Twenty-Five years ago.
A bright sunny morning with the sun spilling its golden ray all over the village of Gyros and over the entire Aartals Kingdom.
It might not be a mistake to say that the entire village was especially looking as beautiful as the newly wedded bride. The fields were smiling a lush green smile and the people were happily roaming on the streets. Wives baking loaves of bread and the men with their plowing tools getting ready to go the fields.
Aartals had always been the kingdom with their solid standing in both, fields and military. The nearby empires used to say that Aartals as a kingdom had won the game by being at the forefront with their farmers and soldiers.
This was a very beautiful and unusually serene place on the face of the planet.
The Aartals kingdom.
A place where everyone seemed to be living in peace, harmony, and abundance. And the current state of the empire advanced with their current ruler, King Henry Welham. The brightest and the only heir to the throne of Welham. He handled everything pretty well in the kingdom and the foreign trade was also going well. That was the calmest and peaceful time in the entire history of the kingdom.
But slowly the things took a turn for the worst when Henry first met Gwen on his first visit to the Gyros village and fell in love. She was smart, young, and a note-worthy woman with her passion for medicine. She loved to treat anyone and every one with her kind words and her stroke of magic. She was a witch, but no one knew.
Gwen was the elder sister of Hera. They were among the most beautiful and young witches in Gyros. But the fact about the witches was no one knew that they were witches unless you encounter one by mistake while she is performing a magic spell. Which rarely ever happened.
They used to live all on their own happily until the king announced that witches won't be allowed to live in the kingdom and asked all the witches living on the outskirts of the Aartals to leave the kingdom peacefully.
Things started to change as the witches always helped everyone and rarely harmed anyone with their magic. They helped the kingdom grow. But the worst thing was, Henry never even had a single hint that the woman he fell in love with for the first time in his entire life would be a witch.
The law was that only married and witches who have families in Gyros would stay in the kingdom. It proved to be a sign of relief for many witches as they were married either to humans or to other beings, just so they don't ever go crazy due to their own black magic.
But this didn't prove to be of any relief since both Gwen and Hera were just in their early twenties.
They couldn't leave the kingdom since they were orphans and didn't have any money with them. So Gwen and Hera both decided to get married to anyone they could find within the next week.
And like a string of fate, she soon met with Robert. He was a runaway but made a good living within the kingdom by working in the night bar as a bartender.
"My lady would like to have a drink." Said Robert as she saw a lady sitting alone awkwardly.
The bars always had more men and the women who came there were most of the time just wealthy merchants or their wives.
He noticed her. Black flowing hair and grey enchanting eyes with her calm lips which felt that just kissed a red rose with a delicate touch. He was amazed by how beautiful she was.
"But she seems to be way out of my league." He thought as he advanced a glass of drink towards her. All the men who were buzzing like bees stopped their chatter as Robert came to her.
"Thank you, gentleman." She said softly.
"You don't seem like you come from this village." He casually talks as he serves her a plate of warm baked croissants.
"I am from Gyros." She replies as she looks at him and quickly averts her gaze.
"Oh! That's really far for a lady like you to travel here then." He says casually. "Not really." She says as she touches the plate of croissants.
"You …?" she asks as she lifts the croissants and shows Robert.
"Huh?" he tilts his head for a second and then immediately replies, "No my lady. The baker baked it. I am the bartender. She nods and as he is about bow for leaving she says,
"Call me Gwen." With a seducingly elegant smile.
He gets dumbfounded and quickly says, "Oh, then call me Bob."
She asks him to sit down and have a drink with her.
She passes out as it was the first time that she ever drank that much alcohol.
"My lady? Gwen?" Bob tries to shake her to wake her up but she seems to be like a dead fish. "Boss can I take an early leave?" he asks the head at the bar.
"Hmm? You are the new employee, right? Wow, you have a wife too?" comments the old man as he peeps at Gwen from the table.
"Umm… can I?" asks Bob with a nervous tone.
"Yeah, sure lad. Go and have fun. Taste your youth." Says the already drunk old boss.
Robert blushes and walks back to Gwen.
"My lady, I will take you to my house, and tomorrow you can leave for Gyros." He says as he picks her up.
"Umm… ok." She mumbles.
"She is really beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. But I bet she already has a lover, why won't she? But would I be brave enough to confess to her if she doesn't?" he gets lost inside the thoughts and suddenly snaps back to reality.
"Wait what am I even thinking? I am just a fallen prince of a nearby kingdom. I am a runaway and she deserves better than me." He explains himself as he reaches a small cottage.
