"That was.....I didn't expect that at all," he ran his hand through his hair and looked at me if he was trying to solve a puzzle.

I looked away from him, staring the nearby plants. We were seated in front of a marble made fountain in the gardens closest to the castle. Everyone else were inside having supper. They allowed us to have each others company that night.

"I...I felt in my heart that it was the better choice Phoenix. Why wouldn't it be? Your father was right. We already know that we're going to go deeper into this than we already are, then why not do it soon? I mean we don't have to make the pure blood king put another lord to rule Silver Heights and imagine all the hastle and the work. Plus if we take over, it will be so much easier for everyone else.

However, if I made you uncomfortable I'm so so sorry. If you think it's a horrible idea to get marrie-" Phoenix stopped my rambling by placing his forefinger on my lips.

"Do you know how much joy you brought into my heart when you said you were willing to marry me? Don't ever assume that I thought it was a horrible idea." He gently held my chin and uttered the words without a hint of a smile. I swallowed nervously as I gazed up at him.

"I do sense a certain amount of unease in you. You need to tell me what it is Little Flower. Don't hide anything," he asked concerned. Attempting to hide anything from the Dark Prince was futile. There wasn't a single success in doing it.

"Marriage is a better decision for everyone. Once we are together in Silver Heights, Prince Zenas and my brother along with Beth can also begin their reign. Everything would be quite secured right?" I shrugged at Phoenix and looked at him. Butterflies were having a war in my stomach. How do I explain this?

"Yes, many things will be secured. With a new king and queen in Silver Heights, we will increase security and no one will dare threaten these three kingdoms. Not without thinking at least a hundred times over."

"Yes all of that will be great," I wiggled my toes.

"What are you getting at?" he scooted closer to me on the bench and pulled me across his lap. I let out a shaky breath and looked at him.

"I'm scared. Of marriage." I whispered softly as I expected him to give me a serious talk but what he did made me squint my eyes at him. Phoenix chuckled and kissed my cheek.

"I thought so. I mean you should be. I would be a little worried if marriage didn't scare you at all."

"Oh?"

"If you're scared, that means you know it won't always be easy. We will face hard times and we will be forced to make difficult choices. There will be obstacles to overcome but I guess it's a package," he said casually.

"I believe we can face anything together, don't you my Little Flower?" he stared deeply into my eyes. His beautiful midnight blue orbs held so much depth. So much love and affection. His blood red irises shone under the bright moonlight. The red gave me a sense of security. He was ready for this marriage and that is all the assurance I needed. I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt me and that was enough. I felt safe with him.

"Do we need to give them a date yet?" I asked meekly in which he replied with a nod. "I'm not sure about the date? Do you have any thoughts about it?"

"Engagement comes first," he said.

"Right." I stared blankly ahead, not knowing what to do. I can't believe I was going to get married.

"Next month?" Phoenix asked after a moment.

"Your father will want it sooner. Will he be okay with this?"

"He's not the one getting married. He will have to agree with the timing."

"Alright then."

"How about the wedding date?" he asked me again. That's when my mind decided to shut down. Making a decision was easier than actually carrying on with it. My hands began to tremble.

What if I'm not wife material? What if I'm not as good as Beth or Tonya?

What are you talking about?! Stop it! What do they have to do with anything?! I mentally scolded myself.

"You're making that face again. Cut it out," Phoenix flicked my forehead. I shook the unnecessary thoughts away and looked at him.

"Are you done with the over thinking? Do you have an answer?"

"How about we just tell them the engagement date and let them decide on the wedding date?" I suggested

"Alright. Let's put you to sleep. I know you're exhausted."

"I feel fine actually. I don't think I can sleep."

"Tell that to yourself when you're laying on your comfortable bed."

~~~~~

I covered my mouth as I let out a yawn. Stretching myself, I laid sprawled out on my mattress.

"Still think you can't sleep?" Phoenix asked smugly. Shaking my head, I felt my eye lids become heavy.

"S..so tired," I mumbled. I felt his presence getting closer to where I laid. Phoenix slowly bent down and kissed my cheek. I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of his warm lips against my skin. He was always gentle and soothing when he wishes me good night.

He then straightened up and started walking towards the door.

"Wait." he turned to look at me, slightly raising his brow.

"Yes?"

"Um.....never mind," I quickly said and laid back down. He stood there for a few moments.

"Just say whatever it is that you want, Little Flower. You know that I am unable to easily deny you anything at all." Blushing hard, I looked down at my fingers. I knew he was grinning at me knowing full well his simple words affected me.

"Can you stay?" I looked up at his frozen stature. He looked at me as if he couldn't believe what I had just said. He continued to stare at me while he cocked his head to the side.

"It's okay if you don't want to," I mumbled quietly and expected him to leave. A few seconds later, he started walking towards my now stiff form.

"I'll sleep on that sofa." he pointed at the large couch at the left side of my room. I breathe out feeling relieved that he agreed to stay.

"Okay."

Phoenix comfortably sat at the edge of my bed beside me. "I'll wait until you sleep, if that's alright."

Running his fingers through my hair he kissed my cheek again. I was slowly drifting off to sleep as he continued to play with my hair. "I can do this every night.......forever."

Scoffing, I turned a little and placed my hand on his. "You'll get bored of doing this after a few years, maybe months." I said.

He looked me in the eye and held my gaze for a few silent moments. "I don't think I'll ever get bored of taking care of you. You don't understand what you mean to me. You are the only little rose that exists in my vast field of thorns, you are the silent cure for my restless mind, the very light that shines through my dark self." he said in all honesty.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. I played with the hem of his sleeves as I blankly stared ahead. "Hey, go to sleep. You were tired remember?"

"I was," I said in a daze. "Phoenix you don't have to sleep on the couch. You can lay down next to me."

He gently held my chin and made me to look at him. "You don't know what you do to me," he gave me a lopsided grin. "Thanks for the offer but I'll stick to the couch."

I simply shrugged and told him it was alright.

"They were quite happy with the engagement date, don't you think?"

"Yeah, now all the bloody work starts." He grumbled in annoyance which brought a smile to my face.

