"Willock, the boy in his mightiest of characters," Amir started out, and I found myself smiling as I hugged him in the manner of manship greetings. His sisters also came out, and I noticed the gaze Princess Hasmine was giving me. I knew I had wronged her, but she had to understand my reasons for doing so. She just had to understand, at least by pacing herself inside my shoes.
"Jackson, please help our guests into their rooms, especially the princesses. We have a lot to catch up on with brother here." Jackson was the house manager. I hoped the journey was not very tiresome for the princesses. I had made sure that they were prepared with the hottest of baths and made to sleep in the quietest of rooms, which had not a single noise from any disturbing mosquitoes. As the princesses entered their rooms, we were left with Amir on the outside. It was late, almost eleven at night. He also needed sleep, and I needed the most rest, as firstly, it would be bad if I were to be sleepy tomorrow. A lot is expected of me; and I am the man of the ceremony. I have to be as alive as possible.
"She was depressed when you left," Amir stated, and I was not sure who she was talking about. "Both of them were," he added. "They seemed to have a liking, and hell, why did you send that letter?" He asked, and I knew I was in no mood to explain to him what happened and this and that. But I knew I needed to have him as a backup and as the man who would stand by me. "Who is your best man tomorrow?" he asked out of nowhere. We were already being served some beers as we sat outside, being embraced by the little lights of the moon.
"The viscount's son is the known dazzling bachelor; he shall be."
"You are not sure?" He asked. Amir's English was questionable, but I did not mind either way.
"We do not like each other."
"Why so?" he asked.
"He had a liking for the princess, I stole." This made Amir laugh.
"You always had a liking for that girl. I'm proud of you, brother," he stated. After gulping down the beer, he added, "have you gotten some experience? You know tomorrow night, paradise will be next to you." This made me laugh, and I just stated, "I am tired, brother, let's get inside."
"I barely even finished the beer."
"I am the husband; I need to be flourishing," I stated as I started walking back, which made him follow me, gasping at how beautiful our compound was. The wedding was to take place exactly at eleven am in the cathedral church in London, so it meant we were to start the journey earlier. The carriages and horses were well set and decorated; it somehow felt like the day had arrived. And hell, I could not sleep, even after laying my head in this bed, my mind revolved around what shall happen tomorrow, the fact that I would be with the princess. We would journey to the Lake of Tigris, where we would spend the night. Father had already dealt with that; he had redecorated the house and brought his things back here in Bavdon and told me that I was free to stay in Tigris, as long as I needed to.
*********************************************************************************************
Times Square, London.
And when crows crow, days come alive, and indeed, a day it is.
As you all know, today the King will marry off their dazzling daughter into the hands of the boy, a Duke indeed, the Duke of Bavdon's son, Lord Willock. It is with much understanding, dear citizens, that these two met in a ballroom dance, initiated by our dearest Baron here in London, in celebration of the engagement of his second daughter to the first Prince of Russia.
As you remember, dear citizens, when eyes lock, hearts sync, and sparks embrace the air. Anyone present in that room saw how sparks flared around our dearest Duke's son and the King's daughter.
However, celebrations and love find themselves amidst the biggest of rumors. It is to be known that Lord Willock has already taken over Wales, with all the Barons finally accepting the King's invite for the celebration today. It was stated in the least of words 'shall be there'... and when a King's flock, even when astray, seeks aid, even in the darkest of ways, our generous King seeks all ways to aid, and sure he did. Hail the King.
Come one, come all. Let's meet in the King's for the celebration, and to embrace the floor, to our dazzling, left-out bachelors. How eager are we to see the new diamonds embracing the courtship journey.
