Hikari felt like it was the day was taking forever, even if it was about her and Takashi. The wedding had started in the early morning with preparation, preparation, preparation. She felt exhausted by just the end of that bit. Then they had to go for the ceremony.
The ceremony took place at the enormous church near the palace. She felt so rushed by it, as they had only practiced it once because the wedding had took place three days after they arrived at the capital. The queen had planned it all, which explained why it was so gaudy and over the top. Father had bristled at it, walking her down the aisle of the church.
When the ceremony started, she had rehearsed it once with Takashi and been lectured about what was going to happen in step of the convoluted process, but she still felt so lost in the hour long process. At least she got to sit down next to Takashi for part of it, which she was grateful for since the dress she wore was this the heavy, lacy thing she was corseted into. She sat next to him, trying not to fidget with the fully crowded church watching the two of them. She looked up at the priest before them, trying to look like she was paying attention, even though she had no clue what was going on as he was speaking a dead language over them now.
Until she saw Takashi stand up. She stood up with him, knowing this was the end of this whole ceremony. She did her best to recite the vows fed line by line to her by the priest. Takashi seemed to say them better than she did, which made her a little jealous, but proud of him. The ring exchange was the easiest part. When they got to the kiss, she was ready for that part. He bent down in time with her rising up on her tiptoes, kissing each other. It was probably one of the best kisses he ever gave her, with cheers in the background making it even better.
Then they walked down the aisle together as a married couple, which made her smile genuinely and broadly. She would have much prefer it be over then and there, but then another processional, this time in an open carriage through most of the city. Takashi enjoyed it, but she felt worn out from all the smiling and waving by the time they reached the royal palace.
It was a rush then in the palace to sit in the banquet hall for a dinner with some many guests that she had trouble spotting her family in the crowd. When the meal was served to her and Takashi first, she realized how starved she felt. She ate as quickly as she could with composure for fear she would ruin the dress she was in.
She felt relieved when she finally finished the meal and could take a breath and relax next to her new husband. She looked forward to when the meal was over and the two of them could excuse themselves from everyone else, even if she was dreading the bedding ceremony Asa had warned her about it.
She thought about the other things Asa had talked with her about, having 'the birds and bees' talk left to her. She looked over at Takashi, wanting to skip to the end of the night for that.
Takashi was loving living in this moment, soaking up every minute of it. Everyone who seemed to come up to the two of them to speak and congratulate the two of them, he knew them by name and greeted them like an old friend. She was happy enough to sit next to him and let him lead in the conversation and she pretended to follow it.
She jumped though when the musicians set up and the dancing was announced. Takashi was ecstatic, snagging her hand and yanking her up to follow him. He was beyond excited for that, guiding her through dancing through many songs that she was breathless. She knew she could take him in a fight, but he was the king on the dance floor. Her knees ached by the time they were done. He was equally as breathless to her by the end of it. He was sweating and flushed. She liked the sight of it, wanting to see it all for herself though.
Once the last song finally finished, she stepped over to Takashi, saying softly, "I'm tired." He smirked down at her for that. "Not tired like that," she back pedaled.
"Oh. Oh," he said. The musicians started another song, a bawdy and upbeat one.
"You can keep dancing," she suggested, "but I need a minute to sit down."
He bent down and gave her a lingering kiss. "Take all the time you need." He called over to his friends dancing in the crowd, moving towards them.
She happily went back over to her seat at the head table. She slumped in the chair as best she could in the corset around her waist. The queen wore one of these everyday, but it seemed so impractical. Hikari would never be able to fight in anything like this. Some of the elvish culture seemed a little backwards at times. She watched Takashi enjoying himself, surprised at how much energy he still had left. A servant went past her, offering her a drink, which she took gratefully. She took a large swig from it.
She sensed someone moving towards her. She looked up and saw Mother approaching her. She smiled softly as Mother sat down next to her. "Tired already?" Mother asked just loud enough to be heard over the music.
Hikari smiled at that. "Since this morning," she answered pleasantly. "Where are Father and Kaze?" she asked curiously, scanning the crowd for them.
"Your father took your brother to bed, both would be hardly suited to all this music and dancing," Mother commented.
Hikari took a sip of her drink. "Father refused any dancing at your wedding, isn't that right?"
Mother nodded. "Even after the prince pouted at him for it," she reminisced.
Hikari looked over the grandiose wedding party going on that hardly looked like there was signs of stopping. "Maybe we should have had a private, country bumpkin wedding instead. Secret garden style."
