Chapter 140: Beyond the Wedding

Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Beyond the Wedding

"What makes you contact me first?" Nero asked, his gaze still fixed on the dark windows.

The private reception room at the end of his parents’ wing had been left mostly untouched for years, all carved wood, deep-purple upholstery, and bronze lamps that cast warm pools of light across furniture too formal for anyone to use comfortably, while beyond the tall glass, the western gardens had disappeared completely into darkness.

The woman on the other end of the secured call remained silent long enough for Nero to straighten away from the antique desk.

"I saw you," she said eventually.

Nero’s attention sharpened immediately.

"With Sebastian?"

"At the wedding."

The words should have relaxed him, especially after years of visions in which anything involving Sebastian seemed to end in death, destruction, or some other catastrophe that neither of them had chosen, but Nero had never been particularly talented at accepting good news without interrogating it first.

"What happened?"

"The wedding happened exactly as far as I could see it. You were both there, your families were present, and there were guests from several kingdoms, so I assume it was the ceremony already planned in Altera."

Nero waited for the rest.

When none came, he pushed away from the desk and walked slowly toward the windows.

"And afterward?"

"I can’t see anything."

His jaw tightened.

The reflection staring back at him in the dark glass looked considerably calmer than he felt.

"Nothing because we die?"

"No."

Her answer came quickly enough that Nero stopped moving.

"If I believed either of you died, I would tell you directly. Death does not normally leave an empty space like this, especially not when the person involved affects as many lives as you or Sebastian would."

Nero turned slightly, one hand settling at his hip.

"Then what does an empty space mean?"

"I don’t know yet, and I don’t want to invent an explanation merely because you prefer having one."

That almost earned a smile.

She had learned him well.

"What I can tell you," she continued, "is that it does not necessarily indicate danger. It could mean the opposite, because visions depend on probabilities and connections, and if something changes those connections strongly enough, the paths I usually follow may simply stop being accessible."

Nero immediately thought of Sebastian’s transition, the developing omega scent that had grown stronger in only a few weeks, Roberta’s warnings about his glands still maturing, and the permanent bond neither of them had been medically permitted to attempt yet.

"The bond?"

"Possibly, although Sebastian himself may be enough to complicate what I see. His memories already behave differently from ordinary visions, and whatever exists between you seems to influence them."

Nero disliked the uncertainty but understood it.

"So the last thing you can confirm is the wedding."

"The wedding, and the fact that I cannot see any large calamity attached to it."

No infection spreading through kingdoms. No collapse of dominant command structures. No chain of disasters beginning because Sebastian chose him.

For years, Nero had been willing to tear apart half the world if that was what it took to change the future Sebastian feared, and now the woman who had spent so long watching possible outcomes could no longer find that catastrophe at all.

He should have been satisfied.

Instead, he had been given a wall with nothing written on the other side.

Still, the woman had contacted him because she thought he needed to know, and Nero would not punish honesty merely because it failed to satisfy his obsession with certainty.

"Thank you for telling me."

A small pause followed, perhaps because she had expected twenty more questions.

"If anything changes, even something that seems insignificant, call me directly," Nero continued. "If you cannot reach me, contact Hale. You still have his secure number?"

"I do."

"Use that before any palace channel."

"I remember."

Nero glanced toward the closed door, already thinking about Sebastian waiting at dinner without any idea that another person somewhere in Saha had just confirmed their wedding still existed somewhere in the future.

Then he ended the call.

For several seconds, he remained alone in the old reception room, phone held loosely in one hand while the implications settled into place.

The wedding happened.

Beyond it, nothing visible.

Before Nero could decide whether he found that comforting or infuriating, another notification appeared across the screen, this one carrying the official diplomatic seal of Draxil.

He opened it.

The formal announcement filled the display.

CORONATION OF HIS MAJESTY KING AMARU OF DRAXIL

Nero’s eyebrows rose.

The ceremony was scheduled in three weeks.

Years had passed since he, Arion, and Dean had helped save Amaru from the remains of a regime that had already destroyed most of his family and nearly destroyed him with it, and Nero remembered enough of those days to understand what reaching a coronation meant.

Amaru had survived, Draxil had survived, and apparently the kingdom was finally ready to crown him.

The diplomatic note beneath the announcement made Nero smile.

His attendance was formally requested.

Sebastian’s was too.

That solved his immediate problem rather conveniently.

Nero slipped the phone into his hand and left the reception room, already deciding that there would be no discussion about Sebastian remaining in Saha this time.

Their engagement had been public for almost a year; Sebastian had attended domestic royal events and constitutional meetings, and Sahan media had long since accepted that the future Crown Prince Consort was no longer some temporary guest hidden inside Villa Petrana.

Draxil would be different, as it was international press, and other royal houses watching them arrive together.

Sebastian beside Nero as his fiancé rather than Fitzgeralt’s heir.

Nero liked the thought more than he intended to admit.

He returned to the dining room several minutes later to find dessert already served and Jax attempting to steal something from Ethan’s plate while Ethan guarded it with the patience of a man who had raised Zion and therefore feared no teenager.

Dax was talking to Lucas, Chris was pretending not to enjoy whatever argument had begun, and Sebastian looked up the moment Nero entered.

Nero walked directly back to him.

"Everything fine?" Sebastian asked.

"For the moment."

That answer earned him a suspicious glance, but Nero placed the phone in front of him before Sebastian could pursue it.

A few seconds later, Sebastian’s expression changed.

"Amaru."

"He is being crowned in three weeks."

Dax looked across the table. "The confirmation arrived?"

"Just now."

Chris glanced between them. "You’ll both attend, then."

Nero rested one arm along the back of Sebastian’s chair, his fingers brushing lightly against the shoulder of Sebastian’s pale shirt.

"We will."

Sebastian turned his head.

"You sound extremely certain."

"I am."

Nero bent slightly, close enough that the next words belonged mostly to Sebastian.

"I am not going to my first major international appearance since our engagement without you."

Sebastian’s mouth curved.

"That sounded suspiciously possessive."

"It was."

From near the wall, Duncan sighed quietly, already understanding what the announcement meant for his security schedule.

Sebastian heard him and laughed.

"Congratulations. You’ve ruined Duncan’s week."

"Melanie’s too."

"Then at least be fair and ruin them equally."

Nero smiled and pressed a brief kiss to Sebastian’s temple before settling back into his chair.

Three weeks from now, they would walk into Draxil together.

Whatever existed beyond the wedding might have disappeared from every vision the seer could reach, but Nero could still see the path immediately in front of them.

For now, that was enough.