Survivor (A Skyrim Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Eighteen

It was a warm spring evening even though the sun had sunk under the horizon. A beautiful blue aurora hung in the night sky like ribbons across a sheet of dotted navy, the movements like waves in the sea. Two braziers stood burning bright against the darkness illuminating the area around us.

Ulfric stood between the burning flames, smiling as he watched me walk towards him with a small bouquet of wildflowers clutched nervously in my hands. Though there was only us and the High-Priest, I still felt as if a million eyes were watching me, making my hands slightly shake and my heart beat rapidly in my chest.

Joining Ulfric, I couldn't help myself from stopping to stare into his eyes. They gleamed with pride and joy as he bored into mine, which I'm sure reflected exactly the same.

High-Priest Lortheim cleared his throat as he started the ceremony.

"It was Mara that first gave birth to all of creation and pledged to watch over us as her children. It is from her love of us that we first learned to love one another. It is from this love that we learn that a life lived alone is no life at all.

"We gather here today, under Mara's loving gaze, to bear witness to the union of two souls in eternal companionship. May they journey forth together in this life and the next, in prosperity and poverty, and in joy and hardship. Do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?"

Ulfric gazed down at me, the same shine in his eyes.

"I do. Now and forever," he smiled.

Lortheim turned to me and asked the same question.

"Do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?"

"I do. Now and forever."

Ulfric squeezed my hand as I said the words and let out a breath he was holding.

"Under the authority of Mara, the Divine of Love, I declare this couple to be wed. I present to the two of you with these matching rings, blessed by Mara's divine grace. May they protect each of you in your new life together," Lortheim declared.

Again, Ulfric and I turned to each other. The rings we had made privately together were given to each of us; his to me, and mine to him. The rings were matching - a golden band twisted in a Nordic interlinked chain.

Ulfric slid mine onto my finger first, instantly making the idea of marriage to his man a reality. I copied his action, slipping the bigger ring onto his stubby fingers. This was real.

He brought his hand up to my chin and tilted it up with his index finger, then gently pressed his lips against mine.

"I love you Aemilia. Heart, mind, body and soul, I'm yours."

"And I am yours," I whispered, "In every possible way."

Lortheim excused himself and left the two of us alone. We were outside of the city, by a slope that led down to the river and surrounded by wildflowers.

"Ah, Aemilia Stormcloak. I like the sound of that," Ulfric chuckled.

"Not as much as I like it."

He smiled and took me into his arms, softly stroking my hair.

"I'm glad you decided on a quiet wedding," I commented, half into his shoulder.

"So am I. But we should go back now; people will be wondering where ever we've got to."

We walked hand in hand the short way back up to the city, where the building of the new library was still in process for the day.

"Tell me how your mother died," I asked quietly.