Time for the Truth: a story of a sleeping beauty

The Wedding: Part 22

I breathed in a shaky breath. There was a knock on the door, and my mother entered with Rosernan. I felt as though I would be sick and my skull was buzzing from the lack of sleep. I swallowed as they stood at my bed.

"Are you ready?" My mother asked calmly.

"Holy Shit. No. I don't know.... Can I do this?" I pull the covers up over my head. My mother sits on my bed and tugs gently on my hair. She smacks me for swearing, as "no lady should."

When I look, she is smiling.

"Yes. You can." Rosernan was hovering in the corner, pulling things out of a bag. I sat up, feeling the curling rags left in my hair nervously. I feel some of the newly cut pieces that Tarana had insisted were in style at home. They curl softly on the nape of my neck.

I can't help the nervousness I have mixing in the bubble of excitement I can feel growing in my chest. I pull the covers off of my bare legs and hear the door open just in time to cover them again. Tarana enters calmly and Parisa rushes in, chasing her with the pretty weapons Rior had given them last night. I feel a little steadier, just thinking of him. I love that he insists we shouldn't be defenseless, and has given my little sisters something to make sure they never will be.

Perhaps those good qualities are what makes him so special, but there's more to him than a few good things. Perhaps someday I will know most of them.

"Sia, I hope you're going to eat soon, or else the food won't have time to settle!" Tarana says, snuggling closer to me. I break out of my reverie to smile back at her. 

"Tarana, will you take Parisa to Basil, please?" my mother adds a second time as Tarana pouts. Basil only came because my father dictated that he could not grieve for a traitor of the crown, even if it was his wife.

Basil seems bitter, but partly because he blames himself. He told me he should have spoken of her ways sooner, but he felt that he should have been able to handle it, that husband and wife should have worked it out together.

If there is no love, there is no way to work it out, he warned me. I knew how deceptive Morrigan could be, so I felt sympathy for Basil, who had rushed to his duty and now was forced to live with the consequences. 

Instead of making me doubt Rior, it made me realize how much I did want to make anything work with him, that I wanted my future to be intertwined with his.

My mother breathes in slowly, and grabs my hand in hers. Perhaps she can sense my nerves because she smiles at my tenseness. 

"Even if you do not feel ready, you may be amazed at how easy it is when you are in love. I can tell you both are, but you must remember to keep that love kindled, every day, or else. It will be hard, no matter what, especially with a country in tow. But...I believe in you and your ability." She kisses my forehead and stands up.

"What's first, Lady Rosernan?"

"Queen Fiora Ailis , first we will get some water heating, and heat her room. She will be cold all night in her dress as it is." Rosernan beamed at me. I giggled at the way she said my mothers maiden name with her first name, falling in love with my new culture more each second.

A table and set of chairs are in front of the heavenly fireplace, and trays are brought in. I can feel how empty my stomach is, but the thought of swallowing food makes my throat clench up and my stomach churn.

Rosernan and my mother chatter about the differences in court etiquette, my mother already knowing impossibly more about my own rules at home than I had ever realized existed.

"Sie, eat, please." My mother looks at me, finally. I give her a shaky smile and shove a bite of biscuit into my mouth. I swallow with as much force as I can before swallowing some tea and backing away from the table.