I walked slowly down the aisle. Triumphant music pyed from the gallery above. The columns that held up the gallery were statues of our gods, the Five Fathers on my right side, and the Five Mothers on my left. They towered above me in all their glory, and terrified me.

  The Great Temple of Medolina was full of people. From every direction the lords and dies of Medora stared at me. Their dresses were even more spectacur than they had been the evening before, but I stood out in my splendid white cloud of a dress.

  I was nauseous. I had made Lady Agatha make the concoction that prevents pregnancy in the morning. She had shaken her head and said:

  "This is the st time."

  I could tell she meant it. Since then I had not been able to eat anything. Maybe it was also the nerves.

  At the end of the aisle stood Prince Virtus, behind him the old king and Prince Plinius. I shuddered to see him. Finally I reached the dais, stepping up to stand opposite Prince Virtus, with the High Tempr beside us.

  "Welcome all, to this most joyous of occasions!"

  The High Tempr began his speech. He was an old man, but still full of fire. I could not see well through the sparkles of my veil, but I tried to read the emotions in Virtus's face. He was the perfect image of composure, standing silently and smiling politely. There was nothing which betrayed either disappointment in the union nor any particur excitement.

  The speech was long and impassioned, but I barely took any of it in. All I could do was focus on Prince Virtus, trying to glean his emotions.

  "Do you, Princess Talia of Havermark take Prince Virtus to be your wfully wedded husband?"

  "By the Five Fathers I do," I heard my voice ringing from afar.

  "And do you, Prince Virtus of Medora take Princess Talia to be your wfully wedded wife?"

  "By the Five Mothers I do," his deep and clear voice echoed in the Great Temple.

  The crowd erupted in appuse. I was married. In a haze I saw myself going through the rest of the motions. Drinking from the cup for prosperity, breaking the mirror for luck, blowing out the candle to make the marriage st until death do us part.

  Til death do us part...

  We walked out of the hall, arm in arm. The masses of Medolina were cheering wildly. The king had given free wine and music to the public on this day. It was unsure if they would like me, but at least they liked my wedding celebrations.

  At our sides there were rows of guards shielding us from the public. As I moved towards our carriage I frantically looked for Alvar's face among the guards, but I couldn't see if he was there. Prince Virtus led me quickly into the carriage where the door was shut behind us.

  Then we were alone. The roar of the crowd seemed distant although they were just outside. Virtus, sitting beside me grabbed my hand.

  "How are you?" his eyes were warm and full of concern.

  "I'm fine," I lied.

  He squeezed my haand reassuringly, and the carriage jolted to go.

  We had to open the curtains of the carriage, waving to all the people in the crowd. Inside the huge dress filled the carriage. It spilled over from my seat onto Virtus's p. We were accompanied by the royal guard, but I couldn't really see any of their faces. The same musicians that had welcomed me to the city only a week before pyed traditional wedding songs. I tried to smile politely, and waved mechanically to the people of the city.

  We drove around various streets of the city, making sure that as many citizens as possible could see us. Most cheered, one threw a bottle of wine at the carriage and was quickly subdued by the Royal Guard. The prince and I barely looked at each other, but the whole way he held my hand reassuringly. His hand was warm and strong.

  Eventually, we arrived back in the castle courtyard. It was strangely empty. All the members of the court had already started the party and most of the staff was attending to the guests. The only people I saw there were the guards that had accompanied us around the city. Finally I could see, Alvar was not among them.

  Arm in arm with Virtus I walked in to the castle. He leaned in and whispered in my ear:

  "Would you like to take a little break."

  I nodded.

  "Come with me."

  He led me down a different hallway than the one that led to the Great Hall. The guards moved to follow him, but he held up a finger, indicating that they should wait outside. He opened the door to a small room, and took me inside.

  It was a ornately decorated little room with rge, gold pted bas-relief of the sun on one wall. Under it was a small pedestal with a bouquet of red poppies. It had four little benches with an aisle in the middle and one small stained gss window.

  The silence was very welcome. I breathed in and it felt like my first real breath all day. Virtus sat down on one of the benches and I sat down on the one next to it. My huge dress filled the entire bench.

  "You looked like you needed a break. I know today must be a lot for you. We can sit here for a moment, and then you can let me know when you are ready to join the guests for the reception."

  "You're right, I was very overwhelmed. Thanks."

  "Of course, any time."

  "What is this room?"

  "It's our chapel to the sun god Aten. My mother was from Pyrrha, and she was a believer all her life. Now no-one comes here but me. It's my refuge."

  "What was her name?"

  "Mariana."

  "That's a beautiful name." I paused. "And the flowers?"

  "Red poppies, they were her favourite. Of course as crown prince of Medora I need to observe our state religion of the Mothers and Fathers, but I leave the flower as a homage to her."

  "That's beautiful."

  "Thank you."

  "I think I'm ready to go back out now."

  "All right, let's go."