"It's an exchange of ," he sighed, "blood."

Emily was horrified. "Ew! No way!"

He loved the way her nose wrinkled when she said that, and how something so intensely pleasant to him could be so repulsive to her.

"Well, I knew you would feel that way, so I figured we could improvise and use the mortal replacement for blood, wine." He watched her for a reaction.

"For both of us?" She could feel the panic rise to her throat.

"I'm an immortal, Emily." He thought that part of the ceremony would be obvious.

She spoke in a whisper with her hand on her throat. "You're going to bite me?"

"It won't hurt. If done right, you might actually enjoy it." He smiled and noticed her eyes turned to his teeth.

"I don't...." She couldn't even speak clearly.

Chevalier leaned up and brushed his lips across hers. "Trust me."

Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know."

"Do you not want to marry me, then?" he asked, frowning.

"That's not the problem." Her voice was higher and nervous. "I'm starting to think a big white wedding would be better than this."

He laughed. "Stop worrying about it. We'll do it tonight, and then you won't have time to worry."

"What!?" She stood and backed away from him.

Chevalier stood up and met her gaze. "Calm down, Emily."

Her breathing slowed, and her shoulders relaxed.

"Calm... this isn't scary. This isn't vicious. This will bind us forever."

Emily nodded at him slowly.

She broke his gaze and gasped. He hated when her stubbornness broke the gaze, and he immediately lost the ability to do it again for a while.

"Don't do that!" she said, walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To talk to Kyle."

He knew she would tell Kyle. Chevalier figured Kyle would be the one to officiate the ceremony, as he's the only other heku Emily trusted. There was another motive for having Kyle there though. Chevalier wanted Kyle to see the bonding ceremony, and to show Kyle how much Emily truly belonged to him.

Kyle moved to Emily quickly when she walked through the doors. He could sense that she was extremely upset, and she motioned for him to follow her before he could ask what the problem was. He followed her silently outside, through the barn, and to the new corral that housed the herd of cattle. She stood in the middle of the small herd and began to cry.

"What happened?" he asked, touching her shoulder softly.

Her voice was soft, and she choked out the words through sobs, "He wants to marry me."

Kyle smiled and tried not to chuckle. "That's it? He wants to marry you, and you're this upset?"

She nodded.

"He'll be lucky to find someone to do the ceremony, but..." He froze and looked at the pained expression on her face. "He wants an immortal bonding, doesn't he?"

She nodded again.

Kyle growled, "How dare he suggest that to you!"

Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed her and pressed her to his chest. He could feel her tears wet his shirt. "Do you want me to talk to him? I can try to talk some sense into him?"

She shook her head. She didn't want Chevalier mad at Kyle. She feared enough for Kyle's life because of Chevalier's temper.

"When?" he asked her softly, running his fingers through her hair.

"Tonight," she finally managed to say.

Before she could react, Kyle's lips were pressed firmly against hers with his hands wrapped around her waist. She tried to pull away, but he moved one hand to the back of her neck to hold her in place.

Kyle's body stiffened suddenly, and he quickly moved a few steps back away from her. His eyes were fearful. "I'm so sorry, Em. I shouldn't have done that."

She watched him, her eyes wide.

"I... I...." Then he was gone.

Emily stood in the pasture. The cattle were grazing absentmindedly around her. The air suddenly felt too hot, and she sunk to her knees. She looked around at how normal everything seemed, as if nature itself didn't understand the thoughts in her mind and the feeling in her body. Emily found she couldn't even cry. Her tears had dried in her as her body reacted to the shock.

She could still feel Kyle's lips pressed against hers. He was soft and gentle, different from Chevalier's strong, passionate kiss. Emily suddenly realized that she would have to do as Chevalier asked, and it would have to be tonight. She couldn't risk losing Kyle as a friend over this, and the pain of drawing it out would be too much. Minutes passed before she found the strength to stand up and head back into the castle to tell Chevalier.

Chevalier and Emily stood facing each other. The rock outcropping fell steeply behind them to a majestic waterfall. When Kyle disappeared, Chevalier found another heku to take his place, an older heku named Morgan. He smiled at both of them as he wrapped a thin black ribbon around their wrists, binding them tightly together.

She was shocked when he spoke, and the language was foreign to her. His words drifted softly around the clearing, almost as if he was singing. Chevalier watched her and smiled at the nervous look in her eyes. Morgan continued to speak quickly, and his foreign words blurred as Emily watched Chevalier and fought the urge to run.

Emily's breath caught in her throat when Morgan handed her a glass flute filled with a scarlet colored wine. She looked at Chevalier, who nodded and smiled at her. She took a long drink and handed the glass back to Morgan.

Before she even turned to Chevalier, he was pressed against her, and she fought to get away from him, but his hands held her tightly and his lips were at her neck. Adrenaline surged through her body. Every natural instinct she had fought against his hands.

"Relax, Emily," he whispered, just before his teeth plunged deep into the flesh of her neck.