Mother half hummed, half laughed. "Surprise the bride kind?"
Hikari laughed at that, having heard that story several times over the course of growing up. "You didn't..." she started. She lowered her voice. "You didn't have a bedding ceremony...?" she flushed crimson after asking it.
Mother shook her head. "I can't imagine your Father allowing such a thing. If anyone so much as touched me, they would not live to see the end of the night. The prince on the other hand..." she mused. "Asa went over it with you. Just keep in good spirits about it. The men who will corral you up to the bedroom won't hardly do anything beyond make fun jokes and jostle you around a little. Same with the women who will corral him up to the bedroom."
Hikari heaved a sigh. "It'll be... okay?" she flushed anew, but felt the need to ask the question.
Mother smiled down at her sweetly. "You love him and he loves you, so of course it'll be okay," she soothed. Mother reached her hand over, smoothing Hikari's hair affectionately. Hikari turned towards her, moving over to hug her. Mother stood up and hugged her back. "Just be sure to weather the storms together, not separately," she advised.
The music stopped playing and Hikari stepped away from Mother. The king of all people stood up from his seat near Hikari's, drink in hand. "A toast to the happy couple!" The king drank to that, so Hikari lifted her drink in response, draining the rest of it. His speech was a little slurred. "But the night's not over for them yet. A wedding isn't complete without a bedding!"
Hikari sat her glass down on the table, feeling suddenly and unbelievably nervous. She reached over for Mother, but then pulled her hand back.
"Yasha?" Mother asked as Yasha playfully shoved Mother out of his way.
Yasha seized Hikari's hand, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder quite unexpectedly. "I think you'd both prefer I carried her upstairs over another gentleman." Louder, he shouted out, "better get him up there ladies, or there will be nothing left for you, nephew!"
Yasha moved swiftly through the crowd. A few other men came after them, Hikari recognizing a few of them, but her stomach was squabbling too much for her to remember their names. She was in Takashi's bedroom, which he would now share with her. The room was voluminousness, at least four times the size of her room at home... at the Alaric Castle. This was home now, she reminded herself. The priest from earlier stood by the bed piously.
Yasha shoved her playfully towards the new bed delivered earlier today. Three curtains surrounded the bed, with the head of the bed firmly against the wall. "How hard would it be to get that dress off of you?" He stepped towards her, but she rounded on him, raising her fist in the air. "Got a feisty one here. My nephew better be careful or he'll be the one bleeding tonight."
Hikari felt herself flush temperamentally, trying to resist the urge to punch him in the jaw. She was luckily distracted by Takashi coming into the room surrounded by a few women, which made her feel a flare of jealousy. His hair was disheveled and his belt was missing. Two of the buttons from his shirt were undone. She looked behind him, trying to see if one of those women still had his belt in hand. She stepped towards him, trying to see around him.
Instead he caught her up in his arms. Him touching her like that she did not mind one bit. Not caring for a second that the room had other people in it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He picked her up under her arms. Boldly, she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his arms. He walked her over to the bed.
She was certain he would have laid her down then and there, but the priest held his arm out. He took some kind of golden ladle like thing, splashing a few droplets of water over the bed. Once he was done, he left the room with a quick bow to Takashi.
Takashi resumed walking, laying her down on the edge of the side of the bed with him on top of her. She gasped when she felt something hard rub against her center. He kept kissing her, nuzzling her face over and kissing against her neck. His hands fumbled down around her waist, as if he was trying to yank the dress off of her.
She squirmed beneath him, trying to sit up long enough to get her hands behind her back to get at the corset encasing her. She paused, glimpsing that only the priest had left the room, but everyone else was still in there. She leaned her mouth down to his ear, whispering only loud enough for him to hear, "make them leave."
He matched her move, mouth against her ear. "Crown prince. Needs witnesses, remember," he explained. "We can close the curtains." She whined under her breath. She shook her head. He looked down at her, grumbling under his breath. "I'll send them away if one or two of them can see the sheets afterwards." She frowned at that suggestion, but nodded. Better than having them all in the room. He snuck his hand over to his shirt buttons, undoing a three more of them. He did the same with the button of his pants. He turned his head and upper body to look over at the others in the room. "I think we've got it from here," he called over. "You're all dismissed. I'll call you back when we're finished."
"But your grace," one of the women in the crowd started.
Hikari looked around him, shooting Yasha a pleading look. Yasha took it, teasing, "I think someone has some performance anxiety." He caroled the others towards the door. "When he needs help, he can shout for me."
