It felt like he was on the verge of getting crazy and I was sitting there bewildered, "Say it Marianne, that you have not done it. You have not mixed poison in my glass of wine!" He finally said it and all I heard was thunder in my ears.

"I did what? You.. you mean that my glass had poison in my marriage?" I asked as I could not believe it. This was so... I have no words to describe it!

"Cassius, I can be crazy but I am not crazy enough to mix poison in my own glass on my marriage day to kill myself. If I would not have been happy with this marriage, I would have denied it. In fact I was the one who requested my father to ask you for marriage." I spat at the audacity of the man. How could he even think that I could do that!

"Has the pain moved to your brain? You are talking like crazy." I added as he did not say a word but continued to look at me with bewilderment.

In the end when I was waiting for an apology, he only asked, "Your glass?"

"Of course, that was what I was apologising for. I did not know that I had to use the glass of my side to serve you the drink as the declaration of my service towards you. So I took the glass and drank it myself after the toast." I said, shrugging my shoulders, which instantly earned a wince from me.

"It hurts a lot, damn it" I held my right shoulder with my left hand to stop the trembling.

But then I was not satisfied and he was still silent so I started again.

"And what kind of ritual is that anyway? Why would I promise to serve you? Huh? I am getting married to you, not coming as your slave or servant. So, I am not even regretting that I drank it myself instead of serving it to you.'' I said this time, raising my chin high, I could not take the risk of moving my head again.

"Marianne, you drank my glass of wine?" He asked with a smile and he was looking so delighted that if things would have been fine, he would have started dancing while holding me right there.

No doubt he had gone crazy with the pain!

"I did. And I did not think it have any kind of poison. So, do you mean that my glass had the poison which you drank?" I asked coming back to the topic and the smile on his face faded and returned the angrier expressions again.

"Yes, it meant that it wasn't my glass that had poison. It is your glass that had it. I accidentally drank your glass. Someone wanted to kill you," he said and I looked at him stunned.

"But you were just standing there fine. You were there for vows and.. You left because.." my eyes widened as I finally realized why he left in haste telling he was tired and not feeling well!

"But why did you not tell me or others later?" I asked, confused and then my eyes narrowed, "You thought that it was me, right?" Though iy was asking I was sure, or else why did he hide it from me and always be vary of me.

"What, no!? I mean I was not sure. I was not able to trust anyone. It was just too much for me to bear. You all expect me to behave perfectly all the time, but even I am a human Marianne," he added and I looked at the other side.

"Telling the truth is not that difficult, is it your highness?" I asked, mocking him but then he said something again, completely blowing my mind.

"Marianne, you said that our vows are not complete because I didn't kiss you to seal the vows, right?" He said out of the blue and after his behaviour from the past?I did not need him to complete his words to know what he was trying to say.

"Then, let's complete it now, shall we?"

He said as he moved his hands from my cheek to my lips, and gently rubbed it. His warm hands seeping the warmth in my body in this cold. Then slowly, he moved my face back to his side.

"There are so many people there, your highness, how could we kiss? Kiss!!" I was astounded and he looked around.

"They are not going to wake up before morning. Even the girl is asleep and the old man would not come back whole night," he said as he looked back at me.

"And on our wedding day, there were more people present, Marianne, '' he said and this time he did not even wait for my response.

The kiss was light and gentle at first and eventually turned ravenous. His hot tongue probed my lips open and surged inside my mouth pushing deeper and entwining our tongues together.

We kissed long and hard - our tongues intertwined and danced with each other and the atmosphere became even more heated.

His kisses became ravenous, causing me to become breathless. I moaned under his lips and Cassius finally let me go, giving me a moment to breathe before hungrily devouring my lips again, deeply and a little roughly.

As our tongue intertwined, his hands slid down and wandered all over my body and his caress was surprisingly gentle, almost soothing, contrary to his rough kisses.

I could feel the warmth caressing my body. and it felt so hot, I could feel the wetness forming in my body. Something funny felt on my pit of the stomach, a sudden feeling as if it was getting burnt my hellfire.

Then his lips traveled downwards, kissing my neck - that sensitive spot just below my ear - and my brain malfunctioned. My breath hitched and I clung to him, I wanted to let go, I wanted more. I wanted to feel that touch all over my body. The intensity was too high for me to bear as I felt his hands moving in.