Wedding Jitters

Aurei attempts to prevent her dear friends from participating in the upcoming campaign.

3.

Wedding Jitters

Several hours later, Aurei, Brandi, Krys, Rori and Siris watched as the town’s top seamstress, Illania Lalton and her two teenage daughters fitted Alis for her wedding dress in the Master Bedroom of the Ducal Keep.

 

Finally it was time for the final fitting and the ladies waited anxiously to see how the half-Elf girl would look.   “Here she is!”   Illania announced, pulling aside a privacy curtain.   Immediately all the women together exclaimed a genuine ‘ohh!’ at Alis’ appearance.   Even with her hair up in a pony-tail, she looked like a wondrous angel.

 

“Wow!” Brandi added, “Alis, you look like a princess!”

“Gorgeous, simply gorgeous!   You make a breath-taking bride, Alis!”   Krys exclaimed as she had the girl turn around so all could see every angle.

“Aeric is going to LOVE you in that dress!”   Rori commented.

Aurei turned to Illania, “You outdid yourself, Illania, it looks like something Queen Eioldth would wear.”

 

The lady smiled at the compliment, “Thank you, Duchess!”

Alis looked down at herself, “So do you think it looks alright?”

“Alright?!”  Aurei laughed, “My goodness, Alis, you look like an angel!   It’s beautiful!”

Alis smiled, “I love it.   I just don’t know how I’m going to ever get it paid off.   I’ll have to work extra shifts to pay for something this nice.”

Illania looked up at her, “My dear, it has been paid for already.”

Alis looked surprised, “Paid for?   Who?   Aeric?”

Illania shook her head with a secret smile, “No, but I am sworn not to tell.”

Alis turned to Aurei, “Aurei…”

The Drow girl tried to pretend innocence, but it only lasted a moment and then she started grinning.

“Aurei, my heavens, you can’t do that!”

“It’s my duchy, I can do whatever the heck I want to do, and I really wanted to do this, Alis.   You deserve it and much more for your years of not only being a great employee of the Muddy Boot, but being such a wonderful friend to me.”

“Thank you!”  The two friends embraced and cried happily.

 

“When Aeric sees you in that dress, he may want you to wear it during the honeymoon!”   Brandi kidded.

“What are you going to do for a honeymoon?”   Krys asked.

 

Alis snorted, “Probably Nofesylvia for a lovely vacation fighting zombies, Vampires, liches and Death Knights.”

 

She meant nothing by the statement, but the mention of the upcoming campaign sent a deep somber mood over the women and they all fell silent for a long moment.

Finally Aurei spoke up, “No, actually, you aren’t going to Nofesylvia.   None of you are.”

Alis and Rori seemed very surprised and the Sorceress asked, “What do you mean?   Aren’t we all going on the King’s campaign against the Necromancer’s Guild?”

Aurei shook her head, “None of you are, nobody from Westmark is going, except Eleazar and me.”

“Since when?”   Alis inquired.

“Since I decided that there have been too many deaths recently and I don’t want more sadness and grief here.   So nobody is going.”

 

“Now wait just a minute, Aurei!   We have just as much right to go and risk our lives as you and Eleazar do!”  Alis protested.

“No, you don’t, Alis.   You and Aeric are preparing to get married, and Siris is standing there rubbing her wonderful little belly where her and Lute’s long-desired child is growing.   All of you have risked your lives for this duchy already and you all deserve peace and happiness.”

 

“Aurei, I’m a Paladin, too!”

“I know, Alis, you are indeed.   But look what happened three months ago; you and Aeric both were almost lost to the Guild and even now you suffer because of the effects of your Minionism.   It’s too much, so you are staying behind.”

“Who gives you the right to make the decision?”

“Well, the King did, when he named me Archduchess, remember?   Figurehead or not, I have the authority to say who goes and who stays, and I want all my dear friends to be here when Eleazar and I return from the campaign.”

 

“That’s not right, Aurei!   We have a right to go too!”

“I know you have a right, Alis, but my decision is final; you and Aeric are going to stay here and enjoy your new life together.”

