The Devil's Cursed Witch

Looking at the picture Ember remembered how Draven was lying over her while her delicate body was pressed under him.

Her cheeks turned red as she felt her body burn with the thought of it. She shook her head and mumbled, "I should not think about it. I need to focus on studying."

The next illustration had a male biting his female's neck while being in the same intimate position with the description written.

[During the consummation, the male bites the female exactly at the same place of the bond mark the female has on her body where the male had already bitten her to mark her. To indicate the consummation is over, there will be a change or addition to the already exciting mark on the female's body as the symbol or completion of the bond.]

'So I was right. His Majesty has to bite me again to consummate the bond. But he bit me in the morning then why there is no change in the mark on my neck? Why it was not consummated? Did we miss something?' she then looked at the pictures again.

'Oh, right! It shows they are not wearing clothes. We were wearing clothes so it must be related to skin-to-skin contact,' she concluded, 'Or why they would be naked the in this picture. Not like the artist was lazy to draw their clothes,' she smiled at her funny thought but then she froze. She moved her gaze towards her own body clad in clothes entirely.

'Do I need to be without clothes? Will he be without clothes as well?' a sudden shocking realization took over her. 'This is so embarrassing. Can't it be done with just clothes on? It's just biting.'

She could not come up to accept it. She remembered when he tore her clothes in her home in Ronan, how embarrassed she was. She realized being naked in front of a man didn't feel good at all.

'How am I going to do it?'

Collecting her thoughts, she then started to read further in the book which stated what happens after bond completion but just then  there was a knock on the door and her two servants entered the chamber.

"Miss Ember, are we disturbing you?" Reya asked.

Ember shook her head as she saw something in Clio's hand. It was a glass jar with a wooden lid and had something grainy inside it.

"It is food for Ray," Clio replied.

Ember looked at the cage and realized it looked the same. Ember closed her book as she had read about the consummation and only the last page seemed to have left which didn't seem to have more to it.

"Give it to me," Ember said as she was ready to fill the food in her pet's food bowl.

Clio passed the jar to Ember and asked, "Where is Ray?"

Ember looked at the ceiling where Ray was still sitting on the chandelier, "She seems to not like me much."

"No, Miss Ember. It's not the case. Ray is like this with everyone. She is only scared when any elder gives her a warning. Didn't you see how she was obedient to Elder Leeora?"

Ember nodded. "Let her be. I like that she does what she wants." Ember continued to fill the food in the food bowl and the next moment Ray came flying to the cage to munch on her food.

"You love food but you don't love the one who is giving you food," Ember commented but her pet focussed on eating and acted as if she didn't hear her.

Soon it was night when Ember passed her time with her pet and talking with her servants about various things in the kingdom but despite that one thought was there that was stuck in her mind.

'His Majesty didn't come to see me. I thought he would.'

Ember waited for him till it was time for her to go to bed and sleep but there was no news about Draven coming to see her. He had called for Yula. That means he was aware that she was awake but he didn't come to meet her.

She didn't understand why she expected him to come to her but she wished he had come and she could see him at least once. She somehow wanted to be assured that everything was fine between them and his brief visit would have assured her but....

'Seems like he doesn't care or I am just overthinking,' she sighed and continued to lay in bed while staring at the ceiling blankly.

'Didn't the book say that mates take care of each other and stay together always? But His Majesty always kept me away. Is it like he doesn't like me and is just forced by the bond to be with me?'

With sad thoughts, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

-----

In the middle of the night when the entire palace was quiet, Draven finally appeared in the south-west wing of the palace.

In the darkness, he appeared in the bedchamber of his mate. In the dim light of her chamber, he found her sleeping soundly in her bed. He walked closer, being careful to not wake her up and stood next to the bed.

He was aware that Yula must have given her a potion from the witch clan after what she had suffered in the morning and that had put her to deep sleep.

He sat at the edge of the bed and looked at that innocent face of his mate. The scars on her skin had almost faded away to be invisible like she never had them before and her delicate skin was in clear view to his eyes.

In the morning when they were so close in the garden, he could not deny that he could not move his gaze away from her face. It was not because she was his mate and he was supposed to feel attracted to her but it was because she was truly so beautiful.

'She would have been the prettiest daughter to that royal family of Valor which never had daughters for generations and the prettiest princess among all the kingdoms,' he thought as he once again found himself getting attracted to her.

He had come across so many females but not even once he felt the same towards anyone how he felt for Ember. Even before they were mates, he always found himself getting attracted towards her though he tried his best to not accept it and his denial came out as his angry behaviour. He was not ready to accept that he was being affected by one human.

Draven pushed Ember's hair aside from her neck and looked at the mark where he had bitten her this morning. He sure knew it must be painful for her and he felt regretful for biting her.

'It looks fine now," he concluded and retreated his hand as he continued his one-sided conversation in his mind.

'I couldn't come to visit you because it was not yet safe for you to be with me. And if you had once again acted clumsy and we had ended up getting closer, I would not be able to control my other side which might harm you. Tomorrow, I will see you tomorrow and we can talk.'

He fixed the misplaced blanket on her and stood up to leave. He looked at the bird in the cage who was wide awake and looked at Draven. Draven walked towards the cage and stopped a few steps away.

"I believe you know what not to say."

Draven didn't want that bird to tell Ember the next day that he was here in the night. The bird chirped a few times which Draven understood and disappeared from the chamber. No one dared to disobey his order in this kingdom. Not even that small bird had the guts to do so.