Chapter Eleven

Selethen frowned, staring at the dark wood panels of the door as if they would open of their own accord. He had been standing there for almost ten minutes now, occasionally raising his hand to knock, but then letting it fall back to his side before ever actually doing so. It normally took quite a lot to make him nervous, at least outside of his training, and yet the thought of that tiny, timid woman had him practically panicking.

It was the strangest thing and he didn't understand it at all. He'd been in countless dangerous situations: battles, raids, sandstorms, and the like. He'd always been able to keep his head.

And yet he couldn't knock on a door and ask his own fiancé for a walk in the palace gardens. He had tried multiple times last night, but the words had always gotten stuck in his throat. Then he'd gotten distracted by the verbal attacks her father had thrown his way.

Selethen didn't blame him too much for that though. If the roles were reversed and it was his daughter getting married to a complete stranger, he would probably have acted much the same way.

Aranel certainly hadn't been what he expected. The Emrikir's letter telling him of the engagement had included only basic details about her. She was quiet, the daughter of a Ranger, a healer. Selethen had been expecting a stereotypical noblewoman who occasionally volunteered at a hospital. Someone who spent much of her time looking down on others and worrying about her dress. During the entire trip to Araluen, he had resigned himself to having a miserable marriage to someone he would never truly know or care for.

Instead, she showed up to their first meeting in a plain work dress that was practically torn to shreds, obviously unafraid of getting her hands dirty and actually working. He felt suitably chastened before anyone had spoken a word, along with suitably impressed. He had the highest respect for healers, having seen them save many lives that most people had given up on, trying to help as many people as possible. It was an opinion he had formed in his early teens and every true healer he had met since had only strengthened his view on the matter.

He had also been told that she was so quiet that people often forgot she was there, although that was something else that he couldn't understand. Yes, she seemed shy, but he hadn't been able to forget her presence for a single moment she was in the room, or even turn his thoughts away from her most moments that they hadn't been in the room together. In fact, he'd had to stop himself from staring at her more than once, a fact that surprised him as he was sure it had little to do with how attractive he found her.

All in all, she was definitely not what he expected.

Selethen sighed and then stood up straighter, raising his hand to knock. He needed to get this over with.

The door opened before he made any contact with it. She stared up at him, frozen in shock, the expression mirrored on his own face.

"Oh, um…hello." she said nervously.

Her words startled him out of his shock and he dropped his hand, "Good morning."

"Um…how are you?" she asked, leaning against the door. It was painfully obvious that she didn't know what to do or say right now.

"Well, very well. I was…well I was wondering if you were available at all." he said, hands clenched tightly behind his back to avoid showing his own nervousness, "For a walk or maybe a ride?"

"A…walk?" she looked at him in confusion.

He nodded, smiling a little sheepishly, "I'm afraid I'm not very creative when it comes to finding things to do."

"Oh," she said softly, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Of course if you are busy, that's perfectly fine," he said hurriedly, "this is very last minute. I'm sure you already have plans for the day."

Aranel quickly shook her head, "No, not really. Just, um, just stopping by the hospital later. And then working with Lady Pauline on, um, the-the seating chart."

"The…seating chart?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For the w-wedding." she answered, still avoiding looking at him, a blush slowly spreading across her cheeks, "A-Apparently there are a lot of people who can't sit together for reasons I don't quite understand."

"Ah," he nodded his head understandingly, "Well, if you need any help, I'm more than happy to."

She finally looked back up at him, smiling slightly, "Thank you. I appreciate that."

Selethen returned the smile, "I'll let you get to it then. Let me know if I can do anything."

He turned to leave, but only made it a step or two before Aranel called out to him.

"I don't have to do anything till this afternoon. If-If you still wanted a walk…"

Her voice trailed off, but Selethen responded quickly, stepping forward and offering her his arm, "Please."

She smiled up at him, still shy, but warmer than before, and took it, closing the door behind her.

