After all of the things, we gathered at the shop are brought up to the loft. We separate everything out and make a stock of what we have to take on our journey. "We are taking all of this? How are we going to carry it all?" Terra asks me. "Aiden has sent word ahead to one of his contacts in Aelmere, there will be horses waiting for us," I say to her. The look she gets is distressing. 'She probably is not experienced in riding' I think to myself. "There is no need to fear my lady, you will be riding with me," I say to her and give her a wink.
She smiles faintly and says in a quiet voice meant, only for me to hear "Thank you." I smile back at her and continue with the stock.
"We are going to need our weapons Brother," Thegan says. I nod my head and go over to behind the couch. There are loose floor boards there that we hid our weapons under when we first came to this loft. I pry the boards up and remove the heavy leather-wrapped bundle out from the space. After putting the boards back, I bring the bundle over to Thegan and set it down.
Looking over at Terra, I notice she is looking at the clothes she got, and I say to her. "You should go try them on and make sure they fit My lady." She nods her head and grabs the clothes and heads to the bedroom. When she has left the room, I ask Thegan "Was you able to find her any armor?" I had asked him before we went to the shop if he could find her some armor since he was better at picking good pieces. I never was good at that sort of thing.
"Yes, I am sure it will fit her, but to be on the safe side, can you take it to her so she can try it on Brother?" I give him a nod, and he waves his hand towards a linen bag. I grab the sack and head to the bedroom.
Knocking on the door, she says come in in a shaky voice. I wonder what's wrong. When I open the door, she is standing there in one of the dresses she picked. She is flushed all over and says "How does it look?"
She looks amazing, her long thick legs look "Delicious." Oops, I didn't mean to say that out loud. She turns another shade redder. "I mean it looks exquisite on you." I try to recover my blunder.
"Really?" She asked in a shy voice.
I walk up to her cupping her cheek "Like they were made just for you, My Princess." It wasn't a lie, the dress fit her like a glove. Just like they were made especially for her. "You will fit right in when we get to Aelmere My dear," I say. Then I kiss her on the forehead. She smiles up at me. I just about forgot the reason that I came in here, to begin with. "I need you to try something else on for me My Lady," I say to her as I grab the bag. I set it on the bed and open it to see a shiny silver set of women's armor with delicate engravings on each piece. Thegan really out did himself this time.
"Is that armor?" Terra asks me. I had failed to tell her that we would be wearing armor when the battle starts.
"Yes, My Dear. I wanted you to have some just in case we do have to go into battle. Just a little extra protection to keep you safe. So I had Thegan pick some up for you." She steps closer to where I have the bag and looks in it. I pull it out of the bag and lay it out on the bed. I pick up the thin chain mail and ask "Do you mind?" as I hold it up. She holds her arms up and smiles at me. I guess that is a yes. I slide the chainmail over her head, and she puts her arms in. After its on, I grab the chest and back plates. She holds the chest plate to her chest while I place the back and tie the sides of it, holding each piece in place. I put the wrist cuffs on her delicate wrists and the I grab the thigh plates and squat down. Putting my hand on her thigh, brushing the bottom of the skirt out or the way. She shivers when I wrap my arm around her leg to tie the plate on. Then I move to the other leg. I do the same, brushing my fingers against her soft skin. After I am done securing everything, I grab the last piece. It goes around her waist and serves to protect her hips. I wrap my arms around her waist and tie the armor in place. I notice that she is all flushed again, and little flowers have bloomed all around us. I let a small laugh escape my lips. When I am done, I stand back from her, looking at her from head to toe. She is stunning "You look like a warrior My Lady," I say to her.
"Really?" she asks.
"Yes My Princess, you look amazing. Look for yourself" I tell her as I turn her towards the mirror.
"Wow, I look..."
"Beautiful" I interrupt her.
"I was going to say Shiny" she adds with a giggle.
