The wedding

A month passed between the ball, when Tolfin Crowslaw shocked Falbrein and asked for his niece Sarine's hand in marriage, and the actual wedding day. Sarine didn't see her uncle ever since that night, all the arrangements for the wedding had been handled by Stef, Lacos and Tolfin's emissaries. The young queen was more nervous than she ever had been on her entire life, telling herself it would be all for the good of her kingdom, her home, and the citizens saw it that way as well. Everywhere she went, people told her it was extremely heart-warming to see the two biggest power figures in Falbrein willing to work together for the kingdom that way, overcoming the fact they were related by blood and marrying in the name of the future.

Despite that, Sarine was sickened to the core by the prospect of marrying her own uncle. Even if the Temple of Alxer said it wasn't a problem, she knew it was an abomination. The emissaries sent to the other nations with invitations for the wedding came back bearing refusals, after all. Lacos shared his theory that Tolfin wanted to kill two birds with one stone by tying her to him and eventually produce an heir to continue his legacy. The redheaded monarch had reached the same conclusion shortly after the ball, and the thought instantly made her empty the contents of her stomach onto the carriage on the way home.

Sarine wasn't completely naive, she knew what she would be expected to do once the wedding night arrived. Reiline tried to calm her down by sharing her experiences, but both women knew it wasn't the same thing, the former princess would be marrying her uncle, and if that wasn't the enough, the same man who betrayed her parents and was the responsible for sending them away from the country in a **** exile.

The day of the wedding finally arrived, and with it, the end of her life as she knew it, Sarine figured. In a way, it was fitting that Falbrein's colors were grey and black, because Sarine looked very much like a person in mourning wearing her dark wedding dress. It was suggested to her that she could use the same dress her mother had worn years ago, but she declined, not wanting to disappoint her mother even more. She was beautiful as always, nonetheless, her flaming red hair flowing down her back and a hint of cleavage on her chest. When her carriage stopped before the temple of the capital, Stef was there to escort her inside and hand her over to Tolfin.

"You look astonishing, my queen, I have been proud to serve you all these years," he said, looking at her affectionately. "I wish your parents could see you today and know the person you became. Despite the man you are going to marry, they would be proud of what you are doing."

She gave the man a quick, rueful smile. "Thank you, Stef, for staying by me," she replied. Honestly, Sarine wished her parents never came to know she was going to marry her uncle, the young woman already dreaded visiting them on their respective exiles a year from now. They'll probably hear it from someone else, I'm afraid.

Stepping into the temple, the queen's blue eyes darted left and right. All the noble families were in attendance, having the luxury of witnessing the event from the inside while the peasants cheered outside. Most of them were undoubtedly eager to see Tolfin taking his niece, daughter of the previous king, down a peg or two. Her gaze found Lacos near the front and she nodded respectfully at her trusted Draconoid advisor and friend. She finally looked up at the altar, and surely enough, Tolfin was standing there beside the priest, his blue eyes fixed on her.

I cannot believe this is happening, she told herself.

It really was an unusual event, weddings normally had the groom and the bride wearing different colors, representing two different families, but this wasn't the case as her uncle was wearing finely-tailored clothes in grey and black colors too. Before the fatidical ball a month ago, she had been thirteen-years-old the last time she saw her uncle and all their needed comunication had been made by means of official letters, therefore this was the first time she saw him twice in the same year. No words were exchanged between Stef and Tolfin as the former handed the young queen over to her uncle, soon-to-be husband. Tolfin smiled down at her.

"You truly are beautiful, my niece," he whispered. "You are doing the right, we are doing the right thing."

The rest of the ceremony was a blur to Sarine, the priest's words not even registering in her mind. Soon enough, it was over, and one of the moments she was dreading the most was upon her, the kiss. She swallowed hard as her uncle turned to her and smiled. Her lips were dry as he leaned in, but the moment never came. His lips landed on her forehead instead before he turned to the audience. Sarine raised a suspicious eyebrow. What, in Alxer's name, he is playing at?

The priest put a hand on each of their shoulders. "With Alxer's holy blessing, I give you the King and Queen of Falbrein!"

The sound of cheering both from inside and outside the temple was almost deafening.

The feast lasted for the rest of the day, and Sarine just went with flow as she sat beside her uncle/husband behind a large table in the palace's ballroom. She politely thanked nobles for their wishes of a happy marriage and accepted Lacos and Stef's soothing words whenever Tolfin stood up to walk around the room. She asked them about her uncle's action of kissing her forehead, but none of them had a clue about the meaning of it.

"Maybe he got some sense into his head and is treating this marriage as a mere mean to unite the kingdom, as he should," Stef offered, but the expression on Lacos' face told Sarine he wasn't so sure about the knight's guess.

The churning feeling on the pit of her stomach because of what would happen after the feast refused to go away, so she didn't touch her food at all. Soon enough, Tolfin stood up near the end of the night and raised his silver chalice towards the room. "Noble citizens of Falbrein, now is the time for Sarine and I to have our dance and then leave you," he said. "I want to thank you for sharing this day with us and here's to our beloved Falbrein, may it grow larger and richer!"

The nobles were divided between cheering and snickering as a pale Sarine accepted Tolfin's hand and walked beside him to the center of the room. Reality crashed down around her as she moved alongside her uncle, she was his wife now, and technically, he could do everything he wanted to her. The redhead felt a bit sick, but she didn't want to look weak before the nobles, so she firmly stood her ground. Their dance was quite normal, as if they were merely following a protocol, and after a few minutes, it was over.

Sarine numbly followed Tolfin out of the ballroom, the sound of clapping ringing in her ears. Four armored knights escorted them to the royal quarters of the castle, accommodations that haven't been in use ever since her parents were exiled. When the doors closed behind the two of them, a nervous and trembling Sarine watched as her uncle-turned-husband spun around and looked down at her. Gone was the friendly expression on his face, a quite different one having taken its place.