They didn't say anything else until they were in the gardens, walking in surprisingly companionable silence. It wasn't awkward like Nel had expected, but very comfortable. At least, when they weren't being watched. Whenever they ran into someone in the halls Nel felt like crawling under a rock and hiding for the rest of her life. Luckily there seemed to be no one else in the gardens.

The gardens themselves were large and flourishing, the flowers blooming in a vast array of colors. At the very center of it was a tall, white gazebo, vines climbing its pillars. Nel suspected that the buds on the vines would bloom within the month.

The two of them began walking around the edge of the gardens, which were bordered by the larger plants, bushes, and trees. There was actually a large willow tree in the far corner, its branches hanging down until they were almost touching the ground.

Nel's eyes looked around the entire area, taking it all in, before dropping to the ground in front of them, scrambling to try to find something to say. She had never been courted or stepped out with anyone before, so she was at a complete loss as to what she should do.

"So, you said the seating chart was causing trouble. How are the rest of the wedding plans?" Selethen's voice broke through her thoughts, making her glance up at him for a moment.

"Um…difficult," she responded after a moment, "With only a month left, we are behind on quite a bit. The last invitations were only sent out a week ago. Cassa-I mean, her majesty, has been scrambling to help plan it all."

Nel stopped herself before she could say anymore. Sometimes, very rarely, she could be known to babble when she got nervous. Apparently it was going to be that way today, but she didn't want to accidentally admit that the reason the plans were so far behind was because she had been procrastinating. Somehow, she didn't think he would take that well.

"Very kind of her," he said.

She nodded her agreement, "I don't know the first thing about planning a wedding. Without her and Lady Pauline, I'd be completely lost."

"I'm sure you're doing fine," he said reassuringly.

Nel felt an embarrassed blush coat her cheeks and she went back to looking at the ground, "T-There's more involved in planning it than I thought. A-Apparently I have to pick the smallest details on everything, even down to the place settings. It's…strange."

"Not what you ever expected for your wedding?" he asked, raising one eyebrow curiously.

She shook her head, voice soft as she answered, "I always thought it would be a simple affair. Quick and easy. But-But this is so much more. Sometimes I still have trouble believing it."

The tall Arridi nodded, understanding.

She looked up at him, suddenly hearing herself say, "I'm sure this isn't at all what you expected."

Selethen gave her another curious look, "What do you mean?"

Nel's cheeks heated up again and she felt like smacking herself.

"Um, I-I just meant, well, this can't be how you imagined your wedding. N-Not that you've been imagining it! I-I mean, you're marrying a stranger in an Araluen ceremony, I'm sure you didn't expect that and-"

Her hand was still in the crook of Selethen's elbow and he rested his free hand on it now, gently interrupting her. The gesture was almost reassuring somehow.

"I must say that honestly, I was expecting it."

Her eyes widened at his words, "You…were?"

He nodded, "Given the…history between the countries, I fully expected the treaty to be sealed through marriage. It wasn't really a surprise to get the letter stating that I was being ordered to be married."

"You're taking this rather well." she said hesitantly.

Selethen shrugged, "Most marriages in Arrida are arranged by the person's parents. It's the only thing I've ever expected. I came to terms with it a very long time ago, but I'm glad I'm able to help my country in some way."

Nel had gone back to staring at him in shock, "The Emrikir is your father?!"

"What?" he asked in confusion, alarm shooting across his eyes quickly before he realized and started laughing, "Oh no, he isn't."

"B-But you said-"

"My parents died when I was nine." he explained, "Atanyan took me in after that, raised me."

"Oh…I'm sorry." she said.

"It's ok," he turned back to looking ahead of them. They were nearing the first corner of the gardens. Nel had forgotten exactly how large they were. Selethen continued talking.

"I have plenty of memories of my family, along with people who knew them. I grew up hearing plenty of stories about my parents."

"That must be nice." Nel smiled.

He returned it, "It is. What about you?"

"Me?"

He nodded, "Your parents? I've met your father-"

Nel winced, "Sorry about that."

The Wakir chuckled, "It's ok. It's easy to see how much he cares about you."

Nel's smile widened.

