SPELLBOUND

"I can't wait for the moment when Gid and Vera arrives!" Queen Beatrice exclaimed with a little happy clap as they were finishing their dinner. 

"Your wish will soon be granted, my darling," King Belial told her indulgently as he patted the back of her hands and Beatrice's smile widened. 

"Right. And we still have some time, right? Husband of mine?" 

"Time…?" King Belial was wondering what time his wife wanted to do something for.

"For Gideon and Vera's wedding, of course!" 

Evie and Gav focused their gazes at the king who was now looking a bit taken aback. He obviously did not see that coming.

"I will tell you everything about it later. But for now, I'm curious if hosting a wedding in this situation is still possible." The queen's face became a little sullen now. Even though she told Gideon to prepare himself for the wedding once he comes home, the tension she felt as soon as she arrived in the great city made her realise that the situation in the Great City had already worsened since she left. And it was only a few days since then. 

King Belial leaned his back against his chair. "I just went and surveyed the abyss again before your arrival and so far, there are still no signs of the monsters. It just kept emitting a heavy darkness as steadily as before. That thing coming out is what is making the atmosphere around the city feel heavier and it's spreading out as time passes."

"That thing?" Evie was the one who spoke. 

"We don't know what it is exactly. We figured it's not any type of magic that anyone can absorb. It's more similar to a miasma and so far, until now, it doesn't seem to have any effects on anyone despite them being exposed to it."

Gavriel creased his brows. "So for now… this thing is still deemed harmless?"

"Yes, son. But I've ordered the men near the abyss to take extra precaution. It's a given that something that ominous shouldn't be ignored no matter how harmless it seems to look right now. No one other than military personnel are allowed to approach the blocked off area."

"Is there no other way to stop that miasma from coming out or spreading yet?" Gav asked again and Belial nodded. 

"Unfortunately, we have yet to find any solution for that too. We tried to absorb it and store it somewhere to stop its spread. But so far, nothing seems to be working for now. The only thing I could see in stopping it is to seal the abyss, which is something still impossible to do right now." Belial explained and when Gav stopped asking any more questions, he continued. "I have a theory that perhaps, something would happen once that dark thing coming out from the abyss is done spreading out to the entire land. So if I am right, perhaps, nothing will happen yet. If we based this theory from how fast it took for it to spread and reach the Great City, I believe it will still take a few more days or even a week or more before the whole land is covered. So yes, there might still be some time."

"I see…" The queen's expression became slightly better. "I know this really is not the best time for this and that's why I am planning for a secret wedding where only their closest friends and family can attend. Since it will not take that much time, I think it won't be much of a difference. I just feel like those two needed to be married as soon as possible. Before any war or major disturbance comes to us, I'd like for them to be officially tied together as husband and wife." 

Silence reigned in the hall at what Beatrice said. And as if the queen understood the questions behind the silence, she continued. "I am worried. About those two. About Gideon most specially. Though I'm quite relieved because he has Vera now, I still can't help but feel a bit uneasy. We need Gideon and Vera back in our family Belial. And when I say that, I meant him, really coming back to us and not isolating himself anymore. He needs to start opening up to us, his family, again. This wedding, if he comes home with Vera and wed her here in our presence… that'd be amazing! That only means he's finally making a decision to live and fight for his life and his loved one, right? He had gone through the mating bond and completed it because he basically doesn't have a choice and most probably because he didn't want Vera to suffer the consequence. So right now, I'm still not sure if he had finally decided to change his mind about whatever it is that he's aiming for before Vera came to his life. But if he's going to go through this wedding, it'd be purely his decision without any external forces that compel him to feel as though he had no choice, right?"

Everyone understood what the queen was trying to say. And they could not deny her point. 

King Belial nodded. "Alright, we shall speak to him about this very soon." The king agreed and Beatrice's smile widened. 

She looked at Evie with an excited smile and the two ladies already began excitedly discussing about the wedding plan, until both kings could take it no longer and interrupted them. 

"My queen darling…" King Belial whispered behind her, "I think you should let your daughter-in-law rest now."

"I also think you should go rest now too, mother." Gavriel added, "the journey from Yryzia had been quite long and challenging." 

Evie and Beatrice could only blink at each other and when they both turned to look at their husbands, they could only force a laugh and began to hug each other goodbye. Who knows what these father and son duo would do if they continued on with their chats? 

After the king and queen accompanied Evie and Gav to their room and bid them goodnight, Evie and Gavriel were finally left alone. 

Gavriel immediately pinned Evie against the door as soon as it was closed behind them, laughing and breathless. "God damn, Evie… we're finally alone!" he breathed as he kissed her, and Evie chuckled back. Knowing that since they had reunited, they did not really have any time alone together at all.. "Damn! I missed you so much… I so badly missed being inside you again too, my love…" Gav whispered hotly into Evie's ear.