XERIS' POV

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her.

"How long were you going to keep it hidden from me? Were you ever going to tell me?"

I looked at the face of the woman in front of me. The face that I had long forgotten. She still looked the same, save for a few grey strands in her hair. I sat in her office, Bulba's office.

No, Anala's office.

My Nala.

She had on her signature poker face, not saying anything.

"For years, I thought they had killed you because of me. And then I heard you were sent to the southern lands. How are you here?"

Still she wouldn't talk to me. She kept on looking at me.

"I do not know what you are talking about, your highness. Maybe you have me confused for someone else."

Why won't she admit she's Nala?

"Are you being watched? Has mother put someone to monitor you? Is that why you cannot talk freely?" I gave suggestions.

"Your highness, I am not..."

"I know it is you," I stood up and approached her with tears in my eyes. "No one else calls me Leb." I knelt before her and grabbed her hand and lay it on my cheek.

"Your highness, please get up."

She didn't pull her hand back.

"Do you hate me for what happened to you? Is that why you won't talk to me?" my voice cracked.

"I could never hate you, Leb," she finally admitted it, even if she did not say who she was.

When Victoria was missing and we found her, she shouted my name, Leb. She did the same to reassure me that she would wake up. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time because I was so worried about Victoria. But after, I started thinking about and couldn't stop until I knew the truth.

The tears that had been gathering finally spewed over, "then why didn't you tell me? All these years, I forgot what you looked like. I'm sorry I forgot what you looked like. I couldn't find any portrait of you, mother destroyed everything of you. I tried to keep you in my memory, but I failed. I'm so sorry Nala." I was sobbing now, her with me.

"Hush now, Leb. A prince should never show his tears to anyone," she softly reprimanded.

"You are not just anyone," I reminded her as another sob escaped me.

She got up and knelt down before me and gathered me in her arms.

"You're so small now. You used to be much bigger than me. When did you get so small?" I asked.

"You grew up while I stayed the same."

"Where have you been Nala?" I had to know, "what happened after you left me? How are you here, and as a doctor?"

"I will tell you everything, let us get off the floor first."

We stood up and she reached up to wipe my tears away but more replaced them, "it really is you."

She smiled at me lovingly and then led me to a seat. She sat next to me.

"When her majesty caught on, she approached me and reprimanded me for breaking the rules, but not too harshly. She wanted to see for herself. So, she hid in your chambers and waited for you to come back from your lessons. I thought I could somehow get you aware of the situation, but you were too young."

She held my hand.

"It was all my fault," I couldn't look at her.

"No, it wasn't anyone's fault." I looked back up at her as she continued to narrate what happened to her.

"When I was taken out of the room, the guards released me as we waited for the queen. I heard the words she left you with and you asking her not to hurt me. My heart broke at what was happening but I knew it had to be done. Once the queen walked out and closed the door behind her, she dismissed the guards. Once they had left, she fell to her knees and sobbed along with you."

What?

"Impossible," I whispered.

Why would she?

"Your mother loves you a lot, Leb. Even though she may not show it, she feels more of your pain and rejoices at your happiness. All these things she did, were all for you. To make you stronger. I know, it is hard to accept this fact, but trust me, she loves you."

"Why would she? Why?" I didn't even know what to ask anymore.

"She asked me what I wanted to do, and I told her that I wanted to be a healer. She sent me to the best schools and had everything paid for. I must have been pretty good because I started to garner attention. I had to change my name because Anala was no more. I met with her occasionally and she told me of you, how you had withdrawn from the world. She did not know how to help you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I gave the idea to expose you to someone around your age. That is how Anigra came into the picture. When she saw how much time the two of you spent together, she thought you were finally healing and letting someone in. However, I had this feeling whenever I saw you two from afar, that it was not a good idea. She listened to me and was about to put an end to the discussion of marriage when you volunteered for this mission. She was devastated. She felt like she had forced you to run away from her, that you hated her."

I never hated her.

