By the time Jack came back, half a hour later, Nisha felt like she was in control of herself a little more. For his part, he looked disgruntled and annoyed. He sat back down on the bed gingerly, not quite looking at her. After a few awkward seconds of silence, she pulled the binder back in front of her and held it open for him. "So..." she began. "Um...it sound's like the best day for the wedding is Friday. Is that okay with you?"

He finally looked at her, though he was careful to not lower his gaze past her face. "Yep. Seems like the easiest choice."

She nodded. "Okay." She reached over to her bedside table and pulled out a little notepad and a mechanical pencil. Placing the notepad on the bed, she wrote down 'Wedding is this Friday', starting a bullet list. Lowering the pencil, she flipped through the binder. Jack moved a tiny bit closer to her, trying to be cautious. His body was still wired and he didn't want to risk another episode. "Now, to figure out the venue, I guess." Nisha glanced up at him, startled to see he was closer. She had been so focused on the binder that she hadn't notice him move.

He frowned. "Well, it will obviously be here. The WinterPalace is more than large enough to house all the royals who will show, which is all of them. Besides, it's kind of a tradition for a Frost to be married at the WinterPalace. I don't really see any reason to break that tradition."

She nodded again, this time a little slower. "Alright." 'Venue is the WinterPalace', she wrote down beneath her first bullet. She flipped through another few pages. "Um...next is the food, I guess?" she said a little uncertainly.

Jack paused, watching her closely. "What's up? I figured you would be letting Mother do most of all the deciding for this."

Nisha blushed before shaking her head slightly. "No. I...I want to do as much as I can without her help. I want to do this with you. It's a little tedious, honestly, and I'm sorry if you get bored. But I don't want...someone else deciding how a really important event in my life will be. They've already made the decision that it's going to happen, that it has to happen. I don't want them to make any more decisions." She glanced up into his face. "I think it would be best if we do it together. W-what do you think?" she asked nervously.

He smiled warmly. "I think it's a great idea. And yeah...it's a little boring. But if I'm with you, I can handle it." His smile shifted into a grin. "Should we do your dress next?" he asked.

She shook her head firmly. "Nope. You can't be a part of that. I'm old-fashioned, remember?" she smirked at his crestfallen expression.

He started to say I'll just see it when I'm stripping it off your body, but he stopped himself. That wasn't exactly the best idea, saying that. They currently had a fragile truce and he didn't want to ruin it. So instead, he reached out and glanced through the pages of the binder. Finally, he settled on several different things. "How does this sound?" he asked as he began pointing out different dishes.

Five minutes later, Nisha was done writing down everything he had said, on a separate note. 'Meal Set A: Herb crusted rack of lamb, mash potatoes, garden vegetables. Meal Set B: Ricotta ravioli in brown butter and sage. Meal Set C: Mojo-glazed fillet of beef. Meal Set D: Pan-seared halibut.' Then, 'Desserts: Dark chocolate truffle with garam masala. Lemon verbena meringue tart. Blueberry sorbet spoons. Profiteroles with vanilla gelato and salted caramel fudge sauce. Warm apple fritter with cajeta caramel.'

She glanced through the whole list a few more times. "That's a lot of options."

Jack shrugged. "This is a crazy big event, with crazy rich people. We can't play this cheap in the slightest. I made sure there were at least two different things you would eat though."

She smiled. "I'm not even sure how you know I like halibut and ricotta ravioli. But thank you. Though, to be honest, I may be nervous enough to eat both meals..."

He laughed, grinning widely. "Well, I certainly won't protest in the slightest. The cooks might, but what does that matter? It's our wedding day, so to hell with some things."

Nisha glanced up into his face. Then she cleared her throat, returning her attention to the binder. "Well, I don't have any issues with the menu. So, next would be the cake, right?"

"White," he said firmly. "That's the end of the conversation."

Raising an eyebrow, she stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Very serious. It will be white and that's it. Oh, wait...Um, colors. We haven't figured out colors yet. Um...should we just go white and light blue, you know, frosty stuff?"

