The night had command of the sky. Nothing stirred outside except for a soft breeze that wove through the trees with threads of jasmine and honeysuckle tied in it. Along the palace walls, lanterns burned, their light joining with the illumination of the almost full moon. Only a few candle flames were lit in the palace, most of the occupants long since finding comfort in their beds.

One such candle brightened Gigi's room, the orange glow falling over the two girls who stood before the mirror. Gigi twisted back and forth, the end of her dark purple skirt twirling about her ankles. The tails of the three sashes, wrapped around her waist, bounced with the movement. They were three different colors. A deep forest green, rich royal blue and dark red.

Gigi fingered the colorful fabric, thinking over their meaning and the tradition that lay behind the well-softened material. Smiling, she touched the edges of the shirt that hung off her shoulders. It was her mother's. What she wore was simple and almost plain, but to Gigi, it held no comparison, not even to the dresses she had been wearing the last five days.

In Loria, a wedding lasted six days. Five days of celebration leading up to the wedding day, the wedding followed by a ball that ended at dawn the next day with a send-off for the married couple. Gigi hadn't known how she was going to get through the intensity of the week but she had, Thayer always by her side. It had been a week like she never imagined.

The Eldin had been invited to attend. Though honored by the invitation they had graciously declined, but that was not before everyone knew they had been welcomed by the King himself. Leading up to the week of celebrating the King had hired the Eldin to train every new horse in his stable, making a statement by talking with them in front of some of the highest of nobleman. Though it could not all be solved in a matter of days, the work Thayer had done the year before the wedding had helped make small steps to acceptance.

The true shock had come when Gigi's parents had attended the first ball. The royal family had greeted them and announced their presence to the stunned room. Looking at her father - clean shaven, well dressed and beside her mother - Gigi would have sworn he was from noble birth.

Gossip had burned white hot that evening but Gigi didn't care. She was with her parents and danced with her father as Thayer danced with her mother. It was a show of unity that the Court did not realize at the time. Her parents attended only one ball but would be there for the wedding ceremony and final celebration.

Among the storm of well-wishers, Gigi had found comfort in three people. Davin was vast contrast to the man Gigi had known, with Everly as his wife he rarely disappeared into the library, content to be lost in her alone.

Very little outwardly changed with Everly but what Gigi found was a friend she had not expected to have. With her mother still living on the outskirts to the city most of the time and her grandmother no longer a source of guidance, Everly had stepped in, knowing Gigi was the reason Davin had finally made known his feelings.

At first, the two girls had acted unsteadily around each other, not knowing where the other stood. But as the chaos of Gigi's life mounted, Everly was able to help her with what she was still learning. From this, their friendship grew.

Besides the newly wedded couple, there was Raif. He seemed to always be on hand when either Thayer or Gigi needed him. If they were bombarded by a mass of nobles, Raif slipped in and carelessly pulled them away. He did everything with such ease and authority that no one contradicted him.

When Gigi had still been with her parents the months before the wedding, Raif had been the trusted go-between. He was a friend and support neither of them could have imagined, but could not see living without.

With these companions nearby and Thayer always beside her, Gigi had managed to face the days of celebration with an easy and gracious air. But as she stood in front of the mirror that elegant lady was nowhere in sight. All that was there was a barefoot vagabond.

Margo stepped back from straightening out Gigi's sashes and looked at her. Instinctively, her hand dropped to the small swell of her belly. Gigi turned to her.

"I am fine," she said. "You should get some rest."

"I could not let you get ready by yourself, Lady." Her eyes twinkled. "I would not have wanted to miss this."

Gigi stepped over and took Margo's hands. "I am so grateful for all that you have done. I know I would have been lost without you here with me. But I am truly fine. Get some rest, Vic would not like you on your feet for so long, and I feel the same."

"If you wish it, Lady."

Gigi squeezed her hands, feeling the metal band on Margo's finger.

"I do. I need you most tomorrow."

Margo curtsied, smiling at Gigi as she left. The room was silent and Gigi walked to the balcony. The summer air was cool and played with the candle flame, sending the furniture shadows swaying across the floor. As Gigi waited, her body got antsy to move. She walked back to the door and paced, straining to hear the sound of footsteps. When at last they came, her heart hiccuped. A light knock came and Gigi pulled the door open.

On the other side stood Thayer. He was dressed in plain trousers, a cotton shirt tucked in and three sashes that matched Gigi's hanging from around his waist. At the sight of Gigi with her black curls falling loosely over her bare shoulders, he paused.

