Chapter 52
Author's Note- sorry this is my first update all weekend! My friend was sleeping over on Friday—we watched "Hercules"—and then I went with my family, my friend, and my brother's friend to Dorney Park. My mom's company rented the place out for the day, so we were there from two until six. Saturday morning I went to a Meg Cabot book signing—SHE IS SO AMAZINGLY NICE. She liked my friend's purple-tipped hair. She signed my books and was very nice. (I LOVED her shoes)
Alanna and Jonathan were vastly impressed with Madeline of Linden's planning of their daughter's wedding. On September twentieth, the autumnal equinox, Eliena and Sam stood in the gardens of the palace. Jonathan and Alanna sat in the seats on the left, the bride's side, along with Eliena's closest friends and family. On the right were Sam's parents and many of his men, dressed in their very best.
Thom presided over the ceremony. Daine was Eliena's maid of honor, while Kel was her only other bridesmaid. Sam had chosen Neal—who had become very close to him in a short period of time—to be his best man, while Numair was an usher. Eliena had told her husband-to-be that it probably wasn't the best idea to have one of his men as his best man. Sam had agreed, after remembering that his line of work wasn't entirely legal most of the time.
Everyone agreed that Eliena looked splendid, as a bride should. There was a small silver crown a top her cascading black curls. Inlaid into it were four gems: a sapphire (to represent the king), a ruby and a yellow diamond (to represent the national colors), and an amethyst (for Eliena and the queen). The crown would serve Eliena well until her coronation. Her dress, though, would be worn once (or so they believed), and it was a terrible waste. The fitted white bodice was dotted with sapphire and amethysts, and ended in a V-shape at the skirt. There were decorative white sleeves to keep the more conservative members of Court—who greatly disapproved of strapless gowns—happy. The skirt was full and made of violet silk. It whispered as she moved and would spin prettily while she danced. Meeting the base of the bodice and making an upside-down V-shape was an insert of blue silk on the skirt, making Eliena dazzle in the colors of her parents' famed eyes.
Throughout the ceremony, Neal and Leo felt pangs of jealousy toward the commoner marrying "their" Eliena. Several of the male courtiers—who just stood—felt the same, only it was because she was their princess, and they were fiercely protective of the girl. But when it became apparent the love the princess and the commoner shared, the men settled, but not without their prides wounded.
Finally, Thom proclaimed, "By the power vested in me by the Mithran cloisters in the City of the Gods, the gods themselves, and my dear sister and brother-in-law—" Alanna glared dangerously at her twin, "I pronounce you, Princess Eliena of Conté, and you, Samuel Fletcher, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Sam smiled and took Eliena into his arms.
"I love you," his whispered, and kissed her to the cheers of the crowd.
Leo frowned, only to be elbowed by his father. "Be nice," George whispered as Leo glared at him. "Sam's a good one."
"Oh, George," Rose commented quietly. "Don't try to pretend you weren't jealous as Jon married Alanna." George said nothing, but turned crimson just the same.
In the front, Alanna took Jonathan's hand. He looked at her, surprised to see his Lioness with damp violet eyes. "She's all grown up," Alanna murmured. Jonathan tenderly wiped her tears.
"She's still our little Eliena," Jonathan promised, and drew his wife into a hug. Myles, seated on Alanna's other side, smiled. She had changed quite a lot since her days as a page, that Alanna.
Eliena smiled at her mother as she and Sam walked back down to the palace, this time not as princess and king of thieves, but as future king and queen of Tortall.
…
From the Realms of the Gods, the Great Gods smiled down on the newlywed princess. The Goddess turned to Mithros and smiled. "Another marker," she said, and the Sun god nodded. He turned to a poster and marked off, Marriage.
The title of the poster read Eliena of Conté and several checkmarks were placed beside important markers in the girl's life: birth, joining the Riders, meeting Daine, first battle, etc. As the eye drifted down, there were several more to go. The last one read Death. Interestingly, there was a line beneath it, as if there were something beyond her death.
There in fact was. Eliena was going to be a Great Goddess—it had been decided long before her birth. But there was the question of a name for her, which was the empty line. And whether she chose to accept it or not—not that it mattered. She would be a goddess, even if she did not wish to be.
"Why did you hint at what is to come?" Mithros asked his sister. "You know we aren't supposed to interfere that much in mortal lives."
The Goddess looked haughtily at her brother, closely resembling her two most famous Tortallans. "Eliena is hardly mortal," she reminded him. Mithros scowled.
"The same rules apply," he retorted and sighed. "She cannot know anything else. She must piece together the rest of her mortal life on her own—it will shape her immortal one." The Goddess rolled her eyes.
"Mithros, you worry too much," she told him. She rose and began to leave.
"Where are you going?" Mithros demanded. The Goddess smiled at him wickedly.
"To congratulate Eliena and Alanna, of course," she replied, and vanished.
Mithros grumbled, "Why? Why did I have to have such a sister?", sounding very much like Thom
…
Meanwhile, the Great Mother Goddess was not the only god on earth that evening. The Green Lady—formerly Sarra Beneksri—and her husband, the hunt god Weiryn, were also in Tortall, visiting their daughter, Veralidaine Sarrasri Salmalín, and their son-in-law, Numair Salmalín. They were also congratulating Eliena—who would one day have power over them—on her wedding.
Alanna and Eliena happened to be talking together before the festivities began when the Goddess came. The powerful Tortallan women curtsied deeply to the goddess who eased their way somewhat. The Goddess smiled at Alanna first. "Alanna, it has been a long time," she said, sounding just as Alanna remembered her to.
"It has, my Mother," Alanna agreed. "But I know you know my daughter as well as you do I."
"Congratulations to you both," the goddess said. "For women as similar and different as yourselves, I should be less surprised at your choice in men, Eliena."
"Similar and different?" they asked together, clearly confused. The Goddess laughed.
"Oh, no, my daughters," she replied. "My brother just reprimanded me for too much involvement—"
"Time to come back," a voice boomed from the heavens. Eliena's eyes widened.
"Was that…?" she asked. The Goddess sighed.
"My brother. Farewell, my daughters. And fear not, my Hand is still on you both." With a waggle of her white fingers, she disappeared.
"That was…interesting," Eliena remarked, blinking several times.
"As it always is when you associate with immortals," Alanna agreed dryly. The mother and daughter laughed, linked arms, and went to the grand staircase.
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