After eating, I pushed the empty platter aside and sat facing Prince Terrence.

"So, what we have to do now?" I asked.

Prince Terrence smiled and leaned closer. Amusement twinkled in his eyes. "Let us close the tent first. We don't want any unwanted onlookers to know what us newlyweds do in private, now do we?"

My cheeks warmed for no reason at all at his low, smooth voice. His question was quite valid, wasn't it? Then why my nerves tingled this badly?

With a small nod, I stood up and went to the parted drapes. My fingers touched the knotted golden rope tying the fabric with the front wooden structure when my gaze collided with something outside.

I frowned at the familiar silver eyes peeking through the tent right across from us.

Margherita shook her head and slipped back inside with a jerk.

My tempered flared like a burning spark of lava.

So this was why she over-perfumed our tent, so that I could suffocate and she could keep an eye on us. This was a vile, low act even for the most shameless witch of the coven.

I understood she was wary of Prince Terrence but what did she think he would do to me on our wedding night? Kill me? Right when my whole coven was surrounding us?

I pursed my lips and breathed deeper.

I needed to have a conversation with her before leaving.

"Esmarelda? Everything alright?"

"Yes," I said, eyeing the opposite before closing the drapes together, leaving not an inch of gap in between them.

I took a second to arrange my face in a calm mask and turned around.

"You were seeing something outside for long." Prince said, just as I sat down on the bed.

His keen eyes were as curious as they were perceptive.

I forced a smile. "It's nothing. Just a wild cat sneaking around tents. Now, I believe we have a bonding ceremony awaiting us."

"Someone seems too eager?"

I glared at him.

He grinned. "Alright. Now, before we begin, I'd like to tell you that this is the informal way of bonding, the one we are doing. The official one requires a priest to officiate us."

"So, it won't work the same?"

"It will. It's just that with the formal ceremony, priest offers instructions to the willing pair and here, I'll be the one to do both a priest's job and a willing bond's as the blue blood beholder. So, it may get a bit awkward. A reason many of our kind prefers a priest over doing it themselves and possibly ruin their chances of bonding. It's a one time thing for each pair after all."

It was then I noticed a nervous ting in his voice.

He must have been worrying over the bond working out right for us since we had no priest.

I smiled. "That's what you're concerned about? Is Prince Terrence of Ravendale not sure how to conduct a bonding?"

"No, I know. I've read instructions in books and rehearsed them before coming here. It's just..." He gulped and shook his head. "I have no practical experience, neither had I seen anyone in my family get bonded. Nevermimd, it's silly."

My heart twisted at the thinly veiled concern in his eyes. The concern of failing to bond.

"Don't worry," I rested my hand over his fidgeting ones. "I can handle silly. Besides, bonded or no bonded we're still married, aren't we? Your father may throw a fuss at us, no offense, and not make you a king if we fail. But that's not the end of the world. We'll find other ways to reach our goals. Now, stop stalling and let's get it done."

My words seemed to have bound him speechless as Prince Terrence eyed me with so many emotions swirling in his gaze, I lost count.

At last, he gave me a watery smile and nodded, sitting straighter.

"First, we are to summon a bonding sphere. Well, I will since I'm the Blue with an able blood. This sphere will act as a physical symbol of our bonding during the ceremony."

I nodded as he raised his arms. My breath hitched the moment dark blue blood tore through his palms and swirled up in the air.

This was nothing I've ever seen before. I knew Blues could bid and summon their blood, we witch did something similar all the time, just never with our blood.

But this?

The way his liquid blood bound together, formed the shape of a middle-size globe, then froze remaining suspended on the air... it was pure magic.

Nope. I was wrong. Witches couldn't do that. We could summon things. We could vanish them. But never could we manipulate something to bend at our will. Not even liquid. This blue sorcery was incredible. And my husband did it.

A twinge of jealousy and pride battled within me as I leaned forward to watch the sparkling sphere float in a gentle rhythm.

"Lovely, isn't it?"

My gaze snapped to him and found him smiling softly at me.

Suddenly, my inside warmed at that keen look of adoration and I leaned back with a shy nod. "It is."

His smile widened. "Now, we must place our hand on the sphere and offer our vows. Allow me to lead the words so that you can follow after."

"I'm ready."

He nodded and breathed as he raised his hand to rest on the ball. I followed him soon after and touched the smooth, cool sphere.

There was no magical tingles, no thrummimg through my veins as I expected upon touching such a sacred object. It was just a round ball of ice. And it wasn't.

"We should close our eyes and focus on evening our breathing as we speak our vows. This helps concentrate better, I found, not that it's necessary. You can skip this step if you'd like."

I shrugged. "I have no problem."

With that I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, keeping my sole focus on the cool sphere beneath my skin, the smooth texture, the fragile thin nature of ice. Then there was a faint mettalic smell, indicating it was sourced through blood. The blood of a Blue prince, the one I was getting bonded to for life.