"Do you want to show Thegan since he picked it out?" I ask her. She nods her head, and we head to the living room to show Thegan her armor.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Terra
This dress is shorter than I am use to wearing, but I guess I have to wear it to fit in when we get to Aelmere. The armor that Enre put on me is lighter than I thought it would be and it is surprisingly comfortable. It's really shiny silver with tiny flowers engraved on all of the pieces. It really is stunning metal work. I wonder if all of the warriors wear such intricate armor. So I ask Enre "Does everyone wear these kinds of things when they go to battle?"
"Yes my lady they do," he says back to me. To be honest, I cannot wait to see this new world. To see all of the people and how they live there.
When we step into the living room, Thegan and Aiden stand up, and Thegan says "My lady, you look beautiful. I am glad that it fits you well". A smile on his face lets me know he is pleased.
Aiden says "You are the spitting image of The Goddess Tarna." My mother, do I really look like her?
"Thank you for all this Thegan" I say to him. They have done so much for me. I don't know how I will ever repay them for their kindness.
"Do not thank me, My Lady, it was Enre's idea, I just picked them out?" Thegan says with a smile.
I smile back and turn to Enre and say "Thank you." He is always thinking of my safety.
"You are most welcome My Dear,” Enre says to me.
I turn to head back to the bedroom to take the armor off, but Thegan stops me saying "Wait for just a moment My lady, there is something else you will need." What else could there possibly be? I am already all shiny. I almost giggle to myself. Thegan gets up and goes over to a bundle laying on the floor. After untying it, he pulls out a beautiful sword that has flowers and vines engraved from the hilt to the tip. The hilt looked like there were flower petals forming the guard. The hilt was wrapped in green leather, and the pommel had a beautiful green stone in it. The sword is absolutely stunning. Thegan turns to us and walks over saying "If it is alright with Enre I would like him to give you this sword."
Enre looked at Thegan and says "You still have it." reaching out for it. Nostalgia in his eyes.
Thegan hands the sword over to him saying "I was keeping it to give to you when the time was right. And I believe, that time is now Brother." Patting him on the back. Thegan turns and walks back over to where he was before, tapping Aiden on the shoulder.
Enre is looking at the sword as though he is lost in thought. After a few moments pass, a smile comes over his face. He looks at me and gets down on one knee, holding the sword up to me and says "My lady Terra. This sword is a representation of me, it is an extension of myself and of my heart, and it would be a true honor if you would accept it." That sounded like a proposal. I don't know why but my cheeks start getting warm, and there is an explosion of flowers all over the room. What have I got to lose? It's not every day that a very handsome Prince asks you to marry him. If that is what this is. I look over to Thegan and Aiden, and they are both smiling. Thegan nods at me grinning wider.
What the hell. I look back at Enre, his head still down, holding the sword and say "I Accept." Thegan motions for me to take the sword so I do.
When I do Enre stands up, I could see the glossiness in his eyes. Enre put his arms around me and softly said to me "I Love you." I try to wrap my arms around him to but the armor is getting in the way, but I manage to whisper back "I love you too." I do. My heart making all the decisions now.
Thegan and Aiden are clapping their hands and wooting. I had almost forgotten they were here for a moment. When we pull away from each other, Thegan walks over and says "When all of this is over, we will have
a Grand celebration. Welcome to the family Sister." And he gives me a huge hug. Sister? I am someone's sister now. It is a warming feeling, Belonging to a family now.
Aiden says "Congratulations Your highness's." Bowing deeply. I smile at him. "Come to my princess, let us go get you out of that armor," Enre says. I nod my head, and we go back towards the bedroom.
"Enre, Me and Aiden have to go get some more supplies we will be back in a couple hours," Thegan says winking at me.
"Take your time Brother," Enre says with a wry smile.
