Chapter 209-A hunter’s wedding

Chapter 209: 209-A hunter’s wedding

The wedding bells rang thirteen times across the Everheart estate. Every conversation stopped at the final toll.

Birds fled the ancient trees as the sound rolled over the surrounding hills.

Thirteen bells for thirteen generations of Everhearts: the family that had hunted vampires long before most humans learned to fear them.

Today, for the first time, the bells rang for a union that could change the supernatural world.

Rayne Everheart, the heir of the Everheart hunting family would take Daphne Siseli, the Siseli family’s most promising daughter, as his wife. Their marriage was more than love or convenience. It was a declaration of unity: a joining of bloodlines, knowledge, weapons, and ancient grudges.

The Everhearts had the records, hunting talent and experience while the Siselis had the compass that could track the true heart.

Together, they intended to find what generations of hunters had failed to capture; the true heart.

---

The Everheart estate had been transformed into neither wedding venue nor ordinary hunter’s fortress.

White banners hung from the towers, embroidered with the Everheart crest: a silver heart pierced by an arrow.

Beside them flew the Siseli banner, a black compass surrounded by seven golden rays. On the central arch, the two symbols had been stitched together until neither could be separated without destroying the design.

Beneath it stood an altar carved from the remains of a sanctuary destroyed during the first great vampire war.

Faint inscriptions covered the white stone that guests assumed they were prayers for a prosperous marriage. They were not.

They were the names of hunters who had died fighting vampires, each carved by hand and preserved in blood. The Everhearts did not forget their dear ones or abandon their purpose for a wedding.

Hundreds of candles burned around the altar in shallow black-iron bowls. Made from blessed wax mixed with the ashes of hunting relics, their pale flames leaned toward supernatural blood.

The closer a vampire came, the more violently they trembled. No vampire had been invited and none would have been foolish enough to attend because beneath the altar and behind the banners something ancient had begun to stir.

---

Daphne Siseli stood in a mirrored room surrounded by women from her family.

Her ivory dress was embroidered with silver compass roses. Black patterns spread from her waist to the hem, each vine formed from symbols representing the seven known methods of tracking supernatural creatures.

A veil woven with silver filaments fell over her shoulders, and at her throat hung an arrowhead pendant belonging to the first Siseli woman to hunt a vampire queen.

Her mother fastened the clasp. "Do you know what this marriage means?"

Daphne watched herself in the mirror. "The Everhearts will share their knowledge, and we will no longer rely on fragments of their records."

"That is part of it," her mother said.

"Our families will share resources, weapons, and hunting grounds."

"Also true."

Daphne turned. "Then tell me what you want me to say."

Her mother adjusted the pendant. "You will become a bridge between families that have spent centuries competing over who killed more monsters. Do not let the Everhearts forget that a bridge can carry an army in either direction."

Daphne smiled faintly. "I wouldn’t dream of it."

"The wedding is not the end of our work. It is the beginning of it,"she boldly claimed.

Her mother opened a velvet case and withdrew a small silver compass. Its needle spun once, twice and then stopped, pointing northwest.

Daphne’s smile vanished. "That isn’t possible."

The compass had been dormant for years. It reacted only to traces of the ancient essence used to create it: blessed essence from the blood moon. According to the oldest Siseli records, it had one purpose above all others. It could locate the true heart.

"Has anyone else seen this?" she questioned her mother.

"Only you and me," her mother answered.

"Put it away."

"Daphne..."

"Today is my wedding. I won’t let the ceremony become a gathering of frightened hunters chasing shadows. We have waited too long for this alliance."

She took the compass and closed her fingers around it. A faint vibration pulsed against her palm.

For one moment, she heard a heartbeat. It was not hers and certainly not her mother’s. Something distant, impossibly old, and buried beneath layers of magic and then it vanished.

Daphne slipped the compass into a concealed pocket in her dress.

"Whatever it sensed, we will investigate after the vows."

Her mother studied her, then nodded. It was more advantageous to them to have the compass hidden for a little while until the wedding ceremony was done.

Outside, the bells began ringing again and this time, it was a call for the bride.

Meanwhile, Rayne Everheart waited beneath the altar in a black ceremonial coat embroidered with silver. His family crest rested over his heart, and a narrow blade hung at his waist.

No hunter married without a weapon at his side and no Everheart heir married without an oath.

Guests filled the courtyard according to family and rank: scarred elders, eager young hunters, and representatives of smaller families who had traveled across the country to witness the union.

At the front sat the heads of the Everheart and Siseli families. Behind them stood thirteen empty chairs, each bearing the name of a deceased Everheart ancestor.

The dead were not expected to return, but their presence was acknowledged.

When the music began, it was no gentle bridal melody. Drums sounded, followed by horns carved from the bones of creatures hunted centuries ago. The solemn rhythm resembled the beginning of a march.

The guests rose. Daphne appeared at the far end of the courtyard, escorted by her mother and the eldest living Siseli hunter. She carried no flowers, only a short silver dagger.

Rayne waited with his own blade drawn. At the altar, the eldest Siseli raised his voice. "Who brings this daughter of the compass to the house of the heart?"

Her mother answered, "Her blood, her name, and her own will."

The Everheart elder turned to Rayne. "Who receives her?"

Rayne lowered his blade until its point touched the stone.

"I do not receive a prize or claim ownership of a life. I stand beside Daphne Siseli as her chosen husband, her equal in duty, and her companion in whatever darkness comes."

Approval moved through the crowd. The bride and groom took opposite sides of the altar. An attendant brought a silver basin of water, another a bowl of salt, and a third an ancient book.

The officiant opened it. "Blood remembers what words may forget. Steel protects what promises cannot. A name, once willingly given, becomes a responsibility carried beyond death."

Rayne cut his palm and let three drops fall into the basin. Daphne followed.

The blood spread in separate crimson threads, circling until they intertwined.

The water turned silver and then the officiant raised the basin. "Two bloodlines united for one purpose."

The crowd answered, "One purpose."

Next came the exchange of blades. Rayne offered Daphne the dagger carried by every Everheart heir during major oaths. Daphne gave him the Siseli ceremonial blade, its hilt shaped like a compass needle.

They exchanged weapons, then joined their left hands over the altar. The officiant bound their wrists with white cloth.

"Do you swear to defend this union against those who would break it?"