He brushed a hand along the edge of her hair down to her bare shoulder, his smile growing the whole time. His caress was light but still managed to shock ever nerve in Gigi.

"I do not think I would mind being kidnapped by a vagabond such as you," he said.

She laughed but quickly covered her mouth to stop the sound from waking anyone.

"I believe I have already kidnapped you once," she said.

"Then do it again and never let me free."

"As you wish, My Prince."

Thayer gave her that smile that she found herself always savoring. He bent his head forward.

"I appear to be in need of your assistance," he said.

His hair was neat, not a single strand was out of place. Gigi ran her hands through the thick locks, messing it up until it was almost as much of a mess as Huck's.

Before she could survey her work, Thayer was kissing her. Her hands stayed in his hair for a completely different reason, as he pulled her into him. The feel of him was so familiar and yet always shockingly new.

"We will be late," Gigi said between kisses.

"I do not believe we can be late when it is us they wait for."

Gigi pulled back and cupped Thayer's face, keeping him from kissing her again. He looked reluctant to stop. It was an endearing expression that made Gigi smile.

"Yes, but unlike noblemen, vagabonds do not keep people waiting."

"Then, by all means, let us go."

He took her hand. Despite his appearance, his fingers had the callused feel of someone who knew hard work. Where he got them from she didn't know. But it was a thing she knew she had time to find out.

In the hallway were two soldiers dressed in commoners apparel. They were the same men who had accompanied Thayer when he had come looking for her. She knew them now as his personal guard.

When Thayer and Gigi passed by they fell into step behind them. The palace was silent, only the deep breathing and distant snores of slumber making any sound. To Gigi, it felt as if the place was theirs and theirs alone. For the first time, she felt comfortable within its vast walls. With the chaos of nobles nowhere in sight she could feel herself relaxing. With Thayer next to her, she could see this place becoming her home just as it was for him.

They left through a servant's entrance, slipping out with not a soul knowing they had gone. The guards remained as shadows behind them and Gigi let herself forget they were there, picturing herself alone with the man she was soon to call husband.

The cobblestones were rough beneath her feet and she could already feel a layer of dirt soaking into her soles. Regardless of the times she had walked these streets in this manner, the sensation was always the same. It lifted her spirits and made her feel as if she could float away. The steadying hold of Thayer's fingers wrapped around hers kept her rooted to the ground.

His boots made the sound on the streets that Gigi's bare feet didn't. Though more accustomed to going without shoes from time to time, years of living with them made it uncomfortable to walk along the rough, uneven roads without them.

As they walked, Thayer's hand brushed along the edge of his sashes and he looked from them to Gigi.

"Tell me what they mean again?" he said, simply wishing to hear her speak among the silence of his city.

"They stand for the three aspects of marriage," she said. She tugged his red sash, bringing him closer. "Red represents the blood that flows through all of us and the lifeblood of marriage, love." Her fingers moved to the blue. "Blue represents the sky. Though hidden at times it is always there and when the blue comes it is a bringer of peace." She pulled at the green. "Green represents the world that lives around us. It means harmony. It is the three uniting aspects that the Eldin live and love by."

"And we shall do the same," he said.

He brought their joined fingers up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Gigi smiled, the warmth of his mouth sending a tingling feeling down to her toes.

They headed towards the city limits bathed in the blueish light of the moon. Without knowing it, Gigi swayed as if already hearing the music that was most certainly playing in the vagabond camp.

Thayer's gaze held onto to her, watching the tilting of her head to the motion of her hips down to the lift in her step. As he studied her, he felt there would never be a time when he didn't love the curve of her waist, the color of her skin, the movement of her hand, or the light in her eyes that stole away his thoughts.

"You are enchanting," he said, his voice low.

Gigi spun around, already laughing.

"Is that why you follow me, My Prince? I have enchanted you beyond all reason."

"Yes, but I do not seem to mind."

Still laughing, Gigi started running. He chased after her. They escaped the city and headed towards a clearing over a small rise. Before they even reached the top they saw the glow of firelight. Laughter trailed into the night like sparks and music was dancing away with the wind.

Something in Gigi's chest sang at the sight of a city of tents. It was a feeling she knew would never leave.

Before they descended the hill, Thayer reached down and pulled off his boots. It was a sight that was becoming so common to him. To Gigi, it still made her smile, like he was taking off the mask that he wore with everyone else but not her. Taking her hand, they walked toward her family.

