Chapter 55 The Wedding Night

• Slowly, the day approached its end but the wedding was still far from over. The commoners who filled the palace earlier had been dismissed it was no easy task having the hyper multitude leave. Now the celebration continued inside the palace and the only individuals present were King Roy, Queen Leah, members of the Athens and Scytan councils, and some high-ranking warriors. Princess Ashina and Prince Juan were sitting on thrones, beside each other as each dignitary came before them to present gifts and shower them with verbal blessings. The members of the Scytan royal council stood in a corner, wearing long faces. They refused to mix up with their Arthenish counterparts and neither did they approach the newly wedded couple with any gifts or praises. They were not pleased by the whole event. Prince Juan tapped Ashina's fingers and nodded his head towards the area where the Scytan council members stood. Ashina saw them, honorable Gifford, Cecil, Hank, and Ward had their glasses in their hands, only observing the ceremony with frowns on their faces. Ashina looked back at Juan and they shared a muffled laugh. Juan let out a yawn, bored by this phase of the wedding and so was Ashina. The gift the two had just received was a pair of turtle doves from lady Resha, a member of the Athens council Ashina still recognized from home. She had said the birds were known for their fertility and speedy increase in population. She wished the couple the same. This amused Juan while Ashina dropped her head the whole time, embarrassed. The person next in line was quite the stunner. Ashina and Juan widened their eyes in surprise and weariness as their eyes fell on him. Standing before the both of them, grinning from ear to ear was Warlord Vaslof, the last person anything good was expected of.
• "Prince Juan! This is quite the big day for you and I congratulate you! Princess Ashina of Arthenis is now also a Scyta princess! That has never been heard of but I guess such is to be expected of a gem so rare! Such a shame I stand here with no gifts, I had my part to play in the preparations for this wedding but that is no excuse! I will present a worthy gift soon enough. May you two know nothing but happiness!" Vaslof exclaimed. Ashina wasn't sure what to reply. Everyone knew Vaslof never wanted the marriage... now that Ashina thought of it, only people within the palace knew. It dawned on Ashina that Vaslof was only doing this to maintain an image in the eyes of those who were unaware of his hatred for the couple. This disgusted Ashina. Snake! She thought of Vaslof. Juan placed his now bandaged palm on Ashina's as if to calm her down. Ashina wore a smile as she sensed her displeasure must have been evident on her face.
• "Warlord Vaslof, thank you very much! Your praises and kind words are very much appreciated," Juan said, mirroring his grin. Vaslof took a bow and left. Ashina felt a tad like a hypocrite as Vaslof wasn't the only one who didn't want this marriage. She didn't either. As she thought more about it, Vaslof wished ill for the Adalwolfs but she didn't. One of the reasons why she was in this marriage was to help the Adalwolfs. This drove away from the thought she had about being similar to the warlord. A man dressed in noble attire came into the middle of their midst. Ashina had assumed he was the master of the ceremony.