"But what about your mother?"

Nel took a deep breath, "I…She died when I was very young. I don't know much about her, the only thing Dad says is that I look like her, sometimes that I act like her. I don't think he likes talking about her very much."

"I'm sorry." he echoed her words.

She just shrugged, "It's fine. It's hard to miss what you've never known. S-Sometimes I think I can remember her singing to me and-"

Nel looked up, seeing Selethen watching her intently. Quickly she shook her head, "It sounds silly, I know."

"No, it doesn't." he was quick to say.

Nel didn't respond for a moment, lips pressed together tightly. Clearing her throat, she continued, "Um, other than Dad, there is Uncle Crowley, Gilan, and Will. We aren't actually related, but I consider them family. My dad raised me to believe that you choose your family. You choose who you care about like that."

Selethen nodded in agreement, "I'm much the same way. Aloom is my best friend, but I also see him as my brother. We've known each other since we were children."

"He's very loyal." she said kindly.

"To a fault," he chuckled, "When he follows someone, he tends to not see any faults if he can avoid it."

"It's sweet." Nel said.

Selethen simply chuckled again.

They walked a little farther in silence before it was Nel who broke it.

"So, um, I was a little confused."

"About what?"

"Well, when they first told me about you, they said that your name was-"

"Seley el'then," he nodded, assuming that she would have trouble pronouncing it.

"Right, yet yesterday, the king introduced you as Selethen." she looked up at him curiously.

"I've found that most people outside of Arrida have difficulty saying my name, so they shorten it. It doesn't bother me if you simply call me Selethen."

"Ok. Th-Thank you."

Nel was amazed at herself. She couldn't remember the last time she had talked this much to someone who was essentially a complete stranger, if she had at all. Yet the words kept coming. Well, she had promised that she would try to make this work. At this rate, hopefully they could at least be friends.

After a few more minutes of walking, they were quickly approaching the willow tree.

"This place is remarkable," Selethen said suddenly, "We don't have gardens like this in Arrida."

"You don't?"

He shook his head, "We're able to keep our gardens year round, but the plants are entirely different. It can be difficult when we get very little rain outside of our winter season as well. But this is wonderful. I've never seen most of these plants."

He stopped just short of the willow tree, looking at it in amazement.

"Duncan keeps the gardens well maintained," Nel told him, looking at the tree as well, "Apparently his mother loved plants, so he has people take care of it in her memory."

"I didn't see him as the sentimental type."

Nel gave a slight shrug, "People can surprise you."

"Very true." he turned back to her and they continued walking, "I've found that people tend to be the exact opposite of what you think they are until you get to know them."

She simply hummed in response, not knowing what to say.

"Are you ok?" Selethen's voice broke through her thoughts again.

She jerked up, not expecting the question, "Oh, um, y-yes, I just-"

"It's ok to be nervous. We've only just met. I'm not expecting anything." he stated, almost a little pointedly.

Nel's eyebrows furrowed a little at his tone, but she was grateful at the words.

He was looking at her very intently for the moment and yet his gaze seemed familiar somehow. It was as if he could see straight to her very core.

"Thank you." she whispered.

He gave her a short nod, smiling briefly, and they kept walking the rest of the way in silence.

Nel ran most of the way from the hospital, arriving in Pauline's room rather breathlessly.

"I'm sorry!" she burst out, "I lost track of time and-and then-"

"It's alright," Pauline cut her off quickly, "You aren't late."

Nel looked at her with wide eyes, "I'm not?"

Pauline shook her head, pouring a cup of water and handing it to her, "You must've run faster than you thought. You're right on time."

"Wow," she mumbled in amazement before drinking.

Pauline just chuckled, very amused at how Nel could surprise herself, "Anyway, I think I figured out a way to handle the brouhaha with the seating chart."

"You did?" Nel asked, ignoring her word choice. Every now and then Pauline used the word for some strange reason, "How?"

"We simply forgot to create the Bore's Table." she said as if it was obvious.

"The…Bore's Table?" Nel asked, not sure she had heard that right.