Huck was the first to notice their approach and let out a whoop that caused a stir through the camp, bringing about cheers of greeting. Annaleigh rushed to hug her daughter, Quinn close behind. Though she had seen them merely four days ago it felt different seeing them in the place they wore only the simplest of clothes. It was how she liked seeing them.

"Are you ready?" her mother asked, holding her face.

Gigi looked to Thayer and found he was already staring back at her.

"We are."

Annaleigh dropped her hands to Gigi's shoulders and squeezed once.

"Then let's start."

Her father called the group to gather around the fire. Everyone moved into place, couples holding hands as parents held onto children. Annaleigh stood at the front of the crowd with Huck beside her. Thayer and Gigi stood in front of her father before the blaze of the fire. With the mass that surrounded them, it didn't seem possible for them to be so silent. But they were, each one of them recognizing the importance of the ceremony about to take place.

"Family," Gigi's father said in Eldin. "We stand together to watch as these two souls are bound together in a union that shall not be broken." In her native tongue, the words were like the soft rustling of the wind in the trees.

He continued speaking of the aspects of marriage that would bind them together. The words washed over and wrapped Gigi up as she stared at Thayer, feeling her heart beating in time to his. When her father stopped speaking she knew what was to come next and her pulse quickened at the thought.

"Step closer," he instructed. Gigi and Thayer did as they were told. "I ask you to show that what you say is as true as the heart beat in your chest."

Gigi laid her hand on Thayer's chest, right above his heart. In return, he did the same, his skin hot on her bare shoulder. She rested her other hand over his as he mimicked her. Before the crowd, they appeared as an unbroken bond. Annaleigh smiled, tears falling down her face.

"Now I ask you to echo the words that are echoed in your heart," her father said. He spoke and looked to Thayer first.

Thayer smiled at Gigi. "Before you, Gigi, I lay all that I was, all that I am and all that I will be," he said in Eldin, the words hard earned over the past year. "To you and you alone I bind my life, my soul, my spirit, my heart."

To Gigi, the promises spoken in his deep, rich voice were like the steadying sound of the waves on the sand. In his brown eyes, she saw an intensity that said the words were not some ritual but a reality he would die by.

When her father looked to her, she felt happy tears threatening to spill over.

"Before you, Thayer," the sound of his name on her lips made him smile. "I lay all that I was, all that I am and all that I will be. To you and you alone I bind my life, my soul, my spirit, my heart."

As the words left her lips, Gigi felt them to her core, knowing they were a promise she would fight to keep true.

"Join hands," her father said.

Thayer laid his palm up for Gigi and she placed hers on it, he then covered it with his own and she rested hers on top. Annaleigh stepped forward and wrapped a golden sash around their hands. It was the same color gold that represented the Full Moon.

"We tie this," Gigi's father said, "to represent the new beginning these two lives are taking together." He looked between them. "I ask you to seal this moment."

Thayer leaned forward and kissed Gigi. The crowd around them exploded with cheers and shouts of happiness. When Thayer pulled away, Gigi smiled up at him.

"Does this make me a royal?" she asked.

"No," he said, "it makes me a vagabond."

**********************************************************************

*Bows* Your Majesty!

We have come to the end of our time together, the music has ended, the ball has come to a close, we must gather up our dancing shoes and slip off into the night!

Haha okay so we really will never be a part! You know me! I have a new book already waiting for you! Please, like I would let you wander through this life without another form of entertainment! Jinkies! How cruel do you think I am! It's called Tristan's Decision and I hope you like it!

But! Before you dash off to the next adventure, let's take a second to remember this one!

Favorite part?

Favorite character?

Something that surprised you?

As always thank you for reading, thanking for choosing to be a part of not only this story but my story! You mean more to me than you really will ever know! Thank you!

If you want vote, comment, follow, but really you've already given me so much I don't need anymore!

Remember that the adventures don't end here! There's so many more waiting for you!

A Secret Service [COMPLETED]
Kickbutt girl. Action. Mystery. Hot guy. Love.
Classified [COMPLETED]
Companion to A Secret Service.
Three Weeks [COMPLETED]
New girl. Life guard. Adventures. Waffles. Love.
A Second Chance [COMPLETED]
Playboy singer. Small time singer. Contract. Love.
Mr. Write [COMPLETED]
Co-writers. Humor. Love.
Celebrity Cruise [COMPLETED]
One week. Cruise worker. Famous singer.  Love. 
Every Second [COMPLETED]
Pop singer.  Drummer. One album. Love. 
Beyond The Barrier [COMPLETED]
Zombies.  Action. BA girl. Love.

Clear skies, dear friend!

Till the next book! ❤️