He walks in. Opens the bedroom door and lightly puts Gwen on the bed. "Sleep, my lady. Tomorrow you have to leave on the long journey." He whispers as he is about to go, Gwen stops him by holding his hands.
"I told you to call me Gwen, Bob. You are stubborn." She mumbles.
"Huh?" he turns back to free his wrist from Gwen's hand but Gwen pulls him and says, "Bob, will you marry me?"
Again Bob gets caught off guard by Gwen's boldness.
"My lady, you are clearly drunk right now. You will regret it tomorrow." He explains to Gwen.
But Gwen suddenly opens her eyes wide and says, " Do you think witches get drunk?" she asks as she gets up and sits upright.
"What?" he is more confused than shocked.
"Yes, I am a witch and a powerful one at that." She says with a smirk. Robert still stands there without being frightened for a single moment. But just asks one question, "Why me?" to which he didn't necessarily want an answer but Gwen got down from the bed and said, "Because while carrying me back you didn't touch me inappropriately. And even though I seemed like a weak and drunk lady you respectfully carried me back to your house. You also thought of sleeping outside so I can rest here. That's when I knew I made the right choice Robert." She said with a proud smirk.
"Well…." He clearly didn't know what to do next.
"Marry me Robert I can give you everything you've ever wanted. I just want to stay in this kingdom." She says with pitiful eyes when Robert suddenly remembers news he heard while passing by the markets.
"The witches have to leave.." he mumbled.
"So…?" asks Gwen again.
"Will you ever leave me?" he asks.
"No I am a very loyal witch and I would never leave a man as handsome as you." She says as she promises desperately.
"Pfft. You are a funny witch you know that right?" he laughs with a carefree air around him.
"He is so pretty. I want him to be with me. Is this what they call love at first sight?" Gwen thinks as she sees Robert laughing with his head going back and his blonde hair messing his forehead.
In a moment he stops laughing and looks with all seriousness in Gwen's eyes.
The candlelight partially illuminating the room and the darkness outside all felt like a perfect landscape for their picture to get painted. He leaned in close to her face and asked,
"You can never regret this." In his domineering voice.
"Huh? He seemed like a puppy a few moments ago and now he seems like a wolf. But I like it." Gwen's heart started beating faster as Robert came forward to kiss her.
He delicately pushed her back to the bed and kept kissing.
"I feel like my body is melting with his warm breath as it is mixing with mine." Gwen thinks.
"This is my first kiss, you are my first kiss, Gwen." Says Robert as he looks with affection in his eyes.
"Let me tell you something, you are my first too." Says Gwen as she giggles with happiness.
"May I?" asks Robert as he unties the ribbon on the back of her gown. Gwen nods lightly.
They kiss deeply enough to make them breathless in a few seconds.
"I am a fallen prince. Do I deserve this? This happiness?" he thinks as he feels Gwen's hands lightly grabbing the back of his head.
He slowly takes down her dress and strokes her back gently. They didn't talk much that night but they felt the taste of paradise that night.
Every stoke of his hand-painted a beautiful picture that could stay for ages in Gwen's memory and she felt like home to him. The moans filled the room and there was the only ecstasy that they could feel.
His hand gently sliding from her neck to her chest and her flinching at every move made both of them enjoy themselves.
"I can go crazy Gwen, what will you do then?" he asks as he kisses her neck with passion.
"I'll be crazier if you ever leave me, darling. Please I feel like I will die when that happens." She says in her trembling voice.
Their bodies were like a vehicle that made them taste heaven in the serene night. He was gentle and she was driven. They were perfect.
And soon it was the marriage day. Just after three days that they met.
"Are you sure?" asked Hera as she fixed Gwen's veil before the wedding.
"Yes, I am.", Gwen says confidently.
"But he is a runaway. Do you know where he is from?" asks Hera with impatience.
"You need to get married soon, Gwen. We don't have much time and choice. And as for his story, I don't need to pry unless he feels I deserve to know." Replies Gwen.
Hera gives out a long sigh and they both start laughing.
The wedding comes to an end and they decide to move away to the city.
"Will you be able to live without me?" asks Gwen anxiously as she holds Hera's hand.
"Yes, Gwen. Enjoy your life. I will be fine." Says Hera assuringly.
"Marry a guy as soon as you can, I'll be returning next week for your wedding." Commands Gwen.
"What bizarre nonsense are you spouting now?" says Hera with an annoyed face.
"Pfft. Stay safe and I already know you like that merchant Tyler's son. You know what you should be doing, right?" teases Gwen.
"Carriage is ready," Robert calls from a distance.
"Go now, I'll discuss with Tyler and let you know." Says Hera
They hug and Hera bids Gwen goodbye. The long day comes to an end.