Chapter 157: Wedding Morning

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Wedding Morning

Nero had not slept.

That was not unusual enough to matter. Three or four hours kept him functional, sometimes less when work demanded it, and his dominance spared him most of the exhaustion other people would have if he wasn’t using his pheromones to save someone in a berserk. The difference was that he usually remained in bed because Sebastian was there, warm beneath the sheets and easy to hold while Nero read reports or stared at nothing in particular.

The other night he had given up pretending sleep might come.

Dawn had only begun to lighten the eastern side of the bedroom, turning the stone arches around the windows pale gold while the rest of the room remained blue with early morning shadow. The curtains had been left partly open overnight, and cool air moved faintly through the balcony doors, carrying the scent of damp gardens and cedar into the room.

Nero stood barefoot near the windows in loose ivory trousers, shirtless and with his white-blond hair falling untied over his shoulders because he had not bothered dressing properly yet.

Across the room, Sebastian was asleep in their bed.

Unfortunately, so was Niva.

The tiger had appeared outside their private rooms almost an hour earlier and attempted to scratch her way through one of the cedar doors.

Duncan had prevented the destruction.

Nero had opened the door to find him with one hand braced against Niva’s shoulder while she stared at the obstruction between herself and Sebastian with extraordinary displeasure.

"She wants inside," Duncan had informed him.

Nero had looked from the tiger to the unmarked cedar panel and decided preserving several centuries of craftsmanship was probably worth surrendering his side of the bed.

Niva had entered immediately.

She walked past Nero without acknowledging him, crossed the bedroom, climbed onto the mattress with surprising care, and arranged herself along Sebastian’s legs. Sebastian had shifted several minutes later, half-awake, until one leg rested over the tiger’s side and his arm disappeared into the thick white fur at her shoulder.

Neither had moved much since.

Nero watched them from across the room.

Sebastian’s black hair had spread messily over the pillows, the natural waves stronger after sleep, while the sheet had slipped low enough to expose one shoulder and part of his back. His face was turned toward Niva, relaxed in a way Nero rarely saw outside their private rooms.

Niva’s purple eyes opened briefly.

Nero raised a brow.

"You took my place."

The tiger closed her eyes again.

Nero smiled.

Six days ago, he had been pacing his office because Sebastian was hiding something about the wedding.

Today, he was marrying him.

The thought struck with the same force every time.

Nero turned toward the dressing room, where his wedding clothes were already waiting behind closed doors under enough security to protect a state secret. Beyond the private wing, the palace had been awake for hours. Kitchens had started before midnight, staff were moving between ceremonial halls, florists were finishing the last arrangements, and Hale’s security plan had divided the central palace into controlled zones.

Foreign delegations had filled Altera throughout the week.

Family had followed.

Two nights earlier, Dean and Arion had joined them for dinner with Theo, who spent part of the meal informing Nero that Niva could not eat wedding cake and the rest attempting to negotiate his own access to it after bedtime.

Yesterday’s family meeting had been worse.

What was supposed to be a brief review became nearly two hours of Dax changing ceremonial details, Chris undoing half those changes, Lucas checking Sebastian’s schedule, Trevor reviewing security, Ethan commenting whenever he felt like it, and Sirius apparently deciding that being emperor entitled him to opinions on everything from procession timing to table placement.

Sebastian had endured all of it with suspicious composure.

The bastard was still hiding something.

Nero had narrowed it down to the wedding clothes weeks ago. The Fitzgeralt-green suit was too perfect a decoy, and Sebastian had enjoyed Nero’s disappointment far too much for it to be genuine.

He could have uncovered the truth.

Idris would have found the garment transfers within an hour.

Nero had almost asked.

Luke’s irritating advice had stopped him.

Let Sebastian keep his secret.

So Nero had, although watching Sebastian suppress laughter every time Nero mentioned the green suit had tested his patience considerably.

A soft movement from the bed drew his attention back.

Sebastian shifted but did not wake.

Nero crossed the room quietly and sat near his hip, careful not to disturb Niva. He brushed several dark strands away from Sebastian’s face and let his thumb rest briefly against his temple.

This was what he had wanted long before politics or ceremony had attached themselves to the idea of marriage.

Sebastian staying.

Nero had imagined marriage at eighteen with the confidence of someone who had never considered that wanting something could fail to make it inevitable. He had imagined it at nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, always assuming persistence would eventually wear Sebastian down enough to give him a chance.

Reality had been longer, uglier, and far more complicated.

There were parts of it Sebastian still did not know.

Nero’s hand stilled against his hair.

He pushed that thought away before it could settle.

Today was not the day for ghosts.

The anxiety remained anyway.

Too many people were concentrated in one place. Too many political interests. Too many opportunities for something small to become catastrophic. Sebastian’s transition was still active, and Roberta’s medication plan reduced the chance of another cramp without making it impossible.

Nero had prepared for every practical failure he could imagine.

A quiet knock came from the private door.

Duncan entered only far enough to be seen, dressed already in a dark formal security uniform with a fitted jacket and silver insignia at the collar.

"Hale asked me to confirm you were awake. Outer security changed shifts twenty minutes ago, the medical team is in position, and Roberta’s medication for Sebastian is ready with breakfast."

Nero nodded once. "Any problems overnight?"

"Nothing worth waking you for."

Duncan’s attention drifted toward the bed, where Niva remained half buried beneath Sebastian.

His mouth moved slightly.

Nero noticed.

"If you laugh, you can explain to Orin why a tiger has scratched through my doors."

Duncan recovered immediately. "I’ll keep that in mind."

He withdrew and closed the door softly.

Sebastian woke several minutes later.

His green eyes opened slowly, unfocused at first, before his gaze found Nero sitting beside him. He shifted, frowned at the unexpected weight beneath his body, and looked down.

Niva lifted her head.

Sebastian stared at her.

"How long has she been here?"

"Almost an hour. She attempted forced entry."

Sebastian glanced toward the doors, checking them automatically.

"Duncan saved the wood."

"That may be his greatest contribution to royal security."

Niva stretched, pushing Sebastian’s leg higher before settling again.

He scratched behind one white ear without thinking.

Nero watched the betrayal happen.

"She wanted you."

Sebastian’s sleepy smile appeared.

"Well, you and she have something in common."