He groaned as the pleasing taste tickled the back of his throat and soothed his senses. He gripped her tighter and felt her body go limp against his. The beast rose quickly to the surface, and he drank more fervently. With great effort, he was able to pull away from her and tighten his grip. She was weak in his arms. He gently slipped the diamond ring onto her finger and kissed it softly.

Chevalier picked her up when her legs gave out completely, and he smiled at Morgan, who nervously continued. Emily laid her head against his shoulder. She found it hard to concentrate. She was so relaxed that all she wanted to do was sleep, and the soft incantation Morgan was saying helped only to soothe her. Emily drifted off to sleep in his arms.

"Emily?" Chevalier's soft voice brought her out of her relaxed state, and she realized she was lying down. "Drink this."

She felt a glass touch her lips, and she drank deeply. The cold juice seemed to help wake her up.

"Good girl," Chevalier said, and kissed her forehead lightly as he pulled the glass away.

She looked up at him. "What happened?"

Chevalier smiled. "It's all over. You did perfectly."

"I feel strange," she said. Her words seemed slow and slurred.

"That'll pass."

Emily sat up, and her head swam. The world began to spin around her, so Chevalier laid her back against the bed. "Just stay down for a bit. I promise it will pass soon."

"Why do I feel like this?" she mumbled, hoping he understood her.

"Well... that'd be my fault. I had some problems stopping, and you lost a little too much blood. I apologize. Then there's my blood in your system. That doesn't help." He winced away from her.

"Wine," was all she could manage to say.

"Mostly, yes."

"Wine," she said again, and fell back to sleep.

"How dare you!" Kyle yelled, growling.

"It's none of your concern, boy." Chevalier's voice was enraged.

"It is my business! How dare you lie to her, and then feed from her like she's one of your donors. It's disgusting how you treat her."

Emily tried to yell back, to stop them from fighting, but no words came out of her mouth.

"You will not speak to me like this unless you want to find yourself without a head," Chevalier hissed.

"I'll take my chances. She can't speak for herself right now. It'd be worth dying knowing that I didn't mistreat someone I care about."

Chevalier's growl deepened. "If she didn't care so much about you, I would kill you where you stand for such insolence. She knew what she was doing."

"Oh really? She knew you put drops of your blood into her wine then? Because it sounded to me like she thought it was pure wine," Kyle shouted.

He can't talk to Chevalier like that, Emily thought. She feared for Kyle's life. Why didn't he stop? Why didn't he let her fight for herself? She wasn't worth Kyle dying for.

"It was necessary, and you know it."

"By deception?"

Emily could feel the hatred in the room, and she could feel the rage building, but she couldn't move, couldn't respond to stop it.

There was a loud rush of wind and a choking sound. "You've gone too far, boy," Chevalier barked, but there was no response.

She tried to scream, to make them stop, but only a mere groan escaped her lips.

She heard a loud thud and felt someone sit beside her on the bed. She could feel her surroundings returning. Her senses were turning back on as she dug her way out of unconsciousness.

"Emily?" Chevalier's voice was suddenly soft.

"Don't kill him," she mumbled, though her mouth was still working sluggishly.

"I didn't kill him, but he deserved it." He spat the words out angrily.

She felt strong arms under her shoulders lifting her up, so she was sitting, then the cold glass was pressed against her lips. "Drink again," he said.

She took a long drink. It felt amazingly good. Her eyes focused on the bedroom, and she scanned it for Kyle, but he couldn't be seen.

Chevalier laid her back down against the pillows and smiled at her. "Feeling better?"

She was able to manage an icy glare. "Why did you do that?" Her words were coming clearer.

He sighed. "I knew you wouldn't drink it otherwise. It was easier."

"I trusted you," she said, her eyes accusing. He averted her gaze.

"I'm sorry."

Emily turned her face away from him. "Go away."

She felt him leave and heard the doors shut.

Once her mind cleared, she suddenly had an abhorrent thought. What if...

"Kyle?" she called out weakly, knowing he could still hear her from the other room, but he didn't respond.

"Kyle?" she tried louder, but there was still no answer.

The door opened and a strange heku appeared, a tall, muscular heku who looked to be no older than 18 or 19 years old. "Do you need something, Lady Emily?"

She frowned. "I need Kyle."

The boy stayed in the doorway. "Kyle is unavailable. Is there something I can get for you?"

"Where is he?" She tried to sit up but only managed to prop herself onto her elbow.

"I wasn't informed." He was too polite, too young, and she instantly didn't like him. "I asked for a tray of food to be brought up. The Chief Enforcer said you aren't feeling well, and I thought food might be appropriate."

"Go away," she grumbled at him.

It irritated her how he bowed before leaving. She got out of bed and held onto the headboard while she felt if her legs were steady. Chevalier had been right about one thing. She was getting stronger quickly. Emily had made up her mind. She could no longer trust Chevalier, and that hurt deeper than any of Keith's beatings. She fought back the tears as she threw some clothes into a bag.