LIfe had started to settle down more, Zanar had gotten used to his position as a God, and finally got the initial group of those who came for his assistance taken care of. He had expected it to be exhausting, but not as much as this. There would be times where he would just sit in his chambers, questioning whether he should’ve ascended or not, but always came through to be the icon his followers needed. He was happy and felt like he was part of something far greater.

What also got his mood up was the fact that he was soon to be a father, something that he had never even thought of. Of course, the way he found out was not the most pleasant, by Angela announcing it to everyone who was in attendance at the celebration he had thrown her. He couldn’t really blame his fellow deity though, as it was a new life she would be able to tell that Kalyani was expecting

Even though the air seemed to be happy, and people around him were celebrating the child’s coming there was still a dark cloud that loomed overhead. He was worried, as he had noticed that Kalyani had not been taking to their rooted home as well as he had. She was always on the move, so the fact that there was now a more permanent residence for the both of them, it probably didn’t settle well with her. This was all amplified more by the pregnancy. He would always try and be there for her when he could, but his duties took him away at times…times where it may have been needed.

He had an idea that may help quell her feelings of unrest. It was something that he felt like he should have asked her long ago. He just needed to wait for the final piece of the plan to arrive before he went for it. This is what had himself uneasy, as he waited for the parcel to arrive. He had the best goldsmiths and the jewelers in the land work on the piece and hoped it came out alright. He did have to keep this in secret from Kalyani.

A ranger approached Zanar underneath the Colonnade entrance of the fort. In his hand was a small envelope sealed with goldsmith’s sigil. Zanar took the envelope from the ranger and broke the seal, pouring out the contents into the palm of his hand. A single silver ring laid there, in the center an emerald laid between two inscribed Celtic knots. It was simple, but a beautifully well-crafted piece.

”Finally going to propose are we,” The ranger teased his god

”Aye, I should have done so before I ascended. This is long overdue,” Zanar responded inspecting to make sure it was right before closing his hand softly around it. He then looked sternly at the ranger before him ”Tell no one else, I do not need word to be slipped beforehand” The ranger bowed before going off to carrying his duties.

Now it was up to him to find Kalyani, though he was sure he could easily. Usually where the most commotion was.

“My lady in your condition you really shoul–” Kalyani got that annoyed look in her way and snapped the rug right in the clergy member’s face. There was a dust cloud and the clergy member started to cough violently.

“In your condition, you shouldn’t be telling me my condition. HUMPH.” The stubborn half Rosenite snapped the rug one final time before wincing and rubbing her lower back lightly. Her belly was quite the sight, to be honest especially on what many people would call a fighter. She put the rug up on a rope that housed other clothing and such.

“GO SHOO! LEAVE!” Kalyani did pitiful shooing motions with her hands at the clergy. “No matter what you do I will do what I want when I want to. Not you. Not Zanar. Not the Voice. Not the World Tree. Not the other Gods. Not Bryony. None of you will be able to stop me. HUMPH!” Kalyani lashed her tongue a bit more as the clergy member left her alone.

Soon the soon to be mother found her seat on a bench. Her tired eyes looked around the around before tears started to come out. This was all so very stressful and new. She wasn’t used to sitting still. She wasn't used to all this help. SHE CERTAINLY WASN’T USED to being pregnant. Which was messing with her emotions more than usual today. She brought her hand up and rubbed at her eyes. She had to stay strong and not worry Zanar… She was supposed to be strong right? That was her job… Wasn’t it?

It did not take long for him to find her, because it was as he expected she was causing a racket and this time it was to one of the clergy he had told to help her out with some of the tasks that she normally did. He knew it was a bad idea from the beginning but she could not do the things that she normally did, or rather should not do those things. As he turned the corner the dust-covered clergy came around coughing as they were walking away, he could tell that they were furious with the whole situation as well. The god just let out a sigh and made his way from where they had came from.

He watched her as she tried to do the work that she so used to do, for herself and for them as they traveled. He knew that she was just trying hold onto that part of their past. His heart sank when she started to cry on the bench that she sat on. Zanar felt useless as he just stood there, he did not even know what to say. Slowly he made his way over to her and sat down next to her. “Sent them away again now, did you? You know they were only trying to help,” his voice was soft with her. He knew that he could not really scorn her in her present moment.

He wrapped his arm around her and held her close, giving her his shoulder to cry upon if she needed it. ”I’m sorry that this all came upon us, believe me when I say I would have been all content traveling around the realm with you again,” the words he spoke to her were true, even if she did not believe them, ”But that is no longer a life I can live. I’m sure you know that. So I ask of you bare with me. This will all get better once our child is born and your emotions are not on a rampage.