Nala sighed, "her majesty was at least glad that you got to escape from Anigra, but we had not foreseen her coming on this mission as well. She pleaded me to come on this mission and keep an eye on you. She was worried firstly, because no one had ever left Thanzor and secondly, because of Anigra. She asked me to watch over you and make sure you were okay."

Mother did that?

"She loves me?" I asked.

"More than you know. She has immense kindness behind her firm image. She may have gone about it the wrong way, but it was the only way she knew how. That was how she was raised."

***

It took some time for me to come to terms with what Nala had told me. But one thing was for sure, I had never hated mother. I had strived to please her. what Nala told me had me re-evaluating everything in my life. I had spent a couple of days going through what I thought I knew in my memory. At the end of it, I decided to fix my relationships when I got to Thanzor.

I went back to see Nala whenever she had free time and we talked about everything. She asked me all sorts of questions about Victoria and I willingly answered. She gave me great advise and shared her wisdom with me.

Two weeks before the wedding, I went back to my daily activities. I hadn't seen my Victoria in a while and decided only to see her on our wedding day. I made sure to go to the parts of the ship that she was not in. Once or twice, we almost came into contact but I was quick to avoid her.

I had also been receiving lessons on how to please her in bed. I heard the reports from Purit on how she felt embarrassed by her 'lessons'. I would laugh and Purit would turn it against me and have me be the one embarrassed. He was the one giving me the lessons after all.

I didn't go to the rehearsal either because I felt I wouldn't be able to let her go if I saw her. I had started to develop perverted thoughts of her. As hard as it was to admit it, I lusted for her.

So, I opted to watch the monitors and see how she interacted with everyone. I could tell that everyone liked her. She got along well with everyone she talked to. It is a shame that she had to seclude herself from people before coming here.

Finally, it was our wedding day. The planners had really done a wonderful job of making the meeting hall into a beautiful wedding hall. Because everyone on the ship was invited to the wedding, it was the only place big enough to accommodate us all. The kitchen would be in for a ride, feeding this multitude. They had been cooking for days before the wedding.

I stood at the altar, before the main priest on this ship. I wore a suit in the royal colour, green, with my crown of white gold on my head. We had incorporated Earthian customs into this and made it a blend of the two planets' customs. A melody played in the background and everyone rose to their feet. I turned around and could see her far off in the distance. It would be quite the walk to get to me. As she walked and got closer, my excitement built up.

My wife is walking towards me

I couldn't help the smile that split my face.

The closer she got, the more detail of her I could make out. She was in a stunning strapless dress. Just seeing that much skin had my mind wander to tonight. With each step she took, the green accents in her dress showed. I could see tiny emeralds dotting the upper half of her dress. She had a veil covering her face. I wanted to see her. I wanted to touch her. I wanted her in my arms.

She got even closer and my smile got even wider. A part of me just wanted to go down the steps and carry her off to our chambers. But that would be inappropriate.

I had to stop myself from bouncing on the balls of my feet. I was so excited and ready to get this done with. Finally, she reached the bottom of the steps. I went down to help her up the steps and my skin sang at the contact it made with hers. I still couldn't see her face.

Once at the altar, I removed her veil and sharply breathed in. She was so beautiful. Her hair was up in this complicated up do. She wore a necklace with a teardrop emerald resting on her chest and matching earrings. She had on the barest of makeup, but even that transformed her face into something I could only describe as otherworldly. I couldn't believe I had succeeded in staying away from her for so long.

Everyone else sat back down at their tables.

I drowned out the priest and concentrated solely on her. I made sure to keep listening and perform were necessary. I had arranged for a ring to be made for her. She hadn't requested it but I still had it done. A band for her, and one for me. We each put them on each other. She was handed a pair of scissors and finally cut off my long hair. Everyone cheered at this.

I was expecting her to cut it close to my nape, but she cut it a little further down. I looked at her questioningly, and she whispered, "it's too beautiful to cut." I could only smile. The braid detangled and my hair fell around my face. Soon, we were announced husband and wife and it was time for me to kiss her.

