As was custom, Andrius and Sybil first made their way over to the King and Queen so that they could pay their respects and bow before them. When the Queen saw Sybil elegantly walk towards her and appropriately curtsey, a proud smile pulled at her lips. Even the King was able to notice her progress that was made in just a few short days.
While the young couple was still near them, the King stood and addressed the room. “As most of you know, my brave son was injured in the throws of battle. On death’s door, he found a remarkable young woman who nursed him back to health and kept him out of harm’s way. Today we are here to celebrate not only my son’s safe return, but also his engagement to the woman who saved him.”
The King grabbed his goblet of wine and lifted it in the air as he said, “Let us lift our glasses to our crown prince and crown princess of Ignis, Andrius and Sybil!”
“To the prince and princess!” the crowd cheered and hollered as they sipped from their cups.
Most people went back to their chit-chat and conversations that they had started before Andrius and Sybil made their entrance, and Sybil looked on at the intimidating sea of nobles and important people. Not even Sunday church services ever had this many people in attendance, so Sybil definitely felt intimidated.
The worry must have slipped through to Sybil’s face, because suddenly Andrius had stepped in front of Sybil and slightly bent down so that their faces were nearly level with each other.
“They’re going to love you,” Andrius whispered to her as if he could read her mind.
“How do you know?” Sybil softly asked.
She had never been in a situation before where all eyes were on her, and her want to impress them all and show that she belonged was suffocating her. She wanted to be a woman worthy of standing by the future King, not one that people thought held him back.
“How could they not?” Andrius asked as he gently tucked a golden curl behind her ear.
Sybil felt her heart skip when his fingers delicately grazed along her ear, and she had to remind herself to keep breathing. Andrius gave her a knowing smirk before he stook up straight and took her hand to tuck into his elbow.
They didn’t have to travel to make their way over to people they needed to greet because just then, a young man and woman who looked to be in their early twenties made their way over to the couple. Sybil immediately noticed how they resembled her fiancé.
“So this is the lady who wouldn’t let my insufferable brother just die?” the young woman with dark hair and honey eyes joked when she finally made it to the crown prince and princess.
Andrius laughed and shook his head before he gestured towards the young man and woman and said, “Sybil, these are my younger siblings. Ariel is the one who thinks she’s funny, and the one who looks like he’s trying to melt into his own clothes is Atticus.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sybil,” Atticus said, pulling Sybil’s attention towards him.
Andrius was right, Atticus did in fact look like he was trying to sink down into the ground. Sybil also noticed that while he had the same darker hair as his siblings, Atticus’s eyes almost had more of a reddish tone to them than a darkened honey tone. Had he not appeared to be so meek, he would have looked intimidating because of his eyes alone.
“It’s lovely to meet both of you,” Sybil said with a small curtsey and bow of her head. “I didn’t know Andrius had siblings.”
“It seems like we have a lot more to learn about each other. Thankfully we have a lifetime to discover one another,” Andrius said in a suave voice.
“The fact that she’s already spent weeks tending to you and is still choosing not to run away says a lot about her,” Ariel joked yet again. “You must be an angel, Sybil.”
“Oh no, Andrius is sweet to me, he—”
“She most definitely is an angel,” Andrius cut her off to say.
Sybil looked up at him only to find him smiling down at her with so much adoration that it nearly took her breath away.
“Well you did meet in a church, didn’t you? Maybe she is an angel. I’ve never seen anyone with eyes as blue as the clear sky like hers,” Atticus chimed in.
“There’s only room for one jokester in this family, and it’s definitely me, Atti,” Ariel said as she playfully nudged Atticus.
Atticus smiled at her and slightly chuckled, which only caused both Ariel and Andrius to laugh. Sybil smiled at the siblings and felt her heart warm. She had always wished to have a brother or sister to play with growing up, and now she was going to have one of each.
Talking to Ariel and Atticus significantly calmed Sybil down and eased a lot of her fears about meeting everyone else. If Andrius’ own siblings liked her, surely the rest of the guests in attendance would like her as well.
Knowing that they had other people to meet, Andrius and Sybil parted ways with the younger siblings so that they could make their rounds and greet the rest of the guests. Andrius took her around to each table where they met various nobles, all of varying statuses. At first, Sybil did her best to remember everyone’s names, but she very quickly realized that there were simply too many people to take in all at once.
Some of the people they met seemed more than thrilled to meet Sybil, while some definitely turned their noses up at her. Sybil could only assume that they knew about her humble beginnings and were not happy to be associating with someone like her.
Sybil tried not to let it get to her because she knew she would not be able to win everyone over right away. She only hoped that they would be able to keep enough of an open mind to give her a chance in the future.
When they reached the point where they only had two tables left to greet, Atticus awkwardly walked over and whispered something in his brother’s ear. Andrius nodded his head before he bent down to bring Sybil up to speed.
“I have to help my father with something quickly. It shouldn’t take long, so feel free to mingle and enjoy your party,” Andrius told her.
He took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it before he turned and left, not even giving Sybil enough time to respond. She felt panic settle into her stomach, but she did her best not to let it show. Obviously there were going to be moments in her life where Andrius wouldn’t be there to guide her through, so she had better get used to it now.
She took a moment to watch the brothers leave before she took a deep breath and looked around the room. In the back corner, she saw a table full of young women who looked to be her age, so she decided to wander over and introduce herself. She was excited at the thought of making new friends, and thought this was the perfect opportunity.
When the women saw Sybil approach, they immediately started whispering to each other. They all looked up and watched the new crown princess make her way over to them.
Sybil put on her friendliest smile and went to introduce herself, but before she could, one of the women scoffed and said, “So you’re the peasant girl Andrius has chosen as his new plaything?”