Present Day, Garion and C'nedra's Wedding:
Garion watches as C'nedra speaks to his cousin Adara, and smiles softly to himself. Even though sixteen he finds himself feeling alright with being married to her. Looking to his right he can see Lynessa walking regally towards him and his jaw nearly drops.
"Don't let C'nedra catch you looking like that, Garion!" Prince Kheldar jests, and all of Garions' closest friends laugh while he blushes but doesn't look away. Walking through the doors of the Citadel and towards him is Lynessa wearing an elaborate light-pink satin dress that wraps around her waist and flows to the ground. She has the bare-minimum by way of makeup on, but her eyes seem brighter somehow. Her hair is in an intricate up-do, with one curl falling over her shoulder and down her chest. Her full, heart-shaped lips are painted a red that is quite beautiful, and she smiles at Garion as she spots him. She is wearing shining diamond jewellery, and has her arm linked with a young man's. The man stands a few inches above her, at almost six feet, but not quite. His soft light-brown hair falls in feathery waves to his jaw, and his golden-brown eyes search the room as a mysterious smile flits across his lips. The man is wearing almost plain, bleached white clothing, almost as if he doesn't find himself nearly as important at the beautiful eighteen year old on his arm. Garion notices, however, that the man almost hunches as he walks, his face a mask that barely hides immense physical pain. As they near him, Lynessa lets go of his arm and throws her own arms around Garion's neck.
"Garion! My god, you look so much older!" Garion smiles and hugs Lynessa close to him, then kindly makes her pull away. He looks inquiringly at the man who is now using the back of a chair to aid him standing, and Lynessa catches on quickly.
"Garion, this is my husband King Elkan of Riewyth. El, this is Garion, new King of Riva and one of my closest friends." The two shake hands as the rest of the group wanders over, C'nedra hanging off of Garion's arm. Lynessa introduces them all. Polgara looks at Elkan insightfully, and the young King smiles softly back at her.
"Are you alright, your Majesty?" King Elkan nods his head and smiles, assuring her that he is alright. Lynessa, however, does not seem to believe him, and so she slips an arm around his narrow waist.
"I apologize, my friends, but I do believe that we should retire for the night." Everyone says their goodbyes and the two turn around, just to run into a servant, who drops a knife that ends up slashing King Elkan's forearm, blood splattering everywhere. King Elkan looks dreamily down at his arm, expression not changing in the least bit. Lynessa's eyes grow wide and she grabs a napkin off of a nearby table, pressing it to his arm so that she can stop his blood flow. The servant has eyes too wide for his head, and all color has drained from his face. He is bowed deep, beggin for forgiveness, fear of heading to be hanged. Garion tells his advisor, Brand, to take the servant away and to wherever they keep people like him. King Elkan is ushered out of the hall through a back doorway, and they find themselves in a private antechamber. Polgara rushes ahead of everyone and makes Elkan sit down, and she brings out a few things that she will be needing. King Elkan looks over his shoulder to the rest of the people who had followed, which includes Garion and C'nedra, Belgarath, and the Kings, Queens and friends from other countries. He rests his eyes on Lynessa, who is squatting beside him and is looking shaken.
"Lynn, my dear, what is the whole fuss about? The poor boy only tripped on the long red carpet…" Lynessa goes to open her mouth to answer, but is beaten to it by the quiet, resonant voice of Cho-Hag of Algeria.
"We take these matters very seriously, your majesty. If he is innocent, then he is innocent. If not, then we have him in our grasp." Elkan nods his head slowly, and the Kings are all suddenly afraid that he did not understand what had been said to him. Polgara pours a liquid onto his arm and apologizes if it stings, to which Elkan blinks a few times.
"Do not apologize, Lady Polgara. I cannot feel it at all." Polgara's eyes narrow at this comment, but she continues with what she was doing. Once the King's arm is bandaged, he stands up, as does Lynessa. She pulls him into a hug, and he smiles softly, then lightly pushes her away. He looks towards Polgara, "Thank you, my Lady. I am forever in your debt." Garion stirs slightly as the young King speaks, moved by his soft and dreamy voice. Polgara and Belgarath shoo everyone out of the room so that they can speak with King Elkan, which causes some discussion. Garion, however, hushes everyone by speaking directly to Lynessa.
"What's wrong with him, Lynessa? He couldn't not feel pain…" Lynessa looks uncomfortable, and shifts from foot to foot, her eyes lowered to the ground.
"I don't know, Garion…all I know is that he's very, very sick." she looks up to meet his eyes, tears glistening in the torchlight, "And I am very, very scared."
PS: The King's name, Elkan, is Hebrew for 'He Belongs to God'. It just suit's the character, which you will see later on. J
Review, please! This is something I have wanted to write for a long time, so I hope that you like! Please, long reviews are loved! No flames! Criticisms are welcome!
~R