"In the name of Superior Strength, I begin, I bend, I vow," Prince's smooth voice hummed through the air, "I vow to bond my soul to my soulmate."

He paused, giving me the cue to follow. However, I wasn't going to swear to Superior Strength like him.

"I vow to bond my soul to my soulmate."

"I vow to offer protection and respect," he said, without missing a beat.

I repeated after him, feeling my resolve to keep my oath firming with each word.

"I vow to love and cherish, through good and bad, through sound and silence, in this life and beyond."

I spoke the words, my heart drumming faster and faster as each word settled deep in bones, as though engraving the vow within my soul.

Was this how getting bonded feel?

"May Superior Strength bless our union," he said, and my lips almost parted thinking it was another part of the vow. I clamped my mouth shut as he continued in a grave deep voice. "May he accept our bond. May our hearts align together, never to be separated again."

I didn't know what was in his tone, my whole body shivered at his words. It felt like a sense of finality, like there was no going back after this. And strangely, I didn't find neither the will nor the want to return from this. Our fate was well and truly sealed.

Or so I thought.

"Now, we must think of each other as we hold the sphere. This final step represents our souls communicating together for the first time so we must be careful. Any negative thought may translate as us unwilling to the sphere and break our bonding process."

I nodded. "I understand. How long will we have to keep thinking, though?"

"Till we feel our hearts in each other."

There. That feeling heart thing. I still didn't know what he meant by that, but I was willing to try. For the sake of our bonding.

With a deep breath, I focused my thoughts on this man before me.

Prince Terrence Beverdon of Ravendale. My husband. It was strange how even yesterday I didn't know my life would tie an unbreakable knot with mysterious man. Yes, he was mysterious regardless of his transparent ways. He never hid his intentions and yet it seemed there was a lot hiding beneath his surface. His words were kind, his gestures, thoughtful. He was quite persistent when he wanted to be, though, which was annoying sometimes. His manipulation skills were outstanding as they were outrageous.

My lips stretched into a smile.

But he didn't seem unreasonable once. At least, not to me. And his best trait so far was that he listened. He listened to my words. He understood my concerns and tried to help me even when I didn't ask. This perceptive side of his was what I was beginning to admire the most, although, in some cases, they proved to be too keen for my liking. But this man, who I had yet to discover more of his depths, was someone I find myself want to know more.

A sense of conviction settled within my heart as I breathed deeper.

This ride with him wouldn't be easy, I knew, and I was reluctant to start with him at first, if I was honest. But now, I was willing to see it through with no one but him, regardless of the outcome. If only he'd have me by his side.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a strange tingle filled my chest.

My hand clasped the place over my heart and a soft gasp tore through my lips. My eyes flung open and met with a pair of sparkling blue sapphire.

"Is this..." I couldn't speak, my throat clogged my words.

He nodded. "Real."

His whisper had me gripping the fabric of my chest tighter where his heart was beating strongly beside mine. That was right. It was his heart I could feel inside me. A phantom sensation, I knew, since his heart couldn't have possibly physically transported inside me. But real all the same. Very. Very. Real...

I choked out a laugh. "This this crazy."

He smiled. "I know."

"Do you..."

"I do. I feel it too, Esme. Right here." He tapped his chest.

Esme... He called me Esme.

I couldn't stop grinning and didn't care that it looked stupid. This moment was surreal.

As if to prove me right, the sphere suddenly started to glow.

My grin dropped as I watched in awe how lights tore through the thin surface of the blue ball.

Blue at first. Then white. Then golden. Yellow. Red. Green. The whole seven colors of rainbow. The luminous intensity inscreased as each color added to the shine. And before we knew, the whole tent was flushed in a blinding dance of colors.

My eyes closed at the impact and even then I could see colors flash through my lids. And I was still grinning like a mad. Never wanting this magic to end. However, like all good things, the light disappeared sooner than I wanted, leaving us in the boring dull glow of candles.

It wasn't fair that the moment I opened my eyes the sphere was gone too.

Prince laughed at my pout as I watched the empty space where the floating ball was and shook his head.

"Oh, don't miss it. It was just here to do its job."

"It was beautiful." I curled my lips down.

"I can form another, you know."

I lighted up. "Will it glow?"

"No."

And I fused again like a saggy balloon after losing air.

He chuckled and tapped my cheeks. "Now, don't look like a drenched doll and smile. We're bonded."

I frowned. "Is that what you think of me? A drenched doll?"

His smile dropped at once. His blue eyes became strangely intense as they roamed over my face. His warm fingers trailed down my cheeks, slow and smooth, all the way down to the hollow of my throat.

I heart sped up as his hot breath came closer to mingle with my faltering one. And I realized how in tune the pace of his heart was with mine. Wild and frantic.

"No," he whispered close to my lips, "Definitely, not a drenched doll."