Chapter Seventeen
"Should we do speeches before or after the first dance?" Pauline asked, waiting until they could begin the rehearsal.
"Definitely before." Cassandra jumped in quickly, "Once people start dancing they won't want to stop and listen to a bunch of speeches. We can put the speeches right after dinner."
"Is that also so you can be done with your speech that much faster?" Gilan asked cheekily.
The princess rolled her eyes at him, playfully shoving him away.
"Is everyone here?" Duncan asked.
Pauline shook her head, "We just need Halt, then we can begin."
"I'm here." His voice was quiet and unexpected, making most of the people in the room jump in surprise. They turned and saw him leaning against a wall in the shadows. If he hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have known he was there.
Pauline accepted his appearance in stride, "Perfect. Let's do a quick run through then and then we can rehearse."
Everyone listened intently as she began going through the ceremony, pointing to anyone when she said their names.
"Gilan, Crowley, Horace, and Edvin are ushers. When you're done, you can simply take a seat, there's nothing else for you to worry about. Then the music starts and Cassandra will walk down the aisle, followed by Halt and Nellie. After Halt gives her away, she and Selethen will sign the marriage contract. Then Fausto will tie the ribbon around both Nellie and Selethen's hands. When he is done, Shigeru will begin the actual ceremony. Then, the bride and groom will lead the way back down the aisle, Aloom and Cassandra following, into the Banquet Hall for the reception. The reception itself is simple. Dinner, speeches, dancing, although Duncan will be opening the festivities as Patron-Sponsor."
"Is that what Patron-Sponsor does?" Horace asked.
"Among other things," Pauline answered quickly, "but you'll find those out at the actual reception. Any other questions?"
When no one else spoke up, she continued, "Let's get started then."
Quickly, everyone took their places. The wedding itself was being held in the throne room, although the throne had been removed for the occasion. In its place was a pedestal that would hold the marriage contract. The giant stained glass window, showing the official crest of Araluen and the royal family, took up the entire back wall behind the pedestal and was sparkling, the light shining through it making the whole floor look an array of every color imaginable. The room was filled with long benches for the wedding guests. Selethen, Shigeru, Aloom, and Fausto stood at the front now, waiting.
Nel gulped as she waited just outside the door, holding her father's arm. She knew the guest list had been large, but it hadn't sunk in until she saw the amount of chairs exactly how many people were coming. She hadn't been paying attention to all the people arriving in the castle or village. The last one she had greeted had been Malcolm and the others from the Grimsdell.
'It's just a rehearsal.' she told herself, forcing her heart rate under control.
Nel heard the music start and watched as Cassandra walked down the aisle. It seemed to take forever, but when she made it to the end, Nel and Halt began walking as well.
If she thought it had taken a long time for Cassandra to get down the aisle, it seemed twice as long for Nel to do so. What was worse was the fact that everyone was watching her intently.
'It's just a rehearsal.' she repeated, trying desperately to avoid thinking that the feeling would only be worse during the actual ceremony. Her stomach did a strange flip and she began hating the extra bacon she'd had that morning.
They finally got to the end of the aisle, Halt placing her hand in Selethen's stiffly, with a polite (if very fake) smile on his face.
The two of them faced each other, waiting as Fausto tied their hands together. Her left, his right, so they could turn down the aisle and leave without an issue. Nel tried very hard not to focus on how his fingers intertwined with hers, waiting patiently as Shigeru gave a condensed version of the actual wedding speech.
"Now, we exchange vows as we also exchange rings." Shigeru was saying, "The rings being carried by Kitsune-san and Inu-san."
He pointed to both Cassandra and Aloom respectively. For reasons no one knew, the spread of nicknames from the Nihon-Ja delegation had continued and now almost everyone had one. Horace had been very put out when he'd finally discovered that his nickname had come from his appetite and not his ferocity in battle, although the Herons had had a good laugh about it.
"Makes me wonder if he'll use their actual names in the ceremony or if we'll just watch as Kujaku is married to Taka." Horace muttered to Gilan.
"Probably the latter. After all, they are terms of great respect." Gilan replied, smirking.
Horace snorted, attempting to cover up the laughter by coughing. Pauline shook her head, gesturing for everyone else to continue.
They didn't get a chance. The stained glass window suddenly shattered, broken into thousands of pieces by the two crossbow bolts that streaked through it.
Most everyone ducked instinctively. Nel let out a shriek as Selethen, the two still tied together, yanked her to the ground, covering her body with his.
