The Wedding Of Dhoom, Screw the timeline, let's do it!

[Blyth Snowstar]

This woman was interesting. Always keeping her cool. She obviously had something to hide. He had heard some about her. He knew that she could be a dangerous enemy. Perhaps the death threat was a little to forward. Plus it was useless. She seemed not even phased by the thought. But her loyalty. It is an important quality in an ally. He knew he shouldn't have gotten in this deep, but now, well, why wear a raincoat when you're already wet.

"I'm sure our 'partnership' won't take anytime away from your 'other obligations.' In fact, it would probably be best to continue your obligations and keep our partnership unknown. I know you work for the Lady of House Ghyath, though my sources are few in that realm of Olencia. I'm sorry for the threats, it's just that ... you already know too much about me. But I am willing to go to great lengths to prevent this wedding from going off with only two hitches.

I think we can be allies. It will be a partnership, neither above the other. I'm sure you know enough people to make bad things happen to me. But here is the main part of my predicament. I have obtained a new skill which will prevent me from being very active. You see, I have joined the Slayers."

He knew she would know the name. There was a great possibility that she would know much more than that. He was prepared to prove it to her. He still wasn't sure that he should tell her about Iffalna be the ablest. No, best to leave Iffalna to tell her herself. He hoped that this conflict would end on good terms.

[Iffalna Briarose]

Ifflana choked back a screech of outrage. Since WHEN did apprentices go planning partnerships with outsiders? And since when were they telling anyone their identities?

This is why we grab 'em young, she thought despairingly to herself, because they get older, and they get ideas and instincts and thier own way of doing things! I don't want him to have his own way of doing things, I want him to have MY way of doing things! The herbologist in her knew what Blyth was. He was an anomaly, just like a wheat strand with a strange hue was an anomaly. The question was, did his anomalous behavior yield beneficial results? Again, the herblogist in her wanted to step back and observe whatever mess his behavior yielded, but the Slayer Master in her beat back her scientific inclinations and jolted her into doing something.

She supposed it was best to play along, for now, and hope for the best. She was powerful enough to get her and Blyth out and out quickly should the situation turn sour, and maybe his strategy would work. Maybe. She was still angry and still upset and Blyth would get a yelling-at, but she pushed those emotions aside and focused.

Iffalna dropped the over-the-top crazy aunt act and sobered, gathering herself up and standing with the dignity that was fitting of a Slayer Master and Ablest. Her eyes became serious, and her mouth took on a determined tilt. “You see, young lady, there are political storms brewing, with the King being sickly and the Marlas house having only one heir. This is a very well-publicized, very large event, with lots of strange people moving in and out and lots of important people gathered in a very small space. I’m sure you know what this means.”

She paused, but added, “Unless Blyth has some very odd techniques I wasn’t aware of, he was bluffing about the brainwashing, and I wouldn’t do it to cover up my apprentice’s mistake, if he had misjudged you. But I’m hoping he didn’t misjudge. I’m no weakling, but Blyth is an apprentice, and help would be…Preferable. You know how the High Seat is, about Slayers. Our magic use will be limited, lest we give ourselves away.” Blyth may be all about deception and bluffing, but it was her job to teach him that the Slayers weren’t. Right now, she couldn’t lecture, and all she could do was teach by example. She paused again, and, for good measure, mentioned, “And I’m not his aunt. I’m a Slayer Master. The name is still Iffalna, though, and I’m still old and slightly senile.”

[Blyth Snowstar]

Gods, she was complicated. Always moving from one position to the next. No grace or dexterity. She slammed her way about in conversations. But there were times. She had just changed into a politicized version of herself. She was so good at changing who she was. He played with deception. She, however, simply fiddled with reality to have it suit her. He would have sworn it was magic, but it didn't seem like magic. It was just ... Iffalna. He couldn't wait to see how Seyira would react. But still, she made him seem much less of a threat than he was. Perhaps, it was all part of the game, but he couldn't help but think it was simply condescension.

There was something about Iffalna today. Perhaps he hadn't spent enough time in her close company, but every now and then he felt as if she were teaching him. She never had to say it. She had expectations of him. That was new. No one he had ever met had held him up to expectations. People just accepted him for whomever he was playing. But she knew who he was. She knew what he could become. He felt like a threat to her. A bomb that was constantly ticking, about to go off. He couldn't let that happen anymore. Never again could someone he cared for be hurt by his actions. Because if that happened, well, he would never care for anyone again.

He didn't even know if he did care. He could swear he was in love for all the confusion that he was in. He had only felt that way about someone else once before. And that person was long given to Valleran's care. Back when he had been himself.

[Seyira Vivienne]

Seyira narrowed her eyes at the two, gaze shifting from one Slayer to the other. Slayers... It was just like her to get caught up in a such a major storm, wasn't it? She obviously had the inability to remain silent and unnoticed in the background, and this boded ill for where she was heading in the future. If these two had been merely nobles, even powerful ones, she could have found a way to deal with them. Perhaps it would have been tricky, and her life might have been in the balance, but in that sort of scenario, she would have given it all she had.

