The tent they had raised for our wedding night was a spacious deep crimson, octagonal shape with golden frills swaying down from the roof in every corner.

I was sitting on the double padded, white bedding with colored cushions dominating the most of the space. A heady aroma was clouding the air those dim scented golden candles offered and I had a hard time breathing.

This must be Margherita's doing. She was in charge of arranging this tent and knew how I despised over-perfuming a room. But why would she do that?

I thought, glaring at the high ceiling shaped in inward turret roof.

Doria had slipped me a plattered broth of chicken and a side of roasted boar through the hands of Simmi, a younger cousin of mine.

But my appetite was long dead. The killer smell had no way of dispelling in this closed room and Baba's strict order had been not move the drapes until my husband entered the tent first. It was a tradition. A stupid, stupid tradition but I couldn't upset Baba on my last night in the coven.

A tired breath escaped my lips and I leaned forward cross-legged closing my eyes and holding my throbbing head in my hands.

I tried breathing slower, focusing all my attention toward not inhaling much of the scent.

"Are you alright?"

My head snapped up the familiar deep voice and found him frowning near the drapes. The open damn drapes.

Finally!

"You look pale-"

"Don't, please, keep them open." I raised my hand to as he was about to let drapes fall back.

When he paused and gave me skeptic glance, I cleared my throat. "I have trouble breathing in a heady room. It would be kind of you if you let them stay open for a while."

Understanding dawned upon his face and he nodded. "Yes, of course. The room is much too aromatic for me as well now that I noticed. It's better to let the air out. Do you need anything else?"

I shook my head, wrangling my hands as he smiled and moved inside.

Now that the heavy air was beginning to clear so was my head and I couldn't help but feel every inch of his movement around the space.

He walked further into the tent where a small pocket room was created with thicker black drapes for the privacy of emptying bowels and changing clothes for the newlyweds.

I had already done my business and changed my dress for a cotton sleeping tunic for the night. So, I waited for Prince Terrence to be done with his, despite my obvious discomfort of sharing a room with a man.

I had never done so before in my life. Although, I had shared few kisses with local boys in my adolescent day, yes, but nothing behind the closed doors. I had a virtue to uphold even though there had been no stricter terms regarding the matter in our society. We witches were by born free-spirited. So, whatever I had chose to do up until now had been my personal choice.

Prince walked out a few moments later. A linen night robe was draped around his shoulders. His fingers were busy tying a the knot around his cloths, hopefully to preserve his physical privacy. But all it did was accentuate his features further.

I could still see the chiseled peek of his chest, could descern the narrow waist, the shoulders which were not too broad and not too lean to be considered thin. A perfect balance of both. My throat dried at the veins of his slender arms, still feeling the smooth warmth of them when he held me at the cliff.

I looked away.

Did the room grew hotter?

I licked my lips and pulled my knees closer to my chest, suddenly feeling too small in the presence of this majestic beauty.

The bed dipped a little distance away from me and my heart jumped.

I could feel him watching me pick my nails and tap my foot on the floor.

"You didn't eat?"

I froze.

Out of everything, I didn't expect him to choose that as a conversation starter. However, I was grateful for the small relief.

I cleared my throat, glancing down at the abandoned platter between us. "I, uh, couldn't eat with the smell earlier. Makes my stomach swirl."

"Is it better now?" he asked.

"Yes."

"You should eat then. Empty stomach may affect what we're about to do."

And my heart was stuck in my throat.

"Wh-What we are... going to do?" I croaked out.

Prince Terrence's eyes widened as if he only just realized what explosion he had just dropped.

"Oh no, no, no. Nothing..." He cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing bright blue as he looked away. "Nothing of the sort, you're thinking. At least, unless you want to, I mean-" He sighed, rubbing his face up and down. "This came out wrong."

I nodded with a gulp. "It did."

Prince whooshed out a breath and faced me with steely conviction. "Okay, let us begin again. Esmarelda, I'd like us to be bonded."

I blinked. "I thought we already are?"

"We are. Just not in my way."

I frowned. "Your way?"

He nodded. "The blue-blooded way. We need to be bonded with the blessing of Superior Strength, the divine entity we worship in Ravendale."

What the hell?

"Then you couldn't have tell this before the marriage ceremony tonight? Baba could've arranged things your way even though we don't believe in Gods."

He looked down. "I know. That's why I didn't tell them earlier. I didn't want to disrespect your belief and ruin the celebration for your people. I've seen how hard they worked to put together such a quick wedding. It seemed important that we get married on their terms."

My heart softened a little at his words.

He really could have imposed his belief on us, forced us to complete bonding in his way. But he chose to preserve my belief for the public ceremony, only so that my people could enjoy a wedding of their custom. It was quite noble of him to be so thoughtful.

"Thank you for thinking about us, Your Highness. But I'm curious, why do we need to bond the second time? Is it not possible to forego this and continue to preserve each one's beliefs. I think it would be better this way."

"I understand your hesitation, Esmarelda, and please call me Terrence, but this bond is more than just blessings from Superior Strength. It binds souls together in almost physical sense. We'd be able to feel each other from within."

My eyes bulged out.

Feel each other?

"Are we going to read the other's thoughts? Learn intimate secrets without even telling?"

He raised his brows. "Hmm... Do you have intimate secrets we need to know about?"

I was too late to see that hint of smirk on his lips and glared. "Nothing that is earth shattering. We are entitled to keep some of our secrets, I believe."

He chuckled. "Absolutely. And, no, we won't be reading each other's thoughts and secrets. Just... have a feel of the other's presence inside us. You'll know when we'd get bonded. It's kind of like a spell, you see. You don't even have to have faith in Superior Strength for this to work, just have to be willing enough to get bonded. That's it. No one's belief gets hurt."

Hmm... This sounded good and all. But as much as I've learned about Prince Terrence in our short while of acquaintance, he didn't insist on doing something without any ulterior motive. It was time to test my theory.

"Okay, I think we can get married the second time," Prince Terrence gave me a soft smile of relief. "But I'd like to know why tonight? Why not after we get to Ravendale? You can have a grander ceremony there and we get bonded the way you want."

His smile turned a notch fonder much to my surprise. "You are far too perceptive than I gave you credit for. Yes, we have a reason to get bonded within tonight. Because, if we go to Ravendale unbonded, Father will not accept you into our family, thus no crown, no safety to you, and perhaps even no business for your people any longer."

Hmm...

"Then, let's do this. Show me what we have to do."

He grinned. "That's my darling wife. But no bonding until we get your stomach filled."

I smiled with a heartful for the first time tonight.

"Deal."