~~~~~~~~~

"I love it Phoenix. I really do. How many times do you need to hear it?"

"I don't know. I wasn't sure if you would like the design. I chose this one because it reflected your personality."

"I love it and I will cherish it but not as much as I cherish you." I hugged my Dark Prince. Moments later I felt his strong arms around me.

I chuckled remembering how worried he was earlier. He was so scared that I wouldn't like our engagement rings. I didn't know the most feared hybrid could actually turn out to be adorable. It was extremely rare but I am glad to have witnessed this side of him.

My ring was simple, and elegant. The band was a radiant gold with an exquisite design of a golden flower on the top part of the ring. A small clear diamond rested at the center of the flower design and another diamond rested right beside the flower. I adored the ring with all my heart. I couldn't believe that he would actually consider me not liking it. His ring was also elegant. It was a simple gold band with inward curvature designs that went both vertical at the center and horizontal. Both connected, making a 'T'. His ring also had a clear diamond which rested in the center of the vertical curve.

He had really good taste.

"I'm happy that you like the ring and I'm happy that the party is almost over. It's too crowded." I lightly slapped his chest. "Don't say that. This is only going to happen once!" I whisper yelled.

"What parties? Trust me they will never stop-"

"What? I'm talking about our engagement," I stressed out.

"Oh, that," he said blankly not knowing what else to say. I glared at him and walked towards my mother.

"Oh, my beautiful fae princess! This dress looks amazing on you! I told you to trust me didn't I?" mama gushed while hugging me tightly.

"You always pick the best ones for me." I said while once again admiring my rose gold, floor length, A-line gown, which had immense precision of beading detail all over it. My gown was sleeveless and comfortable too. The top fabric was mixed with glitter for a sparkly look. My mother has good taste too.

"The party is going great! Everyone is either ecstatic or simply dumbfounded! A fae creature together with the infamous Dark Prince and all," she laughed.

"You seem excited mama," I observed the fae queen.

"Well, what do you expect? Their reactions are amusing!" I smiled at her, feeling glad that she's having a good time.

"You're all grown up now, aren't you?" her warm smile faltered.

"What are you talking about? I'm still your daughter who has much to learn from her amazing mother."

"You won't need me much anymore," she said looking at me with tears in her eyes. Why would she even think that?!

"I will always need you mama. I might be grown up but I'm still your little girl in more ways than one. I'm not moving too far away from you." I crushed my mother in a tight embrace refusing to let go for a long time.

"I can't believe you're going to get married. I can't believe you're already engaged!"

"And I'm still clumsy and I enjoy running around with the pixies," I laughed. "I think I might drive him mad." She laughed along with me when I said that.

"Where's papa?"

"With King Epaphroditus Urien. Your father is going to sulk all week," my mother scolded.

"Why?"

"You being engaged and all. He still thinks you're seven."

"I'll talk to him later tonight." I promised my mother.

"Oh, Kyle and Prince Timothy were looking for you. If I'm not mistaken, they're by the dessert section."

Of course.

"I'll go meet them."

On my way towards the dessert area, I met many people. Most of them wanted to give me their blessings, some thought I was being forced to marry Prince Phoenix Valentine and a few of them gave me some tips on how I could defend myself against him. Mama was right. People were funny.

Nevertheless, I thanked them for their concern.

"Kyle? That's way too much sugar for one night." I eyed him devouring another chocolate brownie. I don't know how many he already had.

"Aeval!! Finally. Do you have to be so busy on your engagement day?!"

"I have to talk to people Kyle, I'm sorry. I'm free now though."

"Good! Well congratulations little red." He crushed me in a bear hug and lifted my feet off the ground. I laughed and hugged him back.

"So where's Mr.Darky?" he asked casually.