In his pocket he was fiddling around with the ring, this was not the place to do this. He kissed the top of her head before getting up once again. ”You need to relax, these chores can be done by the clergy. There is one place in this whole temple that even you know not of, and one place where it will call fall away. The pain, the hurt, the need, all that will be left will be serenity.” Zanar was, of course, talking about the Heart, the one place where only those with permission were allowed to enter. So far she was the only one that would lay eyes on the place beside Zanar.

”Do not worry, it is not a far walk. Any of the doors here will take us there.”

It must have made Zanar feel terrible. Somehow Kalyani knew he was watching but she couldn’t bring herself to look up until he was right there next to her. “I hate not being able to do things myself.” It was stubborn pride that was driving her to drive the help away from her. She knew as the pregnancy continued she wouldn’t be able to do all these things. Still, though she was stir crazy. Sitting still for so long felt so weird.

Kalyani snuggled up against him and put her red crying eyes into his neck as she warmly wrapped her arms around his waist. This truly was the safest place she had. There was a chuckle though from her lips as the tears kept falling. A smile pressed into his neck and she took a peek up at him. “I know this isn’t your fault. You didn’t want this at all I bet…” She kissed him softly on the cheek before returning to lay her head down. “I am not emotional.” She gave him a serious tone before there was a laugh. “I understand.”

There was a head tilt from her as he got up. “Keeping secrets from me eh?” He was right all this could be done by the clergy. She was holding onto the only thing of their old life she had left. When the baby got here at least she would have something to do. Wiping the tears away she took his hand and got up. “Will it make the back pain go away too?” There was a smile as she held onto his arm.

“Okay well lead the way Mr. Deity.” She pushed herself up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. Her cheeks were stained from the crying but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

”Aye, but this one I am keeping from everyone. All gods have their own sacred place, a place of contemplation where we need to relax away from our duties.” He spoke, not knowing if it was true for others but this is what the heart was for him.  ”I can not promise anything about the back pain though.” He chuckled placing his hand on her arm as they walked to the front gates of the keep. He held out his hand, only the tips of his fingers touching the door. Closing his eyes he could feel the spatial energy morph and shift to his presence. It was as if the keep itself knew what he wanted from it. ”You will be the first to set foot upon it, besides me.”

Slowly he pushed the door open, and as soon as the boundary was crossed a wave of mana seemed to encompass the two before giving away to the soft blue hue of the light reflecting off the water. The door that they had entered was nowhere to be seen, as the stood upon the grass of the small island. The water surrounding flooding with the mana of the temple as it swirled around the patch of land. The glowing rebounded off the cavern walls almost giving it a mystical glow. In the middle of the island grew a large white oak, its bark as pale as the waning moon, as it feeds off the suns rays that poured through the opening in the ceiling of the cavern.

The only sound to be heard within the chamber was that of the water as it flowed. ”The heart of the keep, I do not know why it chooses to manifest itself as this, but the serenity that flows from it reaches me even in the most tiring of times. Many times have I came here when the stress of my responsibilities got to me.” He spoke as he walked Kalyani to under the branches of the tree. ”Perhaps it can do the same for you as it has for me, to let go of everything and just relax.”

He let her take in the atmosphere, keeping quiet as she did so. He was twirling the ring in his pocket as he watched her before finally grasping it in his hand. ”The first day after you healed my wounds, you said how no man would want the life you lived. Yet I stuck around, even announcing how I felt about you in that damned pyramid.” He laughed remembering how they triggered the trap in the chamber they were kissing in. ”And after all the challenges that were thrown at us, we still held strong. Perhaps that vision that you told me about so long ago is finally going to be.” Walking back over to her he took hold of her hand gently and cupped her hand with both of his letting the ring fall into hers.

”I must confess, there was another reason why I brought you here of all places for you could have just easily as relaxed in our quarters.” He spoke, feeling his heart race in his chest. He closed her hand with his own before moving closer to her. ”This is something I should have done long ago, cause I believe you are the only one for me. Will you give me the honor of being my wife?”

Kalyani’s eyes grew wide as they looked about the Heart. She had never seen anything like this even in Angela’s realm. It was the feeling that came from the area itself that made it so different. She was so quiet that she could only hear their breathing and her heartbeat. It was Zanar’s voice that scared her out of this trance as she jolted for a moment at his voice. Gripping his hand a bit tighter now she looked up at the branches of the white oak as they approached. It was the magic of the area. Just as Zanar had told her it was relaxing.

Again she took in the area and let the silence fill her. “Because you are a stupid man.” There was a smirk from her as they laughed together. “Stupid and very brave.” His words were true as he took her hand. The metal that fell into her palm was cool somehow even though he had probably been holding onto it. It was serene and soon she realized what it was. There was a look of shock on her face as she failed to form the words that should have been coming… There was also the lack of tears like her body couldn’t even cry anymore even though her face was clearly trying.

