Lara looked devastating.
Sarisa had expected to be the one fighting tears.
She had prepared for it, in fact. She had accepted that the moment Lara appeared at the altar, sharp in black and red and silver, her own composure would probably abandon her with the speed of a frightened animal.
Instead, Lara was the one standing before her with damp eyes.
The sight nearly undid Sarisa anyway.
Her future wife's freshly cut hair framed her face in a way that made her look even more striking, the shorter sides revealing the curve of her small black horns while the longer strands above carried their natural streaks of red.
The deep black suit fitted her perfectly, broad across the shoulders and sharply tailored at the waist. Silver constellations traced one side, while dark-red flames curled along the opposite cuff and collar.
Fire and stars.
The white shirt beneath remained open at the upper buttons, naturally, because Lara had apparently decided that even sacred ceremony could not convince her to fasten every piece of clothing.
Sarisa loved her for it.
Lara's gaze had not moved from her since she reached the altar.
It was intense enough to make Sarisa's skin warm beneath the white gown.
"You are staring," Sarisa whispered.
Lara blinked, as though only just remembering other people existed.
"You're beautiful."
"So are you."
Lara's mouth opened.
Sarisa narrowed her eyes slightly. "Do not argue."
"I wasn't."
"You were about to."
"I was going to say breathtaking ."
"You were not."
Lara's lips twitched.
That small expression calmed Sarisa more than any rehearsed prayer could have.
The priest stepped forward beneath the suspended crystal crescent.
He was elderly, dressed in layered white and silver robes, with a narrow circlet resting above his brow.
Beside him stood the demon witness, clad in dark ceremonial armour, and two Celestian attendants carrying the ritual cords and marriage ledger.
The priest raised his hands.
The temple fell completely silent.
"We are now going to start the ceremony."
The words echoed beneath the high arches.
Sarisa's heart began beating harder.
Lara's fingers tightened around hers.
The priest turned first toward the gathered guests.
"We stand today beneath the sacred moon, before fire and starlight, to witness the joining of two lives and two realms. Not through conquest. Not through command. Not through expectation. Through choice."
Sarisa swallowed.
Choice.
The word meant everything.
Her first intended wedding had been built from duty and fear. Every flower, every guest, every promise had been chosen by someone else.
Today, every step belonged to her.
The priest looked toward Sarisa and Lara.
"You have already been joined through demon tradition and acknowledged through blood and flame. Today, you stand before Celestia to join yourselves under our rites as well. Do you come freely?"
"Yes," Sarisa said.
Lara answered at the same moment.
"Yes."
A faint smile touched the priest's face.
The attendants approached and wrapped a ceremonial cord loosely around their joined hands.
One half was silver, woven with tiny crystal threads. The other was dark red, warm with restrained demonic magic.
The two colors met between their palms.
The priest spoke of duty, equality, and shared rule, but Sarisa heard only pieces.
Her attention remained fixed on Lara.
Lara looked nervous.
Truly nervous.
Her jaw was tight. Her thumb kept moving against Sarisa's fingers.
Her eyes occasionally flicked toward the guests before returning immediately to Sarisa, as if looking anywhere else for too long might make the entire ceremony unbearable.
Sarisa gave her hand a small squeeze.
Lara breathed.
Then came the vows.
The priest inclined his head toward Lara.
"Lara Daemara, you may speak."
For the first time that day, Lara looked genuinely alarmed.
Several people in the front rows smiled.
Malvoria leaned toward Elysia, clearly anticipating disaster.
Raveth sat with the expression of someone who would remember every mistake forever.
Lara shot them a warning look.
Then she turned back to Sarisa.
Everything in her face changed.
The humour remained, but it softened beneath something rawer.
Something honest.
"Well," Lara began, and Sarisa nearly smiled because of course that was how Lara would begin a wedding vow, "when we first met, I didn't know you were a princess."
A ripple of laughter moved through the temple.
Sarisa's smile escaped.
Lara continued.
"I had been sent here for a diplomatic mission I did not want. I arrived late, complained about everything, stole ceremonial wine, and immediately started flirting with the most beautiful woman in the room."
"Poorly," Sarisa whispered.
Lara smiled. "Very poorly, apparently."
More laughter.
Then Lara's expression deepened.
"You looked at me as though you had already decided I was trouble. You were right. You told me you weren't interested in me, and I remember thinking that was the most insulting thing anyone had ever said."
Sarisa laughed quietly, tears already gathering.
"But then things happened," Lara said. "Danger. Bad decisions. An assassin. Too many arguments. Somehow, I ended up protecting you before I really knew you."
Her thumb brushed over Sarisa's hand.
