A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

Jasper officiates the wedding. Cas and Poppy kneel and place their rings on the soil. Cas sprinkles dirt on the rings. Jasper slashes their left palms with his dagger. The blood falls on the rings and the cuts heal, leaving behind a streak of gold. As Poppy and Cas exchange the dirt and blood-splashed rings, the sky darkens. Jasper declares this a good omen—a sign that Nyktos, the sleeping king of the gods, approves of the union. Nyktos last made such a sign at the wedding of Cas’s parents.

The golden streak on their palms will disappear only if their marriage ends, either by death or decree. Poppy and Cas partake of each other’s blood, as is tradition for married couples in Atlantia. Cas tells Poppy about heartmates, the term Kieran had used. The first heartmates were a deity and a mortal. When the gods refused to bless the mortal with a long life, the mortal grew old and gray with time. The grieving deity gave up his life for his lover. The gods realized their mistake and ever since then, have blessed such unions if the love is pure and passes trials, and if the blood of the immortal serves as a source for the mortal lover’s prolonged life.