I was still looking at her and her eyes rose to meet my own. I could swear her cheeks tinted a little red. I stepped forward, heart hammering hard against my chest.

I finally get to kiss you.

If only we were alone.

I could see she was anxious to kiss me too for she started to lean forward as soon as the priest said I could kiss her. I grabbed her face in my hands and slowly lowered my lips to hers. Her hands went to my waist and her eyes fluttered close. I leaned even further until our lips met.

Her lips were so soft. She smelt of strawberries. I kissed her again not wanting to let go. I could only peck her this time for there were too many eyes on us. I couldn't wait to properly taste her later. I grudgingly pulled away, face still in my hands and watched as her eyes opened. In them I saw what must have been mirrored in mine.

Hunger.

We were presented to the crowd and received their applause.

"Long live prince Xeris and princess Victoria!" they shouted.

Soon, some attendants came and took away the altar and set a high table while the heads of the departments came up to congratulate us newlyweds. I had held her hand the entire time not wanting to let her go even as were greeted. They all held knowing smiles on their faces.

Everyone in the hall was finely dressed and already seated at their dinner tables. We were notified that the table was ready. We approached the high table and I pulled her chair out for her and then sat down. The leaders of each department had seats at lower tables on both sides of us as a sign of respect to them. The food was served and still I wouldn't let go of her hand. She showed no intention of letting mine go either. Our clasped hands rested on her laps. Some entertainment was provided by some of the talented crew members.

I wasn't really watching and kept stealing glances at my wife.

My wife.

That felt good to say...think.

We were called over to open the dance floor. I pulled out her chair and quickly grabbed hold of her hand again, not minding how sweaty our hands had already become. We approached the dance floor and stood in the centre. The music started playing and we started dancing to it. Our dance wasn't too fast paced or slow. It was flowing up and down, left and right. We moved as one entity, with me leading.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight?" I said in her ear.

"You haven't said a single word to me," she replied.

I haven't?

The excitement got the best of me.

"That is because I do not trust my mouth right now. With you looking like this, I may just end up embarrassing the whole of Thanzor."

She giggled.

"Ah, I missed that sound." It sounded like I was whimpering.

She didn't say anything but instead bit her lip. My eyes were trained on her mouth and I unconsciously pulled her closer to me and abandoned the dance and ended up swaying from side to side. Other people had joined the dance floor as well.

"Stop doing that," I pleaded as I continued staring at her mouth.

"Doing what?" she asked innocently looking at me with her big eyes.

"Biting your lip," I couldn't pull my eyes away from her mouth.

She bit her lip again and I almost groaned, "don't you like it?" she asked in a seductive voice.

Damn those trainers!

"I like it so much, I want to do it as well," I whispered close to her ear.

She must have not expected that for her breath hitched.

"If I may," a familiar voice interrupted.

I pulled away from her and noticed Purit and Bulba standing close by.

Not now!

Bulba grabbed my elbow and led me away while Purit made off in the opposite direction with my wife. I kept looking at her until Bulba tugged on my elbow again, "you'll have her for the rest of your life, get a hold of yourself," she scolded. I pouted angrily and she only laughed.

"Dance with this old woman will you." She wasn't really asking as she was already moving. I gave in and danced with her, while inconspicuously looking at my wife every few seconds.

I danced with a few other female department heads and Victoria as well, but not for longer than a song. I didn't like all those men's hands one her. Halfway through the reception, she was taken away by three ladies in yellow.

The training department.

I did not see her again for a long while.

She must be preparing for me in the room. I thought excitedly. I was thinking of ways to excuse myself early but Purit came for me and pulled me away.

He took me to my temporary room and had me prepare for my wife as well. Once I had washed myself of the day's events in the flavoured bridal water, I had Purit attend to my hair. He trimmed it in places but made sure it retained its length. It now fell to my shoulders. I inspected it in the mirror and showed my approval to Purit.

I then made my way to our apartment, a little pep in my step. I finally got there and stood outside the door.

This is it, the moment I've been waiting for.

I walked in and saw her standing there.

My goodness.

I swallowed.