Wicked Stepmother

The Wedding

True to his word, my fiance sourced the beginnings of a magical library, a cauldron and set of astronomical spheres, various herbs and incense and even a crystal ball. He had a room in one of the towers furnished for me and took me up there one night to show me it was perfect for star-gazing.

I wasn't sure how to go about any of the things that would be "magic", besides I had a suspicion that the things he had furnished my tower with were mixed up artefacts from various traditions but I decided it would do me no harm to start reading the books in my more than ample spare time. In the midst of all these changes the wedding occurred.

I suppose some would wish me to write more of that- to describe my dress, the foreign lace and gold thread embroidery in my train, the softness and sheerness of my veil, the satin of my slippers, the golden curl of each lock of my hair or the fact that I was attended by the famous Snow White- oh yes! Unfortunately through the veil I could see almost nothing of her besides the fact that she was rice-powder pale which set off the blackness of her hair and redness of her lips. She wore a sky-blue dress and I could not speak to her during the ceremony. Afterwards she had mysteriously been whisked away.

Why?

Why must I never meet my step-child who I must confess I was hoping to find more sister and friend than anything else!

But there were the ordeals of the wedding feast and the wedding dance to get through...and perhaps it is a mercy that I was fully ignorant about the wedding night.

In that land, my new land of which I was newly crowned queen they had a tradition that the king's or king's heir's wedding night would be witnessed by twelve counsellors. There was a stage with a bed specially prepared on it. It was covered in satin and soft furs and had lace curtains. In every way it was the most beautiful bed I had ever seen, but I did not understand what was to happen to me.

I will not dwell on the pain, the fear, the humiliation of what transpired between an elderly man and a girl who was not only sixteen years of age but had led a very closeted and protected life. Through my tears I was aware of the counsellors, solemnly watching, passive but oppressively present. Afterward my now husband told me he would in the future visit me in my rooms when he wanted to beget a son, but that he saw no point forcing himself on me.

He said he realised I would take lovers but asked that I protected myself from conceiving with them and some of his suggestions seemed to me to be obscene, though now with the benefit of hindsight I can see that he meant to be practical and accepting.

I went back to my own room bleeding and terrified and cried for many hours.