mad. So she told Ryda that he has to throw the flowers, and after a small amount of arguing on Ryda's side, he agreed.

And I smiled as I saw Haevyn kiss him lightly on the cheek before skipping away. Ryda just stood there, eyes and mouth wide open as he lifted his hand to his cheek. And then he went running after Haevyn.

Haevyn walks up the marble steps before standing in front of us, holding the rings out. Archyn goes first, taking out the smaller siler band and sliding it smoothly onto my finger. After it slips on, I reach out and take the identical, larger one and put it onto his finger.

The pastor says something about kissing, though Archyn and I have already moved together. Our kiss is very mild, a slow, passionate kiss. A promise of a lifetime together.

Applause sounds through the small opening of the woods near the cabin where we first stayed together. I look around and take everything in. I'm glad we decided to have our wedding so near to the cabin. The snow had cleared a little while ago and now the sun was out, though I know it won't stay like that for long, Archyn says that the weather here is very strange.

I look out and smile at all the people that came. We'd sent invitations to most royal supernaturals and the majority had come. The Light Fae King or Prince didn't come, however. Which was more than I could have asked for. Honestly, it was the best wedding gift they could have gotten me.

I look behind me and smile at my bridesmaids. Nic, Attikus and Oliver all wear dark red suits, tailored to fit them all, and Zeena and Melody have tight fitted red dresses that fall down just below their knees. I look back to Archyn and take in his groomsmen. They're all wearing black suits as well, a single button in the middle done up, showcasing the dark red shirts they're wearing underneath.

Then I look down at myself.

I think gold is now my favourite colour, and not because it's in Archyn's eyes. My dress is a long, golden dress, threads of sparkles woven through the material. There are thin straps covering my shoulders and the dress dips between my breasts before joining again at the start of the skirt.

I brush my hair out of my face as I look up at Archyn, and this time laugh as I see the red mark still there.

He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me flush against his body, claiming my lips with his again. The kiss is brief and he plants a kiss to my forehead before letting me go and taking my hand. I wave goodbye to my friends as he pulls me down the stairs and down the aisle.

I see my parents crying as they watch us walk by, holding onto each other for support. Zilani is sitting a few seats behind them, a sour look on her face, but Priya looks like she's about to jump out of her seat in excitement.

I see lots of familiar, friendly faces in the crowd.

Naomi, who is talking softly to Axel and Ajax, a small blush on her face at the attention they're giving her.

Silas, sitting beside a girl I don't know.

Zeena's Mates, now making their way towards where she's standing at the front.

Coralia and her two sisters huddled together talking, smiles on their faces.

All the family and friends that mean the world to me, all in one place.

We reach the end of the path littered with flower petals and Archyn pulls me in for a kiss.

"I love you so much, my beautiful wife."

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WORD COUNT - 1461

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AHH IT'S NEARLY DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry this was short, but I've never been to a wedding and I wanted this to be a short and sweet ending.

Hope y'all still enjoyed though!

ANYWAYS THANKYOU FOR READING

I LOVE YOU <3 <3