Nisha shook her head. "No, we shouldn't. Just because your whole family is, understandably, obsessed with cold, doesn't mean I want to be. I want color, Jack. Even if only a little."

He tilted his head to the side slightly. "Well, that's perfectly fine. What colors?"

She pursed her lips. "I like so many though...I like purple, red, black, blue, pink, teal...I don't really think any of those would go well together though."

Leaning forward, watching the little changes in her face as she actually grew animated, Jack smiled. He propped his head up on his hand, shifting to sit with his knees close to his chest. Even if she didn't realize it, she was actually growing a little excited with this whole wedding planning thing. And it made him feel relieved and happy. He didn't want their wedding, abrupt and bitter-sweet though it was, to hold any bad memories for her. Or, at least as few as possible. He wanted her to be happy, to be excited. She was marrying him and he didn't want her to be depressed about that.

"Hmm," he mused, his voice light. "Maybe we could do a teal and black...wait, grey. That way it's still a little icy-like, but it's got more color to it. And then you could probably even find some weird way to add purple in there...Like, lavender maybe? Just small shades of it here and there. Enough to pop but not enough to clash horribly."

She blinked before pointing excitedly at him. "Yes! I could do that! I didn't realize you were so good with this sort of thing, Jack." She quickly wrote down his idea on anther note.

He grinned widely, spreading his arms out. "Hey, I try to please. Can I get a smile for a reward?" She glanced up, before smiling warmly. He felt his heart melt like butter at that smile. He clutched his chest. "Oh, hell, hjarta mítt. I'm torn between asking you to stop and keep smiling at me like that. It makes me feel so good, but it also scares the shit out of me."

She shook her head at him. "C'mon, Jack. Focus. I can't do this alone."

He gulped. "Um, yeah. Wedding stuff. My heart wasn't totally about to give out from love for you. Not even a bit."

She chuckled and he gulped again. Hell, she was going to kill him with happiness before he could even say 'I do'. "Okay, so we have a color scheme. I think we have like...half of all the important stuff. Let's see. Food, venue, date, colors, cake. Oh, we should decide on the time. Noon or so?" He simply nodded, still trying to get his emotions under control. "Alright. Now to figure out what kind of music we should have."

He sighed at that. "Well, our wedding will basically be turned into a ball, so classical for most of it."

She nodded her head absently. "So, classical music and noon on the twenty-ninth of September. How long do you think the ceremony will take?"

Jake shrugged. "I don't know...half an hour?"

She bit her bottom lip, worryingly it with her teeth. "Hmm. Maybe we should say an hour to be safe. I've never been to a wedding before, so I don't really know either." She wrote down her notes. "So, the reception...You said it was basically going to be turned into a ball, right?"

He nodded. "Yep. Those go on forever, so you can bet it will keep going on late into the night, even if it starts at three in the afternoon or something. Besides, after about eight or so at night, they'll expect us to leave." He stared at her pointedly.

"Oh, right. For the whole...'honeymoon' part." She kept her gaze mostly on her notepad. After a few seconds she cleared her throat, coughing harshly. "So, um, now I think the only other part to decide on is the dress really. Or...I think. I'm not really sure. I suck at these types of things," she confessed in an annoyed mutter.

"But you said I couldn't help with that," Jack teased lightly, chuckling.

She glanced up into his face, smiling widely. "You're right. You can't." He turned his head away, pouting. She laughed. He smiled where she couldn't see him, glad he had cheered her up a little. "Okay. I'm pretty sure everything else is just going to be the small, annoying, tedious parts. Like what table cloth we should use and stuff."

He had a wide grin as he turned to face her. "Then does that mean we're done with this?"

Nisha lifted up the little notepad and ran through all her notes. "Yes, I believe we are."

Throwing his hands up in the air in joy, he quickly shifted to stretched out his stiff muscles. Nisha glanced at him, her gaze picking up the way his shirt pulled across his back and the line of his muscles that she could see. She blushed despite herself, questioning why that would be the first thing she picked up on.