“Like we could do that when we know you and Eleazar are risking your lives across the ocean for us!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll only be two of many, I’m sure.”

 

Alis folded her arms, “You can’t stop us if we decide to go on our own!”

“Don’t make me put both of you into the dungeon, Alis, that is not a great place for a honeymoon.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“I will if you two try to go with us instead of staying here and enjoying each other’s company.”

“Well, we’ll see about that!   I’ll talk to the King, tomorrow and he trumps you!”

“I don’t think he’ll disagree with me on this one, Alis; he is a married man.”

“We won’t be able to enjoy ourselves with you guys off fighting without us!   Aeric is Eleazar’s lieutenant, and I’m supposed to be yours, remember?”

“Yes, which is why both of you need to stay here; if we don’t come back, both of you will be in charge.”

“Aurei, we are going.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, we are!”

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, we are!”

“Alis, you are disobeying an order.”

“Yes I am, try to stop me!”

“Why are you being so stubborn?”

“Why are you?”

“I don’t want anyone in danger!”

“Well, you’ll be in danger!”

“So what?”

“What are friends for if they don’t help you in dangerous times?”

“We don’t need your help!”

“Ha!   You know you do; you’ll need as much help as you can get!  We’re going, Aurei!”

“I’m going too!”  Rori added, to Aurei’s frustration.

“I’m losing control, here!”  The Drow girl exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air.

“Lute and I are going too!”  Siris stated.

“No you are not!   Absolutely not!   You are halfway through your pregnancy; I’m certainly not going to allow that!”

“I’ll stay in camp; repairing armor or whatever, but I want to go along.”

“Siris, you’re pregnant, for heaven’s sake!”

“Aurei, in some Orc tribes, expectant mothers actually join their men in battle.   They think that exposing the unborn baby to battle will ensure they’ll have a strong warrior son.”

“Siris, you don’t believe that, surely!”

“No, but I want you to see that Orc women are not frail little flowers.   I won’t go into battle, but I am fit enough for camp work.”

“Siris, it could take months; you might have the baby in camp.”

“Well, at least Lute would be nearby; if I stayed home, he’d not be there.”

“He would if I made both of you stay home.”

“We both want to go.”

“Siris, it’s not safe.”

“Aurei, home has not been really safe for almost a year now.”

“You want to have your baby in a camp?”

“If Lute is there, certainly.”

“Unbelievable!   What is wrong with you girls?”

“We’re stubborn, just like our duchess.”  Siris replied, and Alis and Rori nodded in agreement.

Aurei shook her head, “I can’t agree to this.”

“We’ll see what the King has to say.”  Alis suggested, and Krys piped in at that moment, changing the subject to wedding topics.

“So, Alis, what are you going to wear for your wedding night?”   She asked.

 

“Probably plate armor because they’ll be fighting undead!”   Aurei answered with a snort, but Alis ignored the comment.

“I don’t know, Krys; I’ve been so focused on the dress, I haven’t really given it much thought.”

“Does it really matter?”  Brandi asked with a mischievous grin, “I mean; it won’t stay on long.”

Alis laughed rather nervously at her friend’s statement.

“You look a bit uneasy.”  Siris stated, “Are you alright?”

Alis looked uncomfortable and shrugged, “I guess I’m just a bit… scared… of… well, you know.”

“What?”  Aurei asked and all the other women looked at her with incredulous expressions.

 

“Oh… that.”  The Drow girl finally understood.

“Alis, there is nothing to worry about.”  Siris reassured her, “I suspect Aeric will be as inexperienced as you are.”

“Oh, I know he is!”   Alis replied, “He didn’t even know how to kiss until I showed him.”

“He didn’t know how to kiss?!”  Rori laughed, “Seriously?   How difficult is kissing?”

“I know; but he was scared to death to kiss me… at first.   Now he’s ready anytime.”

“Well, Alis, I imagine that will hold true for all parts of physical contact between the two of you.”   Siris said with a grin, “At least it was for Lute and I.”

“Oh… see, Aurei; that is another reason we should go on that campaign with you!”

The ladies all laughed.

