"What'cha doing?" Taye asked, walking into the kitchen.

Tess jumped at the sound of his voice. She hadn't been aware that's he'd come into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't." She said, regaining composure. "I was just startled."

"I got hungry and thought I'd see what we had good in the fridge." He said, walking towards the refrigerator and opening it.

"Anything?" She asked.

Taye smiled. "Looks like I'll need to run to the store later on." He let the door shut. "Unless you're up for Tabasco and cottage cheese."

Tess made a disgusted face. Even Taye had to admit the thought of cottage cheese covered in Tabasco sauce didn't appeal to him.

"Where's Michael?" Tess asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not sure." Taye began. "This morning Maria came over and I haven't seen them since. They may still be here. I didn't check his room."

"Nor do we WANT too." Tess smiled. "I think we have candidates for the next engagement."

"What?" Taye asked.

"Engagement. That's what Liz and Max are right now, engaged. That's what happens before you get married." She often forgot that Taye was new to some of their customs. "Didn't you have an engagement period on Aardon?"

Taye shook his head. "We are betrothed someone the minute we are born, usually someone born within a week of us. That is who we marry when we're ten."

"But what about you? You're 18 and not married. Why is that?" She asked, curiously.

"I was." He began. "I mean, I went through the official ceremony and everything. My betrothed was Ian's wife, Abigail. She and I never wanted to be together. We went through with the marriage ceremony but that is it. She had fallen for Ian. I suspect he liked her too, but he had his own betrothed wife. Then one day, his wife turned up missing. They found her body several days later. Within days, Abigail had everyone in our village convinced I had had killed her and demanded for our marriage to be terminated. Ian was able to convince his father, and thus the marriage was annulled."

"Wow!" Tess said, almost not believing him. "Were you arrested?"

"No," He continued. "Ian convince his father to not put me in jail. Instead, he proposed that my punishment be seeing my wife with another man.him. I accepted the agreement and set out on my quest right after that. I still believe that Ian killed his own wife to be with Abigail."

Tess felt her heart break for Taye. She didn't understand how he could be so calm about it. "I'm so sorry." She said, walking up and hugging him. "Did she ever say anything to you?"

"When I returned from my quest I was sixteen. By that time she and Ian already had three kids and had taken over as leader. I saw her in the village one day. Her hair was still the long, silky length it had been and her blue eyes radiated with life. When she looked at me, her eyes filled with sadness, like she regretted marrying Ian." He took a deep breath. It' d been a few years since he had even thought about her. "I bought her a drink and we talked. It was then that she admitted she loved me and wished she'd never have left. She didn't know that she loved me when she was ten, but was sure of it then. I had to admit that my feeling for her had changed too. I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her everything would be OK.but I didn't. I sat there quietly, unable to speak. She got up smiling and kissed me on the cheek. That was the last time I saw her."

Tess had tears in her eyes. That was the most tragic love story she'd ever heard. "So one doesn't really understand love until their older?" She asked.

Taye smiled. "Kinda. It's more like what you are betrothed is the only happiness you shall find."

"So if you'd have waited a couple more years you would have known you were meant for each other?" Tess proposed.

"I think so." He said. "But I'll never know."

"Hi guys!" Maria said, walking into the kitchen.

Tess jumped and Taye smiled. "You sure are jumpy today."

"Hi Maria." She said, then shot Taye a look. "You shut-up!"

"Hi." Taye said smiling. He really like Maria. She had the best personality out of all of them and was fun to be around. His brother had sure lucked out with this one. He'd kill for a girlfriend like her. "I hate to be rude and leave good company, but I need to run to the store. We're down to Tabasco sauce and cottage cheese to eat."

Maria screwed up her face. "That's disgusting." She poured herself a glass of water and stood next to him. "How you getting there?" She asked.

Taye shrugged his shoulders. "Walk I guess. It's not like I know how to driver or have my Zephyr."

"Come on," She said smiling. "I'll give you a ride. I was heading that way myself."

"You sure?" He asked. "Positive." She turned to Tess. "You coming too?"

She shook her head. "I'm supposed to meet Kyle in about an hour. You guys go ahead."

"OK." Maria said, pulling Taye towards the door. "I'll have him back soon."