THE THIRD MAGE 42 Wedding

As Denaire raised her head, she saw Hiro looking at her with such sadness, but with a dangerous light. She smiled and subtly nodded to him to which she earned a smile from him.

Meanwhile, at the end of the carpet stood the King and he was lasciviously looking at Denaire. Denaire smiled at the King but inwardly cringed at it. But she had to endure this to carry out what they have planned. It was now or never, and she'd rather die than marry this beast. But marrying him would be inevitable. Denaire inwardly sighed.

The ceremony rightly began, watched by the thousands of citizens in Exosha. Denaire couldn't help but get nervous. She kept fiddling her magnificent gown, or sneaking a glance at Hiro, who was always shaking his head as if saying to not look at him for the time being. But Denaire couldn't help it. There were so many negative thoughts running in her mind at the time, she was afraid that something might go wrong.

The King noticed her looking at his favorite general. He grew angry at this gesture that he stopped the judge in what he was saying.

He then looked at Denaire and leaned down at her, just so his mouth would be near Denaire's ear. He licked Denaire's ear and said menacingly, "Look at Hiro again, and I will take you right here after we say our I dos."

Denaire shook in fear.

'Okay calm down Denaire,' she said to herself. 'Everything would be all right after this. Just trust in Hiro okay? We'll pull through this.'

Denaire inhaled deeply and nodded to the King.

'Good," the King said, and then to the judge, "You may continue."

The judge continued speaking, but although Denaire tried to be present, her mind kept wandering away from the nightmare.

Just then, he faintly heard the judge ask, "King Andrew Veton of Exosha, do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?"

Denaire's mind shifted back to the moment at hand. And even if she knew what was going to happen, fear gripped her whole being. She held the skirts of her gown tightly as if tearing it away from her body.

"Yes, I do," the King replied loudly. And the crowd cheered.

Denaire closed her eyes and calmed her racing heart. 'Okay, the deed would almost be done,' she consoled herself. 'Everything would be alright.'

She heard the judge say, "And do you, Denaire Alvis, take His Majesty, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Denaire closed her eyes and kept repeating in her mind the word endure. 'Endure. Endure. Endure.'

"I..I.." she glanced at Hiro, who now moved a little so that the King will not notice any changes in her head and then swallowed hard. "I do."

"And now I p.r.o.nounce you Husband and Wife and King and Queen of Exosha!"

The crowd cheered and cheered, chanting Exosha's motto "Power, Power, Power!"

The King moved closer to Denaire and draped his arm over her shoulder. "Well my Queen, are you ready for our night?"

Denaire smiled awkwardly to the King and shyly nodded to which the King chuckled.

"Ah my Queen, so shy. Don't worry; I'll take that shyness away." And the King laughed some more.

The crowd then made their way to the Garden Pavilion where the celebration is going to be held. The King held Denaire's hand and they both sat on the fiery throne they were given.

The whole crowd was having fun: eating, drinking, singing and dancing. Denaire was rather bored of it all, more to the fact that his husband has been talking to Hiro and the other generals. So she was left alone to think and wallow on her destiny.

As she was looking at the trees, she saw something that caught her eye. She searched her mind for what it is and then she remembered that it is one of her spy birds, Kiki.

A frill voice then jolted in her mind, "Master! Master!"

She replied telepathically, "Kiki, how did you find me?"

"Master Amon commanded us to look for you. We felt your call for distress. The Garden was almost torn in half. And you could speak to us through your mind now master?"

Denaire looked crestfallen. Because of her weak heart, her people might be in danger. "Yes, only around a certain radius. And I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I put you all in so much danger."

"It's okay Master. Tell me what to do."

"What did Amon tell you?"

"To look for you. They are already getting ready for a war, Amon felt that the training everyone underwent is already enough."

Denaire nodded. "Okay, in a moment, something's going to happen here. Please go back and tell them that I'll be waiting for them." Then Denaire laid out the route they should take and where they are supposed to meet. "Good luck Kiki."

Kiki was about to fly but then curiosity got the better of him that he asked his master, "Master, what's going to happen later?"

Denaire smiled, "We're going to stage a coup."