“Ladies and gentlemen,” Elos intoned and the crowd hushed. “We would like to thank you for coming today to celebrate the weddings of Lady Frindahl tor Yamaria to Sir Tominptarthisbur va Idadubeju Aqiemod Tomin Mishtan Entis Mishtali, Ambassador Of The Dragon High Council and Magical and Historical Advisor to His Majesty, King Emeton. ‘Ann, why did he include Tomin Mishtan Entis Mishtali?’ Pt’this asked. ‘Hush Uncle, follow Tolin,’ Ann sent back. “And Ambassador Andrew Stephen of the Mathis clan, son of Carla and Stephen of the Mathis clan to Her Shimmering Highness, Princess of Mages and Ambassador Annlonna va Darina Thailyn ton Tylan Emeton Narticani Entista Nimitinas Entista Thorgrey. Ann could feel Andy’s surprise at her full name and title. She didn’t normally use it, so he had never heard it before. As each name was read, that person, along with their escort, walk forward to Master Thorgrey. The men walked around Thorgrey to stand beside their respective wives. The escorts formed a ring around them. Andy came into view. He was dressed primarily in black silk. The trousers were the usual formfitting legging style. But the shirt wasn’t a tunic that came down to his thighs but rather a shorter top that came to the waist. The two front portions overlapped at an angle and tied at the side. There was a wide multi-layered silk belt that added the only color to the outfit, a deep blue that went well with Ann’s dress. Finally, at the hips and reaching almost to the ankles was a sheer wrap similar to a sarong, but the opening was centered in the front rather than on the side. He smiled at Annlonna. She could tell he liked her dress. She had been a little worried about that. He stepped close to her and glanced down at her. Their height difference made it hard to tell, but it looked as though he was looking down her dress. Then he took her hand, and they turned to Thorgrey. *** Andy rounded Thorgrey and saw Ann. She looked beautiful. She wore a pale blue strapless dress with layers of silk. It was decorated with tiny flowers at the waist and a flared skirt with a train. She wore a veil held on by a tiara that draped down her back rather than covering her face. He stepped up to her and glanced down at her. He realized that it may look as though he was looking down her dress, so he turned away taking her hand as he did. *** Sapphire waited for Pt’this to join her. She wished she hadn’t had to be first, but she understood. It was about rank. She was the lowest ranking person here. She truly didn’t have a rank. She was only being called “lady” because she was marrying Pt’this. Andy didn’t have a rank either. Ambassador was a title, not a rank. But he was marrying Shimmer who was the highest-ranking and so would be last. When she saw Pt’this, he smiled at her. She locked onto his eyes. She was briefly aware that he was in all black save a red belt, but right now she needed to look at his face. She would see what he wore later. He reached her, but instead of taking her hand like he was supposed to, he put an arm around her. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. The touch helped her to relax a slight bit. They turned to Thorgrey who glared at Pt’this’s hand at her waist a moment. He feigned sheepishness and then held her hand instead. It was an act, she knew, performed to draw attention away from her to him. She didn’t know if it worked but it made her smile, and her anxiety level dropped a little. She focused on the calm he felt and the touch of his hand. *** Pt’this wanted to hurry to Sapphire; her anxiety was so great. But he allowed Tolin to set the pace. When he did finally reach her, he smiled. She did her best to smile too, locking onto his eyes to block out the crowd. He understood why the tailor had wanted Andy and him to dress similarly. The women’s dresses were similar. While Annlonna’s was blue, Sapphire’s was pink. Ann’s was strapless to show off her tattoo. Sapphire’s had a low collar and sleeves that flared at the elbow to cover her scar. Her skirt didn’t flare as much as Ann’s, and she had her hair up and decorated with a circlet around her bun rather than the tiara and veil Ann wore. To Pt’this, she was easily the most beautiful woman in the world. And, as Andy would say, she was hot. He toyed with the idea of trying to arouse her through the bond to ease her anxiety but to do that, he’d have to get aroused himself. The pants he wore were tight, and neither his shirt nor the wrap did anything to cover that part of him. He had no desire to show that to the crowd. In truth, he’d done much worse to draw attention to himself and away from someone who needed to be rid of it. But it would only serve to make Sapphire’s anxiety worse. He simply put an arm around her instead. He felt her relax a little. They turned to Thorgrey. The master mage scowled at him and where he had his hand. He took her hand instead and pretended to be embarrassed by the mistake. It drew people’s attention away from Sapphire to himself. She understood, and she smiled genuinely. She felt less anxious. He sent calm to her, remembering the day he had proposed. She focused on that. She was going to get through this. *** Andy listened to Thorgrey recite the ceremony. He reviewed what he had to say in his head. There was more than it would have been back home. And, unlike back home, he wouldn’t always be prompted with what to say. What made it worse was that if he messed up back home, the worst would be a video online. Here, if it was bad enough, it could mean Ann’s death and his. He was grateful the day was cooler. Up until yesterday, the heat hadn’t bothered him. The palace remained cool enough he was comfortable in long pants and even sometimes long sleeve shirts. There was always a breeze from the nearby ocean with doors and windows open to let in that breeze. Yesterday, the heat got to him because of the number of people there and because of his nerves. Today would have been worse. There were more people, and his nerves were much worse. Ann felt calm, well, maybe not calm. She was excited and joyful. There was no nervousness. Sapphire looked just the opposite. She looked terrified. He felt bad for her. A wedding was supposed to be something to be enjoyed. He knew Pt’this was doing what he could to keep her calm. The dragon was fiercely protective of what he thought was his, either possessions or family. Andy still kept an eye on her to watch for fainting. *** Sapphire took a deep breath. This was silly. All they were doing was looking at her. She had faced worse. She thought back to when she had been captured by Lyra and had been given to Drepal, what she had suffered under her hands. She remembered what Remtani had done to her, the pain and the humiliation she had felt then. She even thought of those nights hiding under her bed so her father wouldn’t get her, laying there listening to Ria’s cries, knowing she’d be beaten the next day for hiding, knowing one day that would be her. Now, after all that, what terrified her? People looking at her. But, to be fair, it was because of all that that she didn’t want people looking at her like they could tell and they were judging her. She glanced out at the crowd, and her eyes fell on Darkham and his hags. That was what everyone called them, including Darkham. They even referred to themselves as hags. They had been the ones who had helped her work through what she had been through. Not just the Remtani’s attack, although that was why she had gone to them, but they helped with the rest too. They saw her looking and smiled. One nodded. She wished she could say that was all that was needed, but it wasn’t. She did relax a little more. She turned back to Thorgrey. She felt joy coming from Pt’this. He fingered her engagement ring. She remembered that day and the joy she had felt. She squeezed his hand. When it came time for her to speak, she was able to say what she was supposed to, but it was so soft no one would have heard it without the spell Thorgrey used to amplify her voice. Finally, Thorgrey looked up from them to the crowd. “Ambassador Andrew hails from a distant land with many different customs. We value our ways, but we wanted to include something of his too.” He turned back to the couples. “I now pronounce you husbands and wives. You may kiss the brides.” He smiled grandly. Sapphire turned to Pt’this a little concerned how he might kiss her. What they did in private was one thing. But in public, that was something else. There had been a lot of joking about this the day before during the rehearsal. But he knew her and gave her a simple tender kiss.