The Journey Forward | ONC 2023 Version

9. A Second Wedding Night

"You love me?"

"Yes, silly, since almost the day I met you." He placed his hands on both sides of my face and pulled me close to him. "I initially held back because of my brother. I wanted to find a way to give you to him, but my will to give you up waned that night. And when you arrived here after my call, I knew I would fight him for you if I had to."

"I would never let you fight your brother," I whispered. The two had a bond that no one should try to sunder. They could have been rivals but were instead brothers and friends.

"I know. Yet, I want us to have our wedding night back. I feel that misdirected affections and fears stole it. I want to wash away all the insecurities and silliness of the past before we face my family again. But if you don't feel the same - " The look of vulnerability that flew across his face broke my will to resist.

"I love you, too. And if you asked it of me, I would marry you a thousand times." He let go of my face to encircle my waist and pick me up. His frantic lips found mine with a bruising pressure and then spun me around until I felt giddy with both happiness and dizziness.

We separated with another kiss, and I brought the red robe and several other packages with me back to Jing's tent. Jing awaited me there with a knowing smile, and I noticed she had already set up a table to prepare my make-up and hair.

"He thought of everything," I announced with awe. I laughed with Jing as she teased me and let her create an elaborate hairstyle that should never flatter anyone but looked lovely on Bai's tiny head. I memorized every moment of the preparations, squirreling away the memory like a nut for a cold day.

My belongings were all in Bao's tent, so she took one from her collection when she needed another hairpin. Finally, satisfied with her work, she began the make-up. When she let me look at myself, I was astonished by my beauty.

Bao loved me so much because of this beauty. What other reason could have made him fall in love with me before he knew my character? I was fooling myself into thinking he would love me in my original body. The sobering thought planted a plan in my mind that blossomed by the end of the simple wedding ceremony. Because none of our elders were present, we bowed to the soldiers who were Bao's real family. And we bowed to Jing, who was mine. Then he carried me into our tent and worked hard to erase the memory of our first night together.

Bathed in love and satisfaction, I woke with the changing of our guards. Bao's arm hung over my naked chest, pulling me toward him when I started to move. I helped it settle beside him, then slipped out from the warmth of our wedding bed. The red of the blankets and curtains was hard to see in the flickering light, but they looked glorious when we entered the tent. Bao had spared no expense to make our small tent look like a bridal chamber, and I loved him even more for it. But I had to leave. I had to talk to my master and find out how deep this conspiracy went. My biggest worry was putting Bao in danger.

A wave of nausea hit me as I bent over to find a clean set of clothing. I collapsed onto one knee and then released a shout from the pain as it hit a rock under the rug. My cry aroused Bao, who jumped out of bed and to my side. Before he could ask me anything, I began to heave into the water basin I had grabbed before I fell. The water spilled on the ground around me, but the basin remained firm under my head as Bao's arms secured it and me. He cried for assistance and carried me back to my bed. A fire consumed my body, and sweat poured out of every pore.

For the first time in weeks, my mind drifted toward my guide.

"Angel, how can I be sick? Is it because I planned to abandon Bao? Did my body rebel?".

"You are experiencing a cultivation fever." Angel's quiet response sent a surge of shock and happiness through me.

"A what?" The spark of joy fizzled quickly in the raging heat of my body.

"I will explain it to you when you wake if you still do not understand. This will pass, Baiyu."

"I thought you had left." My muddled mind tried to recall the questions I had asked without any response.

"I am with you until you no longer call out for me," Angel responded.

Bao and Gui's heated exchange interrupted the silence that followed Angel's declaration. Before I could understand their flurry of words, another familiar voice joined the lively discussion. As I struggled to recognize the owner of the velvety tones, a cool hand pressed against my head. Suddenly, a flood of cold energy pushing against the fire distracted me. As my harried mind stopped its fight against oblivion, my focus turned to Bao.

At least I had loved someone, and he loved me back, even if only for a short while. slumber.

WC3029

RT28844