A slow, sensual smile lifted Jack's lips. "You like what you see?" She couldn't find any words. So instead she shrugged, fighting to look nonchalant. He groaned. "Nisha...My male pride...it's wounded," he cried out dramatically, reaching for her. "I need a kiss to bandage it up," he declared. His hands grabbed hold of her as she moved to turn away. He pulled her back, up against his chest, still sitting on the bed.

She stiffened in his arms. "Jack, stop that, please."

"B-but, a kiss..." he whined like a little kid.

Sighing, she turned her head. Then, shifting a little more, she leaned up an inch and kissed his cheek. "There you go. A kiss. Now, let me go so I can get dressed. I'm feeling a lot better about all of this now and I don't want to be stuck in my room like an invalid all day."

He was torn. Happy she was feeling better, but also a little miffed that he had been cheated out of a kiss. He squeezed her in a brief hug before releasing her. She moved away, rising off the bed. Reaching out, she grabbed the binder and her notepad, placing them at the edge of the bed. Then she hooked her mechanical pencil on the notepad, over the paper.

Jack remained sitting on the bed the entire time, watching her. He wasn't sure what to say, or even if he really needed to say anything. Instead he contented himself with drinking in every single detail about her. The way part of her long brown hair had fallen over her shoulder. The tiny amount of skin of her shoulder that was showing from beneath her pajama top. The little hint of ear that he could see poking out from behind her hair that had fallen forward. The light grey color of her eyes, the very faint pink of a blush on her face. The tiny purse of her lips as she was thinking, the unconscious expression of uncertainty on her face. The way her pajama pants were slightly big for her, so they left a lot to the imagination as far as how her ass and legs filled them out. Everything about her made him feel half-drunk with happiness.

All he could think, over and over, was She's really here. Nisha's real and right in front of me.

Blinking, Nisha glanced over at Jack. He was staring at her with that intense expression again. Swallowing, her stomach clenched in nerves. She remembered she had been planning to dress. "Um, uh, Jack?" she began, her voice small. "I'm going to get dressed now, so you should go ahead and leave." He didn't say a word, just continued to gaze at her. Shivering from a sudden chill that ran down her spine, she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Nisha," he murmured, his voice oddly serious for the joking tone he had had just a minute before. "Go ahead and get dressed. But I'm staying put. We're going to have to get use to the idea that we'll be sharing the same bedroom. So we'll be seeing each other during all the small, intimate, personal moments. I'm not saying you have to strip right here though. You can go change in your bathroom or whatever. But I'm staying," he repeated. His blue eyes watched her intently.

She swallowed again. He's right, she thought reluctantly. Jack's completely right. But I'm still so nervous!

Silence hung in the air for a full minute before she could move. She was suddenly reminded of when she first met him, as far as she was concerned. He had been in her bedroom then too. Threatening to take her away in nothing but a towel. Her lips twitched in a half-smile at the memory. Shaking her head, she turned away, moving to her dresser and closet. Rummaging through her things, she pulled out a clean pair of panties, a black bra, a red turtle-neck sweater, and a black pair of jeans.

Glancing over her shoulder, she gathered everything up into her arms. "I'm going to take a shower," she warned him. "With all the crying I've done this morning, I need one to freshen up." He remained silent, so she swept past the bed and into the bathroom. Closing and locking the door behind her, she leaned against it for half a second. Then, straightening her spine, she decided What the hell?

Five minutes later she was all set, pulling back the dark blue shower curtain. Standing naked in the bathroom, she glanced down at her necklaces. Frowning, she removed them and gently placed them on the sink countertop. Turning, she stepped inside the tub and began playing with the faucet. When she got the temperature to the level she wanted, she closed the curtain and pulled the switch up, allowing the water to come out of the showerhead.

