37
Outside Stella’s cottage, Rachel sat astride Melodia, her brilliant blue gown covering a large part of the horse. Tiny gemstones had been sewn onto the garment in many places making it sparkle in the late spring sun. She sat straight, holding a huge bouquet of flowers that flowed to either side of the horse who wore no saddle, no bridle, but had agreed to have a single dragonstone affixed to the middle of the star on her forehead.
Katja sat on a similar horse in an even more amazing gown, of violet, matching the bougainvillea flowers that comprised a large part of her bouquet. Her horse was saddled and bridled in a more traditional fashion, but she still sat astride, as was quickly becoming the fashion among the young ladies.
Aurelia and Gemina sat on other horses.
The wedding party were escorted by a small host of men on horses and armed with swords and banners of the realm – boasting the colours of the Royal Families.
A horn sounded from the other end of the village.
A clicking sound alerted the horses to the fact it was time to move forward, slowly up the main road through the village to the castle. The entire route was lined with villagers, who let the wedding party through with whoops and hollers of excitement and joined in at the end of the parade.
“Nervous, Kat?” Rachel asked.
“Just a little,” Katja admitted. “You?”
Rachel thought a moment. “Honestly? No. I’m just so incredibly excited. I would never have dreamed of this moment in our little flat!”
“Me neither, Rach!”
A moment later, the sounds of a medieval-type minstrel band made it impossible to be heard. Rachel had heard such things in movies, but it had been nothing like what they heard now. Finally, they reached the lawn of the castle, with all the village crowded in behind them.
The ladies finally laid their eyes upon their beloveds, standing before the King, Queen and Princess Royal. The cheers and whoops from the crowd increased to deafening levels.
At last, the parade was complete and the beautiful brides on their horses came to a stop next to their grooms who lifted their brides down off the horses.
“Please join hands with your intended,” the King said.
“Here we go!” Breyind whispered quickly, smiling at Rachel.
“I was beginning to lose hope for these two!” the King admitted for all to hear. “No matter how many times Stella reassured me that it would happen, it just didn’t seem likely. That was, until a couple of weeks ago when these two young ladies graced us with their presence. Son? Nephew? I pray to all the gods that these ladies are everything you ever dreamed of and more. Daughter? Niece? I pray to all the gods that my son and my nephew are all that you ever dreamed of and more as well.”
Katja blushed as she listened to the King, her father as of today! She had a family who wanted her!
“Adrick and Katja. Breyind and Rachel. Let me first of all tell you congratulations on having found each other. Also let me remind you that the gods and Guardians will hold you to a much higher standard than I ever will. Your commitments to one another are blood-binding in their eyes, except in case of gross misdeeds. Doubly so when we are merging god lines as you have already done.
“First, I must confirm that each of you are here of your own free will. Breyind Inari?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Rachel Upton?”
“Yes, Your Majesty… Uncle,” Rachel replied.
“Adrick of Velantia?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Katja McIntire?”
There was a pause as Katja thought a moment. But she remembered standing in her flat, no one having missed her, and understanding, at last, what exactly Velantia could be for her.
“Are you here of your own free will, Katja McIntire?” the King asked a second time, worry clouding his face a moment.
“Yes,” she replied with a smile, looking at Adrick who let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Good,” the King said, the worry gone now. “Now, the oaths. Adrick of Velantia, do you take Katja McIntire to be your life partner, to love, honour, cherish and respect for all the days of your lives? Do you accept both the rights and responsibilities that being a husband means?”
“Yes, I do,” Adrick said looking at Katja.
The King repeated the oath to Katja. “Do you accept both the rights and responsibilities that being a wife means?” he finished.
“Yes, I do,” Katja echoed.
The King repeated the oaths to Breyind and Rachel, both of whom replied as expected, with big smiles.
“You may exchange tokens of promise,” the King said.
The men put rings and bracelets onto the left hands of their brides. The women, in exchange, placed ornate chains around the necks of their grooms.
“I declare you properly married under Velantian law. May I present to the village: Prince Adrick and Princess Katja of Velantia!”
There was a huge cheer, making the crowd sound much bigger than it was.
“May I present to the village: Prince Breyind and Princess Rachel Inari!”
Another huge cheer sounded.
“You may share a token of affection,” the King said.
The crowd cheered as the princes kissed their brides for them. Only Rachel noticed Stella pointing a very Other World-like video camera at them, recording the event for everyone who would ever need it.
Adrick lifted Katja to the horse and mounted up behind. Breyind did the same for Rachel. The villagers fell back on both sides in anticipation. “Be ready,” Breyind whispered to Rachel.
“For what?” she asked.
Suddenly, Adrick urged his horse to a full gallop out of the castle yard to the excited cheers of the villagers.
<Gallop!> Rachel thought to Melodia, who followed excitedly.
The guards who had escorted them in followed just as quickly.
“Now what?” Rachel asked her husband.
“Now, it’s off to tour Velantia, my Princess!” he said, kissing her neck. “Don’t worry, our other horses and everything will catch up to us by tomorrow morning. Part of this is just for the villagers anyway.”
“Don’t we feast with the village?” Rachel asked.
“They feast today, but we will join them in another feast when we return,” he replied. “The village hopes that you and Katja will be very obviously with child by then. It guarantees not only the continuation of the Kingdom, but also the fertility of the entire village from crops to livestock to civilians.”
“I’m glad we can give them that anyway!” Rachel said.
“Me too, my Princess!” he replied. “I love saying that to you!”
