Promise (33 page)

That visual made my insides squirm with
panic.

"I mean the whole thing! All of it!" I
cried.

"Oh." She looked at me with surprise and then
her expression dissolved into understanding. "Honey, it will all
come naturally."

"How do I know what natural is, though? How
do I know what's right? What if I do it all
wrong
?"

She smiled. "The thing about men, Alexis, is
they generally don't find any of it
wrong
. In fact, usually
the more wrong it is, the more they like it."

"
Mo-om…!
"

She shrugged. "I'm serious. There is very
little you can do that would scare him away. Just don't belch, fart
or call out anyone else's name and you'll be fine."

"Sophia!" I couldn't help the laugh that
escaped, though. Just one. Before the panic set right back in. "I
just want to do it right. I want to make him happy."

"Oh, you will, honey. Trust me—you'll make
him
extremely
happy. When I say it'll come naturally, I mean
it. This is something Amadis daughters instinctively do very well."
She smiled coyly and winked at me. I didn't feel any better.

Butterflies grew and multiplied in my stomach
as the day went on. It felt like it dragged on forever and, at the
same time, evening raced toward us, as if someone played with the
hands on the world's master clock. Mom and I spent the afternoon
driving all over two counties, stopping at bridal stores and flower
shops, trying to bore anyone who might be following. Finally, a
little after six o'clock, Mom made sure no one pursued us and we
headed out to Gasparilla. She followed Tristan's directions down a
road covered in sand from lack of use.

I felt so nervous by then, I practically
danced a seated jig in the car. Stefan said the Daemoni had learned
about the September First wedding, but he had no indication they
knew about this one. If we could get through this next hour or so,
we'd be on our way to peace. Of course, then I would have more
personal issues to worry about….

"Looks like this is it." Mom pulled into a
space of patchy grass and sand between palmetto bushes. "We'll have
to walk the rest of the way."

I changed in the backseat of Mom's car. She
checked me over and fixed my hair she'd piled onto my head, using
her finger to curl the stray locks around my face. She straightened
the dress, adjusting my boobs, which nearly flowed right over the
top of the bodice. We hadn't walked five steps on the uneven
terrain when I decided the heels were a bad idea.

"Love the shoes, Mom, but they have to go." I
stopped to pull them off and she frowned, but couldn't argue. Bare
feet on the rough ground didn't work well either. I had no idea how
far we had to walk and I grew more frustrated with each slow,
careful step. I stopped, exasperated. "This isn't working either!
How am I supposed to get to my wedding?"

"Can I help?" Stefan had come to meet us. He
gently picked me up in his arms and carried me. He had a smooth
stride, not affected at all by my extra weight. His pure vanilla
scent brought back memories of when he carried me when I was
little. "You look quite lovely. I remember your great-grandmother
in a similar dress."

Wow.
I never knew how ancient he
was.

"Thank you. But I feel like a helpless child
playing dress-up in mommy's naughty clothes."

He laughed, the sound of a baritone saxophone
skipping through various notes.

"Are we still safe?" I asked.

"Yes, I am positive."

"I feel quite good about it, too," Mom
said.

"All you need to focus on is becoming Mrs.
Tristan Knight," Stefan said.

My heart pitter-pattered with delight to hear
him say it. The statement also re-energized the butterflies and I
was shaking by the time we reached the small, crescent beach—a
little cove where the island indented just enough to be nearly
surrounded by wild brush and trees. We had full view of the water
and the lowering sun. Rina, Owen and Tristan stood near the water,
waiting for us.

"Your bride, sir," Stefan said to Tristan as
he set me on the soft sand.

"Thank you, Sheffie," I whispered. Stefan
smiled and pecked me on the cheek.

Tristan took my breath away as he strode over
to us. Dressed simply in white slacks and a white silky t-shirt
just tight enough to emphasize his physique, and the gold sparkles
in his eyes shining, he was even more beautiful than I thought
possible. He gave me a once-over and raised an eyebrow with
appreciation, then took my hand and kissed it. I stopped trembling.
He smiled and winked. I stared at him, completely loving him and
totally forgetting why we were there.