But here....here she had to be extremely watchful of where she stepped. Here she was dealing with two Slayers, though one was still an apprentice, and Slayers were not people you wanted to cross, lest you find yourself dead or worse. That really didn't leave her with any good options. What she really wanted to do was to go about 6 hours back in time, and make up some excuse not to come down here, so she wouldn't have been accosted by Blyth. That, however, was not possibly, and thus, she was going to have to settle for second best, whatever that was. At this point, she really didn't know. Both Blyth and Iffalna seemed deadly serious, and despite all the possible risks and dangers this little plot held, it still intruigued her nonetheless.

The older woman's remarks left a faint smile on Seyira's face, and did a little to lighten the somber atmosphere. If she did choose to join their venture, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad working with the Slayer Master. Seyira wasn't quite sure what her feelings were about the man, but she clearly needed to decide soon.

"I doubt you're as senile as you claim to be," Seyira remarked dryly. "and you hardly look old at all. Now that you've said that, I doubt I'll be underestimating you. Both of you." She sighed a bit, suddenly feeling old and frail despite her mere 20 years. No matter how much she'd always wanted to be part of something big, the reality was that she still preferred being unnoticed and out-of-the-way. It was safer that way, and safety was something she'd never really had.

"Very well," she finally said, making up her mind on the whole endeavour. "As long as this doesn't require me to go against my mistress, you have my help. It doesn't really seem like I have much choice in the matter anyway."

[Rhys Horsehand]

Rhys was a little nervous. She was leading big, brilliant Nor, the Great Horse stallion they's sold to the High Seat, at the head of the wedding procession. It had gone reasonably well this morning (minus being woken at 3 am by Sian and being groomed as relentlessly as the High Seat's own horses by her mother and sisters); she had arrived on time and gotten some time to check in on Nor and the other horses they had been assigned, and had been positively shocked when the High Seat had put her in charge. The position was given to the lead horse's trainer, and Rhys was a fine trainer and manager, so she got over her shock and was soon so busy she forgot that she was ordering around the High Seat's grooms as though they were her own. There was a bit of a scare when they'd misplaced Nor's show halter, but that had been solved (they'd put it on another Great and then put hers on a --imagine this--Dragon Horse! What idiocy! It was hanging loose from the Dragon Horses' face!). It wasn't the logistics that had bothered Rhys. She knew logistics better than her times tables.

It was the Dragon Horses.

The processon was mounted, and her horse, Ledra, was declared suitable to lead Nor. Rhys was VERY pleased that both she and her mare were in the grand procession, but after the Lord Tsuko had left, she'd mounted Ledra to give Nor a once-over from above. Rhys and Ledra had practically grown up together, they knew each others' moods better than her own, and Rhys felt Ledra...wilt.

She nearly dropped Nor's lead. She stared at her mare's ears and leaned over to appraise her face: It was still alert and magnificent, but Rhys felt a tiny bit of energy gone. No one would be able to notice, except perhaps another Dragon Horses' rider. An observer would still be awed by their appearance. Rhys didn't even know if another Dragon's rider might know. But...

She tightened her hold on Nor's lead and gathered up Ledra's reins. She trotted them around, confused. Nothing was wrong, but Ledra's razor-sharp edge was dulled the most miniscule bit. It was as if they'd run ten miles. But they hadn't!

Rhys was about to ask another Dragon's rider if something was wrong with their horse when a courier came. "Miss, the wedding's about to start! Go when we signal!" Rhys nodded curtly, and turned to the procession. "Riders, mount up!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "Be ready, and follow my lead!" She collected Ledra a little, squeezing her sides gently, asking her for a parade walk. Ledra balanced a little more weight on her haunches, freeing up her front end for a high-stepping gait that would impress the wedding guests. Rhys straightened her skirts, which were brown and subtly embroidered with a very dark green, the colors of Dragon Horse stables. She looked ahead, young face set with pride and determination, ready to do her family proud.

[Blyth Snowstar]

Choice. A funny word. Blyth took it to mean she thought she had no control in the matter. That was completely untrue. In fact, her actions had just as much impact as his or Iffalna's did. Everyone's actions mattered. Because in the grand scheme of things, life was just a series of actions.

He hoped that all would go well, but no more worrying could be done now.

"We better get downstairs," he said extending his arm to Iffalna.

(Sorry for shortness. Iffy, you can do some godmoding.)

[Xavier Keldaris]

((*inserts random post of nothingness* ))

It was a good ten minutes before Xavier managed to catch sight of his elusive sister. After all, there were hundreds upon thousands of guests here (at least, it seemed that way to him, although there probably weren't more than 500 guests here tops) and, according to the rules of probability and chance, at least half of the women would have to be wearing a bright pink dress with frills and lace, and of course they would all be in possession of long dark hair wrapped up in a bun. That was the way of life, and there was nothing that he, a mere mortal, could do about it.

Yet somehow, by some miracle or freak accident, Xavier managed to spot his younger sister. Whether it was due to the fact that she was glowing like a glob of radioactive slime, or because of some innate sibling radar, he couldn't say, but whatever it was, he was glad for it. Marching up to Yvette, he murmured polite apologies to the matron she was currently conversing with about being forced to remove his sister from her glorious presence, and then took his sister firmly by the arm and led her away, ignoring her protests.

