"Do you, Prince Judewin Gabriel Henry, take Princess Kyrah Marsel Lee, to be your lawfully wedded wife and serpent mate?" the vicar enunciated solemnly.

"I do." Zuber aka Prince Judewin smiled charmingly at Kyrah and squeezed her gloved hand in his.

He looked every bit regal in a classic black tuxedo. The collars along with the bow tie were highlighted with a slight silvery glimmer making his outfit stand out from the rest of the groomsmen. His dark head was adorned with a simple, gold crown, its front was encrusted with an intricate design and its peaks sparkled with tiny diamonds.

"Do you, Princess Kyrah Marsel Lee, take Prince Judewin Gabriel Henry to be your lawfully wedded husband and serpent mate?"

"I do." Kyrah beamed with glistening eyes.

She was clad in a white ballgown which shone like snow, giving her an angelic look.

Its sweetheart neckline was glittery, the bodice was pure satin ending at her petite waist where a band of glittering silver matched her to her groom. Then, it flared out as a massive skirt heavily trimmed with guipure lace.

Her bejeweled, gold crown was alighted delicately on her veiled head. The chiffon veil swept the floor gently when she moved.

Kyrah removed her white satin glove gracefully, extending her hand towards Judewin.

He held it lightly and adorned her ring finger with a gold ring, a single diamond placed in a prong setting on it, exactly like her painting.

She, in turn, exchanged with him a simple gold band embossed with dotted design at the edges.

"By the authority vested in me by the Serpent Goddess, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Everyone cheered loudly and the vicar continued, "You may now kiss the bride." Judewin gazed at her lovingly and kissed her gently, a second later.

The vicar then requested them to shift into their snake forms. Kyrah shifted into her glimmering brown form, while Judewin into his sparkling greenish-gold color, simultaneously.

They entwined their tails and a light erupted. It hovered over them till their hoods were marked by tiny identical crowns, a symbol of them being royalty and mates. They shifted back and embraced each other.

A thunderous applause followed and they beamed at everyone present there: Kyrah's parents, the King and Queen, smiling widely, with their respective crowns, princess Jeanette who was doing a little happy dance, prince Samuel who grinned wider, his gaze fixated on her.

Judewin's parents the King and Queen; his father a stout man, an older version of him, had his arms around his wife, from whom Jeanette had inherited her red locks and stunning green eyes.

Then followed a number of royals, prince, and princesses of other kingdoms, who congratulated the newly wedded. They all looked ecstatic and cheerful.

Kyrah closed her wedding album and wiped her a stray tear that had fallen from her blue eyes, making her face glow. She sighed happily and looked at the small frame beside her bedside.

The King and Queen gazed at each other at that moment candidly, oblivious to their surroundings. The picture had been captured on her wedding day, five years back and she had placed it in a gold frame.

She thought about her father, who had exchanged his crown for Lilah's cure. Her parents had thought that he would never become a serpent again.

They were wrong. Kyrah, once turned 22, had wished for her father's crown. The Naag Mani had granted her wish and then had vanished back in the secret chamber.

A week after her birthday, she had been married to her love, Prince Judewin. She thought about the time when he and Jeanette had left her after the battle for a week without any notice. She was so tensed and didn't know where they had gone.

Judewin had told her the reason: he had introduced Jeanette to his parents, who just gaped at her in disbelief and ecstasy.

He had also been in touch with Kyrah's parents and had narrated to them his entire story. They were speechless but had soon begun preparing for their "royal meeting".

He had also planned to fool Kyrah by bringing in his best friend Prince Samuel as Prince Judewin. Kyrah after listening to Judewin's tale had sulked and hadn't talked to him for a week.

Princess Jeanette was courted by Prince Samuel who had managed to win her heart eventually. They had been married for three years and were expecting their first child currently.

Kyrah reminisced the memories and grinned to herself. A pair of warm arms encircled her waist from behind and she let out a small squeak.

"What are you grinning at, baby?" Judewin whispered in her ear. His hot breath rose goosebumps on her bare arms and she turned to face him.

Though five years of their wedding had passed, his presence always left butterflies dancing in her stomach.

"Don't you want to know?" she closed the distance between them and whispered back.

She could feel his heart beating wildly and she grinned smugly. He wiggled in her grasp and rubbed his ear. Her whispers never failed to tickle him and she loved teasing him.

