Hardly a Lady

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The party that King Magnys held in celebration of his son's marriage was, by all accounts, the grandest event the court had seen since the King's own coronation twenty years prior. Giselle could hardly believe her eyes as she sat in the seat of honour on the high table, with Will to her left and the King to her right. This once, the bride and groom had been given permission to sit above the King and Queen, in the highest seats, which allowed all the guests on the tables below to see their future monarchs at all times.

The wedding feast had been set up in the gardens, with hundreds of beautifully decorated tables laid out in a huge semi-circle around the dance floor and royal table. The decorators had done a marvellous job; each of the tables was fitted with a name-place written in golden calligraphy, the finest silver had been polished and placed in perfect precision, and stunning floral arrangements of white lilies and cobalt roses. The white drapes which hung from the metal pergola, which ran along the course of the tables from one end to the other, the grapes that grew upon it filling the air with a sweet, fruity smell. Speaking of grapes, servants in their finest clothes stood silently as the guests began to filter in and find their seats, holding trays of freshly made wine and pouring glasses as the members of the court sat down. An orchestra were playing soft music as people arrived, the flute and harp symphony helping to relax the guests. People were already chattering amongst themselves, both about the wedding and the latest court gossip. The wedding was the event of the decade, and nobles had come from the furthest corners of the land to attend, so naturally those who hadn't been at court in years were desperate to know about the latest goings on.

Unfortunately, today Giselle seemed to be the centre of attention. Even when she ate part of the 40 course feast that the King had ordered she could feel hundreds of eyes on her, waiting for her to make a mistake. She took extra care in ensuring that she had finished eating before she spoke to the King beside her, or sipped even more delicately at her goblet of wine. She had to be perfect.

Will hardly spoke a word to her, he was much too interested in chatting to his friends or laughing at the court fool, who had been tumbling and tripping over himself for most of the feast. Giselle wondered if he ever took a break; making a clown of yourself all the time must be tiring work.

She noticed that Will was a heavy drinker. His goblet was never empty, and by the time the sun had set over the gentle sea her husband was well and truly drunk. But then, in fairness, so was everybody else. The King roared with laughter at something Sir Lansley had said, and some of the guests spun around the dance floor, wobbling all over the place in their intoxicated state. Eventually Giselle decided that she too would drink, since it was her wedding, and she would need all the help she could get to get through her wedding night.

When the time came for the presentation of her bride gifts, Will barely acknowledged Giselle's words of thanks for the three new dresses, diamond earrings and sapphire tiara he (or probably his mother) had picked out for her. He certainly paid no heed as she accepted other gifts; a set of books, a mother-of-pearl and ruby comb, a lace parasol, a set of silver tableware, an abundance of jewels and trinkets, several bottles of perfume and rouge, yards of luxurious fabric to be turned into dresses, wine from the vineyards of the far south and a young stallion from the King and Queen, who they said ran faster than the wind.

Will had disappeared from the table to talk with some old childhood friends, leaving Giselle to graciously accept guests as they came up to introduce themselves. Serrena moved to sit in her brother's vacated seat and offer up what help she could, which Giselle was grateful for, and together they thanked each and every guest for attending. "You'll have to excuse my brother," Serrena apologised as one important lord from the mountain lands asked where the Prince was, "he's around here somewhere."