A Sweet Winter

Winter in Amriel was always a pretty dull time. As usually it just got cold, with small flurries here and there that never amounted to any real snowfall, people tended to just stay inside and work on crafts during this time.

In the castle there was more of a bustle. The winter months provided the perfect opportunity to prepare for a wedding – since there was little else to do. Heron of course still had the day to day duties of the throne – but in winter even these halved. Bandits were less active, agriculture was set aside, and the only thing that actually increased was making sure the poorest were taken care of – admittedly an area that Amriel struggled with.

Elswyth was obviously pleased by how much more rest Heron was able to get now compared to the fall months. From working all day, he now only was working three to four hours. The rest of his time was spent with his beloved as they planned their wedding – though admittedly that could also count as work as he had to budget it into the kingdom's finances.

It was a bit more fun though. At least he got to spend time with Elswyth. Both of them would have been happier with a small wedding – but even when he had just been a prince that would not have been feasible, much less as a king.

They had decided to combine some elements from their two cultures traditional ceremonies – she would wear the Jarenkulian wedding gown and Kur had promised to bring Elswyth some of the traditional wedding flowers from Jarenkul as well. The vows would be traditional for Amriel though – they had argued over this but Elswyth had been pointed that his citizens would not be happy having their king give different vows (Heron had liked the simplicity of the Jarenkul ceremony better). According to her no one would say much about the different dress – as it was from her culture and that much would be considered fairly acceptable.

They had gotten advice from Heron's father on how grand the wedding had to be. There was no way they were going to make it bigger than necessary – though they did decide to spend some extra for food to serve to the common folk of the capital. That was a bit different though.

During this period of time, Hazel and Asrar officially got engaged. They wouldn't be married though for another year – they were technically already of age, but Heron's father wanted them to wait. For several reasons. One his heart just was not quite ready for his daughter to be a bride. Second, it was financially better to space out the two weddings – they both had to have a certain level of grandness to them and while it was technically feasible to have two weddings close together it would strain the kingdom for a while after. Hazel was perfectly fine with this. She was having fun just anticipating her marriage with her best friend – and helping with the planning of her brother's.

She and Elswyth had really bonded. It was obvious his sister looked up to the older woman and it barely surprised Heron that she wanted Elswyth to teach her how to shoot a bow after the weather warmed up again.

As the days rolled by Heron grew more impatient for spring to come. It wasn't that he disliked planning the wedding, but he was ready to already be married to Elswyth. More than the wedding he was looking forward to the marriage, and admittedly the wedding night. Not that he would ever say that last bit aloud – though he doubted it would phase his bride in the least if he did. He might admit it after they were married – like several years after.

Even so, he was enjoying the period they were in. He knew it was a treasure to be able to sit with her, talk, plan, laugh, and dream of the future they would have. He knew this winter would always hold fond memories for him – no matter how many winters passed it would remain engraved in his memory.