Nel's heart was racing. Her left hand was still tied to Selethen, his arms tight around her waist as he had her all but pinned to the floor. Nel's other hand was balled up in his shirt, her face buried in his neck as she tried to hear if more shots had been taken.
"Stay down, I've got you." Selethen whispered directly in her ear. Nel thought she heard something skid across the floor, but couldn't be certain.
There was running, that much was certain. She couldn't tell who. She did hear shouting, everyone yelling over each other, but the only thing she could make out was a frenzied, "Is everyone alright?!"
Nel lifted her head slowly, meeting Selethen's gaze. He was watching her intently, silently asking if she was ok. She nodded, whispering, "Thank you."
He breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Nel!" Her father was suddenly right next to her, looking terrified as he inspected her for injuries.
"We're alright." Selethen said as he got off her and helped her up. She took the opportunity to look around. It seemed like Horace had yanked Cassandra out of the way and Gilan was already outside, having jumped through the broken window.
"There's two of them! They're running away, come on!" he called out almost as soon as she saw him there. He took off running, Horace chasing after him. Aloom was right on his heels without being asked.
Nel felt her heart still racing at what had happened, noticing more guards flooding into the room. A few followed Gilan and the others after the shooters, but most were checking the others who had taken cover.
She felt Selethen squeeze her hand reassuringly, bringing her back to their conversation.
"S-S-Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you were hurt." her dad grabbed her shoulders, still looking her over, "Someone just shot at you, are you ok?"
Nel nodded. She'd never seen him look so panicked, except perhaps when Will had been kidnapped after burning down Morgarath's bridge. "Are you?"
"They didn't come anywhere near me." he reassured her, finally bringing her in for a hug. She returned it as best she could with one arm, her other hand still tied to Selethen.
"What was that?!" Fausto yelled, "Some sort of assassination attempt?!"
"My guess is that somebody's not happy about the treaty." Duncan said, looking around the room with a very concerned look, "Is everyone ok? Did anyone get hit?"
"All good!" Cassandra called out.
"Same here." Crowley huffed, he and Shigeru ducking out from behind the seats that had served as their cover. "I don't think anyone was hurt."
"Thankfully." Shigeru put in.
"Good." Duncan sighed in relief, "I saw Gilan go through the window. Is he-"
"Already investigating." Halt confirmed, still standing protectively near Nel.
"Who would want to disrupt the treaty?" Atanyan asked, "Who was the target?"
"Temujai, obviously," Fausto huffed, "They know this treaty can defeat them."
Nel narrowed her eyes, catching sight of one of the bolts on the ground nearby. That must have been what she had heard skidding across the floor earlier.
"The Temujai aren't known for their assassination attempts." Halt pointed out, "Besides, with all the extra security around here, a Temujai wouldn't get close enough to attempt one without being seen."
"This was done by someone with experience." Shigeru agreed.
Nel walked over, Selethen following and watching her curiously as she picked up the bolt.
"This isn't the first time visitors have been attacked on your soil." Atanyan narrowed his eyes at Duncan.
The king merely raised his hands in a placating gesture, "I swear, Araluen had nothing to do with this."
Nel brought the bolt closer, noting the strange color on the tip of it. Sniffing it, her eyes widened, "Poison."
"What?" Selethen asked.
"I-It's poisoned," she said louder, drawing attention away from the other conversation, "I recognize the scent from my studies."
"Powerful?" Duncan asked.
She nodded, "Even a small scratch is deadly. It comes from a weed, usually only found in Gallica."
"Well that clears up a little bit." Halt muttered, coming up and taking the bolt out of her hands to study it himself, "Gallican poison, assassins, and a crossbow bolt? It was Genovesans."
"You're sure?"
He nodded, "Their city, while technically in Toscana, borders Gallica. It's easy enough to get poisons there, they use every poison they can get their hands on, plus they're trained in crossbows and like to kill from afar, just like the attack here."
"Then who hired them?" Cassandra asked, "Could it have been the Temujai?"
"It's not impossible." Halt mused, not wanting to completely discount the idea, "But not likely. They'd have a hard time hiring them in the middle of trying to invade their country, plus, experience tells me they don't see the treaty as a threat just yet."
"You think it was someone else?" Duncan raised an eyebrow at him.
Halt sighed, "Well, I've learned to trust my gut. Instinct says it wasn't them, but I could be wrong."
