Chapter Thirty-Two
This was it.
Adam had never really wondered or imagined what his wedding would be like. He simply didn't entertain those types of thoughts and fantasies. He was certain of one thing, however, and that was that he knew that had he imagined his wedding, it would not have been this. He would not have been standing on some strange world, before the altar of some strange deity, awaiting the arrival of his bride who was a priestess. And also a mage.
And also his best friend, Ami.
His best friend, who had the luxury of being hidden behind a thick and heavy veil. Every eye in the chapel was upon her from the moment the first bell chime sounded, but she at least showed no outward signs of nervousness. Of course, buried somewhere beneath damask and lace and silk, it was hard to know what Ami was showing signs of at all.
It was not, however, hard to miss the anger and bitterness in the eyes of Prince Calend'et, the laughter in Hagen's or the pride and mixed anxiety that was shared by his father and mother. Given the choice of places to look, each offering something he did not want to focus on, feel, or be responsible for, Adam chose to direct his attention towards his bride.
She was a figure dressed and draped in pure white and gold and silver, the elaborately embroidered hems of her gown sweeping the chapel floor, the veil and train streaking outwards behind her. He couldn't make out the slightest detail of her face, and in a moment of complete blind panic, he wondered if that was actually Ami. For all of his fears and fretting . . . well, he wasn't ready to go through with this with anyone else.
Instinctively, he reached out for her, his mind finding hers. [Ami?]
[Who else?] Her mental voice wavered, even though she managed to send him an image of her smiling.
The ceremony began with a prayer, both he and Ami kneeling side by side before the priestess of Shira. The goddess of fertility and marriage gave first blessings to the marriage, and her blessings were seconded by the priest of Damiaren. The words and chants meant nothing to Adam, and his eyes were beginning to glaze in an attempt to make sense of any of it, when it came time to exchange the vows.
Standing now, Ami's hands were placed in his, and feeling the coolness of them, feeling the way her body trembled ever so slightly, Adam realized for the first time that Ami was probably nearly as nervous -- if not more nervous than he was. He felt a momentary twinge of guilt, for being so wrapped up in himself that he forgot that this wasn't wholly about him, but it was about her as well.
Though he could not see her for the veil she wore, Adam knew that when he turned and gazed down at her that she was meeting his gaze directly. He felt it through the touch of her trembling hands in his own, he felt it as she reached out mentally, trying to *soothe* him.
In response, Adam tightened his hands around hers, repeating vows, that in spite of being on a different world, with different rules, were spoken with nearly the exact same meaning as vows exchanged on earth. Pledges of loyalty and fidelity, love and honor, meant the same no matter what church or religion the vows were exchanged in, and Adam was simply relieved that he made it through without stuttering too badly.
"Til Hermion claims our souls."
Another world, another translation, but the meaning remained the same.
Til death do us part.
The final words of their vow rang out with a note of finality in the elaborate chapel.
He would have been surprised to see his hands trembling when he finally lifted them to lift the veil away from Ami's face had he not been aware of the constant edge and ebb of nervousness gnawing at him since before the ceremony began.
He got caught only once, the intricate lacing of the headdress momentarily stumping him. So intent was he on unraveling it, that the court just beyond them was forgotten. A soft pair of hands fluttered up to help him with the layers, probably in some obscure breach of royal etiquette but they had come this far together, no one was likely to say much now. As Ami helped him unravel the threads, he thought she squeezed his hand for just the briefest of instants.
Dark eyes like new moons rising sought his gaze, familiar lips twitching in a tentative smile. Adam felt an equally tentative smile cross his own face, an expression dipped in relief, relief that it really was Ami underneath all that lace and satin, a relief that he saw mirrored in her own eyes for different reasons.
Adam hesitated a moment, knowing what came next, but waiting for some sign of permission from her. Permission which came when she closed her eyes, her face tilted upwards in invitation to seal their vows.