Her keen ears picked up his heart racing and soon hers was racing too. She knew what was coming as he held her hand and came closer to her. There was a long, long silence that in most cases would be a bad thing but by the look in her eyes she was merely trying to cope with what had happened. Three hundred and some years had she been alone and now there was this beautiful soul in front of her. Finally her eyes managed to move and tears formed at last. Her body reacted before she could think about it as she tried to launch herself. Due to the pregnancy, it was more like she tippy-toed up as she hugged him. “Oof…” Kalyani let out as she hit him. Her hand went to her belly immediately and she laughed.

“Why would I say no, stupid man,” she asked before she kissed him deeply as she finally lowered herself to be comfortable.

He watched her face as she felt the ring in her palm, he immediately could see the shock when she realized what it was. Now he was just awaiting the answer with such anticipation that he could barely control it himself. The silence that rang out between the two almost killed him, but something told him that this wouldn’t be a bad thing, that his wish would come to be. The standstill was broken as finally tears formed in her eyes and she tried to jump up at him, but just slightly hopped from her pregnant form.

He held her close as they both laughed at the little hop. ”I believe it is in the back of every man’s mind that they may say no,” He kissed her back and held her as she got more comfortable in his arms. He wiped her tears away from her face gently, though he was almost on the brink of crying himself. ”I am so glad that you didn’t though, how long I have wanted to ask you but never did. I am glad that I got the courage to now.” Now would come the time of their ceremony. He was sure that if the people of the temple found out they would through a stupidly extravagant one.

He did not want though, no instead he wanted this just to be something between them. He cared not if he was a god, this was the first woman that he had ever felt something so deeply for. Unless she wanted something else, he wanted it to be small, and to be meaningful for the both of them. ”No one else knows of this or even knew what was going to happen. Besides the one who gave me the ring after it was crafted. I wish to keep it that way, this is our moment…I want it to be that way. I want to cast aside my divinity for this moment.” He relayed his wishes to her.

Any family that he had he would tell afterward, as he had not even told anyone that he had ascended or was even alive. There were still plenty of things that he needed to do. He tried not to think of such things, as it had been a while since he had even seen any of his family. Kalyani had been the only family that he had known for such a long time that they did not even enter his mind.

Kalyani had a huge grin on her face as she moved to wipe the forming tears from his eyes as well. She wanted to make a joke at him about gods not crying but the words couldn’t leave her mouth at that moment. “Imagine that a mighty god being scared of his pregnant lover.” She finally said something smart ass when she started to laugh through the happy tears they had shed together.

The gypsy held her lover’s hands and gripped them tightly for a few moments as she listened to his want. Her eyes were like constant gears as her brain turned ideas. “Give me but two minutes,” she kissed him softly and left the Heart.

It took about that long as Kalyani was dragging in the Mother who looked half asleep. Her red hair was frizzed and it looked like she had been napping just moments prior. “Kalyani,” a yawn left Angela’s mouth as she put her hand over her lips. “What is this about?” The goddess rubbed her eyes now. “Oh is that a ring?” Angela took Kalyani’s hand and looked it over. “Zanar you have exquisite tastes.”

“Marry us. Right here.” Kalyani was a bit forceful as she dragged the goddess over to them.

Angela had a dumbfounded look on her face for a moment and looked up at Zanar. “Is this what you want Zanar? You both could have at least allowed me to change out of my night clothes…” She rubbed her head softly and sighed a bit. “You both are a pain in the ass. Should Zanar accept this rash proposal of getting married here and now… I shall do it.”

Zanar had a bad feeling when she left, as knowing her something unexpected would be turning up. Perhaps he should have waited to say anything about any ceremony and let her emotions calm down, of course, he was not thinking in the heat of the moment either. He just hoped that she did not do anything too stupid.

This was not the case, however, as the next moment she entered the Heart’s chamber he felt a familiar presence, and just hid his face in his hand. Peeking through the cracks of his fingers he saw Angela towing right behind Kalyani. He did not even want to question how she managed to get from his temple to hers in such a short span of time, even though he knew exactly how. Also, the fellow deity looked like she was just dragged from her bed by the woman as well. He kept his face hidden, from complete embarrassment, until she mentioned the ring that laid on Kalyani’s finger.

”My own design, of course, had the best make it,” He spoke up finally lowering his hand. ”Diamonds are a cliche, the emerald suits her better.”