"Kyle, do you miss his wrath that much?" I crossed my arms. My crazy brother is never going to change. I stared at him for a few moments before hugging him again.

"I missed you so much. You better find time to visit."

"Can't promise you anything my dear sister. I'm a busy man now," he rubbed his chin and pretended to think really hard.

"Oh is that so?" I drawled. "I'll just tell soon to be King Zenas Everett to make yourself work under soon to be King Phoenix," I said casually as I observed Kyle glaring back at me.

"You cannot do that! I work under Tim and no one else. You can't do anything about it," he tapped my nose.

"How do you know what I can or cannot do? I'm going to be queen soon Kylie Pie. I can use my queeny authority to do many things," I smirked at him while flipping my fair.

"You tyrant!" he gasped. "I warned you about Darky. Now you're becoming just like him!"

"Stop shouting," I covered his mouth with my hand and looked around. Thankfully everyone else were either eating or involved in some conversation. "If you don't find time to visit me, I will make you."

"Pffftt. Fine," he surrendered. I hugged him again. "I've just missed you a lot Kylie Pie."

"Stop calling me that!"

"No. So, how's work?! I wanna hear about your life in Red Kingdom now."

"It's okay. I mean I earn a lot now. I'll be able to buy a house soon and yeah things are great. I deliver important stuff to higher ups and soon I may have to work for the new king."

"Whoaaa. Sounds cool. So you get to travel a lot."

"With the little brat, yeah."

"Hey what are you two talking about?" Timothy joined in with a glass in his hand.

"What are you drinking?" I asked him immediately.

"Water. Eleven year olds can drink water."

"Why is your water sparkling?"

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"It's not, princess." He gave me a sly grin.

"You cannot be drinking that stuff. Give it to me," in one swift motion the glass was now in my hand.

"Hey! I have rights princess. I'm a pure blood prince!"

"Eleven year old pure blood prince. Do you want your parents or your eldest brother catching you with a glass of martini cocktail?"

"They won't catch me and maybe they will allow me to drink it."

"You know they won't. There are so many other drinks without alcohol, Timothy."

"They don't taste as good as this one," he whined and stomped away from us.

"I deal with that on a daily basis." Kyle coolly responded.

"Wow."

"Yeap."

"Please try to stay longer Kyle."

"I will. Maybe a few days."

"Well, I was hoping you would be able to follow us to Silver Heights in a couple of days time."

"Why are you going there so soon? Is Darky planning to burn the entire kingdom down and build it up in his own liking?!" he asked in pure horror. I gave him a look of disbelief, wondering how his odd mind functioned.

"No! Of course not! We need to make certain preparations before we take over the kingdom. The people there need to be open to drastic changes. So we're going there to discuss important terms with the current leader who is also the general of the defense forces. He's helping to keep the order in the mean time."

"Ohhh." He nodded in understanding. "Wait a minute! General?! India!!!" He screeched. I covered my ears and then pulled him closer to me. He attracted so much attention. Many heads turned our way and many glared at an oblivious Kyle.

"Oh my gosh. Zip it Kyle. What the hell?" India rushed to us.

"No I will not zip it alright. Anyway, you remember that guard who put us in prison?"

"Um..."

"The one who locked us up!"

"I do! But he's not the one who locked us up. He was following orders." Kyle raised a brow at India which made her roll her eyes. I wonder what was that all about.

"Whatever witch. If you're done defending him, I wanna know if that guy was the general."

"Pffft! I am not defending him okay and he's the leader or something. I'm not sure if he's the general."

"Describe him," I suggested to Kyle.

"Let her. I forgot how he looked like," he smirked at an angry India.

"Fine! Dark skin, tall and really well built. He does give out general vibes now that I think about it." She said trying hard to keep a strict face.

"Okay...." I looked quizzically at her.

"What?" she crossed her arms and looked at me expectantly.

"The description so far does fit so I'm guessing it's the same guy. So, you guys should come along. Please?"

"Since you're begging for my presence. I will come." Kyle boasted.

"To where?"

"Silver Heights India. I told you about this two days ago. Did you listen?"

"You did?" she stared blankly at me.

"I don't care. You're coming. You said you will. You can be my personal witch bodyguard."

"That I can do."

We then continued chatting with one another about random things and soon the engagement ceremony came to an end.

Everything went on smoothly on that memorable day. Witty banter between Kyle, Alex and Timothy. Insults thrown at Kyle, Beth and India, deadly threats from Phoenix to Kyle. Even Tonya and Beta Iker Noah joined in.

I was especially pleased to see Tonya after so long. When asked about her life in White Winter's Land, she replied by saying it wasn't easy and that she was still adjusting to the foreign lifestyle. She also had to portray her inner strength in order to keep typical bullies away. The tremendous support and love from her mate helps her cope up with everything. They truly love each other.

"Good luck in Silver Heights, Aeval. I hope all goes the way it's planned."

"Thank you. Will you not stay the night Tonya?"