They arrived in the proper place only minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin and quickly found seats near the rear. Yvette would have liked seats further up front, but as she had spent so much time chit-chatting, all the good seats had been taken, and they were forced to choose from what was left. At least, that was his opinion on the matter. Settling down in the chair, Xavier turned forward, ready for the wedding to begin.

[Tsuko Theras]

Tsuko began to bite his lip, then quickly stopped himself. Where did that come from? Why, it had been millenia since he had done that! Okay, years. Okay, months. Okay, that very morning. But, well, whatever the case, it was not something he did in public. He wanted to shake himself. He wanted to shake something! He wanted to shake someone!

Where did that come from?!

Instead, he decided to announce the beginning of the wedding. "Attention, everyone! The ceremony is about to begin!" he shouted, looking up at the roof. Evidently some bellmaker had been willing to cast a bell just for the weddings, to "publicly proclaim the blessed nuptials of your nephew" or some such nonsense. Well, at the time it seemed like a good idea, so Tsuko had hired him. Now he wasn't so sure. Tsuko cupped his hands around his mouth, and yelled in the direction of the roof, about where he thought the bell was, "The ceremony will be starting!" He hoped he was loud enough; some of the people sitting in the strong row winced and covered their ears. But, apparently, someone had gotten the message; a bell tolled once, twice, thrice (what was the symbolism behind that, again?) from the roof. The clearing seemed much more quiet.

Tsuko was positioned in front of the crowd, which had several rows of chairs in neat lines. At the front were a priestess of Lelahiah and a priest of Kolvyn (as typical of most Marlas weddings; Kolvyn for ruling indirectly over horses, and Lelahiah for, well, what happens after a wedding). Tsuko greeted them both warmly, and both gave him their blessing. The priest of Kolvyn, Kardrin, happened to have been one of Tsuko's drinking buddies on the campaign, before he had gone all blessed-be-Kolvyn's-name on Tsuko... but, then again, Tsuko had done the same thing. Ah, well, such is life.

Jenin was to be married first, of course, being the one everyone was there for. He was positioned at the front of the crowd, to the left side of the middle aisle, facing inwards (towards the aisle). To his left was the priestess of Lelahiah. Across the aisle was his wife-to-be, a pretty girl whose name... Tsuko... could... not... remember. Well, clerics have good memories, right?

Tsuko waited a bit for the last few stragglers to come walking... or rushing in. He was to remain at the front of the hall, just behind Jenin. He looked out in the crowd. His wife and daughters had found a place in the second row, it seemed. Tsuko smiled at them. They waved back, Tala a bit overenthusiastically. Tsuko smiled slightly. AT least he had them.

((Sorry, a bit of a non-event, but I want to wait for everyone to get back... yeah, that's it... I'm not procrastinating for lack of a ceremony ))

[Seyira Vivienne]

((Okay, we need to get this thing moving. ))

Things seemed to have come to an end, and though Seyira still wasn’t quite sure what was going to be expected of her, the time for discussion had already passed. The man – Blyth – had given his arm to the elder Slayer, and the two were now traipsing down to where the ceremony was about to begin. She stayed where she was for a few moments, and then followed them, lagging behind by a few feet.

It didn’t take very long before they reached the hall. Virtually everyone else seemed to be there, and Seyira had difficulty finding even one open seat. How Blyth and Iffalna were going to find places to sit down next to each other, she didn’t know. Maybe they were going to split up anyway. In any case, it wasn’t her problem, and she walked around before she found a seat of her own. The ceremony was just about to begin, and in a way, she was glad that they had finished their discussion in time.

((If you’re not here by now, just pretend you are.))

[Enderron Kelesi]

Nervousness grasped at him. It was completely uncontrollable and unstoppable.

'I don't even know the girl. And that's all she is, a girl. She means nothing to me. But I am just a boy. I still need time to figure myself out. Especially from what the talks with Father hinted at. It seems that Father never really wants to talk about life after marriage at all. It's all preparation. Well, now it was on me and I have to face the next... well rest of my life.'

He heard his father yelling and the bell tolling. It would be but minutes now. There was a time, not so long ago when he remembered not caring for the future. He was changing, not only physically, but also he was learning to be an adult. He felt as if he had more responsibility than ever. He would succeed.

'Perhaps, I will become a horse breeder. Or I will run a business. I will be successful like Father. More so. I'm smarter than Father. But there is no more time for this nonsense. The wedding is starting.'

He tightened his plate, made sure his sword was firmly by his side, and pulled on his boots. He called to the bodyguards and walked outside. The afternoon was bright, but there were signs of rain. He looked among the people and came to a realization. 'They are not here for me.' And indeed they weren't. They were here to see the successor of House Marlas.

He strided out and stood himself next to Jenin. "Ready for this?"

"I'm nervous as hell," Jenin replied in a whisper.

"Don't worry, it will all be over soon. Then, we get to party. And soon will come the best days of our lives."

With that the crowd hushed and music began, the ceremony was starting!