“Is Eleazar like that, Aurei - ready at all times?”  Brandi asked wickedly.

“Brandi, we haven’t done that!”

“Yet.”  The redheaded girl quipped.   

Aurei blushed, “We’re not going to do that until we get married.   We’re just sleeping together.”

The women roared with laughter at how ridiculous her statement sounded.

“I’m serious!”  Aurei protested, “He hasn’t tried anything… unfortunately.”

They all made catcalls at her confession.

“Aurei, maybe you need the instruction.”   Brandi continued to joke with her.

“No, he’s right, actually.   He wants us to wait until we can marry.   Right now we are staying together at night because of the Olore-yanwa.”

 

“The what?”  Rori asked, and Aurei explained to her about the shared dreams that they experienced.

“How romantic!”   The Sorceress commented after she’d been told.

“It really binds you together mentally.”   Aurei replied, feeling somewhat awkward talking about the very private experience.

Of course they had to ask her more about it, and she spent several minutes telling about some of their experiences being in each other’s dreams.

“So when are you two going to get married?”   Krys asked.

Aurei shrugged, “I don’t know; Queen Eioldth told us that spiritually we are already, through the shared-dreams. Laz wanted to get married soon, but I wanted to wait until after the dreaded campaign against the Guild, so that nothing would spoil our day.”

As she talked about marriage to Eleazar, she suddenly found herself feeling very, very nervous and nearly scared at the thought.   Yet at the same time, the idea of being his wife seemed like the most exciting, wonderful thing she could achieve in the world.    Both of these conflicting emotions tore at her as she sat chatting with the women.

 

***

Sometime later all of the women had dispersed for the evening, except for Aurei and Alis.   The two friends sat down together and argued for almost an hour about Alis and Aeric coming with them on the campaign.   They had been close friends for a long time, and were veterans of having several arguments over the years, so their heated debate had no danger of harming their close friendship.

 

“So I can’t convince you to stay home?” Aurei finally said, nearly hoarse after an hour of arguing.

“Nope.   You and Eleazar are stuck with us, good or bad, we’re going with you.”

The Drow girl sighed deeply, “Well, alright then, but if something happens to either one of you, I’m going to be really, really mad.”

“We’ll be careful.”

“That may not be enough, Alis; you both will need enchanted items to fight them.   The only reason I didn’t get killed on our last encounter with them on that Lich’s airship was due to the wonderful stuff we took from the Emperor’s magic hoard.   If you both are going to go with us, you will need powerful magic to use.”

“Is there any left from the Emperor’s collection?”

“Not much, I’m afraid.  We’ll have to find another source.”

“That might be difficult.”

“That is what worries me.   We really need as much weaponry as we can get.   Vinth and Neal were killed by just a word from that Death Knight.   We need strong magic to counter that.”   Aurei rubbed her eyes, tired.

 

“Not meaning to change the subject, but are you okay?”

“I’m tired, I guess.”

“You know, you and Eleazar could get married when we do.”

“That would be a bit soon!”  

“You look scared to death, Aurei.  Are you worried about… you know…?”

“It does scare me a bit… I’m not sure why, really.  When that stupid Drow Ssinssrigg-Chath gets me all heated up, I usually try to get him going, but when I’m in my right mind it makes me very nervous, just like you are feeling about Aeric.”

“I guess we’re silly to worry about it, huh?”

“Probably, but it is a big step.”

“Which is why Aeric and I are getting married… well, one of the reasons.”

“Well, we’d better both get to bed; we’ve got that trip tomorrow and you’ll probably be too nervous to sleep tomorrow night.”

Alis chuckled, “I’m sure you’re right.   Aurei, thank you again for having that dress made for me.   It’s beautiful.”

“Well, you make it even more beautiful, Alis.   Aeric is going to absolutely love it.   See you in the morning.”

 

They put out the fire in the fireplace and parted company.

Reviews

[Elina]

"...turn around so all could see all angles." This may sound better "...turn around so all could see every angle."

[Eddie Davis]

Yes, that is much better! I'll change it this afternoon when I get off work, thank you for your great help, Elina.