It was my turn to speak again. “Plus, we know how our people enjoy a nice display of magick.” The Casters cheered once more. I was fairly certain some of them had already started celebrating, even though it was fairly early in the morning. “So without further ado, we invite you to witness the launch of our new regime.” I looked over to Rowan. “Ready?”
“Absolutely.” In this moment, all the love in the world seemed to shine in his eye. I couldn’t imagine a better way to start our new ceremony and life together.
Moving in unison, Rowan and I knelt down and set our palms flush against the ground. We’d spent days sharing energy and hybrid power. Now, both of us were ready to cast the mother of all spells. As we’d learned, all we had to do was ask our hybrid power for help.
“We’re ready to begin,” I said.
“Free these worlds,” added Rowan.
Instantly, cords of violet power wound down our arms and burrowed their way into the earth. The hybrid magick had begun its work. Seconds later, purple ropes of light and power burst up again from the ground, winding themselves around the gateways closest to Rowan and me. After that, the cords moved on to the next archways, and the next. Soon, every arch on the Meadow of Many Gateways was buried under tangled layers of light, ropes, and magick. It was a beautiful sight.
Closing my eyes, I gave the hybrid power one final command. “Now.”
A series of deafening booms sounded as one after the other, the gateways burst into rubble. The crowd toasted, cheered, and sang. Some children began crawling up the tails of Walinzi and Mlinzi, who then proceeded to give monkey-back rides to anyone who asked, so long as they were children. The adults were invited on their backs only to be summarily dumped off again by “accident.” These were trickster gods, after all. No one truly expected them to change.
And so, the festival of our coronation had begun.
Now that the gateways were gone, I stood once more, as did Rowan. I looped my arms about his waist and leaned into his chest, simply because I could.
“You know something?” I asked.
“Tell me.”
“This may actually be the greatest festival of all time.”
“Indeed.” Rowan gave me one of his most beautiful grins, the one where his dimples popped out. “Well, now that you’re queen, you need to join in the fun. Are you ready, my mate?”
And in that moment I did feel ready, but in more ways than one. Sure, I was about to join a party. More importantly, I was truly ready to embrace a future with my mate. And like our bond, I trusted in that completely.
The End