Takashi stood up, caroling them all towards the door. Yasha stopped him, bending down to whisper something in in Takashi ear. Whatever Yasha said, Takashi blushed crimson.
When the lot of them had left the room, Hikari laid her head down on the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought they would leave once we laid down?"
Takashi was trying at her dress again. He rolled her over, pulling at the strings of her corset, making them tighter at first, then looser. "Sometimes people watch. My parents were watched. Doesn't need to happen all the time though." He had the dress and corset loose enough for him to pull it off of her now, which he extracted her from with haste. She heard something rip in the process.
She gasped, rolling over, and feeling herself shiver in a way that had nothing to with feeling cold. He pressed himself down on top of her. She pulled his mouth over to hers, kissing him with abandon. She stuck her hands between them, undoing the last of his buttons and pulling to get his shirt off. He had an undershirt on that she rolled up. He sat up just long to pull that off himself. He was back down to her without a second's delay. His mouth roamed down to her neck though, kissing and even licking her there. She felt herself flush, body feeling warmer.
He kissed and licked down to her chest. He sat up, pulling her up with him. He turned to sit on the bed, beckoning her to sit on his lap. She did so readily. One of his hands snaked into her hair, another on her waist, fiddling with the hem of her panties. She felt a sudden urge to take them off. He pulled his mouth away, looking her in the eyes. His hand in her hair moved down to cup her face, thumb caressing her lower lip. He bent his head down, kissing and licking at her exposed chest, making her wish she was a little more busty.
He muttered something under his breath, before picking her up and standing up with her. He was panting, drawing deep, audible breaths. He laid her down on her back, trembling hands pulling her panties down and off of her. He pushed her legs apart gently. She felt her breathing speed up in time with his. His hands came down to his pants. She closed her eyes to ready herself mentally. Asa had told her about this part. How it would hurt and she would likely bleed, but it would get more enjoyable as time went on.
She gasped loudly when she felt something soft, warm, and wet touch her between her legs. She opened her eyes, seeing him use his mouth on her, licking her over and over. She was not expecting it. She shook, not sure what he was doing or why. She gasped louder, more fully, which seemed to spur him on. She tried to speak over and over again with every breath, but could not form words, only noises she had never made before. She liked it, but did not think she could take much more of it. She whimpered, hands coming to his hair, tugging on handfuls of it.
"S... st.. sto... stop..." she managed to pant out.
He sat up and pulled back from her. She felt cold when he did, almost making her wish she had not said anything. He pulled a bit of the blanket she laid on top of over to his mouth and wiped it. He stood up, hands on his pants, pulling them and his own underwear down and off. She could not make herself look at anything but his face. She nodded her head, feeling herself overheating all over again. He climbed back down onto to the bed over top of her. She nodded her head over and over again, feeling her chest heave.
Then he finally pushed himself inside of her and brought his weight down on top of her. She bit back a scream, clinging to him when she felt like she would much rather shove him off and away. He panted and moaned against her neck, moving back and forth and top of her.
It hurt nearly unbearably at first, but the pain and burning dulled as he went. She felt a new burning, a burning desire come over her. She pushed up on his shoulders. He paused, looking nervously at her. Shakily, she guided him to lay down on his back. Before she could lose heart, she jumped on top of him, like she had so many times before when they were fighting, but this time was different. She slipped him back inside of her, wincing. It hurt more now, making her regret letting him out of her in the first place. She moved shallowly up and down over top of him, which from the looks of his face, he seemed to like. The less it burned, the deeper she let him go. His thighs shook beneath her, but she kept pushing herself to move on him. His hands gripped her hips, gently at first, but harder as he hissed through his teeth. Then he screamed unexpectedly, went rigid, and relaxed under her.
She slipped off of him laying on the bed next to him, closed her eyes, and felt the overwhelming desire to fall asleep then and there. He rolled over to her, kissing her gently. He brought a bit of the blanket between her legs, wiping it over her. She opened her eyes and looked over at him questioningly. He held up the bit of the blanket, cleaning himself off as well. She rolled over and groaned, just wanting to sleep.
He pulled the blanket out from under here, with her moving away just enough for him to take the blanket away. She dozed off, only half caring to notice him pulling his pants back on and taking the blanket to the door. When he opened the door, she did look up, seeing him hand it over someone outside the door. He shut the door and came back over to her.
"It might get a little chilly in here tonight," he warned teasingly. We ruined the blanket instead of the sheet like we were supposed to." He laughed at his joke.
She punched him playfully in the chest. Then she pulled him down to her and kissed him. "You're not funny," she teased right back.