Chapter 331 - The Mating Ceremony - I
Once the priest was finished, he gave them a deep bow before taking a few steps back and finally turning around given them the view of his back.
After the priest went away they received a few congratulations before everyone made their way inside and they were only left with close family members.
Slightly confused and dazed for what happened, Adaline turned to her uncle and her best informant, "I won?"
Korr nodded with the look of amusement shining brightly in his eyes.
"But I don't get a gift?" Adeline asked slightly perplexed by what happened and how the priest just walked away.
Korr stared at her before he ended up laughing and so did the others around them. She felt Xavier close the distance between them and placed his forehead on top of her head as he laughed too.
"No," Korr tried to keep his laughter in as he replied to her, "honestly it would have been a problem if you did not win."
"So, nothing," Adeline concluded with a small nod, "I sat in a damp cave for nothing."
Jenna chuckled before she started walking to the entrance to the palace. "I might want to hurry back if I were you. You have to get up early." She said a little louder as she continued to walk away so that Adaline would be able to hear her.
The latter was listening to everything the elder woman said but did not take it seriously. How early could it be?
******
It was half past one in the morning when she was woken up by the next two ladies dressed in white clothes.
"Wh-what?" She mumbled, half sleepy and half annoyed, well she was more annoyed at this point. "No.."
"Luna, please," she had a small whisper from one woman who was tapping her shoulder. "I have to get you ready."
At the insurmountable amount of taps that came on her shoulder, Adeline finally twisted and propped up on her elbows only to be there at those two for men. "Fuck off."
Reciting the words with much intended hatred, Adeline turned around and threw the covers on top of her before she went back to sleep again.
Moments later the entire cover was ripped away from her leaving her vulnerable to the cold air that suddenly hit her harshly.
"We apologize for this, Luna," it was a different voice from before and Adaline could hear how apologetic she sounded. "The king gave permission for this."
"For what?" She snapped at them. "Did he tell you to throw the covers off of me?"
The blonde replied sheepishly, "in order to get you up and ready, yes."
Wow, the utter betrayal that she felt at this point was unimaginable. At this moment she could strangle Xavier without an ounce of remorse in her heart.
Somebody, Adelene had no desire to guess who, opened the door slowly and stepped in.
It was her aunt, who appeared to be even more sleepy than she was.
Teresa was dressed in her night clothes and unlike how to raise awareness about dressing to the nines, she had not yet changed out of it.
"Hey," she called out drily and sleepily as she crawled into the bed next to adaline. "Get ready."
The niece stared at her aunt with her left eye twitching in irritation. "You are sleeping in my bed."
Groaning in frustration, Teresa sighed before she held her upper part of the body up by the support of her elbows and narrowed her eyes at her niece, "I am not the one who's having celebrations and Rituals done in her name. Go, get ready."
Adelene continued to stare at her aunt who very conveniently went back to sleep by curling up on her side.
Then she looked at the two ladies who looked up and bright, ready for the day.
Shaking her head lightly to herself, Adaline started to crawl away from the bed. "Let's get this over with."
*****
The royal doctor, who had been on call during the night shift was making the last round with his apprentice before he would have his break.
Exiting the room of those who had been injured during working in the palace he went to a special room that held restraints of all kinds.
"Here," he stopped and pointed to the room in front of his students, "this room is to be noted down carefully. Never go inside without any guards and if there are none standing in front of it, make sure do not enter and report it immediately. Understood?"
"Why, professor Duke?" One of the curious female apprentice asked.
Instead of professor Duke who was also in the team of the royal physicians, it was one of the Guards standing next to the door who answered, "in here we keep the prisoners that are too important to die and to important to be given the chance of escape."
Then he turned around and slipped in the key in a huge padlock of a lock. Once it opened, he stepped inside a long with two more of the soldiers.
"Come," professor Duke allowed to the children in behind him.
Even before he entered the professor had already started to talk and inform his students about who they were going to study upon. "The present that we are looking at as a patient is—"
He fell short of words out of shock when he saw the witch staring at him.
"Holy fuck," he whispered unbashfully as he stared back at him. "You—"
"Uh, professor?" One of the student's inched closer and gulped, "what do we do?"
Just as the professor opened his mouth to witch opened her eyes and whispered something.
The door closed with the bang making all of them jump.
"Doctor," the soldier who had spoken up earlier backed the students in a corner, "a syringe with sedative—"
The witch's turned to him and narrowed in anger. "Altum somno."
Channeling everything bit of energy inside her, she whispered, "Aperi omnia."
All the restraints opened, all of the men were down already.
Amula got up from the bed. It was time.