Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 204: A Meaningful Gift

Chapter 204: A Meaningful Gift

The sky was painted with hues of purple and orange, whilst the night drew near after everyone’s return from the field that evening. The sounds of Blaze’s hooves echo through the air, and when the gates to the Palace swung open, Blaze galloped into the palatial building with Cassian’s steed trailing right behind him.

Samantha laid her eyes on the Palace that proudly stood tall, and unlike the first time she was brought here, there was an inexplicable homely feeling that came with being here again, and maybe she only felt this way because she had built new memories– both the good and the bad in this Palace. She will forever keep Fernwood in the depths of her heart, but as for the future, her future lies nowhere else except with Ivan, and being with Ivan meant accepting the trials that came with ruling a Kingdom... a trial she believed she was ready to face.

At the entrance of the Palace which led to the vestibule, stood Ivan’s Entourages who were patiently waiting to welcome him, and a look of relief dawned on their visage the minute they sensed his presence. Ivan dismounted from Blaze, and everyone, including the servants who stood outside the front building watched as he extended a hand to Samantha, offering her his guidance. With the help of Ivan, Samantha dismounted from Blaze, and their fingers naturally interlaced as they stepped inside the Palace together.

"Welcome home, Your Majesty." His Entourage lowered their heads in a deep respectable bow, and Ivan simply led Samantha in after acknowledging their presence with a curt nod. Passing through the grand foyer, Albert, who had also been waiting at the main door to the hall room eagerly stepped forward to greet Ivan, and he didn’t miss the interlaced fingers.

"Your Majesty, there are important guests waiting in the hall room to welcome your arrival. It will be better if you take the other way so you won’t be surrounded. Your outfits for tonight have been laid in your chamber." Albert informed Ivan with a polite tone, and when he glanced at his little lamb who must be exhausted already from the trip, he wouldn’t want to place her under any more stress for the night.

"We’ll take the other way." Ivan said to the butler who nodded. "I’ll send some servants to your Chamber." And he left to quickly get them.

"Your Majesty!" Madeline, who had followed the empty route Ivan had taken, expressed her surprise and relief at his and Samantha’s arrival. Her eyes lit up when her husband and son followed next, whilst her smile broadened when Alain ran away from his Father’s side into her open arms.

"Mama!" The excitement in his voice was enough to express how much he missed her, and Madeline carried him in her arms before turning her attention to Samantha and Ivan. They exchanged smiles, and she moved aside to give them enough chances to make their way through.

"Please, do not let me delay you with my greetings. We can all have a conversation when you’re settled." Madeline suggested, and the group of men and servants who followed Ivan nodded their heads in approval.

When they were gone, Cassian simply collected Alain from his wife’s affectionate hold and dropped the boy to the ground. "Darling it is not fair how you treat me, you remember to give our son a hug but not your husband?"

"Oh! Cas...!" Madeline nearly lost her breath when he embraced her with a tight hug. They could both feel Alain come in between them as he used his small hands to try and push his Father away from his Mother, and Madeline couldn’t stop herself from chuckling in his adorable attempt to save her from his Father’s crushing hug.

"Tsk! You have enough women in your life, leave your Mother for me you little brat." Cassian jokingly said to his son before lifting him by his arm and placing him aside. Madeline linked her arms around Cassian’s neck, and her heart fluttered when he leaned in to peck her lips.

"How was your trip?"

"Exhausting.. but it went well."

"That reminds me, I have something important to share with you." She whispered. "Come, I’ll tell you while you get ready." She lifted Alain into her arms, and led her husband to the chamber they shared.

Meanwhile, Ivan hardly found the time to drink water as he took a quick bath and stepped out to dress for the little celebration. He was more surprised when Samantha did the same, and she was instantly dressed in an elegant obsidian-black flowing gown. Ivan had paused as he eyed the woman in surprise, and Samantha, who was oblivious to his gaze kept arranging her dress in the mirror.

"Should I go with the black or white?" She asked Ivan while showing him the two pretty feminine ribbons for her hair. "Nevermind it, I’ll use both."

"Aren’t you tired from the journey?"

"I believe we both are but we’re not complaining." She shrugged as though it wasn’t a big deal, whilst keeping her eyes fixed on the mirror as she tied her hair with both ribbons. "This is something I’ll have to learn to get used to, isn’t it?"

She stole a glance at Ivan whose lips curled subtly, but it was a smile that balanced his concern and his pleased reaction due to her statement. He walked towards the dressing table where she stood and met her gaze through the mirror.

"No, you don’t have to get used to this." He answered, but it wasn’t a response she predicted. "You won’t have to undergo the same amount of stress my Mother once did. I never liked it when she worked too hard, and I’m not going to let my future wife experience the same thing. You’re entering this marriage as my wife, and you’re going to be pampered as a Queen."

"You make it sound like I’m opening a delightful present by choosing to become your wife."

"Do you hate the idea?"

Samantha turned around to look at him, her green eyes glistening like a priceless Jade. "No, not in the slightest." Lowering her gaze slightly, her hands reached to help him adjust the high collars of his shirt. "Do you leave your collars disorganized on purpose, or you just aren’t bothered about how perfect you need to look for the guests waiting downstairs?"

"I don’t know, but I don’t mind because you notice and fix them to perfection. Same way you fixed my heart." A smoldering tenderness gleamed in his beady eyes, and Samantha couldn’t hold back her own goofy smile. Whoever taught him how to use his words was probably an expert in the arts of wooing.

"Shall we?"

"Not yet, hold on." Stepping away from his little lamb, Ivan reached for the little safe in his drawer, and Samantha knew the safe to contain most of the accessories that mattered to him, by that she meant jewelries that were passed on from generation to generation. When he returned to her side after taking something out of the safe, he showed Samantha the two thinned-chain necklaces in his grasp, but what surprised her more was that one of the necklace had a star symbol, while the other was shaped like a half moon.

"What are these for?" Samantha asked, looking evidently surprised.

"I had them specially made for a day like this. A day when I can officially call you mine, face the mirror."

Samantha’s cheeks bloomed as she slowly turned to face the mirror. She watched as he took off the pendant from her neck, dropping it on the table, and her eyes brightened when he brought one of the necklaces down to her neck. Moving her hair to the other side of her neck, he fastened it, allowing the moon-shaped symbol to rest on the hollow of her neck.

"It’s beautiful." Samantha admired the beauty of the necklace as she pressed the symbol to her skin, and her eyes, which were now glossy with overwhelming emotions, met Ivan’s equally loving stare through the mirror.

"Why the moon? Don’t misunderstand my question, I love it alot." She quickly explained so he wouldn’t take her question as something else, "but... I’m curious."

"You shouldn’t be, my dearest little lamb, and do you know why? It’s because I am the lonely moon who finds solace in the blanket of stars, which is you, my most precious."

With his hands on her arm, he gently turned her around and handed her the necklace containing the star symbol. "And this? I’m going to wear this because you’re the collision of stars that add beauty to my constellation. " he confessed, sounding purely devoted to her before adding,

"Aren’t you going to put it on for me?"

"Ah.. y... yes." Too deeply struck by how he portrayed the meaning behind the symbols on the necklaces, he lowered his head for Samantha to put on the necklace for him. When she fastened it, she swallowed gently as the butterflies in her tummy continued with their ceaseless flapping, and she swore she could die right now.

"You’ll have to come with me to the hall, but don’t worry, I’ll make our presence brief so we can go somewhere that defined us from the beginning." He said before finding her fingers and interlacing it with his, like a habit he naturally got accustomed to.

"Where are we going after?"

"You’ll see." With a smile that had her insides melting, he took her out of his chamber.