Leaning in, he claimed his bride with a kiss. It was a kiss meant to be but the briefest of ceremonial touches, a ritual of the rite of marriage, but something passed between them as their lips touched -- understanding and acceptance, the knowledge that they were both in this together providing a type of sanctuary in which they both found momentary refuge. He moved towards her instinctively, or perhaps she moved closer to him, it was hard to know for certain, but what he did know was that they both lingered there a moment, the court and the temple forgotten until a cough and a tug on the back of his doublet reminded him of who he was ... and where he was.
Separation brought him back to reality, and he gave her a shaky and somewhat embarrassed smile. [Sorry 'bout that.] He didn't know what he was apologizing for, but he felt that he had to say something.
Ami caught his hand, an action that brought a raised eyebrow from Shira's priestess, but it was clear that Ami -- that his bride -- did not care in the least. [Don't be.]
[You're really all right with this?] Adam asked, his eyes anxiously searching her dark ones.
Her smile was bright, and did not quiver, her hand warm and soft as she squeezed his, [I am now.]
***
The wedding feast was a celebration like nothing Adam had yet had the pleasure of experiencing since their arrival in Stiborn. Nobles and lords, from the highest to the lowest, filled the great hall dressed in their finest upon their finest. He had not truly paid much attention to the lords and ladies of the High Houses present at the ceremony, his attention had been completely elsewhere at the time, but Adam noticed them now. He noticed how they each attempted to out shine one another, bestowing compliments and congratulations on the newlywed couple.
Tables overflowed with food. The best of roast pheasant and game hens, the most tender of roast, the freshest of vegetables, and the richest of desserts spread out to be savored and devoured. And, according to Hagen, some of the sweetest and best wine in all of the kingdom as well. No expense was too great for this momentous occasion. To watch the celebration, it was easy to forget that once upon a time, the two kingdoms had been at war with one another; to watch the smiles and hear the words that were bestowed upon the Damiar Princess, was enough to instill the belief that this treaty would work to achieve its final ends - a lasting peace.
Ami basked in the glow of all the attention she received. Initially, she had been embarrassed by it, hiding as much as she could from the appraising eyes of the Stibornan court, clinging to his arm as though the great hall were an ocean and he was a buoy that she might drown without. Her time in the Sun Palace, she had not been so much the center of attention, and even her arrival in Stiborn, where she spent much of the time sequestered at Elspera Keep, had not prepared her for this. But, as the hour wore on and it became apparent that the attention would not slack off, and she was convinced that Adam would not leave her to handle the well wishes of the court alone, she relaxed. She relaxed so much so that she finally moved away from his side, talking and sharing food with Tara, who seemed to be making her new sister-in-law into her new best friend, and Jade, and even occasionally engaging this lady or baroness in avid conversation.
The Damia Reina and Prince Calend'et did not share their table, a fact of which made Adam extremely grateful. Despite the merriment and the meaning of this feast, the sovereign of Albarasque and her entourage remained at their own table, on a separate dais, their celebration their own. Only Damiar Roleran left that dais, coming to sit for a while with her grand daughter before her own attendants led her away to retire for the evening.
"I say it again, cousin," Hagen returned from his wanderings among the nobility to take up a seat at the end of the table with Adam and Megabyte, "only you could have this sort of luck."
"And what sort of luck are we talking about, Hagen?"
The lord raised his mug in the direction of the end of the table occupied by the ladies, "My luck would be that she was such a carefully guarded secret because there are cows with prettier faces, but not yours. Your bride is certainly easy on the eyes, isn't she?"
Adam sipped from his mug, knowing that it didn't really matter how he answered or what he answered. If Hagen had something to say, he would say it, no matter what Adam responded. "I suppose."
"You suppose?" Hagen laughed. He reached out and rapped his knuckles lightly on Adam's forehead, his laughter becoming louder as Adam dodged and pushed him away. "What are you, addle brained now? You suppose? Are you trying to tell me you wouldn't have consummated this marriage right on the temple floor if I hadn't pulled you back?"
Megabyte attempted to hide his laughter by shoving a large piece of bread in his mouth and it was all that Adam could do to prevent himself from choking on the wine. Sometimes, he wondered if Hagen thought before he spoke ... or if he said things like that simply to get a reaction. It was probably some combination of both.