Still on the bed, Jack clenched his fists into the blanket. He leaned his head forward, biting his lips hard. Squeezing his eyes tightly, he tried to make his mind behave. But all it wanted to do was torment him with visions of Nisha's naked, wet, and slick body as the water pounded against her skin. Groaning, half in frustration and half in pain, he collapsed forward onto the bed. Since the night before, his sex drive had kicked into full gear and it was beginning to piss him off.

Yes, he wanted sex. He wanted to have his way with Nisha so badly it was maddening. But at the same time, couldn't he just enjoy being near her? Couldn't he just enjoy holding her, touching her, seeing her, without his body turning it into an opportunity for sex?!

Groaning again, he muttered to himself darkly against the blanket, his voice muffled. "Being in the body of a teenager is fucking hell. All I can think about is sex. Why must males be so obsessed with that particular past time? I mean, yes, sex is amazing. But, fuck...Fuck me..."

Twenty minutes later, Nisha turned off the water. She dried off, struggling with her long air, as was normal. Pulling out her hair-dryer, she let it get the worse of the moisture in her hair. Putting the dryer away, she found her spare brush she kept in her bathroom, untangling her long locks. Once her hair was finished, she put on her panties, bra, applied her deodorant, and then pulled on her jeans. Half dressed, she put on her two necklaces. But the teardrop one made her pause.

It was warm to the touch, slightly darker than its normal light blue shade. Frowning, she ran her finger along it. The warmth almost felt like it was being absorbed into her skin. Blinking, she shook her head before quickly placing the necklace around her neck. Then she put on her turtle-neck, pulling her hair out from under the back of the shirt. Glancing in the mirror, she decided she looked as good as she was ever going to. Gathering her dirty clothes, she placed them into the hamper she kept in her bathroom closet for that purpose. Then she opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

The first thing she noticed was Jack standing right outside the door. She ran into him, actually. Before she could do more than gasp, his left arm came around her and pulled her tightly against him. His head lowered into the curve of her shoulder. "Why did you run your finger along the soul-stone?" he asked in a tight voice.

Blinking, she struggled to think. "I-it was really warm. In fact, it still is." She could feel the heat radiating off of it against her breasts where it rest under the turtle-neck.

He let out a strangled laugh. "Of course it's warm, Nisha. That shouldn't be surprising, right now." He sucked in a sharp breath, one that made his entire body shudder against hers. "Just...please...From now on, if the soul-stone is warm, try to touch it as little as possible, alright? Like, hot hell..."

She nodded a little awkwardly, with his head so close to her neck. "O-okay," she promised. "I'll try not to."

He held her for a few more seconds before slowly stepping back, releasing her. "So, now to begin this mess of a week," he grumbled.

She felt tired just thinking about it. "Yep. I should go ahead and find your mom, let her know what we decided on."

He ran a hand through his hair wearily. "And I'm going to have to go with my father and try to do as much damage control as possible. And buy rings," he realized suddenly. "I'm not getting anything crazy fancy though," he warned her, glancing at her face. "The soul-stone is what I consider to be more of our true 'wedding ring', so to speak. But for the sake of society and appearances, we will need to wear wedding bands."

Nisha glanced down at her left ring finger, trying to imagine a ring there. She couldn't envision it though. "Well, I'll trust your judgment. I don't really like all the crazy huge stones that a lot of women like to wear. It's too gaudy for me."

He smiled a little. "I know you don't, Nisha." Stepping forward again, he leaned down and lightly brushed his lips across hers in a chaste kiss. "So, hjarta mítt, I shall see you later. Good luck with the rest of your day."

She blinked, raising a hand to her lips as he pulled back. "Um, y-yeah. Good luck to you too, Jack."

He shot her a brief grin before striding out of her room. She watched him leave, staring at the closed door for a few more heartbeats. Taking in a deep breath, she moved to the bed. Gathering the binder and notepad into her arms, she walked out of her room. It only took her a minute to come across a servant who was vacuuming the hallways, following the noise. She asked them to direct her to Glacia and followed behind them as they led the way. Over the past month she had learned her way around most of the WinterPalace. But it was huge and she only really knew her way to the places she spent most of her time. Her bedroom, Nana's bedroom, the dinning hall, the South library, the kitchens, and the entrance hall.

