Chapter 266: The Quiet Vow II
Not enough to glitter. Enough to glow when light touched it. The shape was noble, modest, refined, and devastatingly beautiful for that very reason. It did not beg to be looked at.
Lily stared for a few seconds.
Elena’s face remained calm. "I prepared it."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Last night."
Elena’s mouth moved faintly. "No. I accepted it at the speed required."
Lily almost said so, then realized that was a phrase shared by people in this house more often than was probably healthy.
Elena’s expression softened by a degree too small for anyone else to notice.
Lily stood there for a moment longer, taking it in. The reality of the day reached her more fully then. Not because of the vow. She had already chosen the vow. But because now there was cloth. Weight. Texture. Something made by another woman’s hands with the quiet seriousness of acceptance.
Elena saw the shift instantly.
Lily blinked. "I was not going to."
Then a maid entered with a tray of small things needed for dressing. Pins. Fresh ribbon. A delicate comb. Nothing flashy. Everything is chosen correctly.
The touch was gentle, practiced, and efficient.
"No."
"I am not known for romance."
"That is more useful."
Lily turned toward the mirror.
Not because she looked unreal.
Like a noble bride from an old poem that had somehow escaped the poem and become warm flesh and breath. The white and silver suited her. The shape of the dress drew grace out of her naturally. Her eyes looked larger. Brighter. More certain. The kind of certainty that came after choosing and surviving the choice.
"You will do it."
"Yes."
A little later, in one of the older inner rooms of the house, the private wedding was prepared.
The room held quiet dignity.
Lady Seraphiel was already there. She sat near one of the windows in deep blue silk, because if a hidden family vow was taking place, she apparently intended to attend it looking as though moonlight itself had decided to become expensive.
Sekhmet entered first.
Then Lily stepped in.
The dress Elena had prepared was not loud.
Lily wore it like it had been made to reveal some quieter nobility in her that ordinary days could not fully show. Her hair framed her face perfectly. The white and silver turned the morning light soft around her. And because he knew what she had chosen, because he knew how much courage stood beneath that beauty, the sight of her struck him harder than any simple admiration could have.
Almost...
"Good. I was worried one of you might ruin the mood by looking awkward."
Lily came to stand opposite Sekhmet at the table. For one long moment neither of them spoke.
He stopped.
Seraphiel leaned forward slightly, deeply invested now. "Careful. This is where young men sometimes say something irredeemable."
"You look so beautiful. It is a decision I will never regret."
Lily’s breath caught.
Elena said nothing, but she also did not object, which in her case was nearly applause.