The Secret Marriage

Chapter 4

Dark Cacao stood calmly atop his chambers terrace, looking down at his kingdom; he was waiting and growing a bit impatient to see if any of his friends had shown up yet.
The sun was already setting over the horizon, giving the clouds a pink and warm hue.
He had slight anxiety about their safety getting to his kingdom, it was getting too late. It always took a bit longer for them to arrive when it was his turn to host a meeting--it only made sense, he lived further from everyone, not to mention the snow often made it ten times more difficult to get anywhere in any type of transportation.

With half-lidded and tired eyes Cacao exhaled slowly while rubbing his coarse and cold hands together to warm them up. Every breath he took could easily be seen because of how cold it was starting to get. He assumed a blizzard of sorts was starting to brew slowly because of all the snow starting to fall from the sky--it was more than average for this time in Winter. Glancing at the sky, he saw how dark it was starting to get, the pink colour in the clouds slowly fading.
"Certainly a storm of sorts.." He muttered, a bland and unimpressed expression imprinted on his face.

As expected due to the weather, his attire consisted of thick leather boots, black woollen pants and a long black coat with dark cake hound fur lining the collar and cuffs- you'd think after all these years he'd be used to this kind of climate, yet he still had to wear many layers even in simple snowy weather to keep warm.

...

Dark Cacao took one last glance down at his Kingdom before turning around and heading back inside his chambers-just in time to hear knocking at his door, walking over and opening it promptly.
One of his servants was the one behind it, their hand along their chest as they bowed slightly, standing back straight up soon after.
"His majesty, King Pure Vanilla has arrived at the Palace entry and is awaiting your presence at the earliest convenience." They said calmly with a neutral expression.

Dark Cacao kept his composure even if he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest, nodding at their words.
"Thank you, I.. I'll be down there in a minute."
He said hesitantly, the servant nodded, noticing Dark Cacao's anxiousness, however they minded their own business and headed down the corridor to continue with their duties quietly.

Cacao headed back into his room, walking over to his wardrobe and opening the doors to get his crown from within a dusty box he kept it in safely--he had no reason to wear it for a couple of months so in the meantime he kept it safely in there.

He stood back, taking a look at himself in his wardrobe door, he looked at himself placing his crown on his head slowly and elegantly, almost poking himself with how sharp the ends were in the process.

He didn't know why he felt anxious all of a sudden, all he could feel was butterflies in his stomach.
The feeling made him feel queasy in a sort of way he couldn't explain.

Breathing out slowly and straightening his attire, Cacao took one last look at himself in the mirror before closing his wardrobe and heading to his chambers doors, opening them and closing them behind him.
Dark Cacao hesitated unexpectedly, leaving his hand on the door knob while it trembled slightly. Sighing heavily to calm his anxiety down, his inner monologue gave him a small pep talk of sorts.

"It's just Vanilla... you should have nothing to worry about." He whispered out loud, finally letting go of the door knob and heading down the corridor apathetically--letting his thoughts ease.

...

Pure Vanilla was waiting patiently in the palace's icey lobby--his luggage had been carried in by Cacaos servants, it being half covered in snow from the brewing blizzard outside the doors--even his staff had some snow on the petals.
After a while, when he managed to get all the snow off of his staff, (even if he couldn't exactly see where the snow was) he used his staff to take a look around the palace lobby, two sets of huge staircases took up most of the room whilst tapestries took up most of the space on the walls.
He wondered what they symbolised, or if they were just to keep the room warm.

After a bit, he took a seat on a nearby chair. It felt quiet, a little too quiet for some reason, he figured mostly everyone had gone to their homes already, it was nearing night anyways.

"My my... you think with all this space they'd have a fireplace of sorts." Pure Vanilla said jokingly, giggling a bit until he noticed his staff was giving him a sour look.
"You came in here with snow in your petals, don't stare at me like that!" He said laughing softly, his voice sounding firm yet still in a humorous tone.
A few moments later, once Pure Vanillas laughing was only small giggles, he heard rather fast paced and loud footsteps from down the hall from upstairs. Curiosity took the best of him and he stood up from his chair and walked over to the bottom of the stairs, wondering who it was.

And after a few moments of Pure Vanilla waiting, the footsteps were revealed to be Dark Cacao's, he seemed rather anxious but immediately saw Pure Vanilla at the bottom of the stairs.
"Cacao!" "Vanilla!" They both said to each other in unison.
Pure Vanilla then walked up halfway on the flight of stairs as Dark Cacao did the same, they both then immediately wrapped their arms around one another, giving each other a long needed hug.
"It's been so long since I've been able to see you Vanilla." Dark Cacao said softly, rubbing Pure Vanillas back in circular motions gently.
"Too long." Pure Vanilla exhaled, hugging Cacao tighter and rubbing his cheek against his coat lining softly. He felt so warm and cosy compared to the cold room, almost like a heater.

...

They both stayed like this for a while, no awkward moments, no uncomfortable silence, just quiet hugging and nestling into each other's arms. They both felt like they had needed this for a very, very long time.
However, the moment was once again interrupted, but by their friends this time.

"There you two are!" Hollyberry bellowed happily from the bottom of the stairs, standing alongside her was Golden Cheese and White Lily.
"We've been looking all over this joint trying to find you guys and here we find you two cuddling!" Golden Cheese exhaled, rolling her eyes with her arms impatiently crossed, White Lily just giggled at how annoyed she was, even if the situation wasn't a big deal.

"Ah, sorry everyone," Dark Cacao exhaled, pulling away from Pure Vanilla as he did the same, holding his left hand instead with his staff in the other.
"It is rather late but I have a small banquet prepared of bear jellies and juice for us all, let us head to the dining hall before it gets too late." Cacao said, gesturing up to the stairs from the direction he came to which everyone nodded, following the two lovers as they held each other hand in hand.