"And somehow, before either of us understood what we were becoming, we had Aliyah. Then life dragged us through every possible disaster before we finally admitted what should have been obvious."
Lara's voice lowered.
"I loved you."
The temple went still.
Sarisa forgot the guests again.
"You were the first person who made me want more than a night," Lara continued. "The first person who made me want to stay long enough to be known. You challenged me, infuriated me, rejected me, trusted me, and somehow made a home inside every part of my life I thought I had protected."
A tear slipped down Sarisa's cheek.
Lara noticed.
Her own eyes shone again.
"I spent most of my life running from crowns, duty, and anything that looked permanent. The first time I came to this palace, I escaped in flames and shouted that I regretted nothing."
Malvoria covered her mouth, laughing silently.
Lara smiled faintly.
"But I'm not running today."
Her voice broke slightly.
Sarisa's breath caught.
"I choose you when things are easy, and when they are unbearable. I choose you when you are Sarisa, when you are queen, when you are tired, furious, frightened, or pretending you are none of those things. I choose our children. I choose the life we are building. I choose to stand beside you for as long as you will have me."
Lara lifted their joined hands and kissed Sarisa's knuckles.
"I came to Celestia expecting three days of boredom. Instead, I found the one woman worth staying forever for."
Sarisa could no longer pretend she was not crying.
Neither could Lara.
The priest turned toward her.
"Sarisa Daemara, you may speak."
The name struck warmly through her.
Sarisa looked at Lara.
"When I first met you," she began, "I thought you were loud."
"I was."
"Late."
"Yes."
"Arrogant."
Lara hesitated. "Debatable."
The guests laughed again.
Sarisa smiled through her tears.
"And completely incapable of offering a respectable compliment."
"That is cruel."
"It is accurate."
Then Sarisa tightened her hold on Lara's hand.
"But you were also the first person who looked at me and did not see only a princess. You saw a woman you wanted to annoy."
"Court."
"Mostly annoy."
Lara grinned.
Sarisa's voice softened.
"You protected me before I trusted you. You respected me even when I was not capable of protecting my own choices. You made me laugh when I wanted to remain angry, and you stood beside me when every part of my life began to collapse."
She looked into Lara's red eyes.
"You taught me that love is not obedience. It is not silence. It is not choosing duty over yourself until nothing remains."
Lara's expression grew tender.
"You gave me a family I chose. You gave Aliyah laughter, Neris safety, and me a place where I did not have to be perfect to be loved."
Sarisa breathed.
"I choose you, Lara. In every realm. In every title. In every life that may wait beyond this one. I choose your fire, your terrible humour, your restless heart, and even your habit of threatening furniture."
"The furniture usually starts it."
Sarisa laughed, then continued.
"You once came to Celestia determined to leave. Today, I promise you will always have somewhere worth returning to."
Lara's tears finally escaped fully.
Veylira murmured something beside her that Sarisa could not hear, though Lara muttered, "Do not start."
The priest signaled to the attendants.
The velvet ring box Lara had given earlier was brought forward.
Lara took it herself.
Sarisa noticed the slight tremor in her fingers as she opened it.
Then she saw the rings.
Her breath stopped.
They were breathtaking.
Dark demonic metal braided perfectly with luminous Celestian star-metal. Black and silver, fire and moonlight, neither hidden beneath the other.
The bands seemed to glow where the metals crossed, as though the materials had learned to breathe together.
Sarisa looked at Lara.
"You made these?"
Lara nodded. "For us."
"They are beautiful."
"Stronger than beautiful," Lara whispered.
Sarisa smiled through fresh tears.
Lara took Sarisa's ring and held it at the tip of her finger.
The priest asked, "Lara Daemara, do you take Sarisa as your wife, your equal, and your chosen companion through duty, joy, hardship, and every life granted to you?"
Lara's gaze never left Sarisa's.
"I do."
She slid the ring onto Sarisa's finger.
The metals warmed instantly.
Sarisa took Lara's band.
Inside, she caught a glimpse of an engraving before placing it.
Where you burn, I return.
Her chest tightened painfully.
The priest turned to her.
"Sarisa Daemara, do you take Lara as your wife, your equal, and your chosen companion through duty, joy, hardship, and every life granted to you?"
Sarisa smiled.
"I do."
She slid the ring onto Lara's finger.
The two bands flared together, silver light and dark-red fire curling briefly around their joined hands before settling into a quiet glow.
The priest raised both hands.
"Before the sacred moon, the eternal flame, these witnesses, and the realms you will serve, your vows are accepted and your union is sealed."
Lara was already leaning closer.
The priest smiled.
"You are now married. You may kiss."