Will You Love Me? (A Medieval Reylo AU)

ƇӇƛƤƬЄƦ 6

ƛfter the wedding ceremony, there was a banquet and a ball in honor of the prince and his bride. The king and queen sat at the head of the table. Prince Ben sat next to his mother and Rey was seated next to him. She already felt uncomfortable sitting so close to him, but she tried to ignore his presence as best she could. She didn't want to be anywhere near him, but she didn't have a choice.

Ben scanned the dining hall, looking for his uncle. He thought that perhaps he had missed him somehow in the chapel. He was surprised that his uncle wasn't here, he never missed royal occasions of this importance. It certainly wasn't like him to miss a family wedding, especially because he and Ben had been close once. He hoped that his uncle was alright.

He looked around at all of the guests, he knew most of them. Nobles, royalty, knights, but he didn't see any commoners. Where are Rey's parents...her family? he wondered. Shouldn't they have a seat at the table of honor? As he thought about it he remembered that it was a tradition for the bride's father to walk her down the aisle. Why did my father escort her? he wondered quietly. He wanted to ask her, but he was nervous and it seemed too personal to be the first thing that he said to her.

Still, he wanted to spark some kind of conversation with her, already he liked her but he wanted to get to know her. He wanted to learn everything that he could about her. But he was nervous, it would be the first time he spoke to her beyond their vows. He wasn't used to talking to girls, and by the way she kept avoiding him, he didn't think she would welcome it if he tried to start a conversation with her.

What's the worst that could happen? he thought, then his mind began to go over various scenarios. He could embarrass himself in front of his parents, the royal court, and the woman he would spend his life with. He could offend her without meaning to. He didn't want to do that.

But alternatively, he could spend the rest of his life alone because he hadn't dared to speak to the person who should be closer to him than anyone else.

He took a deep breath, he had to at least try. He looked over at the beautiful young woman at his side.

"How long have you lived here at the castle, my lady?" he asked in a conversational tone. It seemed like a good way to start a conversation. Or at least, he hoped it was.

She turned to look at him, she didn't want to talk to him. "Two years," she replied simply, using as few words as possible.

He nodded. "Do you like it here?"

She nodded, she didn't want to speak to him unless it was necessary to do so.

"That's good," he said a little awkwardly. He looked around as if trying to think of something else to say. "I want you to be happy," he added at last.

"Thank you, your majesty," she replied. She didn't want to address him in a personal way. It was the first step towards having a personal relationship, one she didn't want to take.

But she knew that she was only fooling herself. She couldn't just go on pretending that they weren't married. She couldn't keep pretending that their relationship was a professional one like that of a servant and a prince. She was married to him and that meant she'd most likely be sharing her meals with him from now on. And she knew that she would be sharing a room with him too. She knew that she couldn't be married to him without having a personal relationship with him, even she hated him.

And that only made it worse. She didn't have to think about a stranger, but how could she not think about her husband even if she didn't love him? It made her feel somewhat betrayed that her husband had killed her father. Even if hadn't known at the time that she would one day become his wife.