She was led to one of the numerous studies that she had stumbled upon. Glacia was sitting behind the desk, papers spread out all over the wooden surface. She shot to her feet when she saw Nisha enter. For her part, Nisha didn't feel like giving her a chance to speak yet. Walking forward, she placed the binder and notepad on top of the desk, covering up some of the other papers. "This is what Jack and I have decided on for the wedding," she explained calmly. "We got most of the important stuff figured out, but I haven't chosen my dress yet. I didn't want to do it with Jack sitting right next to me."

Slowly, looking a little startled, Glacia lifted up the notepad and read through the notes. She blinked, lowering it from her face and taking in Nisha with a slightly warmer light in her eyes. There was just the tiniest hint of respect in her expression and it made Nisha feel like telling her off earlier was worth it. This woman was obviously a very strong, confident, competent woman. Evidently she expected Nisha to be able to keep up, to be the same as she. Nisha didn't really feel like she was, but she could try, at least.

After all, she and Jack were in this together now, partners-in-crime, so to speak. She understood that he loved her, in a way that both amazed and worried her. He understood that she didn't love him and didn't hate him. She was mostly neutral about him. And even if that did seem like a bad way to start off a reluctant marriage, it was better than perhaps it might have been. Apparently this marriage meant that she was going to have to accept a new life. A new world, a new family, a new way of looking at the world. It scared her. She didn't exactly want to have to accept any of it. But Jack was also in a tough boat, even if he had been training for this his entire life.

Studying her face for three seconds in silence, Glacia slowly nodded. "Alright. Honestly, you two haven't made bad choices. Your meal choices are very well put together. You have lamb, beef, fish, and a meatless option for those who do not or cannot ingest meat. I suggest we add a large salad bar, though, for those who may not be able to have the ravioli at all, honestly."

"That sounds fine," Nisha agreed.

"I feel there should be two cakes though. The larger, more formal wedding cake can be white. The second, slightly smaller cake should be chocolate. Just to cover all our bases." Nisha nodded silently, shifting her legs slightly as she stood. "Having the ceremony at noon will work out just fine," the older woman continued. "The reception will be a large feast and ball, so it will start around two or three in the afternoon." The woman's gaze hardened slightly as she looked directly into Nisha's face. "And at eight, you will be leaving to begin your honeymoon."

Fighting not to back down, to show any sign of weakness or fear, Nisha slowly nodded again. "Alright. Your time frames are lining up exactly with what Jack guessed would happen."

Glacia studied her for a few more seconds before smiling. "I like the color choices you made. Though I'm surprised there isn't more ice-blue."

Shaking her head, Nisha made her voice firm. "I compromised with the light grey. But I want colors that aren't strictly associated with winter. Jack was the one who thought of putting in a very pale, pastel purple, to add some accents. The teal is a blue-green color, but darker than ice-blue, obviously. Take it or leave it, because that's how it's going to be." She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly.

Her mother-in-law-to-be smiled slightly. "As I said, I like the color choices. This is your wedding day. You have control over it. All I ask is that you accept that it will be happening. Other than that, as long as everything goes smoothly, I don't mind what choices you make. I only assumed you would need my guidance. Obviously though, I have pleasantly been proven wrong. And you even did this with Jack, you say? That's quite the surprise. I didn't think he could even sit still long enough to focus on something like this. Besides, most men hate to do any of the planning for their wedding."

Blinking, Nisha's stance relaxed a little. She stared into the other woman's brown eyes, before smiling herself. "To be honest, I found it a little boring and tedious myself."

Glacia's smile turned into a hesitant grin. Her voice lowered until it was almost a whisper. "If we're being honest, I was a little bored planning my own wedding. And also very overwhelmed. There are so many options in this day and age, so it's really hard to decide on just one thing. You two didn't do too badly. I'm impressed."