"I appreciate your intervention, Hagen, but I doubt that it would have come to that."
[I don't know, Adam. You and Ami were getting pretty --]
The kick to Megabyte's shin effectively stopped the other from saying whatever it was he intended to say. [Megabyte, just shut up.]
"Then you are a far better man than I am, Adam."
Megabyte snorted. "Now, there's a big secret."
"Well, we've long known that he's a far better man than you are, Marmion."
Adam set his mug down, loudly. "Can you two try to not ruin my wedding here, please?"
Hagen rolled his eyes, "Someone's sensitive."
"Nerves," Megabyte quipped.
Adam shook his head and groaned, wondering why he even tried. He could never win if Megabyte and Hagen were in the same room together. If they were not baiting one another, then they were working in unison to embarrass, humiliate, or annoy him. Sometimes all three. Well, he supposed it was mildly comforting to know that no matter what happened, some things never did change.
And some things did.
Ignoring the teasing of his "cousins," Adam turned to the sound of laughter and giggles. Ami, Jade, Tara and one of Ami's attendants, had their heads together, eyes focused in his direction. As he looked at them, they all straightened and looked away, leaving Adam no doubt of who had been the subject of their smiles and giggles. It made him a little uncomfortable, his face warming although he had no idea what they had been speaking of.
To look at things from Hagen's perspective, he was absolutely correct. Ami was, to quote Hagen's words, "easy on the eyes." It wasn't something that Adam had ever really consciously noticed before. Truth be told, it was one of those things that he probably wouldn't ever have noticed, except perhaps briefly and in passing, if they hadn't been forced into this situation. But they were here, the situation was here, and there was no way for him to deny that the young woman at the other end of the table, for all intents and purposes, was now his wife.
His wife, Adam repeated the words to himself again and discovered that they neither sounded nor felt as foreign as he had expected.
He was all right with that.
*** End of Chapter Thirty-Two
This was it.
Adam had never really wondered or imagined what his wedding would be like. He simply didn't entertain those types of thoughts and fantasies. He was certain of one thing, however, and that was that he knew that had he imagined his wedding, it would not have been this. He would not have been standing on some strange world, before the altar of some strange deity, awaiting the arrival of his bride who was a priestess. And also a mage.
And also his best friend, Ami.
His best friend, who had the luxury of being hidden behind a thick and heavy veil. Every eye in the chapel was upon her from the moment the first bell chime sounded, but she at least showed no outward signs of nervousness. Of course, buried somewhere beneath damask and lace and silk, it was hard to know what Ami was showing signs of at all.
It was not, however, hard to miss the anger and bitterness in the eyes of Prince Calend'et, the laughter in Hagen's or the pride and mixed anxiety that was shared by his father and mother. Given the choice of places to look, each offering something he did not want to focus on, feel, or be responsible for, Adam chose to direct his attention towards his bride.
She was a figure dressed and draped in pure white and gold and silver, the elaborately embroidered hems of her gown sweeping the chapel floor, the veil and train streaking outwards behind her. He couldn't make out the slightest detail of her face, and in a moment of complete blind panic, he wondered if that was actually Ami. For all of his fears and fretting . . . well, he wasn't ready to go through with this with anyone else.
Instinctively, he reached out for her, his mind finding hers. [Ami?]
[Who else?] Her mental voice wavered, even though she managed to send him an image of her smiling.
The ceremony began with a prayer, both he and Ami kneeling side by side before the priestess of Shira. The goddess of fertility and marriage gave first blessings to the marriage, and her blessings were seconded by the priest of Damiaren. The words and chants meant nothing to Adam, and his eyes were beginning to glaze in an attempt to make sense of any of it, when it came time to exchange the vows.
Standing now, Ami's hands were placed in his, and feeling the coolness of them, feeling the way her body trembled ever so slightly, Adam realized for the first time that Ami was probably nearly as nervous -- if not more nervous than he was. He felt a momentary twinge of guilt, for being so wrapped up in himself that he forgot that this wasn't wholly about him, but it was about her as well.