*****************************************************************************************
Breathe in, breathe out. I told myself over and over again. I was nervous and anxious, like waiting for someone you're never sure will come. The viscount had arrived early and escorted us to the church, along with his son William, his daughter, and the viscountess. They all congratulated me, and somehow, it felt like William was in cahoots with me. Right now, as I stood in front of the church, his left hand rested on my shoulder, as if noticing how nervous I was. Yes, we were in church; time had flown so fast, I wasn't sure how to recount what had happened. I heard whispers that the princess had arrived. Of course, she would be wearing the traditional gloves and white clothing, but I knew she would be beautiful. I hadn't seen her since that ballroom, only the letters I sent her repeatedly. In my cardigan's left breast pocket, I placed her pen, hoping she would notice it when she looked at me. Everyone was already seated, and it seemed to take forever. I waited for her, and suddenly, her sisters and the princes started entering. The King had handsome children, sometimes I felt like including myself, but they had big heads, unlike mine, which was thin. I wondered what features I took from him. Maybe my brown hair color, even my beard was brown, and the thin nose, and maybe one of my ears, but the shape of my head was surely never from him. It really didn't compare with the rest of the princes, except for our hair color, which is why today I wore a red cap, which I shall remove when the procession begins. Amir had brought me the cap and the cardigan; he had promised to make it the best and to embrace neutrality between the traditions of our nation and their fashion colors. As I thought, the doors of the church opened, and I saw her, covered in a large netted veil. Her dress was large; the queen stood by her side, and the King, and behind them were two other gentlemen, maybe his brothers, I assumed. I never asked her why she stayed with the King. I feared, or let me state, I saw no point in asking. She walked steadily, as if fearing that if she hurried, she might trip and make the worst mistakes. Small royalty boys, maybe the older prince's sons and daughters, were aligned perfectly with their high-waist trousers and matching suits as they led the way for her. It felt like a dream; I didn't even notice that William had already removed his hand from my shoulder.
"In the name...," Father started when she arrived next to me, and God, I saw a little smile as her best lady helped her raise the veil that covered her face. All I can say, today her skin seemed whiter, her teeth seemed sparklier, and her eyes seemed more colorless than blue... I had already fallen in love. All that was left was her following me in the same paths. I felt the familiar butterflies flying within me, as the father conducted all the processions, everything... everything was stated. From praying for us, to preaching for us, and to making some jokes about marriage, and with us signing the certificates, until he said we were now man and wife, I felt relieved. It was like something I had been waiting for my whole life... and the truth is I sure did wait for it. I sure did… and then we left to embrace the party, as the King had prepared all delicacies for us. We had not spoken a word to each other, not a single one. The only word I knew I would state first is "you are beautiful"; that was the only thing ringing in my mind. The church service had taken about three hours; it was already four PM when we arrived at the King's, and we hence started enjoying our delicacies, as the instrumentalists embraced us with classical marriage music. They sure knew how to do it as we waited for darkness to charm our way and embrace the dancefloor, and then leave the rest dancing as we started our journey to the lake. Eating much, knowing one was to dance, was never a good thing. Meaning I did not have the opportunity to enjoy the food, and I noticed she was not eating much too. Why was she suddenly shy? I found myself asking, or maybe it was the night after that scared her. I would never touch her if she were not ready; it was something I had in mind, I know, but if she were not ready for us to be together, I would wait until she was.
"May I have this dance?" I asked her, and everyone looked at us as the instrumentalists changed the music. It was now time to dance. She took my hand, which always fit well with mine, and then I led her to the dance floor, whispering, "you look beautiful today, I am blessed of all men in this house." And then we started as the rest of the bachelors joined us. After a while of dancing, she stated she was getting a little tired, and we left the dance floor. As I left to meet the King, we embraced each other, and he introduced me to his fellow leaders. Afterwards, I met Amir, as he too was leaving, and I briefly spoke with Princess Hasmine. I realized they had started dancing with one of the princes, and William was hooked up with Princess Shahidi. He seemed not to let her go, making Amir give empty promises that they would come back. After saying my goodbyes, I set the carriage that was to take us to the Lake of Tigris, which was already set, and I took the princess, and we started the journey.
"Are you tired?" I asked, which made her smile at me.
"I just wanted us to start the journey; you seemed worried. Did not eat much." I was glad with the answer; she looked up at me, and it meant much.
"I missed you," I stated, and she just made a sly smile.
"Not so fast," she stated.
"I mean it. I have waited for this day since I met you," I stated, which she just shrugged off, placed her head on my shoulder, and locked our fingers. And hell, it took me a little effort to remove the little distractions that made our skins not touch. I knew she could hear my altered breathing rate; it is sometimes hard to hide such things.