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“Oh, sorry,” Linh rasped, pulling away with a flare of embarrassment.

Nathair cupped the back of her head, brought her closer, and shoved his forked tongue into her mouth. He let out a groan as his tongue brushed against hers.

A few people awkwardly clapped before a sea of applause roared. At the noise, Nathair reared back with a shudder, his head twitching in repulsion. He didn’t bite at the crowd, and instead kept his attention on her by brushing her cheek with his thumb.

Thank you, Nathair.

She appreciated him finally accepting this, them, and just this day as a whole. Her heart felt lighter than ever, and she truly needed to have a proper wedding as a reminder that everything she’d suffered at least had a happy ending.

“Can we leave now?” Nathair asked.

Linh cupped the sides of his bony face so she could nuzzle her nose against his. “First, we must have festivities, and then we can excuse ourselves.”

He grunted but accepted it with a nod. He lifted his skull in a direction behind her, before it tilted with his orbs flashing dark yellow in curiosity. When she began to turn around with a frown marring her features, he cupped her jaw.

For a few seconds, he didn’t move.

“You said this day is important, yes?” When Linh nodded, he sighed. “Then turn and face someone. Do not bring too much attention to them, as it may cause distress to your people.”

Why did that make a crawl of anxiety slip down her spine?

Linh turned as Nathair tilted his body in a different direction. It wasn’t hard to guess who she needed to search for; two people stood in a shaded entrance of an alleyway.

One figure wore a dark-grey cloak which hid them entirely from their forehead down to their feet. The woman next to them wore a cloak made mostly of white feathers, with quite a number of them brown and kind of spotty. The hood was down, revealing dark-brown, loose curls, and a beautiful face that had stern features. Her skin was brown, but it was difficult to gain any other details in the shadows.

The woman lifted a hand to press a singular finger to her curling lips, then bowed her head in greeting.

“I don’t understand,” Linh said, turning to Nathair. “Who are they?”

He gave a small chuckle. “My mother and father, I think.”

“What?!” she quietly rasped. She didn’t even get to see his father under his cloak!

Then they were gone, as if they’d disappeared into thin air. She stepped forward, searching for them, only to be swarmed by her family, who were tired of waiting for food and festivities.

No, wait.She scanned the crowd, but couldn’t find the woman in white bird feathers.Where’d they go?

She would have loved to greet them properly.

Did they come to watch the wedding?Linh couldn’t help being disappointed that they’d left.How did they even know about it?

She spun to Nathair with her mouth open to voice her complaint. She shut it when she found him looking down at her with his orbs bright pink again, and her heart panged in tenderness.

It’s okay. We’ll meet them properly in the future.

They had plenty of time.

Finally,Nathair thought as dusk fell over them. Linh held his hand, guiding them north to what was to be their new home, while she gripped the handle of a lantern.

She’d changed out of her red wedding dress before they left, giving it back to her mother for safekeeping for her sister, and now wore a plain one that had no design on it. It was long with shoulder straps, and a shade of light lavender. He rather liked the colour of desire gently hugging her curves.

He’d ripped off that ridiculous ‘groom’ garment they’d dressed him in the first chance he’d gotten.

Nathair had not enjoyed any part of the events of today, except for how she grew all teary at his words in front of the Anzúli. It was gratifying that she’d kissed him so openly in front of the humans, proving to them, and him, that she wasn’t ashamed to have him as her partner.

He’d hated being on display and gawked at while he ‘bonded’ himself to this female in her human customs. He also disliked feeling like an outsider as they all ate and chattered during the festivities, although her father had tried everything in hismight to befriend Nathair. He was slowly coming around to the eccentric male, who had shared a rather heartfelt – although one-sided – conversation with him.

Nathair had also grown flustered and embarrassed with how she’d tried to make him dance with her. He had no legs, and propping himself up into a straightened position made him tower over her as she swayed her hips. He held her hands and remained still without complaint while she did her little performance.