Mageborn The Line of Illeniel by Michael Manning (top novels of all time TXT) 📗

idea of happily ever after had never been more complicated than an extended erotic fantasy involving the woman I loved more dearly than my own life. Thinking of children now though, I could see the attraction. I believed she would be a wonderful mother, and the thought of becoming a father brought tears to my eyes. My own father would never see his grandchildren. For that matter I would never see them either, not that any would ever truly exist. I hoped that she would go on someday, to have children without me, but the thought gave me even more pain.

“They would have been beautiful,” she said in a sorrowful voice.

“One of them still will be,” I reminded her.

“No Mort, I can’t do this. It’s too much. I won’t leave you,” she replied.

“You don’t have to,” I told her, “just stay with me till the end. When the time is close... then we’ll do it. You can stay with me until it’s over.”

A small hope blossomed in her face, “Promise me. Promise you won’t force me to leave you.”

“I wouldn’t do that Penny. I already told you,” I answered.

“Promise me! Do that and I’ll agree to break the bond as soon as the time is near, but you have to promise,” she said desperately. It broke my heart to see her beg.

“Well of course I will Penny...” I started.

“No... Swear it! Right now. I don’t want any half-empty reassurances. Swear.” She gripped my shoulders fiercely.

“I swear it Penelope Cooper. I will not cast you aside, nor will I leave you alone, not until death takes the choice from me. I swear it on my love, and the life of our unborn child,” I stared deep into her eyes as I spoke and I meant every word, though I knew there was no child in her womb. I would not betray her trust any further.

She nodded sharply and kissed me, her lips lingering against my own. “Will you marry me Mordecai?”

That surprised me. “I already asked you to marry me,” I replied.

“No, I mean now. Right now. There won’t be any later, not for you. Marry me now, I don’t want to wait any longer,” she was emphatic.

Wait for what? I thought to myself. We hadn’t exactly been saving ourselves. In fact we’d been very enthusiastically not saving ourselves for several months now. Women are a mystery to me sometimes. I had learned enough to keep from saying something stupid however, “Alright, let’s do it.”

She bounced up from the bed with more energy than I had seen from her in months, outside of her training sessions with Cyhan and Dorian. She began tearing through the wardrobe, “This is terrible Mort!”

“What?” I was mystified.

She gave me a look filled with horror, “What am I going to wear?!”

I swear, as long as I live, however short that may be, I will never, ever, understand women.

Chapter 33

The ceremony was held the next evening, in the small unfinished chapel of Cameron Castle. There on the eve of our war with Gododdin, we gathered for one of humanity’s oldest rituals, an affirmation of life and joy. It was a moment of defiance in the face of certain sorrow.

Marc agreed to perform the ceremony, although I had certain misgivings about that. I kept my opinion to myself. Since he was otherwise occupied Dorian played the part of best man. That worked well for me anyway, I would have had trouble choosing between them.

There weren’t many guests. James was there, as well as my mother and Penny’s father. Cyhan also attended, along with Joe McDaniel and a small collection of Washbrook’s citizens. Honestly I was grateful for the small attendance. The wedding we had originally planned, almost a year ago, would have involved a huge guest list. Escaping the pomp and circumstance of such a large wedding was a small blessing in itself.

I waited at the altar while Patrick Cooper walked his daughter down the aisle. With a start I realized Lady Rose would be missing the performance. I was sure there would be hell to pay for that later.

The ceremony itself was a blur. I would later wonder what had happened, for the first part I could remember was the final vows. Marc was staring at me for a while before I realized I was supposed to be repeating his words. My face turned red with embarrassment as he started again, this time I repeated them perfectly. In the end all I could recall were the final “I do’s.”

I found myself staring into Penelope’s blue eyes. She hadn’t had a wedding dress so she wore a beautiful yellow dress that Rose had helped choose for her long ago. Someone had helped to braid her hair into a delicately coiffed design, but all I could see were her lovely eyes and lips. Marc said something, but I failed to understand him.

“I said... you may kiss the bride,” he repeated more firmly. I could hear some quiet chuckles from the guests.

“Oh!” I said stupidly, and then I did. Cheers and clapping broke out, but I hardly noticed. I guess weddings aren’t so bad after all, I thought to myself.

A short while later we were enjoying food and what ale Joe could find. He could be quite resourceful when he chose to be. I guess it came from running a tavern. Dorian was well into his cups before the party had even begun. Marc was not far behind him, and both were trying to convince me to match them, mug for mug.

“C’mon Mort! Drink up! It’s not every day you get married!” Dorian admonished me.

“You don’t want to be the only sober one here do you?” Marc added.

“Well, who knows what we’ll be facing tomorrow...” I vacillated. I was truly torn by my desire to drink and my responsibilities.

“Ahem!” said Penelope loudly. “In case you’ve forgotten this is his wedding night,” she told them.

“Well why don’t we go upstairs now my love,” I told her gamely. “We can get that