"T-thank you," Nisha said in surprise. She had never expected this cold woman to admit something like being impressed.

"You are very welcome. Now, we should begin discussing all the things you left out. And then after we're done with the smaller details, we'll settle on the dress. We'll be going out for that though. You can't do something like decide on your dress here. We'll go to the best wedding boutique in the Other realm and get you sized. Then you'll try on some dresses and we figure out if we will settle for something pre-made or commission our very own creation."

Nodding her head, Nisha licked her lips in a small show of nerves. "O-okay. That doesn't sound...too bad."

Glacia grin was most definitely warm now. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun. We'll bring Grace, Millie, and even call your friend Peri, wasn't it?" At Nisha's startled expression, she took in a deep breath. "I need to apologize for my behavior earlier. I handled the situation very badly. I'm very sorry, Nisha. I shouldn't have said a lot of the things I did. But you must understand, I was quite angry at the two of you. I gave you that two year timeframe in order to try and help your relationship so that you wouldn't end up in a situation like my own marriage. But the both of you ruined it. And now our hand has been forced. We can't have a scandal causing irreparable damage to the Frost's good name. That is why this marriage must go forward and you two must grow up a little sooner than I had planned."

Feeling shock at how honest Glacia was being, she couldn't find any words to say but a soft "Thank you."

The older woman cleared her throat. Her expression grew a little sterner. "Don't get me wrong though. I will still press the issue of a child. It is something that is both very important and will play a major part of Jack's life as the Lord of Winter. As such, I will not compromise on that."

Swallowing in her nerves, Nisha sighed. "W-we had a long talk about that," she said. "We've come to an agreement."

"That's good then," Glacia sighed in relief. "I'm glad the two of you could be so mature about this situation. I was very worried, to be honest." Shaking her head, she cleared her throat. "Now that we understand each other a little better, let's move on."

After finding a chair to pull up to the desk, Nisha and Glacia spent the next three hours deciding on everything else about the ceremony, down to the design of the silverware and table cloths. It was tiring work, but she didn't dare complain. She struggled internally with keeping an outwardly calm expression and tone of voice. I can freak out and panic in the privacy of my own bedroom tonight, she told herself over and over again.

Once that was done, it only took half an hour to decide on a bedroom that was thrice the size of hers, which already existed in a wing of the palace that was a little more removed from the rest. Glacia explained this would grant them their privacy as newlyweds. She and Glacia agreed to have it repainted in a red, grey, and white design. She like the color, Glacia knew Jack didn't hate red, and it would work out as a neutral, unisex design for the both of them.

Her nerves had nearly snapped a little though when she had been told that the bed would be increased to a king size for them to share. The bathroom that was attached to the bedroom was twice the size of hers as well, with two sinks, a small pool for a tub, and a shower big enough for three people. Glacia laughed a little at her expression and explained this room use to be the old Master suite for the Lord, though it hadn't been used in three generations. It would take the entire week for it to be cleaned, aired out, refurnished, and all the electrical and plumbing issues that might arise checked and fixed.

"Now, to go dress shopping!" Glacia said excitedly. Despite herself, Nisha felt a small thread of excitement herself. She was beginning to get caught up in the festive mood of the wedding. She tried not to fight it too much though. It's a good thing for me to be excited about my own wedding, she decided.

She followed Glacia out of the room as they went to hunt down Millie and Grace. Glacia pulled out a cell phone as they walked down the hallways. A few minutes later, she was asking if Peri was free, and then confirming that she would be swinging by to pick up Nisha's friend.

Gulping in nerves, Nisha clenched her hands together. It was only eleven in the morning and already nearly everything about her wedding was planned. Now she had only to wait for the week to pass and for the event to actually happen. She bit her lip, feeling a little bit of panic at the thought. Forcing herself to calm down, she decided to let all her nerves out in the excited, crazy energy that came from shopping with other females. She'd let it all out today. That way she wouldn't have to worry about it later. Nodding her head determinedly, she smiled softly to herself.