Serene’s POV

"Wait!!! Serene," he followed me in relentless pursuit, getting hold of my arm he whirled me around so I would face him. His coal-black eyes turbulent with emotions as they shimmered.

"What? Haven’t you said enough? Haven’t you wounded my heart enough? Or is there more?" I asked defiantly, tears in my eyes ready to brim.

"Hurting you was not my purpose, I just said what I had always thought would come to be one day. A day when you would reject me to be with someone you deem worthy of yourself." My hand flew to my mouth to stifle the agonizing scream, ready to let loose. How could he believe that I didn’t deem him worthy? What had we been doing together for all this time?

"You think I am passing time with you until I grow of age to get married and then I will just randomly choose someone and marry him. You realize how ridiculous you sound." I was almost yelling at him with frustration, tears flowing down my cheeks in torrents. Seeing my tears a pained expression took over his gorgeous facial features.

"Serene..." he called my name apologetically and tried to reach for my hand but I jerked it away.

"I didn’t expect this absurdness from you, Zeph. I have loved you with my heart and soul, conjoined as one. Most of the Fae people don’t fall in love again and again. I wish you understood the level of love my heart holds for you before accusing me of something that will never even happen in the future. Don’t follow me, I don’t want to talk to you." That being said I ran from his side leaving him bewildered and dejected.

It was almost impossible to see where I was going, my vision was so blurry from the tears that I almost crashed into Ralph who was heading for the grounds.

"Heya! Serene, slow down," he laughed but seeing my tear-strained eyes, his smile disappeared.

"Ohh! What happened? Are you alright? Why are you crying?" Concern dripped from every word he spoke as he extended his hand to wipe my tears. But moving forward I hugged him and began to sob loudly. He embraced me back and whispered:

"It’s alright Serene, I got you," he held me lovingly when I heard Zeph’s behind me. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Serene..." letting go of Ralph I shot Zeph a furious look and darted toward the stairs of our room.

"What’s happening?" Ralph exasperatedly asked, his gaze lingering between Zeph and me.

"Ask him," I pointed toward Zeph and ran up the stairs. Behind me, I could hear Ralph yelling at Zeph. I didn’t stop, entering my room I slumped on the bed and hugged my pillow, stifling my cries into it.

It was already the middle of the night and Ayrden was sleeping, I didn’t want to wake her with my cries. The night morphed into morning and I didn’t sleep a wink, his words were haunting me.

Ayrden came to wake me up but seeing my soaked pillow and red eyes, knew something was wrong.

"Oh! Serene what happened? Why are you crying?" There was bewilderment on her face and she sat down beside me and placed my head in her lap.

I held tightly to her waist and hiccuped before speaking: "It’s Zeph, he thinks I am just using him and passing time with him." The mere thought of his words had my throat constricted and I hid my face in her lap.

"Ahh, idiot. Why would he think like that? I will talk to him don’t worry." Ayrden tried to pacify me in her sweet voice while stroking my hair.

"No, don’t talk to him. I don’t want you to talk to him about this. Leave him be." I was so angry at him that my irritation was surfacing. Ayrden slightly smiled at my reaction, realizing I was furious at him.

"Alright, but we have to go Serene. There is a lot of preparation left, don’t let this sour your mood. Remember we are supposed to have fun at this wedding. So wipe your tears." I nodded at Ayrden. We owed it to our Senseis and I had to be at my best for them. I wiped my tears and headed for the bathroom to shower and change.

Once I was ready we headed down to meet the other girls, our dresses were ready and we were to try them out and see if they fitted perfectly. Alvene, Ziva, Tanzil and Frila had already gathered there and were trying out their dresses.

"Serene, Ayrden, right on time girls. Come try out your dresses, they look so fancy." Tanzil called out to us with a smile.

Alvene handed us our dresses and I couldn’t help but look at them in awe. They had been made just as I had envisioned them.

"Try them," Alvene encouraged us with a smile. I went behind a wooden divider and changed into the silverish-white silken dress. It fitted me perfectly as I looked at myself in the floor-length mirror, except for my red eyes everything was in place.

I showed the girls and their happy faces told me it was beyond perfect. We then chose the matching jewelry with our dresses from the jewelry Ziva had brought along.

The rest of the day passed in a blur with the wedding preparations and I spent most of my time with girls, caterers and Institute cooks. I had acquired a list of guests, which the boys had composed, and worked with it to know how much of everything we will be needing.

It was arduous work but fun at the same time. Cooks had prepared one of each dish we had agreed on and I tasted them all, informing them of what was lacking and what we could do differently.

The night fell and I yawned a little, all the muscles in my body were sore but I was thankful for the busy day. It kept my mind occupied and I didn’t have to think about Zeph. Getting out of the huge kitchen of our Institue I found Zeph to be waiting for me, leaning against the wall his long hair falling into his eyes. My heart skipped a beat as our gazes met.

Before I could walk past him, acting as if he didn’t exist he reached out to grab my wrist but I yanked it away just in time.

"Can you please listen to what I have to say?" He pleaded, his hands nervously combing his perfect hair. His midnight-black eyes held emotions so deep.

"No, I am not interested. I had a long day and I am tired, I need to sleep. Good night." I moved forward with these words but he quickly followed and began to walk beside me. He didn’t say anything until we reached the staircase.

"Good night, Serene. Forgive me for hurting you." He whispered and tried to touch my arm but I scrambled away from him and began to climb the stairs. I heard him sigh behind me and then the sound of his receding footsteps told me he was gone.

I headed for my room, changed and went to bed. The next two days went by in the blink of an eye. Zeph tried to talk to me several times but my wounded heart was unable to forgive him or hear him out. I could see how affected he looked. Ralph was giving him a cold shoulder as well and by that time, everyone had figured out there was something wrong between us.

Alvene and Ayrden were seriously concerned for they could see how affected I was because of this. They tried to persuade me to talk to him but I refused.

On the day of the wedding, we woke up at dawn and resumed our duties. I went to check on the caterers and cooks to ensure everything was on track. The wedding reception and wedding dinner areas had been fully decorated with fresh flowers lining the arched canopy that had been specifically designed. Tables and chairs were covered with white and green clothes and vases filled with silver and white flowers had been placed on the tables.

A raised platform was created in the middle of the area for the bride and groom. A special sofa with white and emerald cloth and a silver carpet were used to adorn it. A glass table lay ahead of the sofa. Vines of fresh flowers hung all around the platform, my fellow novices had outdone themselves while decorating the whole area.

Raised silver arcs were placed all along the way which lead to the Reception area. A live band had been arranged to play and one side of the area was reserved for them.

I felt mesmerized seeing the beauty of everything they had created here. Everything seemed surreal and calm just like the day and I prayed that it will pass smoothly for the risks were enormous and our enemies many.