They leave the loft, and we are left alone. Enre closes and locks the bedroom door and turns to look at me. He saunters over to me and kisses me on my cheek and starts untying the armor, removing one piece at a time. With each piece he removes he leaves a trail of kisses in its place. Each tender touch of his lips on my skin causes a warm sensation to run through my body. After the armor is off, he embraces me, holding me tightly to his well-carved body. I can feel the warmth of his skin through the clothing we are wearing. Suddenly he swoops me up in his arms and with a smile of hunger he carries me over to the bed and gently lays me down. He caresses every inch of my body with his strong hands. Enre brings his lips so close to mine they nearly touch, then he says "My Princess." Then he comes to the distance and kisses me with a passion that I have never felt before. My head is swimming with the sensation that his lips are causing me. His hands move slowly over my body, slowly removing my clothes in the process. I pull his shirt over his head we break our kiss so I can pull it the rest of the way. As soon as the shirt is clear, he resumes what he was doing. The deep throaty sounds that he is making is driving me crazy. Before I know it, I am completely naked beneath My prince. The sudden realization the I am nude hits me, and I try to cover up. Enre grabs my hands gently kissing each wrist and says "You are Beautiful; you don't have to hide from me." I hesitate for a moment but relinquish all my will to him. My body reacts so easily to his touch. It's like we were meant to be, like this is fate. He removes his remaining clothes and starts kissing my belly working his way up to my breast. Kissing and caressing each one. Continuing his journey up my body, he kisses my collar bones, my neck, and my jaw. Finally making his way back to my lips. He lifts my legs over his hips and looks at me with hunger in his eyes waiting for a sign of consent. I mouth the word "yes".
We made passionate love. Our bodies were one. I could feel the magical energy running through our bodies like a hurricane hitting the shore. When we came to the finish, a blinding light burst out of my chest and went straight into Enre's. "What was that?" I asked almost panicking, afraid that I had hurt him again. And looking at his chest, I had. He had a burn on his chest as did I. The charred symbols were a half moon with lines coming from it like a sun. "I am so sorry," I say as I start to cry.
He cups my cheek gently with his steady hand and says to me "Do not cry my beautiful wife, this is a symbol of our love. We are bound to each other." He wipes the tears off of my face.
"But I burnt you again," I say in a shaky voice.
He leans close to my ear and says in a loving tone "It’s a good burn My love. One of legend" he kisses my cheek. And moves back helping me sit up.
"Legend?" I ask. How can me burning him again be called anything but horrible.
"Yes. There is a legend that says 'When two hearts are fated by the Gods to each other they will be branded with an identical symbol on each. When this happens, they will share their powers and hearts with each other. Half of his heart will be hers, and half of hers will be his, and they will be connected through eternity. It's a story that will be written in the Heavens My Love," he tells me. It was fate, him and me being together.
"Does this binding happen to a lot of people?" I ask him. I mean, we can't be the only ones.
"There hasn't been anyone in over eight hundred years. Even then there are only two accounts on recorded in the history books," he says. Wow. Only two. I smile at this. We are special.
Enre moves to wrap a cover around my shoulders. As I am looking at the mark on my chest right above my heart. While he puts his pants on, not bothering with his shirt, I sit thinking about what just happened. The mind blowing love making that still has my legs weak. The tenderness in his kisses and his gentle touch. The light that connected us as one. Me crying because I thought it was me that had burnt him. Him calling me his wife. Wife, we are married? "Um Enre, are we married?" I ask him, kinda confused about it because we didn't have a wedding.
He comes over to me kneeling down by the bed. He takes my hand and kisses the top of it and says "Yes My Love."
"But we didn't have a wedding," I say back to him. All of these customs are confusing me.
He smiles and says "In Aelmere we do not have wedding ceremonies like this realm does. We have a Giving ceremony, where the man gives his love a very precious item to his heart. And if she accepts and they consummate after, they are married. I am sorry I did not explain that to you, do you not want to be my wife?" he says with a worried look on his face.
"Of course, I want to be your wife. It just caught me off guard is all. I love you Enre" I say leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "next time you may want to explain the customs to me a little better," I say with a giggle.
The relief was visible on his face "I love you too Terra, with all of my heart and next time, I promise to explain them better" He says snickering.
"So does that make me a Princess?" I ask him jokingly, trying to make him smile.