"Are you sure you still want to be my wife?"
he murmured.

"Uh…yeah," I stammered, trying to clear my
head. When the fog finally lifted, I smiled and said confidently,
"Of
course
."

"Good," he whispered, "because I'd never let
anyone else have the pleasure of taking my place."

He led me over to Rina. She nodded at Mom,
Stefan and Owen, who all stood in silence behind us. Tristan gently
squeezed my hand as Rina began by reciting 1 Corinthians 13. I knew
it by heart. It was one of the passages Mom made me memorize when I
was five. We'd never gone to church, but Mom had taught me the
Bible, saying she knew more than any pastor this side of
Heaven.

"'And now these three remain: faith, hope and
love. But the greatest of these is love.' Tristan and Alexis, is
this the love you both share?"

"Yes," we answered together.

"Do you promise to uphold this love
throughout eternity?"

"Yes."

"Tristan, you may state your vows," Rina
commanded.

He turned toward me, smiled warmly and looked
into my eyes. I was sure he purposely set his voice to its
loveliest tone.

"Alexis, my love, with a happiness I had
never known possible before I met you, I receive you into my life
that together we may be one. I promise you my unequivocal love, my
unending devotion, my tenderest care. I will love you faithfully
through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy.
What may come, I will always be there. Entrust me not to leave you
or to return from following after you. For where you go, I will go,
and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and
your God will be my God. I will take care of you, honor and protect
you, for as long as I live, into eternity. I lay down my life for
you, Alexis, my friend and my love. Today I give to you, me."

Rina smiled and turned to me. "Alexis?"

I took a deep breath to steady my voice and
then recited my vows, blinking back tears.

"My sweet Tristan, with deepest love I did
not know could exist, I come into my new life with you. I thank you
for who you are to me—my one love, my true soul mate. God created
me for you and you for me. I will ever strengthen, help, comfort
and encourage you. I will trust you and honor you. I will love you
today, tomorrow and forever. Throughout life, as long as it lasts,
even into eternity, I pledge to you my life as a loving and
faithful wife, no matter what lies ahead of us. My love will never
be taken from you. Today I give you my life to keep."

Tristan flashed the most sublime smile that
reached into the depths of my heart. We turned back to Rina.

"Tristan and Alexis, with these vows you
pledge your lives to each other for eternity. Do you promise to
fight for your love and for each other for as long as you both
shall live?"

"I do," we said together.

"Tristan, to come into this union, you must
also give your life to God and to the Amadis. Do you promise to
protect us, to love us, to serve us, to lay down your life for us,
at all costs, for as long as you live, even into eternity?"

The air suddenly felt still and heavy as we
all tensed. If the Daemoni knew what was about to happen, this
would be their last opportunity to stop it. Once Tristan took this
vow, he became Amadis royalty, pledging his allegiance to us and
severing all ties to his creators.

Please, Tristan, just say it!

"I do."

Just then, a powerful gust of wind blew
through the cove. At the same time, a warm sun ray beamed directly
on our little group. The sun itself seemed to shine a little more
brightly as it hovered over the horizon. Directly overhead, though,
a dark cloud formed out of nowhere, lightning shooting across it
and thunder cracking, the wind whipping around us. It made me think
that something very evil was very angry.

Rina glanced up at the threatening cloud and
a small, mysterious smile appeared on her face. She didn't say
anything, aloud or otherwise, but her eyes looked triumphant.

She took a step closer to Tristan and me,
placed a hand over each of our hearts and closed her eyes. I felt a
warm tingling on my skin, then an unusual energy flow from her into
my heart and throughout my body. A moment later I felt it flow down
my arm, through my hand and into Tristan's, while at the same time,
a different kind of energy flowed from his hand into mine. The two
feelings combined in my chest then flowed throughout my body.

Rina spoke mightily, her voice clear and
strong, almost otherworldly. If there was any doubt before that she
ruled something extremely powerful, it was blown away then.

