High Witch (High Witch Book 1) (8 page)
Read High Witch (High Witch Book 1) Online
Authors: Mona Hanna
Brayden held Ariel closely, gently kissing her neck as he lay over her. She giggled.
“Brayden, we’ll be late.”
“Hush,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her more tightly, kissing her neck again. She put her arms around his shoulders.
“Oh, Brayden...” she murmured. “We will be late.”
He kissed her on the mouth, his body tingling as she responded to him. He ran his hands over her naked body, desperately wanting to make love to her. She kept kissing him, then gently pushed him back.
“We can’t be late for our own wedding.”
He grinned at her. “They can’t exactly start without us.”
“Brayden!” she exclaimed, laughing. He grinned again, but released her. She left the bed, put on her dressing gown, and walked from the room. Brayden lay there for a while. He couldn’t wait to continue what they’d started.
***
Three hours later he was anxiously waiting in the garden of his grandmother’s home, where they were to be married. Ariel had left their home long before him, and arrived there to get ready. Brayden stood at the end of a path made of a light purple cloth, which stretched from the back of the cottage to a large tree at the end of the garden. The small number of people they’d invited were sitting on the right side of the path on an assortment of chairs, and the tall man who was to marry them waited by Brayden.
The garden was decorated with purple and gold ribbons stretched out over the rose bushes on either side of the garden, the pink, yellow and white roses themselves providing the greatest beauty. Brayden stood under a wooden trellis placed in front of the tree, with roses spread out along it. He became very nervous, and began to fidget. The two friends he’d invited walked over to him.
“Are you alright?” Samuel asked. “You kind of look like you’re about to be sick.”
Brayden grimaced. “Thanks,” he muttered. “I just feel weird with all these people watching.”
His dark haired friend looked around. “There’s nine of us. Two of them aren’t even out here yet.” He smiled. “It’s alright — you’ll be fine. If not, I’ll gladly step in.”
“Me too,” Jonathan interjected. Brayden playfully smacked him on the back of the head, his long blonde hair flying.
“Hey!” he said, smoothing down his hair. “Watch it. I was just pointing out it’d be nice to be married to the most powerful witch in the world. You know everyone’s jealous, right?”
Brayden grinned. “Get used to it,” he said, smiling.
The back door opened and Brayden’s Aunt Sophie walked out. Her long red hair moved from side to side as she walked over to the chairs, and spoke to Ariel’s uncle. The short, balding man rose and smoothed down his clothing, then went and stood by the door. Brayden motioned for his friends to go back and sit down; they went and joined the two girls Ariel had invited, and his grandmother and Sophie. He gulped nervously.
Brayden’s mother walked out of the cottage, smiling at him. She carefully walked down the path, then gave him a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. He felt his hands begin to shake, and he clasped them together to try and stop it. The back door opened one final time, and Ariel appeared.
Brayden stopped breathing. He gazed at her — he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She wore a long white dress, with delicate sleeves which reached her wrists, and a thin white sash. Her hair flowed around her beautifully. She was holding a bouquet of purple flowers. He felt his heart start to beat a little faster, and he had to remind himself this was real — he wasn’t dreaming. He smiled as she put her hand on her uncle’s arm, and they slowly began to walk towards him.
He watched them approach, thinking over everything that had happened over the last four months. He and Ariel had stayed with his mother for a while after she’d defeated Julius, and they tried to recover from the horrible couple of weeks they’d had. They’d rested, spent time together, enjoyed growing closer together. Ariel had started helping his mother brew her potions, while Brayden looked for work. It was then they’d discovered something wonderful.
It turned out when Ariel used her magic on the potions, they were twice as potent, and worked much more quickly. More and more people wanted them, and soon Brayden had to help sell them because the demand was so high. He began working at a stall at the market, and after a while he and Ariel earned enough money to rent a small home in a nearby village. He felt much more content working at something his family was creating, working for himself, instead of a horrible employer.
Living with Ariel was amazing. She was so kind, so sweet, so caring. He woke up every day more and more in love with her. She said she wanted to find the other two High Witches like her, and make sure they were protected against anyone who wanted to turn them. She knew one of them would have only been born the day Nadia died, but she still wanted to find her when she was older. She wasn’t going to let anyone do to them what Julius had done to her. She still had nightmares about that day — Brayden wasn’t sure if that would ever change. He just had to be there for her when they happened. Make sure she knew she was never alone.
He bit his lip when Ariel finally reached him. One of her friends came up and took the bouquet, and he took her hands in his. Her uncle sat back down, and Ariel smiled. Brayden tried to calm his nerves.
The celebrant announced they were about to start. Ariel leaned close to him, putting her lips to his ear. He took in his breath.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she whispered. “But I wanted to wait for the right moment.”
He became very still. “What?” he whispered back. She laughed softly, her breath tickling his ear.
“Remember that gift you were supposed to give me?”
Brayden’s eyes widened, and he looked at her. She smiled, and placed her hand over her stomach. He gasped, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the mouth. He heard the guests laughing.
“What, you couldn’t wait five minutes?” Samuel called out. Brayden waved his hand at him, kissing Ariel a while longer. He finally released her, and felt his face was pink. They took each other’s hands again, and stood there, grinning at each other. The celebrant cleared his throat.
“Now?” he asked. He sounded like he was trying not to laugh. They both nodded at him. He smiled.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...”
Mona Hanna is an author of fantasy/romance books. She enjoys writing about love, magic, conflict, trials and the joy of overcoming them. Mona enjoys reading, movies, chocolate, and adores cats. She hopes to release many more fantasy books in the years to come.
Books by Mona Hanna
Prentor Series
Myriad (Book 1)
Tanner (Book 2)
High Witch Series
High Witch (Book 1)
Witch Emerging (Book 2)