"We'll have to wait until they come back with the assassins then." Crowley sighed.
Halt nodded his agreement.
"You're that confidant in your men?" Fausto looked doubtful.
Crowley just smirked, "They have a ranger tracking them. Trust me, they aren't getting away anytime soon."
Duncan smiled at that before signaling for a servant at the end of the room. He rushed forward and Duncan quickly gave directions for them to reach out to the other delegates in the castle, passing along the message of what had occurred. While he did this, others came in and began cleaning up the broken glass.
Nel reached forward to the ribbon tying her to her fiance, struggling to undo the knot one-handed. The ribbon itself was a dark red, supposedly to symbolize love, but after that attack, it just looked like blood to her, dripping down their joined hands. Vaguely, she registered that David had come in and was ordering security to be doubled, especially on the perimeter and entrances to the castle. Halt, after sending her another look that she didn't see to make sure she was safe, went over to help, offering suggestions on where the guards could be best used.
Nel watched in confusion as another hand entered her vision, its tanned skin warm as it moved to help undo the knot.
"I know you've been asked a dozen times by now, but in all honesty, are you ok?" Selethen whispered.
She nodded, "Just shaken. W-What about you?"
He smiled gently, "I've been in far worse situations. I'm fine."
"W-We should've seen something like this happening. Of course someone's upset with the alliance."
"It'll be alright." he reassured her, giving the knot a firm tug, "With the extra security, they won't try attacking again and Genovesans rarely work in groups larger than two or three."
"R-Right."
They finally loosened the ribbon, freeing their hands. Quickly, she rolled it up and stuck it in her pocket, making a mental note to give it back to the Toscans later.
"Thank you." she murmured, "F-For pulling me out of the way."
"Of course." he said quickly, putting his arm around her protectively as if he thought the assassins would come back any moment and he would have to drag her away again. Nel blushed, but didn't pull away.
She took a deep breath, turning to focus on the rest of the room. Duncan and David had just finished giving out their orders and most everyone else was quietly discussing what had happened. Nel's eyes widened as she caught her father glaring at Selethen. When he saw her watching him, he rearranged his features, looking on impassively.
On the other side of the room, Pauline was deep in thought. When she noticed Nel's gaze, she began making her way over to them.
"How are you two doing?"
Nel nodded while Selethen responded, "As well as we can. You?"
"I'm fine, thank you." she said, "I'm surprised by how calm you both are, especially for people who just had an attack made on their lives."
"You think they were targeting us?" Nel asked in confusion.
"Well you two are the cornerstone of the treaty." she pointed out.
"I thought it was an attack against the treaty itself, perhaps one of the monarchs, but not us." Selethen's brow furrowed as he glanced towards the countries' leaders.
"Perhaps." Pauline shrugged, "I don't know for certain, but it wouldn't surprise me. I was at the far end of the room. I could see everything and those last two bolts seemed aimed in your direction."
"Hmmm." Was all he said in reply, looking thoughtful.
By some unspoken agreement, nobody left the room, choosing to wait until they had news about the attackers. No one said very much, although there was an anxious atmosphere surrounding them all. Nel focused very hard on not fidgeting as she waited, repeating random facts in her head about herbs and their uses to keep herself calm.
It didn't take much longer for someone to arrive, although it wasn't anyone they expected.
Alyss was out of breath, obviously having run the entire way there. Making a beeline for Duncan, she didn't waste time with a curtsy, simply holding out a piece of paper, "Your Majesty, you need to see this."
Grabbing it, Duncan made short work of reading the contents. Everyone watched as his face fell, blood seeming to rush out of it and making him look like a ghost.
"Your Majesty?" David said cautiously, "What is it?"
Duncan gulped before sharing the bad news.
"The Temujai invaded Gallica. Both them and Iberion have fallen."
Professor:
Translation (according to Google Translate) for the nicknames from Nihon-Ja:
Kujaku: Peacock (Nellie)
Taka: Hawk (Selethen)
Kitsune: Fox (Cassandra)
Inu: Dog (Aloom)
Selethen and Cassandra get nicknames in the books. Nellie got one when she first meets Shigeru, called Peacock for her artistic side. Aloom, I decided that he would be nicknamed after a dog due to his loyalty. He is one of the most loyal characters we get to meet and that is something I am hoping to highlight in this story. Dogs are pretty loyal animals and so, his nickname was born! Hope you enjoy it!