He was about to ask Kalyani why she brought Angela in when she dropped the demand that left a look of shock on both of the deities faces. He did not know what to say when she said that, he was at a complete loss for words. He wouldn’t have minded if it was a next day thing or even a couple of days down the line, as that was something he would have expected out of Kalyani but this was completely more than he expected. He glared over at Angela when she said that they both were the pain in the ass ”I’d like to point out even I had no idea that was the reason she called you here for!”

He started to pace back and forth beneath the branches of the tree, thinking about it in his head. He was sure to get some remarks from Kalyani as to why he would need to think about it, but this was just thrown at him out of nowhere. He would think that he would be used to her ‘do now, think later’ type of personality but there were times where it still took him by surprise. After a few moments to collect his thoughts he stopped and let out a sigh. He collected himself and looked over at Angela. ”I do wish it, though I do apologize that she dragged you here in your current state. He sent a stern gaze over at Kalyani for a minute before smiling back at her.

”You are such an impatient one, you know that.”

“Oh yes, well you know how diamonds are… bland and abundant. The most useful thing they have going for them is how hard they tend to be… I think emeralds look good against her skin.” Angela approved of his choice and the work he had done for Kalyani. Even the pregnant mother to be was beaming with joy over the ring still.

“You said that you wanted to get it done in private… If we are going to do it… It might as well be now when I am not a puddle of mess on the floor screaming about your ability to get me pregnant and that I am miserable.” Which was oddly specific meaning it had happened more than once. It amused Angela so much she not only smirked but snorted on accident.

The goddess covered her mouth after the snort since Kalyani was now glaring in her direction. “I’m sorry… I know it isn’t funny but… Okay, it was a little bit funny. Calm your nerves and emotions just for a moment… I can tell it wasn’t you Zanar who brought me here. The impatient one you will be calling Wife has her name written all over this.” Angela eyed Kalyani who was now pouting. “Come now, no tears… If you want to get married this has to be a happy moment.”

Angela brushed her fingers through her hair seemingly taming it with a bit of magic. She appeared more lively now as she shook the sleep from her being. “Love has no boundaries and she is impatient… If she hadn’t come to get me I would think she was ill or broken.”

“Very funny…” Kalyani grumbled as she moved to Zanar and took his arm softly. Her golden eyes watched him even through his stern gaze as it melted into a smile which she returned. “If I wasn’t impatient you would get bored easily. Keeps you on your toes.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek with easy. Her hand went to her belly as she felt their son.

“Very well…” Angela turned them towards each other and put their hands together. “Since I am assuming that she is not twisting your arm and threatening you with bodily harm if you don’t accept we can skip all of the ‘are you sure?’ bullshit that normally comes with a ceremony.” The goddess rolled her shoulders easily as she smirked towards the two. This would be the most informal and impromptu wedding she had ever done.

“Through trials and tribulations, the two of you have shown the world exactly what trust and regular feelings can become. Love sprouts from the tiniest seed into a bountiful tree on its own time. Some people find love within days of planting their seed while others take years… Sometimes centuries to come to terms with how they feel. You are among the lucky. Not only do you have each other but you have your son that you created with this love.” She crafted a red ribbon out of thin air as she wrapped it tightly around one set of their hands. She tied it with a delicate knot before holding their hands in her own.

“Fate joined you two together because it knew you were what each other needed. Love allowed you to forge the path that Fate needed you to be on… but it was both of you that created life within each other and the tiny life within Kalyani’s womb. It is by my power as the Goddess of Love that I bond your souls forever into the eternal afterlife that comes after this life. My word is law in this domain and it is the highest honor I can give… The love and heart of another.” Angela brought up their hands and kissed them back. “You are like family to me… The both of you. Zanar you are my conclave sibling and Kalyani you are the daughter of a dear lifelong friend. I cannot be more proud of what I’ve seen and I know your feelings to be true. Life will not always be easy and there will be many fights along the way but just remember this moment and ground yourself. The worst will pass and you will be able to grow together as a single soul in the darkness. With all that said… You are now husband and wife. Go ahead and kiss her already.”

Kalyani had been listening patiently and taking in everything that Angela had been saying. Thanks to how large Vale had grown they couldn’t overly be close to each other but it was enough as Zanar met Kalyani for a kiss. The half Rosenite was quiet as she watched Zanar intensely. She was almost in awe of the decision even though it was her impulsiveness that led to it. “I love you.” The words left her lips in a whisper as Kalyani wrapped her free hand around him giving him another deep kiss.

“Now, while I would love to stay and celebrate with the two of you… I am exhausted. Please keep your wife in line… The next time I come here in the middle of the night on my end will only be for your son. Nothing more nothing less.” She waggled her finger at the two as she disappeared.

Kalyani chuckled a bit and looked up at Zanar lovingly. “That was the most ridiculous wedding ceremony I’ve ever seen her give.” However, it was fitting for the two of them.