"Without you I would fall apart
I'm safer now that I'm in your arms
And only you can set me free
And only you can save me"
-Eric Saade - Only You Can Save Me
I stare into the mirror, running my eyes along my reflection. The beautiful golden dress hugging my body closely at the top, and flaring out at the waist. Just as most my dresses do, though this one had golden flowers places strategically along the bodice. The flowers give it that special wedding look.
"Just a few more ringlets, miss," Sophie says as she finishes putting my hair into beautiful curls. A small smile graces my rosy lips as I give my head the slightest shake.
"Sophie, it's Tessa. You're a shadowhunter now," I say casting my eyes downward.
"My apologies. Old habit." I look back up to see her give a small smile in the mirror. "You look beautiful Miss Gray," she says bringing a rosy tint to my cheeks that I'm sure would be more prominent had it not been for the blush already coloring my cheeks.
"Thank you for doing this, Sophie," I say in a kind tone. Sophie had quickly taken to volunteering to help me with my hair and makeup. She had claimed that since she'd helped with me with my almost wedding to Jem, she wanted to help me with my wedding to Will. This time no one would be turning into a demon. Nothing would disrupt my wedding with Will. Sophie picks up the veil from the vanity beside me and I give slight shake of my head.
"Oh Sophie, I do not need a veil. I would like Will to see my face," I say nodding my head once.
"Trust me, Miss it'll only be in the back. I won't let it cover your face." She gives me a smile in the mirror and I nod my head.
"Alright." I watch in the mirror as she places the veil in my hair. "I like it. Thank you," I say turning to face her with a small smile.
"You are quite welcome, Tessa," she says kindly bowing her hair with a smile. "Getting married is a truly exciting moment. I will go fetch Henry for you," she says as she exits the room. Leaving me standing in a beautiful golden dress by myself. Will and I had to work with Charlotte on how to approach our most unique situation. Being that I am not a mundane, nor a full shadowhunter it was a difficult situation. After about a month of Charlotte speaking to the Clave, they had finally come to a decision. The wedding would be a cross between a shadowhunter wedding, and mundane wedding. No one was willing to see how the runes would affect me, so it had been decided that only Will would receive the runes.
"Tessa?" I raise my head at the sound of Henry's voice, giving him a small smile.
"Thank you for doing this Henry. I appreciate it," I say kindly bowing my head slightly. He gives a shake of his head.
"I should be the one thanking you, Miss Tessa," he says, causing my eyebrows to draw together in confusion.
"What do you mean? There is nothing to thank me for."
"There is though. I had feared for so long that we would lose Will when we lost Jem. For so long the only thing tethering Will to his sanity was Jem, but that day you arrived at the Institute something changed. He tried so hard to hide it, to fight it, but it would have taken a fool not to see how he cared for you. Now, I would've never guessed he was in love you, but I knew you had affected him. Suddenly it was not just Jem tethering him to his sanity. You kept Will going, you kept alive and sane ever after Jem had left, and I thank you for that. For I look at Will as if he were my own son," Henry's pale lips curve into a smile and I cannot help but return that smile.
"You do not need to thank me for that. For I truly love Will," I say nodding my head. Suddenly I hear Will's words ringing through my mind. You can never love me, can you Tess? I remember how I had longed to tell him that I had loved him as much as I had loved Jem, but I could not do such a thing. Not when I was engaged to Jem. The thought of Jem causes a dull ache and longing in the piece of my heart that would always be his. I know Will knew the feeling, and I believe that common ground of missing Jem, is what brought Will back to me.
"I know you do, and I thank you for that," he holds out his hand as he says this. I place my hand in his smiling down at him in his chair. "Are you ready for this?"
"Absolutely." I take a deep breath as I give a nod of my head. Henry pushes the door open to the small room, and we exit into the long narrow hall.
"Once you walk down this aisle, you will be tethered to Will, and I trust you will never break his heart," Henry says as I stare down, into the open doors where the wedding will take place. I barley catch a glimpse of Will as he takes his place. My breath hitches in my throat for a moment. Will. Beautiful, kind, passionate Will. My heart hammers in my chest, my delicate fingers tightening around Henry's hand.
