Chapter 160: The Ceremony

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: The Ceremony

The procession began.

Dax and Chris moved first, followed by Nayra and Jax, the rest of the royal household falling into place behind them as the music carried through the open gallery.

Nero remained where he was.

His part began with Sebastian.

That had been one of the few ceremonial details neither of them had considered changing.

The adjoining doors opened several moments later, and Sebastian appeared at the far end of the gallery with Duncan several steps behind him.

Nero had already seen the clothes.

It made absolutely no difference.

White fell around Sebastian in long layers, silver embroidery catching beneath the morning light while flashes of deep purple appeared whenever the robe shifted around his legs. The fitted black coat underneath sharpened the entire look, keeping it distinctly Sebastian despite the Sahan ceremonial elements surrounding him.

His black hair rested loose against his shoulders.

His throat remained bare.

His green eyes went directly to Nero.

Sebastian approached at the pace protocol demanded, which Nero considered another unnecessary cruelty, although none of it reached his face.

When Sebastian finally stopped beside him, his gaze dropped briefly over Nero’s mantle.

"You survived."

"Barely."

Sebastian’s mouth curved.

The processional marshal gave them the signal.

Nero offered his hand.

Sebastian took it.

They entered together.

The main ceremonial hall had been designed centuries before either of them existed, long enough that generations of Sahan rulers had altered it without ever managing to erase what came before. Pale stone columns rose toward a vaulted ceiling worked with silver and dark wood, while narrow openings high above allowed sunlight to fall in clean shafts across the central aisle.

Purple and white dominated today.

Flowers had been kept low along the aisle, preserving the architecture and the sightlines toward the raised ceremonial platform at the far end.

Every seat was occupied.

Royal families from allied nations filled the front sections, followed by ambassadors, ministers, military representatives, noble houses, and enough familiar faces from both Saha and Palatine that Sebastian would probably spend the reception being intercepted every thirty seconds.

Nero barely looked at any of them.

The hall rose as they entered.

Sebastian’s fingers tightened once around his.

They walked the length of the aisle side by side, neither leading the other.

At the front, Dax waited beside Chris beneath the carved royal seal, both already positioned slightly to one side rather than occupying the center.

The officiant stood opposite them.

There was no altar.

No kneeling.

No elaborate exchange of promises in front of hundreds of people.

Sahan royal weddings had once included all of those things.

Dax had removed most of them when he married Chris.

The original ceremony had lasted nearly two hours.

According to Chris, Dax had reached forty minutes into rehearsals before informing three horrified ceremonial officials that if the purpose was to establish that he intended to marry the man beside him, they could probably achieve that before lunch.

The modern version lasted less than twenty minutes.

Nero approved completely.

Sebastian had laughed when he first learned who was responsible.

Father and son apparently shared an intolerance for ceremonial delay when marriage was involved.

They reached the platform.

Nero released Sebastian’s hand only because protocol required both of them to face the officiant.

The opening declaration was brief, presenting their names, houses, and legal standing.

A formal acknowledgment that Sebastian retained his Fitzgeralt titles, inheritance, military authority, and obligations independently of his marriage to the Crown Prince of Saha.

The corresponding declaration established that Nero gained no separate claim over Fitzgeralt territory, military command, treasury, or succession through Sebastian.

That section had taken considerably longer to negotiate than the actual ceremony.

Sebastian listened without expression.

Nero almost smiled.

Very romantic.

The constitutional declaration moved into the Sahan portion: recognition of Sebastian as consort to the Crown Prince, his position within the royal household, mutual protections under Sahan law, and the legal precedence any future children would hold across both family lines.

No promises of eternal devotion.

No declarations of love.

No carefully written vows performed for cameras and foreign dignitaries.

They had decided that together.

Some things did not belong to the state.

Tomorrow night, after the public celebrations were finished and the palace finally stopped demanding pieces of them, Nero and Sebastian would exchange their vows privately.

Nero already had Sebastian’s collar waiting. He intended to give it to Sebastian after the vows.

Not as part of the marriage ceremony, but as something between them.

The officiant asked them to turn toward each other.

Sebastian did.

Nero’s thoughts stopped wandering.

The hall seemed quieter from this close.

Sebastian’s expression remained composed, but Nero could see the warmth beneath it, the slight softness around his eyes that had appeared more often over the last few months and still affected Nero more than it should.

The legal question came first.

"Sebastian Fitzgeralt, do you enter this marriage freely and accept Nero Ezekiel Altera as your husband under the laws of Saha and the recognized sovereign agreements of Palatine?"

Sebastian looked directly at Nero.

"I do."

Nero felt it everywhere.

The officiant turned to him.

"Nero Ezekiel Altera, do you enter this marriage freely and accept Sebastian Fitzgeralt as your husband under the laws of Saha and the recognized sovereign agreements of Palatine?"

Nero had waited almost ten years for an answer this easy.

"I do."

Behind Sebastian, Chris smiled.

Dax looked insufferably pleased.

Lucas’s hand tightened on Trevor’s while trying to hide his smile.

The rings came next.

The wedding bands had been chosen months earlier and kept deliberately restrained compared with nearly everything else Nero owned.

Sebastian slid Nero’s ring onto his finger first.

Nero watched his hand while he did it.

When Nero took Sebastian’s hand in return, his thumb brushed once over the base of Sebastian’s finger before he pushed the ring into place.

The officiant completed the legal declaration.

The royal seal was presented.

They each pressed a hand against the polished surface as the marriage was formally entered into Sahan’s record.

The officiant stepped back.

"Under the authority of the Crown and the laws recognized between your houses, your marriage is established."

Applause rose through the hall.

Nero looked at Sebastian.

Sebastian looked back.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Almost ten years reduced to a sentence.

Nero’s mouth curved.

"My husband."

Sebastian’s composure cracked just enough for the smile to reach his eyes.

"You waited until the legal declaration."

"I have discipline."

"That is a generous interpretation."

Nero offered his hand again.

Sebastian took it.

They turned together toward the hall.

Hundreds of people stood before them, applauding beneath banners bearing Nero’s colors while the silver embroidery on Sebastian’s white robe caught the light beside him.