Page 231 of House Ignis

I glanced down and realized I was dressed in a gown the color of moonlight, the fabric spilling in soft waves that shimmered faintly, as if threaded with starlight instead of gold.

A wedding gown.

Unease twisted low in my stomach, cold and jagged.

Music drifted through the brightness—sacred, ancient, echoing like a hymn sung long before kingdoms were born.

Aether walked beside me, silent and enormous, his obsidian coat stark against the endless white.

His golden eyes were alert, tracking the shimmer of the void. On my other side, my father guided me forward, his hand resting lightly but firmly around my wrist.

He looked proud. Truly proud. As if this moment was the culmination of every cold calculation he had ever made.

Ahead, an altar rose from the glowing floor—white stone veined with silver, framed by towering columns that spiraled into a sky I couldn't see. Strange banners floated weightlessly in the air, marked with symbols I didn’t recognize but that felt older than the gods themselves.

I didn’t know where we were.

But I knew it mattered.

Then I saw him.

Asher stood waiting.

He was dressed entirely in black that seemed to drink the light around him. Shadows curled lazily at his boots, whispering along his shoulders like living silk.

The moment his silver eyes found mine, something inside his face broke open.

Relief. Raw and unguarded.

Tears were already sliding down his cheeks. Not from pain. From joy.

My heart surged so hard it hurt.

He took a step forward, like he couldn’t stop himself. Like he had been waiting his whole life for this single moment.

Behind him stood Jules.

She looked calm. Serene. She was wrapped in ceremonial robes, her curls pinned neatly away from her face, her expression gentle and steady. Seeing her sent a rush of happiness crashing through me.

Jules. Thank the gods.

But even as the thought formed, something twisted in the back of my mind. A splinter of reality.

There was something I was supposed to remember. Something important.

Something important. Something… wrong.

The ceremony began.

Words flowed around me like water. I didn’t hear them. I didn’t feel myself breathe.

All I saw was Asher—the rise and fall of his chest, the way his gaze never left mine, the silver of his eyes promising me the world.

Then, his body jerked.

A dark stain spread slowly across the front of his shirt.

Then violently.