3 Nov Update: This has been updated to be Chapter 9. It will eventually change, as I have at least one chapter to add between the new 7 & 8.

Chapter 9 - Ablutions

Mead didn't believe it, whatever the bloody evidence on their nuptial bed might have suggested.

There's no way this stiff, avoidant couple arriving for sabbath ablutions had actually done anything intimate behind closed doors. As the minister watched his congregation gather, he noticed how the king barely looked at his wife and she was more than happy to pay attention to everyone and everything else.

It was true that she smiled too much, but that wasn't a major flaw, he thought. No, King Van didn't appear annoyed by that, and he even appeared content that the people were paying more attention to her than him. It was her easy smiles, after all, that made her far more approachable than he, and Mead watched with satisfaction as she held and kissed no fewer than three babies and eight children as they made their way forward.

No, the king just kept the arm she held away from his body and averted his eyes from her. But he wasn't completely immune to her charms, Mead was almost certain, he was just proficient at resisting them. In fact, Mead–a bachelor himself and someone practiced in suppressing his more carnal desires– recognized all too much the stoic look on King Van's face. He saw him glance with instinctive interest at her only to look away quickly and school his expression back to apathy.

The minister shook his head.

Back when he had been just a priest and not a Minister of the King, the wedding ceremony between King Goau and Queen Varie had been completely different. Those two had been impossible to keep apart, and for the first many months of their marriage, they didn't let go of one another or look at anyone else. In his heart, he wished the same sort of happiness for King Van, too.

But no, King Van and Queen Hitomi did everything they could to keep from touching the other. Mead had noticed over the three months of their marriage that, at most, his king would allow her to take his arm when they were walking, but even then, she dropped it without hesitation so she could take up a child or the hands of a citizen or embrace an old widow.

Secretly, he thanked the stars of Escaflowne that King Van had a wife at all. What a relief that at least they'd hit that milestone. Now if only they could produce an heir, then his worries would be sated. That had been the ultimate goal, had it not?

The king liked to appear prickly, that's what was getting in the way. And that was hardly his fault. He'd had been an only child, after all, the sole heir to the throne. He was used to having his way. More than that, he was used to being alone. Becoming an orphan was to blame for that, plus the fact that he lost his only childhood friend to dragons, bless the lost urchin girl. So he really couldn't be blamed.

Regrettably, Mead could look back and see now the detrimental effects of not providing some sort of feminine influence earlier in the king's young life. It was now painfully obvious that it hadn't been enough to be raised by a group of ministers and generals. Perhaps had he had a female governess or a lady instructor of some sort rather than the stiff, academic men they'd appointed, he might have been more inclined to show some sort of delicate emotion towards his new wife.

The thought stirred a paternal sympathy towards his queen, but at least she appeared mostly unbothered by his tendencies. As Mead had believed after the gala, he still believed that if anyone could get through to him, she was as good a candidate as could be found.

The couple now stood and came to kneel at the stone altar. As he guided them through their ablutions, Mead looked down just as the king accidentally brushed his wife's breast with his elbow. With a jolt, the two royals both stiffened and looked away from the other, and it took all the minister's self control to keep from showing that he noticed as their faces bloomed bright red. Out of sympathy, he added a couple flourishes to his prayer to allow their blushes to cool before they had to rise and face the congregation again.

Thankfully, their wedding had gone off without such a hitch. The king, practiced as he was at performing the rites of his role– and resplendent in a new blue and red uniform– had knelt across the marriage altar with his usual, aloof dignity. She, meanwhile–dressed in matching red and blue and adorned with gold rings and necklaces and a beaded headdress woven through her golden hair–had conducted herself admirably well. King Van had held her shaking hand in his and waited patiently as she said her lines–her voice both determined and full of emotion– promising to serve him and Fanelia, and to bear him heirs.

Mead had tied the Dragon's Vow cord around their hands and wrists, said the words that sealed their marriage, and watched with endearment as his new queen smiled tearfully–and bravely, he thought– first at him, then at her parents, and lastly at her new husband. The king bent forward to kiss her so chastely Mead wasn't even certain they'd made contact.

It was nothing like the first married kiss between Gaou and Varie, which had made the audience erupt in cheers, especially since Varie had won the people over by rising up from her former commoner status.

No, this time the people in attendance had clapped with forced politeness, as if they, too, hadn't been certain the kiss had happened. Nobody was brave enough to encourage the king further with his kiss.

The newlyweds had then moved in a procession from the sanctuary–their hands still bound together– through the snowy streets, up to the palace courtyard, where Minister Arlott had taken over and placed a simple crown embedded with flecks of energist crystals atop the beaded head of the new Queen of Fanelia.

After that, the city turned to dancing, the formal guests of the palace dined, and while everyone else celebrated the night away, the king and his new queen had been ushered into his chambers to consummate their marriage.

But now, as they stood from where they'd knelt at the fountain altar of Escaflowne, Mead knew no such act had occurred. Their awkward behavior from such unintentional contact only confirmed what had used to be suspicions. King Van held his elbow even farther away from his body and this time Queen Hitomi didn't take it. Instead, she turned away and took in arms a small girl who had come to pull at her violet skirts. The king, too, turned away with an unmistakable look of relief on his face.

With yet another sigh and shake of his head, Mead observed the two mill separately among the people as the crowd pushed out of Sanctuary. What, exactly, was it going to take for King Van to open up to his new wife? If three months' marriage wasn't enough to make them tolerate the other's touch, at this rate, they might need a miracle to bring them together and produce an heir.

The gods knew such a thing could only be good for his king.

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A/N

When I first envisioned this chapter after waking up from a nap after surgery, it was a lot funnier than what it turned out to be.