Anastasia came around him as he continued to thrust inside her wildly, moaning his name again and again. Ileus joined her soon after as he pierced her flesh with his fangs and snarled against her skin every time he came. 

By the time he finished, he was so emotionally exhausted that he wanted to slump over her, but he staggered beside her, tugged her closer to him and wrapped his arm around her breasts. He pulled her gown and covered her thighs and his with it. Sapphire eyes stared into the golden ones. He kissed her lazily until he couldn't and then licked his mark with his tongue to spread his venom to heal it quickly. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he said, "I love you more than anything else in this world." 

"I love you, too," Anastasia breathed out as she brushed her fingers on his jaws. The tension of one week, all the apprehensions, all the frustrations—everything ended as they lay in their post coital bliss. They didn't know for how long they lay over there but none wanted to get up and go back. 

He intertwined his fingers with hers and asked, "Yule usually comes with harsh winters. I find Vilisnki warm.. How come?" He examined her small fingers against his. So beautiful. He started kissing each one of them again. His eyes were unwavering as he stared at her while kissing, golden embers. He didn't need to look at her fingers as he kissed them because they were etched into his memory—slender, petal veined and long and comforting. 

Emotions welled in her throat. She would never leave him again. She could never leave him for this long. It would always be like this, for as long as he wanted it to be like this. If she had words to speak, she would have, but there were no words for what transpired between them, for the truth that was between them. "Ileus," she said. And then she didn't know what she said, but all she knew was that she woke up sometime later all woozy wrapped in lots of warmth. There was so much tenderness in his fluid movements and then more passion followed—this time they went slow. They wanted to linger near each other, over each other for long. 

When they were lying beside each other, she gave reply to his question. "Vilinski's weather is controlled by my father's mood. Last year the weather was harsh because he had withdrawn himself in a gloomy world, but this Yule, his mood is in best spirits. And so he is using all his magic to control the weather… just this one time. And I think it is because of our reunion after so long. He just wants to celebrate." 

"Does he do this every time?" he asked, cradling his head over his arm. "I mean what about the natural weather? That is important for the trade and for the farmers." 

"He has controlled the weather only for this Yule. And believe me, it is siphoning all his magic out. I can see it. Mother wants to help him, but he doesn't let her interfere. I think he is trying to test his limits." She let out an exasperated sigh. "He had remained in the celestial prison for so long that his confidence had shattered. Both he and my mother… Both of them are trying to build it again, trying to do things they used to do and I feel that they are rushing into it." She paused as she looked at the clear blue skies. "Can you imagine clearing so many clouds from the capital city? The magic has to be very powerful. I so want to tell him to let it go…" 

His lips tugged up in a smile. He removed a stray strand that had fallen over her face and said, "Let them be. It is nice they are rediscovering themselves. Let's not interfere." 

"But—" 

He silenced her by putting his finger on her lips. "Your parents are looking for that piece that will bind them back to their past. And only they can do it. You can't. Okay?" 

She bobbed her head looking intensely in his golden hued eyes. Gods, he was so beautiful. And then there was another bout of passion. The sun was high up in the skies. 

Anastasia was tired and she stretched her hands when she got up. He helped her wear her gown by asking her to lift her hands up, and then wore his clothes. His tunic was too damp to wear and so he remained shirtless. When the shirtless Dark Prince came back to the celebrations, the maidens drooled and called him to join them for dances. He was only too happy to oblige them. The great peacock went on flexing his muscles and that taut, warrior-like body that gave him thousands of admiring glances and poked her with that many jealous ones. 

The afternoon was spent with the parents for lunch under the canopy where only the royals were sitting. Ileus ensured that Anastasia was sitting right between his thighs and hardly cared about the glances that her parents threw her way. She tried to crawl back to her father and mother over a certain conversation, but he pulled her back with a growl. 

It was while he was lying down and perhaps belching when she said to her parents, "I wanted to visit Etaya." 

Ileus got up and her parents stiffened. 

"Why?" asked Áine. There was visible tension in her drawn face lines. 

Anastasia plucked a blade from a tuft of grass. "I had promised her that I will make her live… painfully. I want to fulfill that promise." There was so much coldness in her voice that for a second Ileus cringed, but he didn't faze. He started stroking the small of her back because he knew that memories had started flooding her. Memories when Etaya tortured her. 

"But Anastasia, this is not—" Áine started. 

Ian put his hand up in the air to stop his wife. "If she wants to visit her, let her go, but then Ileus will have to be with her." 

"Always," replied Ileus. He was always going to be one step behind her to protect her. 

That evening, before taking a bath, Anastasia and Ileus visited the celestial prison. There were a dozen guards following them. As they walked inside, they looked at various prisoners who were being held. Etaya's prison was the last one. It was a big space with chains hanging from the ceiling. Etaya was shackled in those chains. Her arms were stretched by a pair of chains above her head and her ankles wide spread being pulled by two chains hooked in her floor. Magic whirred in the form of pink and blue lights around the chains. She was in deep slumber or unconscious. 

Almost sensing Anastasia's presence, the woman jerked open her eyes and stared… stared hard and long. "Enjoying my plight?" she asked in a hoarse voice. 

Ileus stopped at the door. Anastasia drew her husband's belt out and walked over to her. She brushed the leather of his belt softly and said, "No, this is hardly anything compared to what I imagined."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.