Chapter Thirty-One


The days preceding the wedding ran past in a blur. Ami soon discovered that she hardly had enough time to breathe, nonetheless being able to find the time to worry and fret about anything that would transpire after the true vows were exchanged. Marriage, even those not between blue bloods and royals, was considered a very important and sacred contract in both Albarasquan culture and in the eyes of the Temple of Damiaren. There were meditations and purifications, prayers and rituals that each had to be performed during the days before the final exchange of vows.

All of her study of Amideira's diaries and notes had not prepared Ami for the ceremony that she suddenly found herself submerged in. She didn't even know that there were ten levels of meditation, each one taking the meditator to a higher level of purification. She quickly learned what herbs had to be burned during which purifications and which incense did not offend Damiaren during which prayers. And every night, she retired to bed, actually glad that she was one day closer to the wedding.

Ami saw very little of Jade during this time, but didn't have adequate enough free time on her hands to truly miss the time spent with her friend. Nor did she have the time, energy, or privacy enough to talk to Adam and Megabyte telepathically; the upside of it all was that she also did not have the time to be annoyed and harassed by Calend'et or to be made to feel less than human by her mother. As far as trade-offs went, Ami thought that this one was not so bad.

If she thought that she had been pampered and coddled before, she received a rude awakening in the form of the realization that the attention that had been paid to her before was nothing compared to the attention that was heaped on in preparation for what was quickly becoming the wedding of state. The day of the wedding itself, found Ami pulled from bed at before the sun even crested the horizon. Sephrine stumbled over herself in her efforts to explain that today, of all days, the Damiar Princess could not sleep in.

Ami's grumbling that staying in bed until the sun was actually in the sky did not count as sleeping in, fell on deaf ears.

The first ritual of the wedding day itself involved a scented bath for the princess. A scented bath in water that had been warmed at an even earlier hour than when Ami was dragged from her bedchamber and was only mildly warm by the time she settled into it. Nynie pushed off her complaints, stating that the bath was to invigorate her, not to lull her into sleep.

As if she could have slept on the day of her wedding anyway.

Her wedding day. The reality of it hit her as she attempted to eat breakfast. One moment, she was happily chewing and swallowing on warm bread and fruit, and the next moment Ami discovered that she could not eat another bite. A few words from Sephrine had reminded her of the importance of the day, a few words from the other woman, and a large nest of butterflies took up residence where Ami's stomach should have been.

"Oh, do stop fretting child," Damiar Roleran patted her hand in an attempt to comfort her, "In a few hours it will all be over and you will be Stiborn's new princess and wife of the High Prince Adam Aldaric."

Also known as Adam Newman.

Ami gave up trying to finish her breakfast despite urgings from her grandmother, Nynie and Sephrine.

Breakfast was followed by the most time-consuming ritual of all - preparing Damiar Princess Amideira Imak'tiq for the wedding ceremony. It wasn't simply a matter of putting her into a creamy white gown of damask and silk, embroidered in an array of holy symbols and the royal crest of Imak'tiq. No, the final preparations involved weaving colored ribbons in her hair while Nynie and Sephrine painted elaborate sigils and motifs on her hands and in feet in what had to be this world's equivalent of henna. These sigils and motifs were supposed to bring happiness, prosperity and fertility to a marriage.

The final step was crowning Ami with her mark of state, before covering her in layers of veils. The fire diamond, called such because of the sparkle that seemed to flicker and glow in the very center of the jewel, suspended from a delicate silver chain, was placed upon her head. Once in place, the jewel rested against her forehead, glittering in the early morning light. Catching a brief glimpse of herself in the mirror, Ami was startled to see that she truly did look like a princess.

No, not a princess. The Princess. The Damiar Princess of Albarasque and bride to the High Prince of Stiborn.

As the final layers of the veil fell into place, obscuring her worldview into a white, gauzy haze, and she filed out of her bedchamber, acolytes and attendants surrounding her, Ami took a deep, calming breath. For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, there was no turning back.

