JANUARY 28TH, 1708
The hall was silent. No music was being played, save for the occasional cough or murmur and the footsteps Elira's heel made as she walked down the aisle, no man beside her.
She moved slowly, her hands clutching a small bouquet so tightly the stems threatened to snap while the barely visible thorns pressed into her skin.
The plain white gown she wore did nothing to hide the fragility of her frame and how thin she was, despite having eaten more in recent times. Instead, it made her appear more ghost than bride, a pale black-haired wraith drifting down an aisle paved with disdain.
The veil she wore covered her violet eyes and masked the thoughts floating around in her mind.
[Keep walking, Elira... Your fiancé is right there... You're so close...]
Eyes followed her as she walked. Dozens of them from every side, but the only two she was thinking about were the pair directly in front, and they weren't the wedding officiant.
She could feel their stares burn into her skin, as though each whisper and sneer were flames reaching out to touch her.
The cursed daughter. The ill omen. A pawn. All names that she had heard in person and in writing flashed through her mind as she put her foot on the step to the altar.
The man opposite to Elira? Aric Dreyos.
His cold gray eyes watched as she walked up to the altar; his sharp details with his chiseled face, strong jaw, and straight nose couldn't even pierce the tension in the room at that moment. His dark brown hair was messily slicked back, clearly in some form of attempt to look presentable, but it seemed very forced.
He wore an extremely dark blue wedding suit- it could've been mistaken for being just black. The suit contrasted with the tone of his skin, lighter than the last time Elira saw him, and it was now a little paler compared to the bronze, sun-rich color it used to be. He had a little emerald brooch stitched to his suit on the left side of his chest.
Elira took her first step on the altar, head down as she stood directly opposite to Aric, only a couple of feet away.
[I can hear him breathing...]
The wedding officiant began speaking the vows straight from the book in front of him.
"Sir Aric Dreyos and Lady Elira Veylen will now exchange rings as a symbol of commitment. May the rings please be brought up?"
Two little kids came up, holding the rings on a small pillow. Elira smiled at them, picking up a ring while Aric picked up the other. She looked at his hands and then up at his face.
[I should... extend my hand, right? For him to put the ring on?]
Elira slowly extended her hand as Aric watched her. However, he ignored it and put the ring on his own ring finger. The audience burst into murmurs and whispers.
[O-oh...]
Elira slipped the ring onto her own finger as Aric looked at the Wedding Officiant, with him being able to read the room well enough to continue speaking.
"Do you, Sir Aric Dreyos, take Lady Elira Veylen to be your lawfully-"
"I... do," Aric responded, without a hint of emotion in his voice, but there was a clear pause between the words.
[He didn't even let him finish... he must hate me then...]
There was another pause in the Wedding Officiant before he continued again. "Do you, Lady Elira Veylen, take Sir Aric Dreyos to be your lawfully wedded husband? Will you honor and cherish them, continue to deepen your understanding of them, and treat them with love and compassion in joy and pain, sickness and health, and whatever life might throw your way?"
"I do," Elira spoke quickly and softly, but only after letting the wedding officiant finish, and she could see Aric's knuckles being clenched the entire time.
[Should I have also interrupted him...?]
"By the authority vested in me, and with the trust of you all here today, I now declare you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Elira closed her eyes.
[Please... just this one thing...]
But the kiss never came. It never would come. The veil stood still on Elira's head as Aric rushed out of the venue, and the door closed with a loud boom as Elira opened her eyes and watched him leave. A lump in her throat began to form, but she managed to hold it in.
[Oh...]
The room burst out in talk, people whispering, murmuring, some not even trying to hide it. The Wedding Officiant left quite immediately through a back entrance, which Elira took note of.
A couple of minutes after he left, Elira followed suit, walking to the entrance of the duchy where a carriage from House Dreyos was already waiting for her.
She practically rushed to it once she spotted it. Once she reached it, she noticed a maid sitting inside and a knight guarding it.
"Please, take me to House Dreyos now." Elira impatiently looked around to make sure neither her brother, father, nor Mara followed her. "The wedding has ended."
"Very well. Please sit inside the carriage," The knight said, but he didn't even bother to open the door for her like most men did in the presence of a lady, noble or not. He went and sat at the helm of the carriage, where the driver was also sitting.
As Elira stepped into the carriage, she didn't speak to the maid immediately.
"Hello... What is your name?" Elira asked, giving her a shy smile as she looked diagonally across the seats. "I'm Elira. I mean- Lady Elira Veylen- Dreyos? Lady Elira Dreyos."
"I'm well aware. My name is Lily. I will be your maid serving you at House Dreyos."
"Oh... Ok. Nice to meet you, Lily."
The carriage rumbled as the horses began to move on the rocky road.
[It's ok, Elira... It can only get better from here. Maybe Father will miss me once I'm gone, and he'll forgive me then.]
She looked out the window with a somber expression, though Lily took no notice.