Pauline nodded, "Yes. We'll sit everyone there who will simply bore everyone else at the wedding. That frees up enough space for us to seat the rest of the guests without any issues."

"Thank you." Nel said, still a little uncertain about the idea, "Um, who exactly is at the Bore's Table?"

Pauline gave her a contemplative look before saying, "Probably best that you don't know."

Nel decided not to push the issue, trusting Pauline's judgment like she had with most of the other decisions, "What's next then?"

"Your final dress fitting is in four days." the courier said, looking down at a list on the table, "And we need to decide your maid of honor. You have to pick one so they can get their dress done. We should probably decide the other roles in the ceremony while we're at it."

Nel thought over her options quickly, "Cassandra. She's my closest female friend."

'Also my 'only' female friend.' The unspoken statement was obvious, but Pauline didn't comment on it. Instead, she just made a note on her paper as if expecting the decision.

"Halt's giving you away. That leaves the question of who's officiating, ushers, and the best man." she looked over the paper, double checking that she hadn't missed anyone.

"Gilan and Will," Nel spoke up quickly, "As ushers."

Pauline nodded her approval, "They'll be good at that. With the amount of people coming though, we should probably have a couple more ready to go, just in case."

Nel thought about it for a moment before suggesting Crowley and Edvin.

Pauline nodded again, "Perfect. Now, I was thinking that perhaps the Emperor should officiate. It would be a nice gesture between the countries, showing that this treaty is uniting more than just two of them."

Nel smiled at the idea, "I love it. And I think he will too."

Pauline wrote Shigeru's name down on her list, "Me as well. I'm trying to find a role for the Senate Members and Erak as well, but it's proving to be a little difficult. There isn't much left to do other than give a speech."

"I think it'll be fine." she said quietly, "They seem like they'll understand."

"Very true," she conceded, sighing a little, "Besides, Erak's been so opposed to the whole idea of an arranged marriage I don't think he'd be willing to do anything other than show up."

Nel giggled, thinking of how the giant Skandian had very pointedly only said the bare minimum the night before at dinner, partially because of the threat of no ale and partially because it was as if he knew he would say only insults and angry curses if he could. Honestly, if Halt hadn't started making comments last night, Erak was sure to.

"What about the best man?" Pauline asked, "Do you know who it is?"

"Wh-Why would I know?" she asked nervously.

"Well, you and Selethen went out this morning. I can only assume you talked about your wedding at some point." Pauline explained patiently.

"You-You, how do you know we-" Nel stammered, stopping only when Pauline gave her a kind, but pointed, look.

"You were on his arm the entire time and half of the windows look out into the garden. I'm sorry Nel, but the whole castle knows."

The girl sunk into a chair, hands held in her head and face completely red. Pauline reached forward, laying a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "It's ok. Everyone expected you two to spend time together. No one thought that you'd stay strangers once you met."

Nel mumbled something. Pauline leaned in in confusion, "What?"

She lifted her head up, still staring into her lap, "I didn't know everyone was going to be watching us…"

Pauling gave her a pitying look, "You two are responsible for uniting five countries so that we can combat the greatest threat the world has ever known. Everyone is counting on you, so they're going to be watching you."

"So I've found out." she grumbled.

For once, Pauline didn't know what to say. She just kept frowning sadly. Luckily, Nel continued talking.

"Um, he mentioned that Aloom was like a brother so he-he'll probably be the best man."

Pauline nodded after a moment, easily recognizing when Nel was looking for a distraction. She moved back to her papers, writing down his name, "That's it then. Everyone has a role."

Nel tilted her head, thinking it all over, "What about the king?"

Pauline smiled, although there was a mischievous, almost evil look to her eyes, "Oh, he has a role.

"He…does?"

She nodded, "He's going to be the Patron Sponsor."

"Um, what exactly is a Patron Sponsor?" Nel looked at her nervously.

"Oh trust me, you'll find out soon enough." Pauline answered, almost gleefully.

Nel suddenly felt very, very worried.