"I am Katerina Camilla Ames, matriarch of the
Amadis, protectors of souls and servants to God and the Heavenly
Host. Under my power, I join these two souls together as one,
forever bound to each other with an eternal love and loyalty that
cannot be severed by anyone or anything."

My skin under her hand burned and prickled
and the warmth radiated, encircling my heart.

Rina then took each of our free hands and
joined them together, then wrapped both of hers around ours. She
bowed her head and we all followed.

"Our Heavenly Father, God of the Universe,
Creator of all things, we thank You for this union and the
blessings You will provide as its result. We each lay down our
lives for You in our continued servitude. Show us Your way and we
shall follow. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Rina smiled and gave us a slight nod. Tristan
gently tilted my head up with his fingers under my chin, bent over
and delivered the most amazing, most loving kiss he had ever given
me.

"I love you,
ma lykita
," he
murmured.

"I love you, my sweet Tristan," I
whispered.

"I do not know what is above us, exactly, but
it would be in our best interests to vacate immediately," Stefan
interrupted, eyeing the unusual storm cloud above us. It wasn't low
enough to threaten rain, but the lightning, thunder and wind
continued, seeming to grow in anger.

We received quick hugs of congratulations and
Owen took a quick picture of Tristan and me with his new, high-tech
cell phone, the only camera available. Then he, Rina and Stefan
disappeared. Tristan scooped me up and ran to Mom's car, Mom not
far behind. He sat in the back seat with me as Mom chauffeured us
to a small parking lot where Tristan's Ferrari waited.

"Tristan, you have her bag?" Mom asked.

"In the car. Let's go,
ma lykita
." He
opened the door and helped me out.

The air here was perfectly calm. Mom came
around the car and hugged Tristan.

"You take care of my girl," she said to
Tristan. Then she hugged me and said, "And you take care of my new
son."

I beamed. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you, too. Be careful and have fun.
Sorry it couldn't be longer…." She got back in her car and quickly
took off. I had an eerie feeling about the next time I'd see her.
Just nerves. We'll be okay now
. Well, "we" as in all of us.
Now, me, for tonight anyway…I wasn't so sure.

Chapter 2
3

"Where are we going?" I asked Tristan as he
held the car door for me. "I thought we couldn't have a honeymoon
yet."

"Do you really think I'd let tonight be like
any other night?" He kissed me before shutting the door.

Like that could happen
. We could have
gone home and watched movies, but in the end it would definitely
not be like any other night. Not in my life anyway.

"So, where are we going?" I asked again when
he was in the car.

"Somewhere special for my special wife on
this very special night." He kissed my hand and winked.
"Topless?"

I stared at him blankly. I wondered if he'd
still have that same effect on me in eighty years. Or a
hundred-and-eighty years. I hoped so.

"Guess not," he muttered.

"Oh, yes, definitely," I finally answered. He
pushed a button and the car's roof began to lower.

We drove south and stopped at an upscale
restaurant in Naples, overlooking the water. It wasn't crowded, but
the people there gawked unabashedly at us. I thought it was the car
at first, but their stares, from both men and women, continued as
we followed the maître D' to our table by the windows. The table
could seat four, so Tristan sat to my right, rather than across
from me.

"Are you okay?" he asked when we were
alone.

"I really didn't want to be seen in this by
other people," I whispered, tugging at the top of the bodice. He
took my hand to stop me.

"Don't let their admiration bother you. I'm
quite enjoying it." He kissed my fingers. "I couldn't wait for
people to see you in that dress. Because you are with me.
Forever."

He leaned closer, his lips tickling my ear.
"At least let me enjoy it now, because I will have you out of that
dress soon enough."

The butterflies awoke in my stomach. They
fluttered throughout dinner and I could hardly eat. They grew and
multiplied again in the bathroom when I overheard a couple of young
women while I was still in the stall.

"He's absolutely gorgeous. And did you see
the car they got out of? I think he's the singer in that one band,"
one said.