"How do we get out of here. I hate this place, and I equally loathe this dress," Nerezza complained, fed up with wooden hut and the set of coloured dresses available for her to change into.

"You’ve been at this for the whole night. Perhaps it would be wise to give it a rest,"Rhysandor held her slender waist and hugged her from behind.

Nerezza stared at the colourful dresses, and her grew increasingly upset. The setting of the trap that brought them there had stripped her of her red dress and makeup.

She gained consciousness to find herself in a blue dress, soft white shoes, and the provided hut had dresses in every colour except red.

"I feel suffocated in this dress, and these other ones aren’t helping my nerves," she broke free from his hold and threw the clothes all over the place.

Her heart burnt with hatred. Her animosity towards the maker of the illusion, the Emperor, and Nythreal grew deeply in her chest. It echoed in every breath she took.

The only reason she had come to Vessharn was because of the Emperor’s decree and Nytherael’s past mistakes and she wouldn’t be stuck in an altered reality if not for the villain they chances upon in Vessharn so she divided her grudge equally among the three.

Rhysandor made another effort to comfort her. He took her arms and held them gently. "We are here together. That should offer you some relief, right?"

"Relief?" Nerezza asked, unfamiliar with the word under such circumstances. How can she feel relief when she wasbeing forced to wear different coloured clothes? How can she be at peace in a place that stripped her of her armour and left her feeling weak and helpless?

Red wasn’t just a colour for her. It was her shield. One that got her through the worst year of her life. Wearing it brings her comfort, makes her feel safe, and it assures her that the worst storm had passed.

However, as she gazed into Rhysandor’s eyes, she let her emotions cool down. Because other than the colour red, one person remained constant by her side and braved her storms with her, Rhysandor.

She fell into his arms and let her tears flow. Rhysandor enclosed his hands around her, holding her close in a way he hoped would assure her that she was safe with him.

"We just need to put our heads together, and we’ll be sure to find a way out of here soon."

"Yes, we should find a way out."

"We will. Just relax and take deep breaths. Panicking won’t help us out of this."

Nerezza followed Rhysandor’s lead. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, clearing the nasty thoughts from her mind and letting herself float away on the cloudless heaven that was some alone time with her husband.

"Where do you think Nytherael ended up?" Rhysandor asked, out of concern for his friend. But that onw question was enough to steal away Nerezza’s peace and switch on her angry mode again.

She broke free from the hug and with eyes colder than frost. She looked her husband in the eye.

"Why do you care?"

"Nez, he’s your brother and my friend..."

Nerezza’s head nearly exploded. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "You are here asking me to calm down but doing your best to set me off. What exactly do you want?"

Rhysandor bit his lip. He regretted having inquired about Nytherael and triggered his wife into an argument.

"That’s not what I meant, dearest." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"What did you mean?"

"I was simply asking. I meant nothing by it," he defended.

His defence fell on deaf ears as Nerezza refused to hear any of it. The last thing she needed after everything that happened was to talk about her brother.

"I’m going for a walk."

"Nez, I seriously meant nothing by this. Believe me."

"I hope so," Nerezza said and walked out without looking back.

She kicked a pebble on the ground in fury. "Oww," she instantly regretted it as she was barefoot. And with her beast suppressed, she felt the pain shoot from her toe all the way to her core. "Owww," she cried out.

"Nerezza, are you alright. Did you get hurt," Rhysandor came running like the Knight in shining armour he’d always been for her in her times of need.

"My foot, Rhys. It hurts like crazy."

Rhysandor picked her up in his arms like one would carry a bride. "Perhaps you shouldn’t go around barefoot. There’s a reason shoes were invented, Nez."

"I am hurt, and you’re busy scolding me. Do you love me at all?"

"I love you. That’s why I scold you."

"Can you love me gently. I don’t like it when you scold me, Rhys."

"I can, but you must also take care of yourself. You are aware that I hate seeing you hurt."

"You are scolding me again," Nerezza complained.

Rhysandor lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me."

Nerezza smoothly wrapped her hands around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder. She listened to the sound of his heartbeat, the rhythm doing wonders to calm her aching foot and her nerves.

"Do you know, husband."

"What?"

"This is the first time we’ve been alone together since our wedding."

"Is it?" Rhysandor searched his memories. He couldn’t believe that to be true, but the findings proved otherwise.

Indeed, that was the first time they were alone together. On normal days, they were either surrounded by his family members or hers. Both families hovered around them in most hours of the day.

’Nurturing their bond’ they called it, an excuse to put their nose in their business and constantly offer unsolicited advice.

"And, do you like it?"

Nerezza found herself smiling like a fool. She didn’t just like it, she loved it. She loved every second with him without elders whispering in her ears the right way she was supposed to love him and show him that said love.

The peace and quiet of existing in a world together with no other beadtfolk wasn’t entirely bad. However, Nerezza knew she’d love it even more if she was wearing red and could walk barefoot without getting hurt.

"The serpent lady said that the Lord will be watching. Are we to prove our love is true, we will be allowed to reunite with the others but if we are to fail then we will never leave this place nor will anyone be able to save us," she repeated, avoiding Rhysandor’s question as it led down a dark angry abyss that would ruin the moment. "How do we do that? And what scale is this so-called Lord using to test if our love is true?"

Silence fell between them. Rhysandor had no answer for her. The harder he pondered the instruction, the harder it was to make sense of it.

’Why would someone trap them there just to test their love? What was the relevance of proving their love true? Most importantly, why was the punishment for failure so harsh?’ He wondered.

A sea of questions was floating in his mind, but none came with a ready-made answer to quench his curiosity.

"I can’t say for sure."

"Do you think the others got the same test too, or is it just us?"

Rhysandor replied. "I think it’s just us. The others aren’t in a relationship or in love with each other, so they have nothing to prove," he guessed. "They must’ve gotten a different test."