Though he could not see her for the veil she wore, Adam knew that when he turned and gazed down at her that she was meeting his gaze directly. He felt it through the touch of her trembling hands in his own, he felt it as she reached out mentally, trying to *soothe* him.
In response, Adam tightened his hands around hers, repeating vows, that in spite of being on a different world, with different rules, were spoken with nearly the exact same meaning as vows exchanged on earth. Pledges of loyalty and fidelity, love and honor, meant the same no matter what church or religion the vows were exchanged in, and Adam was simply relieved that he made it through without stuttering too badly.
"Til Hermion claims our souls."
Another world, another translation, but the meaning remained the same.
Til death do us part.
The final words of their vow rang out with a note of finality in the elaborate chapel.
He would have been surprised to see his hands trembling when he finally lifted them to lift the veil away from Ami's face had he not been aware of the constant edge and ebb of nervousness gnawing at him since before the ceremony began.
He got caught only once, the intricate lacing of the headdress momentarily stumping him. So intent was he on unraveling it, that the court just beyond them was forgotten. A soft pair of hands fluttered up to help him with the layers, probably in some obscure breach of royal etiquette but they had come this far together, no one was likely to say much now. As Ami helped him unravel the threads, he thought she squeezed his hand for just the briefest of instants.
Dark eyes like new moons rising sought his gaze, familiar lips twitching in a tentative smile. Adam felt an equally tentative smile cross his own face, an expression dipped in relief, relief that it really was Ami underneath all that lace and satin, a relief that he saw mirrored in her own eyes for different reasons.
Adam hesitated a moment, knowing what came next, but waiting for some sign of permission from her. Permission which came when she closed her eyes, her face tilted upwards in invitation to seal their vows.
Leaning in, he claimed his bride with a kiss. It was a kiss meant to be but the briefest of ceremonial touches, a ritual of the rite of marriage, but something passed between them as their lips touched -- understanding and acceptance, the knowledge that they were both in this together providing a type of sanctuary in which they both found momentary refuge. He moved towards her instinctively, or perhaps she moved closer to him, it was hard to know for certain, but what he did know was that they both lingered there a moment, the court and the temple forgotten until a cough and a tug on the back of his doublet reminded him of who he was ... and where he was.
Separation brought him back to reality, and he gave her a shaky and somewhat embarrassed smile. [Sorry 'bout that.] He didn't know what he was apologizing for, but he felt that he had to say something.
Ami caught his hand, an action that brought a raised eyebrow from Shira's priestess, but it was clear that Ami -- that his bride -- did not care in the least. [Don't be.]
[You're really all right with this?] Adam asked, his eyes anxiously searching her dark ones.
Her smile was bright, and did not quiver, her hand warm and soft as she squeezed his, [I am now.]
***
The wedding feast was a celebration like nothing Adam had yet had the pleasure of experiencing since their arrival in Stiborn. Nobles and lords, from the highest to the lowest, filled the great hall dressed in their finest upon their finest. He had not truly paid much attention to the lords and ladies of the High Houses present at the ceremony, his attention had been completely elsewhere at the time, but Adam noticed them now. He noticed how they each attempted to out shine one another, bestowing compliments and congratulations on the newlywed couple.
Tables overflowed with food. The best of roast pheasant and game hens, the most tender of roast, the freshest of vegetables, and the richest of desserts spread out to be savored and devoured. And, according to Hagen, some of the sweetest and best wine in all of the kingdom as well. No expense was too great for this momentous occasion. To watch the celebration, it was easy to forget that once upon a time, the two kingdoms had been at war with one another; to watch the smiles and hear the words that were bestowed upon the Damiar Princess, was enough to instill the belief that this treaty would work to achieve its final ends - a lasting peace.
