"Dad, why must I marry?" The question always struck me as a strange one. I was never the one to go out of my way to date or find a bride but now that I am being forced into marriage it's a question I must ask.
"You know that answer. I need you to have a child, you're not immortal and we need the bloodline to continue." I stepped away from my father's throne.
Tomorrow that throne would be mine. After I marry whatever her name was. I didn't know, and I didn't care. The only reason I was going to marry her is for the sake of the bloodline and being able to control the elf territory.
Nothing of which benefited me. Rather than a man of peace, My father was a man of war. Only something that I know will not happen in my reign. It wasn't till the next morning did I ever check the suit I was to wear to my wedding.
It was Black with a red undershirt. Along with a red cape that might be longer than the bride's veil. I slipped it on over my muscular body. The suit was too tight but it was too late to fix that.
I walked out of the dressing room buttoning the cuffs of my sleeves. Pinning it with the signature cufflink of my ancestors. They were gold with a luminous red ruby in the center.
I walked into the altar and the arch had already been set in the middle of the garden. The chairs were filled with people from what I could only assume were somehow related to me. I never tended to be around family, so if I knew them when I was younger I'd most likely not know who they are now.
I went to my designated position. Under the tall old oak, in front of the arc. The sun was just barely over the horizon. Lighting the sky a dark blue and purple. What's taking so long?
The lighting from the lantern on the arc was my only source of light since the sun had set. Not even a second later, I see her. She wears a light blue dress with ruffles from her waist to the ground. Like rushing water, even more like a waterfall.
The sleeves were thinly snaked up her arms. Not something you'd wear in the cooler weather. Her veil flowed in the wind. Under her feet were… Fireflies… She was something out of a painting.
The piano played as she crunched the grass down the aisle. She made her way towards me and suddenly I felt like what I was wearing was nothing compared to her.
Standing in front of me she turns towards the pastor, giving him a thumbs up as he starts. "Dearly beloved, Today we are here to make two souls whole." After his blabbering we say our vows.
"Before we continue, is there anyone who'd like to reject this marriage?" The pastor threw his hands out to the crowd, to which they were silent, only shaking their heads. I could see her grab onto her dress. She wouldn't right now after her parents were killed.
She either had to marry me, or my father would take her kingdom by force. "I…" she stuttered. I grabbed her hands without thinking. I held them both in my hands, They were small and fragile compared to mine. One wrong move might break them.
She looked up at me and for the first time tonight I saw her face. I smile at her and she quiets down. "Well then let's continue! Ares do you take Zera as your humbly wedded wife in sickness and in health you will stay by her side?" The answer was simple for both of us.
"I do." "Zera, do you take Ares as your humbly wedded husband in sickness and in health you will stay by his side?" The air was silent as if everything was dead. Silence. "I...do." "Well based on the power infested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride!"
I pulled the veil off her face. Pulling her close to me by the waist. I could see the beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. I leaned down and…kissed her on the cheek. She seemed relieved. I was not going to force her to kiss me, though that thought did cross my mind.