Chapter 1 - Gold and Royal Red

Chapter 1 - Gold and Royal Red

I have a happy relationship. He treats me well, we always enjoy one another's presence. Today is the day we will be wed. I sit as the maids pin up my hair. My long dark hair was reduced to a neat bun rung with gold roses. I waited patiently for the dress to be brought in, I haven't seen it yet, but it was designed specifically for me. The door creaks open and I turn to glance at it but was surprised as arms wrap around me. Familiar arms.

"Hello, honey, you look beautiful." I scoff in reply.

"You aren't supposed to be here!" My scoff of disapproval turns into a comforting laugh. I was glad to see him even if it was against tradition. "How did you get back here anyways?"

"Charm and charisma?" he laughs "Slipped the doorman some silver."

"Some coins for endless bad luck in marriage"

"You aren't in the dress yet! It isn't bad luck!" He kisses my neck and all of my skin tingles. I am actually happy he came. I wasn't getting cold feet, but the comfort in this cold distant country was welcomed. Rodina was bordering Bonan and was landlocked. I missed Bonan bordering the coast and the salty wind. I always wanted to travel and see the world around me. I didn't know it would start so soon and with Nik by my side.

"I will see you down the aisle." He winks and I ruffle his dark brown hair. The servants dress me and pull my waist tight and make my face even paler than it already was. I looked in the mirror seeing a porcelain doll in a deep red dress. Ribbons cascaded over my shoulders and my head held a golden crown that was a bit taller than it looked before it was on me.

"Miss, it is time to go." The maid grabbed me by the arm and led me out to meet my father-in-law-to-be. He walked me down the aisle stiff with the organ playing and golden roses being thrown at my feet. I saw Nikolai dressed in gold and red and his crown seemed to glow under the sunlight. He grabbed my hands when I reached him and they were cold like metal. I felt my heart flutter as the priest said the words. And I repeated "I do" and Nik did as well.

"I now pronounce you to god as King and Queen Alexeev of Rodina," The music started again and everything was a complete blur as Nikolai grabbed me and my big royal red dress and carried me down the aisle when more golden petals rained down glimmering in the light.

I tried not to forget home. I hoped my homesickness would get better. Papa was so sad when I had to leave Bonan for Nikolai, he cursed my beauty for enthralling the son of Rodina's ruler. I just had to be picked out of the crowd and had to fall in love with the extremely charming and handsome prince that lived in the country bordering mine. "I wish you were born ugly, then we wouldn't have to give you away forever". They were not allowed at my wedding as it was a very sacred ceremony when a future king chooses his wife, the fact that I wasn't Rodinaan was also a cause. His parents were scornful of my family. We believed in different gods, respectable but I had to convert for Nikolai yet his parents still disapproved. These months living with them until the new palace for the king is constructed will be difficult.

Nik, what will our home be like?" I roll over onto my back, hair dancing over the edge of the bed. He leans his head over mine and kisses my lips lightly.

"Everything you have ever dreamed of Maelle. The spires rise up to the heavens gleaming silver like your eyes. I ordered paint the palest pink of your lips and wood the darkest ebony of your hair. We will be living in something comparable to your own beauty my Maelle."

I laughed at his words, always sounding like poetry and overstated compliments. He was never serious around me and was always so giddy, It made me feel like I was blessed by him. He had it all and somehow I fit into that.

"Oh Nik, you know I dislike pink. I much prefer the color of your eyes, then I can remember my home and stare at the sea during sunrise."

"Then blue it shall be my queen, I must go and attend to some details of my leadership now. Wait for me."

"Teal!" I yell as he leaves the room. His eyes were better described as teal, like the sun on a blue sea. But he didn't pay attention to these small details as much as I did. The room on the other side of his father's palace we resided in was dull. Red satin, golden mirrors, and wardrobes. It reminded me of the wedding and how everything here was foreign. I so missed the beaches and the traders and the reading.

My original country was the Republic of Bonan. It is ruled peacefully by a council, we had no troubles with kings and royals. My family was in control of the top merchant guilt, we lived by the sea and It felt like in Rodina I had jumped back in time a little. Here Nik's mother, Varya, even swatted away anything that I read telling me it was improper for a woman to waste her eyesight on anything but her children and husband. I still read out of her sight. Nik did not care, he seemed to like that I was against most things he was taught. He enjoyed talking to me in complex ways and challenging his knowledge. That is why I loved him so much, he knew I was knowledgeable, possibly more than him and he let me strengthen it.