I slowly opened my eyes being careful to not be blinded by the sunlight streaming through the curtains. I started to slowly slip out of Deimos’ arms not wanting to wake him, but I didn’t get far. His arms tightened around me pulling me against his chest.

“Just a few more minutes,” Deimos mumbled.

I pressed a soft kiss to the center of his chest then got myself comfortable again. While Deimos continued to snooze, I lightly drew patterns on his chest with my finger. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that, but eventually, Deimos started to stir. I started to sit up again and this time he let me following suit a moment later. He rubbed his eyes to clear them up before looking down at me with a lopsided smile.

“What?” I asked laughing a little.

“How would you feel about working on the wedding today?” He asked.

“I think that sounds wonderful.”

“Well, you go take a shower and I’ll have what we need brought up from my office. Oh, and I’ll have breakfast sent up too.”

“I didn’t think you’d be the type that would want to work in bed,” I admitted.

“I’m typically not,” He said. “I want to spend all day with you though so I figured our bed would be more comfortable than office chairs.”

We exchanged another quick kiss before I disappeared into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later I was scrubbed clean and wrapped in my luxurious silk robe. Deimos was at the door taking the food from the server while I got myself comfortable on the bed. A bowl of fruit was set in my lap and Deimos got himself comfortable next to me with his steak and eggs. Sometime while we were eating, everything that we’d need to work on the wedding was delivered too. It sat on the end of the bed until we were done eating, then we got down to business.

Deimos fingered through the stack of papers before handing me one.

“Here’s who I have on the guest list. I didn’t know if you had any friends that I didn’t know about that you wanted to invite or any hidden family members.”

“I’ve never had many close friends so just my family is fine,” I answered. “It seems like you want to keep things small.”

Deimos nodded, “It seems like the best bet. It’ll make things go smoothly and it’s fewer chairs and food that we have to order.”

“Will we be projecting it to other Kingdoms or just Xavaria?”

“Just Xavaria. It’s my understanding that people aren’t too interested in watching royal weddings nowadays.”

“Alright,” Deimos said. “Since the guest list is confirmed we need to focus on what to do for your dress. You can choose whatever style you want, all I ask is that it sticks to Xavaria’s colors of red and black.”

“I understand how you all feel about traditions so I’ll follow whatever rules I need to.”

The next couple of hours were spent with me going through various magazines trying to decide what type of dress I wanted. While I did that, Deimos was going through the various types of flowers that we could order and compiled a list of what he liked so I could look over it later. It was a bit overwhelming, but it was also exciting.

❦ A Few Days Later ❦

“It’s lovely to see you two lovebirds again,” Verena said as we sat down across from her. “I trust that you two finished what you needed to.”

Deimos slid over a small stack of papers, “Names and addresses of who we’d like to invite. We’re going with our traditional black and red color scheme. We’ve also chosen our flowers, invitations, her dress, and a menu.”

Verena scooped up the stack of papers and looked through them. She jotted a few things down on a piece of paper and stuffed them all into a binder.

“Dark but elegant, the true demon way.” She said. She then jotted something down on a business card and slid it over to me, “Tomorrow morning you need to be at that address at that time. She’ll take your measurements so she can get started on your dress. Prince Deimos, I know you and the King have your own tailor so please get in contact with him ASAP.”

Deimos nodded, “Of course.”

Verena opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off by the dining room doors creaking open. We all looked over and saw King Cainen standing there.

“I apologize for interrupting, I thought you would’ve been done by now.”

“We’re practically done here,” Deimos said.

“Deimos, why don’t you show Ms. Verena out and then get to work on some paperwork. Nesryn, I’d love it if you would join me for a walk through the garden. There are a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”

I glanced over at Deimos with questioning eyes. He nodded as he placed a kiss on my forehead. We both did as King Cainen said.

The first few minutes of our walk were filled with silence, but once the air between us relaxed a bit, Cainen started talking.

“I see that you and Deimos are getting along nicely.”

“We had a small rough patch, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here on out,” I replied.

“Yes, I heard about that. Some of that staff were gossiping about how he had been less than kind to you, which is what I would like to speak with you about.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. Anxiety was starting to bubble up as my breathing picked up.

“Deimos has always had anger problems that do come out when he gets overwhelmed or things don’t go exactly as he planned. He’s gotten better had biting his tongue and controlling his temper, but everyone has their off days.”

“Are you concerned that he might harm me?”

“No, no. I don’t think he would ever lay a hand on you,” He said shaking his head. “I just thought that I would inform you now so you could understand why he may lash out sometimes. I don’t want any strain put on your relationship simply because you didn’t know this.”

“I understand.”

“Just…” Cainen sighed. “Be patient with him. He really is a good man with a kind heart, he just requires a bit more effort than most.”

I gave him a small, reassuring smile, “I think I can manage that.”

“Thank you Nesryn,” He returned my smile. “I have no doubt that you’ll be a wonderful Queen and a wonderful wife.”

Before I could say anything else, Cainen walked away leaving me alone. Something about this conversation made me feel more confident. I felt more confident about being a Queen and Deimos’ wife. I was ready to be the demon that I was supposed to be.