Chapter 165 Impatient

Chapter 165 Impatient
Koth had been ready to get the wedding started from the moment he woke up. To be fair, due to the heavy drinking the night before, he had spent the first fifteen minutes swearing he would never drink again, then wondering how upset Irin would be if he asked someone to wheel him down the aisle in a wheelbarrow. The priest from Alesseja's temple had taken pity on him and the rest of the men and healed them. Koth was grateful, even if he secretly thought Irin's healing was better. From that moment, he had been ready for the wedding. Jasper, Nenhir, and Meghart had been tasked with distracting him until it was time. Koth huffed. They all acted like he was five years old, like he had no self-restraint. So what if he planned on gathering the heads of the temples and herding them into the garden before going to collect Irin to get this wedding going? It wasn't the craziest idea. Sure, they hadn't had breakfast yet, and everyone was telling him Irin wouldn't appreciate being dragged out into the garden at dawn. They may have a point, Koth admitted. He sighed and slumped down on the couch in the drawing room they were currently in.
"Can I read Junior's list?" Jasper asked as he sat down next to Koth and handed him a big mug of tea.
"No," Koth grumbled. Last night, as the others had joked with Koth and told him funny stories from when the siblings were kids—stories that usually centred around Irin—Junior had been sitting a little to the side with pen and paper, muttering to himself. Somewhere around beer number three, he had walked over to Koth with a stack of paper and handed it over.
"For you," he had told Koth.
"Oh. Thank you. What is it?" Koth had asked.
"The first part is a list of all the things I can think of to do to you if you hurt my sister. The second part is a list of places I know of where a body will never be found. Okay, where is the next round of beer?!" Junior had said. For a moment, the room had become dead silent. Then everyone except Koth and Junior had started laughing.
"Please, can I see it? You never know when you might need to hide a body. Junior seems to have thought it through," Jasper insisted.
"I said no. And just you wait until it's your turn. Eliza is younger than Irin; he will be even more protective of her, and she has a twin brother. That will be interesting," Koth countered. Jasper didn't seem as relaxed anymore.
"I—I don't know what you are talking about," he said.
"Right."
"I don't!"
"Sure, sure. I guess I imagined you following her around, doing anything she asked for, handing her ribbons," Koth needled his brother. He had found something to distract him from his desire to get the wedding going.
"I was trying to be helpful. Irin and her family have been most kind to me. I wanted to do something in return," Jasper insisted.
"I believe you," Koth said.
"No, you don't! You are just saying that to irritate me!"
"Is it working?"
"I really hate you sometimes," Jasper told him.
"I know," Koth agreed. They looked at each other and chuckled.
"How much trouble would I be in with their father if I seriously considered courting Eliza?" Jasper asked. Koth thought about the question for a moment.
"Garan isn't like our father. The only thing he cares about is that his children are happy and safe. It took me a moment to get used to it and understand it. But that is how it is around here. They won't care about your past or where you come from. They will only care if you can make Eliza happy and keep her safe," Koth told him.
"I would need to make some changes," Jasper said with a sigh.
"Yeah. I can't see her living in Behenoth," Koth agreed.
"It would be worth it," Jasper said, a dreamy expression on his face.
"Have a think about what you want to do. If you need help, advice, or just someone to listen, I'm here. And so is Irin," Koth offered.
"Thank you. I will take you up on that," Jasper said. And with that, Koth's best distraction was gone. The others teased him endlessly as he tried to hurry up their breakfast.
"Even if you cram the food down our throats, Irin still won't be ready any sooner," Meghart pointed out.
"I think we should try and see," Koth grumbled.
"It's nice to know how eager you are to join our family," Irin's father said.
"Yeah, that's why he can't wait," Nenhir whispered to Meghart, making both of them chuckle, and Koth glared at them. After breakfast, he got ready. He had insisted on using the robe Irin had given him.
"Are you ready?" Jasper asked him when it was just the two of them left.
"Like I haven't been ready since this morning," Koth grumbled.
"Yeah, yeah. Please cheer up! You don't want Irin to see your grumpy face on her wedding day," his brother told him.
"She doesn't mind my grumpiness," Koth objected, but he did his best to put his grumpiness aside.
"Come along, let's get you married off and make you her problem," Jasper said, and they walked out into the garden. The moment Koth saw Irin walking towards him with her father, his grumpiness disappeared. She looked amazing; he had never seen anything as beautiful as her in that moment. He took her hands, and they walked up to the heads of the temples together. He was so lost in her and in the moment that he would have missed something happening if it hadn't been for the change in Irin's eyes. They went from calm, loving, and soft to furious in a second. Koth became aware it wasn't just Irin who had reacted. As she turned to see what the issue was, so did he. He understood the gasps and the strange atmosphere at once. Next to each of the heads of the temples stood the deity of that temple. Four gods had descended on the wedding, and their presence had floored the other guests. Alesseja was her usual beautiful self. Neprim was slender and pale, with light blue hair that cascaded down his body. In it, Koth could see seashells of different shapes and sizes. He had an arrogant smirk. Noxa had skin black as the night. Her hair and eyes were silver, and so were the tattoos on her skin that looked like star constellations. She lacked any readable expression. Holea was a pale beauty with ebony hair and black eyes. She was almost a direct opposite of Noxa, with a soft smile on her face.
"Irin, Koth. I told you I would be here. I hope you don't mind that I brought some of my siblings with me," Alesseja said.
"No, not at all. We are honoured that all of you wanted to be here," Irin told her.
"Oh, that is sweet of you. We are all very happy to be here. Am I right?" Alesseja asked the other gods. They all nodded.
"And I want to apologise for that little storm I happened to send your way. I was irritated with my sister, and I took it out on you. I shouldn't lower myself to that level," Neprim told them.
"We didn't take offence," Koth said, as he didn't think now was a good time to scold a god. In fact, there probably wasn't a good time to do that.
"Would you like to lead the ceremony?" Jacob asked Alesseja. The heads of the temples looked just as shocked as the rest of them. It was clear no one had received a warning before the gods showed up.
"No, we are just here to watch and show our support," the goddess told him. The gods stepped back, and four nervous heads of the temples stepped forward.