Bonded

Chapter Forty Eight

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Kavya

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"Do you think India is alright?" the inflection of Ronin's voice causes me to look up from the flower I had been twirling about in my fingers, its stem slowly being crushed by the process, my future husband's eyes so soft that they nearly have a broken look behind them, "It felt very odd to walk away from him tonight... What if we've ruined things?"

His line of questioning causes my heart to flutter, the two of us in such a solitary state out here by our favorite spot by the flowing water of the river... The bank still scattered with the very same flowers we had woven into our India's hair not too long ago... My words seeming to spook him even though his lips were the ones who promoted me to speak, "Nothing had been ruined... If anything... Time apart will give our heads time to clear slightly... He needs to be able to focus his studies and his peers every now and again and we need to prove to both him and ourselves that we can provide that space without our hearts wavering even for a second."

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Ronin

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The confidence in Kavya's voice clothes me, and I find my arm tightening where it had been looped around his waist, the two of us hunkered down under one of our favorite trees while we simply sit here and enjoy spending time with each other unimpeded by others or orders or training...

We had needed a few moments of silence to absorb the calm silence that we somehow always seem to find out here near the riverbed to cleanse our minds of the low rumble that somehow seems to fill the palace at all hours...

Even if my nervous mind seems to not want to quiet itself like it usually would in our secret resting place...

My silence in response to what my lovely bonded beautiful future husband is enough to prompt him into speaking further, and I know it is to soothe himself just as much as it is for me, "My love... If a single night apart is enough to sway his affection... He is not a good match for either one of us... Though I must tell you... I do not see India as being so fair-weather as that..."

I nod my head as he pulls himself closer to me, folding himself into my side with a slight smile, the flower he's been playing with being abandoned on the grass next to him as Kavya continues, "India is not just beautiful... He is smart... And I feel as though his decision will be well thought about and contemplated, no matter which way he leans. All we are tasked with doing is showing him our true selves and what we have to offer as husbands, friends, and lovers... And then accepting whatever the decision is."