He jumps on the bed and pushes me down gently and beams at me saying "Yes it does, and when all of this is over I will shower you in silver and gold. I will adorn your body with jewels, and you will wear the finest of gowns. You will be the crowning jewel of Aelmere and Everyone will know that you are mine, My Princess, My wife". He then kisses me on my lips, nibbling softly on my bottom lip. Then he pulls away and says "My Wife, My Beautiful Wife."
I smile at him and say "My handsome husband," which causes him to blush. When he does, enormous red flower starts popping up on the walls. His eyes went wide. The room was already full of flowers. It looks like a garden in here anyways because of me, but that was not my doing. "I didn't do that," I say to him.
"Umm, I think I did," he says. The look on his face is confusion and astonishment all in one.
I can't help but laugh and say "Looks like you are a mood ring too." He looks at me, and we both start laughing. At least I will not be the only one now.
After a few minutes we calm down, and Enre asks "Do you want something to drink my love?" I nod my head, yes, and he says "I am going to go fix us something and something to snack on too. Do you want it in here or the living room?"
"The living room is fine, I will get dressed and come help you" I say. He leans in a kisses me one more time on the forehead and heads to the kitchen.
I get up and throw some clothes on and pull my hair back in a long braid. As I stand there, I feel this cold sensation running through my body. It is cold, like ice water. I wonder, I raise my hand up and open my palm. I try to concentrate on making a water orb like Enre did when he showed me his powers. After a few minutes a small water ball forms in the palm of my hand. It grows in size the more I concentrate. It is the size of a cantaloupe now. I must have been concentrating too hard because I didn't hear Enre come into the room. He wraps his arms around my waist, scaring to death. My hands flew up, and the water orb comes down on us both, soaking us. I can't help but laugh. I turn and look at him, he has water dripping from his face and hair. I start giggling and say "I can make water."
He starts to laugh with me and says "I will get us something to dry off with."
"Thank you," I say as he walks to the bathroom to grab us a towel to dry off with. I can't believe I did that.
When he comes back, he takes the towel and starts to dry me off. When he finishes, I do the same for him. "Shall we try this again my love?" he asks.
"I will try not to soak us this time," I say with a smirk. He enters twined his fingers with mine and
lead me back to the living room. I go sit in one of the overstuffed chairs that he waves too. He heads off to the kitchen quickly returning with a tray with tea and sandwiches stacked on it.
"Here My Love" Enre says as he hands me a cup of tea and a small plate with two sandwich halves on it.
"Thank you, My Husband," I say. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am a married woman now. But one thing is for sure I do love him, very much. My heart knowing this before my head.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Enre
While I sit here drinking my tea and snacking on the sandwiches that I had made earlier, I look over at my Beautiful wife. My Wife, I never thought in a million years that I would find the one person made just for me. But here she is, sitting in front of me. I feel like all the worlds aligned just for us when we made love. In a way they did. We did get these symbols burned into us. To be honest, I would suffer the pain again and again just to be with this beautiful creature that the Goddess has made for me. Or rather I for her.
This power sharing is going to take some getting used to, though. I understand now why she was so scared when her powers were awakened. The growing flowers essence is kind of amazing, but it came as a shock if I do say so myself. I laugh at the thought of her soaking us with water. She looked as though she was enjoying playing with the water as I was watching her reflection in the mirror from the bedroom door. "Enre, um you said that the men give something close to their hearts to the one he loves right?"
"Yes, you want to know about the sword right?" I say to her. She nods her head. So I tell her "The Sword I gave you, was given to my father by his mother. He, in turn, gave it to our mother. Then I gave it to you. And if we have a son someday you will give it to him for his love. I am not sure how many generations that it has been passed down, But I do know that it is very very old." I say to her pausing to think of how I am going to tell her the next part of this story. The sad part. So I continue "Our mother died before she could pass it down so that task was given to our father. Being he had two sons he gave Thegan his sword which has been passed down from king to king and he gave the sword that I gave you to him, to one day give to me. I, in turn, gave it to you My love. For a long time, I thought the sword lost. That's why I was shocked when Enre Handed it to me. But there is no one in this lifetime or the next that I would want to have it other than you My Beautiful Wife."
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