"Never," I breathe the word out as Henry begins to wheel his chair towards the large, open doors leading the aisle I will walk down.
"Good." I close my eyes taking one more deep breath. I begin walking, Henry wheeling his chair next to me. Walking me down the aisle as a father would at a mundane wedding. I raise my eyes from the floor, my eyes landing on Will. The look on his face speeds my heart up just that much more. His blue eyes twinkle with tears, a smile so wide places on his full lips. The lips that have been there from the beginning, the lips that told me they love me, will always love me. The same lips that gently kissed me that night on the Lightwood's deck. The lips that kissed me hungrily when we were trapped with Mortmain. The same lips that read to me, told me I was beautiful.
The way Will continues looking at me as I walk down the aisle causes everyone to melt away until it's just him and I. I had longed for so long for someone to look at me the way he is looking at me now. My mind flashes to the first time him and I met. I was trapped, held in the hands of Mrs. Black and her sisters. I remember the only thought I could fathom as I had looked upon him was how heartbreakingly beautiful he was. I remember how I had fallen for him, wanted to call him my own, and then that night he broke my heart on the terrace. Then learning it had been a ploy to protect me from the curse. The day I broke his heart when I had told him I was engaged to Jem. The day I had wanted to tell him my heart was divided in two. The day I almost told him I love him. The day he found me held captive. That night we had grieved the lose of Jem, and had gone all the way. The day he told me he was trying to court me and I had yelled at him to just be Will. The day he told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. The day I met his family. All leading up to today. This moment.
We reach the end of the aisle, and Henry places my hand in Will's outstretched hand. I hear Will's breath hitch in his throat as his beautiful blue eyes take in my dress.
"I didn't think it was possible for you to be more beautiful. Yet here you are once again surprising me," he whispers softly, tears still in his eyes. My smile grows and I have to resist the urge to kiss him. Charlotte looks between the two of us with a wide smile. With her as the Consul she is the one to marry us.
"Tessa Gray and Will Herondale. Your love is unique and real. You two are proof that downworlders and shadowhunters can be. Because of the uniqueness of this marriage, I will draw the runes of love on Will. But first, your vows. Will," Charlotte nods towards Will, who's eyes are still glued to me.
"Tessa, for the longest time I believed I was cursed, I believed no one could ever love me. When I came and saved you that day I knew I was in trouble the minute your beautiful eyes had landed upon me. I was terrible to you, yet you persisted. You continued to try to find the good in me. I've loved you since the day I met you, Tess. I'm catastrophically in love with you. Each day I love you more than the last, and I will always love you, my cariad." I let out a soft gasp, my eyes now filling with tears.
"Tessa, you're turn please." I nod taking a deep breath. I had practiced this so many times.
"Will, without you I would fall apart. So much has happen since I came to London. So much pain and heartattack has been inflicted upon me, but I'm safer now that I'm in your arms. You once believed that I could not love you, but that was not true then, and still not true now. Only you were able to save me after all the losses I have experienced. Jem. My brother. Only you were able to set me free from my grief. I love you Will Herondale. I always will." The tears have spilled over Will's eyes now.
"Will, may I mark you with the love and commitment runes?" Will gives a nod of his head as he pulls up the sleeve of his shadowhunter gear. I watch in fascination as Charlotte draws the rune of commitment. Will then tugs down the collar of his shirt so Charlotte can draw the rune of love over his heart. Right next to his faded parabatai rune. Once Charlotte has finished Will takes my hand, slipping on the Herondale family ring onto my left ring finger.
"Set me as a seal upon thine heart," Will says softly. "as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death."
"Tessa, you are now Mrs Tessa Herondale. Will you may kiss your bride," Charlotte says. Will leans in placing a soft passionate, love filled kiss to my lips. Our small crowd of friends and family all cheer as we break away. I flash Will the biggest smile possible.
"Always," I whisper just for him to hear, causing his smile to grow. Which I had not thought possible.
"Always," he whispers back. He brings me in for another kiss whispering against my lips, "My cariad." As he kisses me only one thought runs through my mind. I hear Jem saying, "When two people are as one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength or iron or bronze." Will and I most definitely shatter the strength of iron and bronze. I wouldn't want that any other way.