Lunar Flare Book 2: Midnight Eclipse

Chapter 19

Emil had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the day. This is because he simply had nothing to say about the situation to anyone around him. Nothing to say to Barkley who came to wake him in the morning from his restless sleep, while giving him a sympathetic look. Nothing to say to his mother as she dressed him up for the ceremony and carefully did his hair, all while chatting on and on about his bride to be. Nothing to say to his father as he gave him a stern talking to, warning Emil against screwing anything up for them, except to say 'yes sir' when required.

He had stood quietly at the altar which had been set up in the estate garden, for once the picture of obedience. Watched sombrely as his bride was walked down the aisle on the arm of her father. This was Emil's first time even seeing her at all. She was pretty, just as his mother had said. With bright blue eyes and wavy auburn hair, freckles spotted her rosy cheeks just as they did Emil's. Their children would certainly be bright eyed, curly haired and freckled. And pretty, that was for sure.

Her name was Juliana, from the Ashdown noble family which lived on the other side of the kingdom. Though in a moment she would be Juliana Rosenthorne, he supposed. She was looking around at the gathered audience of their two families, smiling at them cheerily. Finally, she looked up at her groom, and when their eyes met, Emil tried to read her face to see what she thought of him, or what she felt about this whole situation.

Her smile had dropped away for a moment in a brief look of surprise when she looked at him. Then the corners of her eyes creased with the smile when it returned to her lips. Well, it seemed that she was pleased enough with him at least. At least one of them might have hope of being happy about this arrangement.

The rest of the ceremony felt like a blur to Emil. Vows were spoken, though he felt like he could barely hear anything, and he gently kissed her on her brightly coloured, soft lips and felt... absolutely nothing. And then there was polite applause, and the pair of them were bustled inside for the traditional celebratory feast. Emil sat next to his wife at the table and spoke not a word to her, or barely anyone else unless directly addressed. He gave short answers, stopping any attempts of conversation with him dead in its tracks. He saw Juliana look at him with concern.

And then, somehow, the day was ending, and he was suddenly in the bedroom with her. Alone.

He carefully assisted her in unbuttoning and unlacing her wedding dress, his movements so stiff that he felt like some sort of stone golem. Once she was stripped down to her frilly undergarments she went and sat on the bed as he methodically pulled off his own clothing, folding it up and placing it on top of his dresser. Once he was dressed in naught but his own undergarments, he approached the bed.

Juliana looked up at him with her large pretty eyes as he sat down on the edge of the bed, facing slightly away from her. He rallied his courage, then pulled his legs up on the mattress and turned towards her, searching her expression.

"What is wrong, husband?" she asked in such a soft and gentle tone. "Am I not pretty enough for you?"

Emil let a short, sharp exhale of air out of his nose at that. "No, no, you are beautiful, really," he said truthfully, giving her a weary smile.

"Then what is the matter?" she pressed, giving him a doleful look.

"I'm just... nervous..." he admitted, glancing away from her.

"It's alright, we can take it slow," she reassured, gently cupping his chin in one of her delicate hands.

"You say that as if from a place of experience with these sorts of things," he said mirthfully. "Aren't you supposed to be a virgin?"

"What my parents don't know won't hurt them," she said with a small smirk, an expression which clashed with the quiet and gentle nature he had assumed of her up until this point. "Are you one?"