Jaenelle's eyes brimmed with amusement as she took her place beside him. On his left.
He didn't think about it. He simply stepped back and shifted until he stood on her left, the subordinate position. Her startled expression told him she didn't know what to think about that move, since he now outranked her and was entitled to stand on the right. But his choice had nothing to do with the Jewels she now wore and everything to do with who, and what, she still was. Her place wasn't at his side; his place was at her side. And always would be.
Before her uncertainty could be sensed by the unicorns around them, Mistral reared. Then, looking at Daemon, he flicked his tail and snorted before moving to one side.
Jaenelle pressed her lips together.
*You'd have no use for me if I was hung like that,* Daemon told her on a psychic thread.
She changed her muffled laugh into a series of coughs, causing Ladvarian to declare it was still too cold for the Lady to be outside much longer.
So Moonshadow tossed her head, the sun gleaming on her spiral horn, and all the unicorns pricked their ears as the Priestess took her place in front of the two humans.
*Jaenelle,* the Priestess said, *this human stallion stands before you, wanting to be your mate. Will you accept him?*
"I will accept him," Jaenelle said. She called in the gold band Banard had made. Even though he'd given it to her for this ceremony, Daemon stared at it as if he'd never seen it before.
His left hand trembled when she slipped the ring on his finger, adding, "I offer this token to let everyone know Daemon is now my mate."
*Daemon,* the Priestess said, *the Lady is willing to have you as her mate. Do you promise to be her friend and…* She looked at Ladvarian, who, Daemon guessed, was helping the mare with human concepts. *…lover? Do you promise to protect her from enemies?*
"I promise," Daemon replied. He called in the sapphire ring and slipped it on Jaenelle's finger. "Let this token be a symbol of my commitment to honor, cherish, and protect, to be friend, lover, and husband." He lifted her left hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. "This I promise… with everything I am."
When he drew her into his arms and kissed her, he forgot about standing in a meadow, forgot about who was watching, forgot everything but her…
… until a young voice close to his hip said, *Are they going to mate now?*
Since his libido was rising a little too eagerly, he started to step back… and got stabbed in the ass by a little unicorn's horn.
"It could have been worse," Jaenelle said as he led her back to the Coach and the picnic Ladvarian had procured from somewhere.
"How?" Daemon said, grateful he was just bruised, not punctured.
"You could have been facing the other way."
Before he could decide if he wanted to be an intelligent husband or a snippy bastard, she kissed him, and when her tongue slipped into his mouth, he decided being an intelligent husband was the far better choice.
Wrapping his arms around her, he sank into the kiss, soaring on the feel of her body brushing against his.
She scraped her teeth over his chin. "Did you notice that Ladvarian chose the Coach that has a bed?"
"I noticed."
She licked his throat. "Do you think you can perform your duties as a husband, or are you too wounded?"
Since she was pressed against him, the answer was rather evident, but he said, "Oh, I think I can manage."
"I appreciate your having us to stay tonight," Daemon said as Khary refilled the brandy snifters. In Seek, the Blood still held with that quaint custom of the men and women separating after dinner for a while so that each group could chat with their own gender. So he and Khary had remained in the dining room while Jaenelle and Morghann had gone to the sitting room.
"Well, you could say we were expecting company," Khary replied, a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Especially since Ladvarian came pelting up to the house earlier today, saying he needed a picnic in a hurry and could we have you and Jaenelle to dinner and put you up for the night."
Daemon tried not to wince. "We could have stayed at Jaenelle's house."
"Now, that you couldn't. The staff put most of the furniture under dustcovers after Wilhelmina moved to her own cottage. This way, the house can be put to rights before your next visit." Khary gave Daemon an expectant look.
He smiled. "I have some business in Amdarh that requires my immediate attention, so we'll be going back to Dhemlan in the morning, but we're planning to come back here after the wedding for at least part of the honeymoon. And now that Jaenelle is completely healed, I expect we'll be dividing our time between here and the Hall."
Khary rolled his snifter between his hands. "Wilhelmina said you settled a generous income on her."
Daemon shrugged. "She's Jaenelle's sister. The family could afford it."
"Ah."
As they drank their brandy, the silence took on the weight of anticipation. Of course, there had been a feeling of anticipation since he and Jaenelle arrived at the home of the Queen of Seek and the Warlord of Maghre. Morghann and Khary had greeted the news of their intended marriage with enthusiasm and hearty well-wishing, but as the evening wore on, Daemon couldn't shake the feeling that Khary especially was waiting for something.
"Perhaps we should join the Ladies for coffee," Daemon said, pushing away from the table.
"If you're trying to keep it a secret, you should stop playing with the ring," Khary said quietly.
He'd intended to pretend ignorance, which would have been a lie, but he looked into Khary's eyes and realized they stood on a point of no return. Whatever conclusions Lord Khardeen had reached about what had happened last spring, and why, had been reason enough for him to offer a hand in friendship again. But if that offer of friendship was repaid with a lie, it would never be offered again…and Khardeen had enough weight with the rest of the boyos to bring him back into that circle of friendships… or leave him outside of it forever.
Daemon held out his left hand and dropped the sight shield he'd placed on the gold band to keep it hidden. "How did you know?"
Khary leaned forward to admire the ring. Then he grinned. "Did the same thing with mine when I first got it. Couldn't quite believe it was really there." He rose and gave Daemon's shoulder a friendly squeeze. "So that's what you were doing in Sceval this afternoon."
Feeling awkward, and not liking it, he shrugged. "We wanted to get married. But we are going to have the formal wedding."
"Damn right you are." Khary studied him. "Is there a reason for keeping this secret?"
Daemon felt himself going cold and fought against it. This wasn't the time or place for that sweet, deadly rage. But soon. Soon. "There's some… trouble… in Amdarh. It could shift to Jaenelle if our marriage became public knowledge." He wasn't sure when that realization had bloomed, but he trusted his instincts. "I'll take care of it."
"If you need help, you'll let me know?" Khary asked.
He nodded.
"Well, then." Khary rubbed his hands together. "Why don't we join the Ladies?"
Jaenelle's amused, guilty look when he and Khary entered the sitting room told him she'd had no better luck keeping their secret from Morghann than he'd had keeping it from Khardeen.
Khary looked at the two women and grinned. "So. Are we going to talk about the wedding that will take place or the one that did take place?" His eyes shifted to Daemon. "Because we were wondering why you were having so much trouble sitting through dinner."
Jaenelle snorted.
Daemon sighed, and muttered, "I backed into a unicorn."
Morghann burst out laughing. "Oh, we've got to hear the details."