***

The twisting, turning fluttering in his stomach had a name. Adam realized that as he stood in his bedchamber being attended from all sides by stewards and servants. The racing of his heart and the sweating of his palms told him what the name of that fluttering was. The way he was detached and distracted, hopelessly lost when it came to any attempt to follow the conversation going around him.

The name for it was nervousness.

Adam Newman was nervous. Not the High Prince Adam Aldaric, because he wasn't really here, but Adam Newman was nervous. He was getting married today, and as much as he tried to remind himself that this wasn't his world, that these were just roles they played, the lines began to blur and he found it hard to truly believe those words. After all, he was here and Ami was here, and it was not their alter-egos that would be standing before the priest of Shira today, but them.

Adam Newman and Ami Jackson.

He called for another drink, tried to ignore the way his voice croaked, and quickly turned it down his throat.

It didn't get rid of the nervousness, but it was something to do.

"Are you nervous yet, cousin?"

Adam handed the empty cup back to the steward, turning to glare at Hagen. The other man lounged lazily on the couch, a mug in one hand and a bit of fruit in the other, present during the final preparations despite Stewart and Master Ilarms' objections that the young lord would be a distraction.

"If I satisfy your dying need to be absolutely correct in this, and say yes, will you stop driving me mad, Hagen?"

Hagen shrugged, "That would depend. Do you intend to say yes and allow me a few moments to gloat and say 'I told you' so?"

"I'm . . . a little nervous."

"Aha!" Hagen jumped to his feet, his loud exclamation making Adam's heart skip and causing several servants to jump, and a few to yelp. Hagen laughed and waved wildly at Adam, unaware or uncaring of the effect his outburst had on anyone else present, "I knew it! I've been wondering when you would finally admit to having cold feet."

[He's got a point, ya know. You do like to play things close to the vest, buddy.]

Adam groaned. The last thing he needed was for Megabyte to throw his two cents in. It was bad enough that he had to take all this razzing from Hagen but Megabyte too...

[Hey, just doing my job as your groomsman.] The mental snicker attached to those words made Adam sorely tempted for one moment to teleport... If only for the pleasure of wringing Megabyte's neck.

[What's wrong, Megabyte, don't you have enough to worry about juggling Jade and Sarena around each other to be worried about me?] Adam snapped.

Silence filled the connection, hurt fringing around the edges. [Low blow, Adam.] Megabyte replied quietly.

Adam rubbed his eyes. [Yeah, you're right. I'm being an ass. I'm sorry. It's just...]

[You're nervous?]

[Not nervous precisely but...]

[Nervous.] Megabyte repeated

[Yeah, okay, I'm nervous. I don't see why everyone thinks that is so odd --]

[Adam.] He could almost see Megabyte fixing him with a wry grin and a tilt of the head. [We'd all think it were odd if you weren't nervous.]

[I don't know what it is,] Adam looked around the room, glad that this was one time that he could engage in a lengthy telepathic conversation without anyone becoming suspicious. Prolonged silences on the day of his wedding would be nothing out of the ordinary. [I just figured that I would do this once in my life, and this was not how I planned on doing it. I feel like ... I feel like this is a shotgun wedding.]

[Not to bust your bubble, buddy, but this is kind of a shot-gun wedding,] he received a visual image of Megabyte shrugging and smiling sheepishly, [Not exactly what you wanted to hear was it?]

[Not exactly.]

[Well, if it's any comfort, it's not all that bad.]

[Getting married?]

Megabyte sent him a mental shrug, [Being married.]

Adam felt his eyes widen at that revelation. [All right, who are you and where is Megabyte?]

[Don't get the wrong idea, it's not what you think but ... I'm surviving. And if I can handle this, I know you can.]

[Thank you, Megabyte.] Adam felt a surge of pride at his friend's unusual demonstration of insightfulness and empathy.

[For what?]

[For putting things into perspective.]

[Whatever,] Megabyte snorted, [Just don't tell the squirt I said anything. I have a reputation to keep up.]

*** End of Chapter Thirty-One