After eating, Zosimo took them to a guest house. The guest house had gates and looked like a colossal manor. In Shadora, the guest house was equivalent to an inn. However, the guest house in Shadora provided rooms complete with kitchen and everything that a regular house could provide. The rooms were bigger than the rooms of the inn at Tissuria.
Zenia liked it very much. She could cook whatever and whenever. They could also ask for their meals to be delivered. There was also a restaurant where guests could enjoy a meal with everyone and watch a play or enjoy listening to music.
"Zosimo, we will go out again. Please wait for us at the front gate," Zenia informed the coachman.
"You still want to go out again?" Vaughn thought that she would choose to take a nap first.
"Yeah. We still haven't taken care of the most important part."
Vaughn gave his wife a puzzled look. He could not think of anything more important than finding the elder to officiate this marriage. He suddenly realized something and looked at Zenia once more. Her cheeks had a pinkish glow. He smiled.
"Yes, of course. We need to take care of that most important thing."
They changed their clothes that matched the ones that citizens of Shadora would wear. Zenia looked at Vaughn from head to foot and nodded her head in satisfaction.
"Not bad. I say this piece seems to be tailored for you."
"It's because my wife is good at choosing."
"I agree."
They both laughed and headed out to meet Zosimo.
"Where should we go now, Madam?"
"Can you please take us to the elder who solemnizes the marriage in Shadora?"
"The elder?" Zosimo could not believe his ears.
It had been years since someone asked for an elder to officiate a marriage in Shadora. During the recent years, a couple only requested for a minister to sanctify their marriage.
An elder's fee had always been more expensive than the ordinary minister. It became even more costly when the younger generations failed to stay married for life. Also, it was difficult to convince an elder to solemnize the marriage. He would only do so when the couple could convince the elder that they would stay together till the end of time.
"Is there something wrong if we want an elder to perform the wedding rites?"
"They charge way more than a minister, Madam."
"But, I heard that the marriage officiated by an elder is more binding," Vaughn interjected when he heard what Zosimo had said.
"Well, it is indeed true that marriages officiated by an elder are more binding. But times have changed. Not everyone believes in the sanctity of marriage anymore. In fact, there's a rising number of cohabitation cases in Shadora at the moment."
Zenia did not want to argue with Zosimo any longer. She knew that he meant well, but he was still an outsider who should not intervene with their decision.
"I appreciate your concern, but we have thought about this for a long time. It's not something that we just recently decided that we should do. To be honest, we are already married and we just want to make our marriage more binding."
Zosimo could not believe his ears. The couple before him looked so young and yet their affection for each other seemed to be more profound than the oldest couple in Shadora.
'If it's them, then the elder will be more than glad to officiate their marriage.'
"If both of you are certain, I will gladly take you to Chief Elder."
It did not take long to reach the temple that served as the elders' home for a long time. There were ten elders currently living in the temple. Among them, there was someone who had an honorable title of Chief Elder.
Zenia was amazed when she saw the temple. She was expecting a plain-looking building. The temple closely resembled a building that was called a castle, which she saw in one of the kingdoms that she visited when she was young.
'Wait, was it Shadora? Have I been to Shadora before?'
Zenia could not remember if she had ever been to Shadora when she was young, but the castle she saw left a profound impression. She was with her father and Zander at the time, and they were told that the King and Queen lived there. They were not able to meet the King and Queen of that kingdom, but they instructed their people to give the guests a nice accommodation. In fact, it was the best stay that she ever had outside their home.
Zenia was puzzled regarding the reason behind the King's refusal to face them when he was the one who invited them to his kingdom. But, he made sure that they were treated well. She put that episode in her life at the back of her mind and only recalled it because of the temple's resemblance to that castle. However, she was certain that the temple was not the castle that she had seen before.
There was no gate but there was a gigantic door with four guards in front. They disembarked from the carriage and walked to cross a bridge joining the main land and the castle. Zenia looked down and realized that they were way too high from the sea below. Falling from that height could be fatal.
Vaughn noticed that Zenia was distracted and held her hand tightly. She was startled and looked at him. She smiled and snuggled close to him as they walked toward the guards.
"Good day, Sir Knights. We have here to seek audience from Chief Elder."
The Captain of the guards looked at Vaughn and Zenia before turning his attention back to Zosimo.
"Who are they? Are they here for Chief Elder? They don't look like they will be able to withstand Chief Elder's test."
Vaughn and Zenia looked at each other, 'Test?'
They had no idea that they should endure a certain test before they could get the Chief Elder's permission to marry them.
"I can guarantee that they are the ones that Chief Elder had been waiting for all his life. These two deserve his blessing."
The Captain of the guards looked at the couple once more and shook his head.
"They look so young to understand… Well, I'm not the Chief Elder and no brave soul had attempted something like this before," the Captain turned around and shouted, "Open the door!"
The door suddenly opened even though the guards did not budge on their spot. Zenia was amazed and thought that it worked like magic. She tried to find the person controlling the door, but she did not find anyone.
Zosimo noticed her behavior and chuckled a bit.
"Madam must be familiar with Prazia and their magic weavers. The last mage of Shadora died a hundred years ago, and this door is one of his inventions. He imbued the mechanism with his magic, and it obeys the command of the one responsible for it. Right now the one responsible for it is the Captain of the guards. When the Captain says to open the door, it opens."
Zenia wanted to ask more, but Vaughn squeezed her hand. He knew that she was dying to know how the mechanism worked. Although he too was curious he did not want to delay. They could always ask Zosimo some other time. Their business was to meet Chief Elder and get on with their marriage ritual.
A young apprentice led them to a room where the Chief Elder was resting. He was reading a book. The young apprentice stopped Vaughn, Zenia, and Zosimo from walking further. He told them to wait for him. He needed to talk to the Chief Elder first.
The young apprentice walked to where Chief Elder was sitting and bowed.
"Good day, Chief Elder. Some guests want to meet with you."
The Chief Elder continued reading and asked, "Is it a couple wishing to get married?"
"I think so, yes."
"Do they look like the ones that have been here before?"
The young apprentice took another look at Vaughn and Zenia and answered, "They are definitely different. I can tell that they truly love each other."
The Chief Elder stopped reading his book and looked at the direction where Vaughn and Zenia were standing. His eyes sparkled when he saw the aura that the couple was emitting. He never thought that he could see that aura again.
He stood up and walked hurriedly toward the guests. When he reached them, the guests were about to greet him when he stopped them. He looked at Vaughn and then at Zenia. He smiled and quite satisfied with the couple.
"When do you plan to perform the marriage ritual?"
The Chief Elder was smiling warmly at them and Zosimo was surprised. For as long as he could remember, the Chief Elder had never shown such a warm smile to anyone.
Zenia and Vaughn looked at each other, and the Chief Elder frowned. He doubted if he made a mistake. The couple before him seemed to be hesitating.
"Greetings, Chief Elder. We heard that there's still a test that we need to pass, when should we take it?" Zenia returned the warm smile.
"Whew, that's a relief. I thought you're having second thoughts. You already passed the test," Chief Elder announced happily.
"Really?!"
"Yes!"
Zenia looked at Vaughn with mirth in her eyes. Zosimo felt happy for the couple. He could see that Vaughn and Zenia truly loved each other.
"If it's possible, we want to do it today," Vaughn explained earnestly.
Chief Elder smiled and said, "Today is fine."