Ami basked in the glow of all the attention she received. Initially, she had been embarrassed by it, hiding as much as she could from the appraising eyes of the Stibornan court, clinging to his arm as though the great hall were an ocean and he was a buoy that she might drown without. Her time in the Sun Palace, she had not been so much the center of attention, and even her arrival in Stiborn, where she spent much of the time sequestered at Elspera Keep, had not prepared her for this. But, as the hour wore on and it became apparent that the attention would not slack off, and she was convinced that Adam would not leave her to handle the well wishes of the court alone, she relaxed. She relaxed so much so that she finally moved away from his side, talking and sharing food with Tara, who seemed to be making her new sister-in-law into her new best friend, and Jade, and even occasionally engaging this lady or baroness in avid conversation.
The Damia Reina and Prince Calend'et did not share their table, a fact of which made Adam extremely grateful. Despite the merriment and the meaning of this feast, the sovereign of Albarasque and her entourage remained at their own table, on a separate dais, their celebration their own. Only Damiar Roleran left that dais, coming to sit for a while with her grand daughter before her own attendants led her away to retire for the evening.
"I say it again, cousin," Hagen returned from his wanderings among the nobility to take up a seat at the end of the table with Adam and Megabyte, "only you could have this sort of luck."
"And what sort of luck are we talking about, Hagen?"
The lord raised his mug in the direction of the end of the table occupied by the ladies, "My luck would be that she was such a carefully guarded secret because there are cows with prettier faces, but not yours. Your bride is certainly easy on the eyes, isn't she?"
Adam sipped from his mug, knowing that it didn't really matter how he answered or what he answered. If Hagen had something to say, he would say it, no matter what Adam responded. "I suppose."
"You suppose?" Hagen laughed. He reached out and rapped his knuckles lightly on Adam's forehead, his laughter becoming louder as Adam dodged and pushed him away. "What are you, addle brained now? You suppose? Are you trying to tell me you wouldn't have consummated this marriage right on the temple floor if I hadn't pulled you back?"
Megabyte attempted to hide his laughter by shoving a large piece of bread in his mouth and it was all that Adam could do to prevent himself from choking on the wine. Sometimes, he wondered if Hagen thought before he spoke ... or if he said things like that simply to get a reaction. It was probably some combination of both.
"I appreciate your intervention, Hagen, but I doubt that it would have come to that."
[I don't know, Adam. You and Ami were getting pretty --]
The kick to Megabyte's shin effectively stopped the other from saying whatever it was he intended to say. [Megabyte, just shut up.]
"Then you are a far better man than I am, Adam."
Megabyte snorted. "Now, there's a big secret."
"Well, we've long known that he's a far better man than you are, Marmion."
Adam set his mug down, loudly. "Can you two try to not ruin my wedding here, please?"
Hagen rolled his eyes, "Someone's sensitive."
"Nerves," Megabyte quipped.
Adam shook his head and groaned, wondering why he even tried. He could never win if Megabyte and Hagen were in the same room together. If they were not baiting one another, then they were working in unison to embarrass, humiliate, or annoy him. Sometimes all three. Well, he supposed it was mildly comforting to know that no matter what happened, some things never did change.
And some things did.
Ignoring the teasing of his "cousins," Adam turned to the sound of laughter and giggles. Ami, Jade, Tara and one of Ami's attendants, had their heads together, eyes focused in his direction. As he looked at them, they all straightened and looked away, leaving Adam no doubt of who had been the subject of their smiles and giggles. It made him a little uncomfortable, his face warming although he had no idea what they had been speaking of.
To look at things from Hagen's perspective, he was absolutely correct. Ami was, to quote Hagen's words, "easy on the eyes." It wasn't something that Adam had ever really consciously noticed before. Truth be told, it was one of those things that he probably wouldn't ever have noticed, except perhaps briefly and in passing, if they hadn't been forced into this situation. But they were here, the situation was here, and there was no way for him to deny that the young woman at the other end of the table, for all intents and purposes, was now his wife.
His wife, Adam repeated the words to himself again and discovered that they neither sounded nor felt as foreign as he had expected.
He was all right with that.
*** End of Chapter Thirty-Two