As night fell, the group reached a little clearing where there were tents already erected. There were nicely decorated tents for the royal couples and other less-elegant ones for the servants. They could smell roast jelip on the spit over the fire pit making hungry stomachs growl.
“Well, Crown Princess?” Adrick asked as they entered their tent later.
“It will do,” she supposed, turning to accept the eager, lustful kisses from her husband.
“You terrified me earlier,” he said.
“How?”
“When my father asked you if you were here of your own free will.”
“The question surprised me,” Katja replied. “I had to think about everything again.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened!” he said, reclining on the comfortable sleep mat on the floor. “I didn’t know what you were going to say!”
“I didn’t know either, at first,” Katja said, joining him. “But then I remembered how I felt in England – and then visiting my mother… and how I feel with you and your parents… I remembered that this was my family now, not in the Other World. That’s when I realized I really was here of my own free will.”
“For that I am eternally grateful!” he said covering her with kisses, pushing her gown down and eliciting her passion to share their wedded union together.
“Finished feasting?” Stella asked Astra and Marie.
“I think Ewan’s ready for bed!” Marie replied.
“Let’s go tuck him in and take a look at your new greenhouse,” Stella said.
The three went together to the little cottage on the castle grounds. Ewan was quite awake by then and wanted to play with the rapidly growing piglets.
“I’m under the impression that Princess Rachel intends to return with more livestock for you to help with,” Stella told the boy.
“Really?!” he said excitedly.
Stella nodded at him.
“He loves ‘is life ‘ere,” Marie said. Her accent had softened a lot already since being in Velantia. It was sounding less like gutter trash and more like a lady. It suited her well, Stella thought.
“I’m glad. What about you?” Stella asked.
“It’s still taking some gettin’ used to, but I never did fit in with city life,” Marie supposed. “I’d rather be growin’ your ‘erbs!”
“I’m very glad of that too!” Stella replied.
“When do you think the Princesses will be back?” Marie asked.
“I expect it will take them a good three months – that’s 135 days here - to tour all the places in Velantia, figuring that there will be feasting all along the way. We in Velantia love to have an excuse for a good party!”
“Sounds like my kind of people!” Marie said.
“Rest well tonight. I intend to start your teaching in earnest tomorrow – both of you,” Stella said to Marie and Astra.
Supplemental Materials
Prologue, map, character list
The Legend of the Sacred Trio
Links to Buy the ebooks
(Note: If anyone knows how to make this table look better in markdown, please comment!)
| Please catch up! | Links to buy |
|---|---|
 |  |
| Birth of the Neví – 829 T.C.E. It is a tumultuous period of Terrenden history. As is all too common, there are those who wish to profit from the misfortune of others. Some of these come together in a new "charitable organization" and step on the toes of the notorious Uugli. Combine this with draconian new measures to combat pollution and Terrenden has a situation ripe for a power struggle. | Rebound of Power: 850 T.C.E. Collection of Romance Terrenden is being terrorized by a previously underestimated Neví who through the mysterious “Curator” have been controlling elections all over the planet. In this collection, we meet some interesting women. Iyva, a homeless teenager in Irola whose untrained power leaves her close to death; Marc’la, a breeder of prized caballus in Kasago whose heart lives in the past; Zukie, an abused widow whose heart is afraid to try for future happiness; Jenna, an elections assistant manager and masseuse who has a prejudice against A’mara; and Kami, a chola student in Varkevand who has been assigned to protect Ardin, a man who has his own reasons to distrust A’mara. |
| Coming | Soon! |
| Rise of the Neví - 830 T.C.E. The Neví begin their rise in power with the completion of several large housing projects that seem totally charitable, but also hide a great evil within. The draconian measures brought in the previous year has caused major distress throughout the world, perfect for giving the Neví a further foothold on the Terrenden stage. Will the A’mara, now removed from the Council of Peers, be able to shut down the Neví? | Acting the Part - 851 T.C.E. Collection of Romance - The Neví continue to make a nuisance of themselves, infiltrating the Terrenden Freedom Party who have been winning most elections around the world. Dr. Jarly is still on the run and the Curator still dominates a larger part of the Terrenden stage than most would like to know. What’s more, famous actor, Derick Aiden has decided to release his Neví expose film, causing them to issue a Death Edict on him, forcing him into hiding. In this collection, we meet more interesting women (and revisit some we’ve already got to know.) Kauri, a simple receptionist who doesn’t realize one of her wildest dreams has come true; Tirry, an elections manager who is always the bridesmaid and never the bride; Zara, a chef who has all but given up on finding love for herself; Dzani, who isn’t even looking, but has to chaperone her more vulnerable roommate; Soala, the daughter and heiress who is expected to marry, but refuses to marry someone she doesn’t love; and Moxara, one whose past griefs have locked away her heart. We also get updates on some of the lovely ladies we met previously. |
Don’t forget!
I’m still offering 1 Steem Basic Income share for any minnow who asks me a question which prompts an “Ask the Author” post! I’m thinking about putting these into a Dbooks ebook all its own, actually.
Image Credits:
Brighid's Blood cover art based on:
- Mountain background shot (on the border of Slovakia and Poland) – PublicDomainPictures.
All three images were under the creative commons licensing, (no attribution required.)
- Shaze picture developed from PXhere
Shaze divider based on:
- Sword image from Wikipedia Commons
All maps/editing by myself on GIMP and Photoscape, both free programs.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Although the penalty of knowing me in real life is that you will influence the creation of my characters; any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2018 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.
Lori Svensen – A'mara Books & Viking Visual