He kissed her nose and pulled her forward, letting her rest her golden head on his chest. He sighed contentedly and breathed in her soapy scent.

He laid her on the fluffy bed a few minutes later, kissed her forehead and got up to leave.

She held his wrist and stopped him, which earned a wide smile from him. He sat back on the bed and hovered above her, supporting most his weight on his right arm.

He kissed her cheek and rubbed his nose against it, making her giggle. He touched their noses and then pecked her lips with a loud smack. This resulted in more giggles from her and his chest rumbled lightly with his laugh.

He pulled away slightly to gaze into her sea-blue eyes, his eyelashes blinking slowly and a smile stayed on his face. Silence followed, their faces donned soft smiles and their hearts beat in sync.

"Mommy!" a high-pitched voice broke them out of their trance. Startled, Judewin fell on top of Kyrah, colliding his head with hers and they both groaned in pain.

He rubbed his head and helped her get up. They both looked up at their three-year-old daughter, Zyrah. She was a little toddler with ash-blonde hair, fair skin, and sparkling blue eyes. She lit up their world whenever she smiled.

She was named in the memory of their meeting, when Judewin had kidnapped Kyrah, hiding his identity by taking the name, Zuber.

Kyrah was in love with his fake name and had promised to start calling him Judewin only if they joined their names to name their first child.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Kyrah asked concernedly.

Zyrah jumped up on the bed, her white frock ruffling with her movements. She pouted and showed them her broken toy.

"Aw! We'll get you a new one," Judewin consoled, ruffling her hair affectionately.

Kyrah's eyes fell on Zyrah's palm, where a fresh red cut marked her pale skin.

"How did you get hurt, Zyrah?" Kyrah asked with a crack in her voice.

"Mommy, my toy got broken... I-I tried to fix it." She gave her a triumphant smile and fixed the silver crown on her head.

She, like Kyrah, was stubborn and wanted to mirror her parents, who wore their gold crowns regularly.

"Why didn't you ask me?" Kyrah sniffled. "Never do anything yourself, okay, sweetie?"

Her tears fell on top of her daughter's palm and healed the cut immediately. She found her daughter nodding and looking at her with wide eyes.

"Mommy... you're shiny," she giggled.

"That's a gift." Judewin smiled. "You will understand it when you'll get older," he added when Zyrah sported a confused look on her adorable face.

They hugged their daughter together after lifting her in between them and Kyrah kissed her forehead lovingly.

Kyrah's eyes portrayed a faraway look reminiscing about her gift. She thought about the battle when she had glided towards her father and had cried seeing his unconscious state. He had then woken up seconds later and looked much better.

His father after consulting other royals had told her later that she had a gift.

The gift of healing: her tears healed injuries, depending on their severity.

Six years had passed since her life had completely changed. The kidnapping by her own betrothal to save her, her meeting with Jeanette, knowing about her uncle's betrayal and evil plans, discovering that she was a serpent and the guardian of the Naag Mani, and her love marriage.

Their banter still continued even after five years of marriage. Guess some things never changed...

Hi, everyone! How are you all? ❤💙 I'm back with the epilogue this time and believe me I'm feeling so emotional right now.

With the epilogue, The Serpent Within (TSW) is finally over. This has been a wild journey for me, I got to learn so much about how to write, how to make the characters seem real and how to input suspense in your writing. I never imagined that I would complete a whole book myself. This has been my first novel ever and I still remember the day I had begun writing it- it was the 8th of November 2016 and I was so excited. 😢💖

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, voted and commented. Believe me, I NEVER IMAGINED GETTING 3.18K reads... seriously, it means so much to me. ❤

I can't believe that my book has come to its end. I am just so attached to my main characters Kyrah and Zuber that I can't help but feel sad. 😭

What do you guys think of the epilogue? I have written all about what had happened in their lives and their future.

What do you feel about the reason behind Zuber and Jeanette's disappearance, Kyrah's gift and their daughter?

Are you glad that Jeanette is happy as a princess and has been married? Well, I sure am! ❤ Comment in and let me know! I'm waiting to hear your thoughts. 😀

Like this chapter? Please make me happy by clicking the 🌟 icon below. Thanks! It just takes a second to vote, but it will make my day. Have a great day everyone! Keep smiling! 💕

VOTE, COMMENT, SHARE AND FOLLOW❣

❤💙💖💙❤
❤💙❤