She was so beautiful. The wedding preparations took almost three months. After the ceremony to crown the new queen, there was a week-long celebration.
There was more commotion in the streets moving from the cathedral after the ceremony than at my coronation and the last king's funeral combined. She sat by my side and smiled at me.
With a gentle motion of her hand, she declined to refill her wine glass and linked her fingers in her lap. Another of the nobles presented his gifts to the new queen, Valleria nodded her thanks with a gracious nod and assured the man of her gratitude. She had memorized their names and titles in such a short time, leaving no one to doubt her qualities for a moment.
I glanced at her again discreetly. She noticed and reached her hand out to me under the table. I clasped it in my fingers and brought her hand up to kiss the back of her fingers.
"How are you? Does it still hurt?" I asked softly.
"Hmm." She nodded, her face a little pale, and leaned more into the chair.
She was worried that I would be angry when she told me two days ago about her monthly bleeding and that we wouldn't be able to seal the marriage right after the ceremony. I thought it would be that way, I could do the math, and it had been almost six months since she had lived in the castle. All I had to do was to keep track of the days she missed riding with Incanna and later the days she avoided my bedroom and wouldn't let me into hers.
I've waited this long, those few days won't kill me. I intertwined my fingers with hers so I could hold her hand.
"Do you want to go get some rest?" I asked again, but she just shook her head and continued to smile bravely.