Aldebaran felt worn out trying to convince her. If she fought any further, it would give him no other choice but to go up and take them now and she knew it. The ball was in her court. Aqua stood for a minute and he waited to see if she really did care for him. Did he have her loyalty as a friend? He was begging her and she knew it was not easy for him to have to ask for help. She walked over, slipped her arms around him and kissed him sweetly. He knew she had given in. He grabbed her and returned the love she deserved. She’s my woman and I’m glad she’s chosen to stay that way.
Before they retired, he went in to check on them to make sure they were okay and that the potion he had given them was not harming their fragile, earthy bodies.
In the morning they both came downstairs hand-in-hand. Aldebaran put his book down to say good morning. They both acted laid-back so he knew the spell had worked. From today they would get up every morning until he decided otherwise, with no other thought but to enjoy the day. Time would be of no interest to them and their old life, for now, was a foggy nothing. They’ll believe whatever I want them to. This afternoon he’d be taking them home with him.
Feeling a twinge of guilt for deceiving them this way, he coughed and fidgeted but thankfully it was just a fleeting thought and was soon gone. He couldn’t think of any other way to keep them a bit longer.
The only drawback was that Orion was still out there annoying the hell out of him and he would have to refrain from any kind of retaliation for the time being. Yes, he considered thoughtfully as he took a sip of coffee, to continue the war will only bring the Cloud Riders to my doorstep before I’m ready to give her up. Even though they wouldn’t believe him at first, his performance that he would have to work on would make it look like he had nothing to do with their disappearance. To convince them further I’ll offer my services to search relentlessly.
After hugging Cassandra before she sat down for breakfast, his heart was bursting with the sound of waking up to her chatter. The years I’ve wondered how this would feel and now it is here. I’ve missed so much, but no more! She was telling him how magical her room was and Aldebaran was glad Aqua had also assisted him with the decorating of her room in his home. In fact, since her first visit he’d made major renovations to the castle, hoping that one day she would visit again and maybe want to stay a while. He never dreamed that it would be so soon.
While they chatted together Aldebaran went over his plans, making sure he hadn’t missed anything that would remind them of their past. He had even taken their horses to his home world and hidden them. He knew that if Kayden or Cassandra mounted the magical beasts the horses might be able to break the spell. He sighed, hoping he hadn’t left anything out and frowned at the same time as Cassandra seemed uninterested in breakfast. He had noted she just drank a coffee and was instead itching to go out and have some fun instead. She was nagging at Aldebaran to hurry up with the breakfast thing so they could go back out to the water park and not waste the day.
He shook his head as he stood up. She was like an excited child and her eyes flashed and glistened playfully as she spoke. Kayden was no help: he just glowed with love and was ready to pick her up and run with her if Aldebaran didn’t agree. He could see he was going to have his hands full trying to give her any kind of fatherly discipline. She playfully grabbed him with one hand and reaching out to Kayden with the other, kissed both on their cheeks. Her innocence always put a tingle through him as her lips touched his skin and yet she never once seemed to feel his evil, even from their first meeting.
Aqua joined them and all three were spellbound with Cassandra as she had them laughing and enjoying every minute of the park’s wonderment. They had a light lunch and sat back in the chairs, chatting. It had been a couple of hours since lunch so Aldebaran took that opportunity to suggest to Kayden that they take Cassandra home to his house for a rest before dinner. He was relieved when he agreed without question.
Cassandra hugged Aqua like she was leaving an old friend and he could see Aqua was quite chuffed to have made such an impression on her. He put his arms around both of them and transported them to his home star.
He had arranged for a few guests to come over for dinner. Feeling so proud of his new family, he wanted his friends to meet Cassandra and her new husband. The castle was still being prepared and wishing to surprise them, he took them straight to their room for some time alone.
The dinner party was being held in the newly renovated ballroom and the designers were just finishing it off. Aqua had been a shining star in his planning as she helped him make his castle into somewhere a young lady would be happy to be. He waited downstairs for the happy couple to come down after sending the servants to wake them up. He knew they had barely slept much on their holiday so they’d still be playing catch up.