"Venna," he said, with mock chagrin, "I might have known you would spirit away the bride to your secret garden. We are waiting to begin."
"Oh, that's okay! We can just tell everyone it's an Earth custom for the bride to be late. It's said to bring good luck." She winked at Venna.
King Holdort laughed, throwing back his head. "Well, well, well! You two are more alike than I could ever have imagined!"
"Except she has a much stronger mind and spirit than me, and that's why she's marrying King Xagrun," Venna winked back at Ria.
King Holdort turned his attention to the bride. "Now, my dear," he said, a fatherly tone filling his voice, "I will take you to Xagrun..." he began.
"Can Venna come with?" Ria pleaded, interrupting him.
"Oh! I'll be there, all around you! I am doing the dance of joy around the bride!" Venna said, beaming.
Ria's culture chip kicked in. It was Hautian custom for a family member of the bride to do a dance all around her as she was led to the groom. She suddenly knew exactly what to expect as her brain accessed the embedded memories on the chip, and her heart soared.
She nodded, indicating to King Holdort that she was ready. He held out his arm to her and she linked in with him as they walked toward the front gardens, with Venna already spinning and whirling and pirouetting all around them.
As they rounded the bend, some of the wedding revellers noticed them and a cry went up, fanning out across the crowd of wedding guests like a shock wave as each one heard and took up the cry.
Just as she expected, there was a round platform set up in the middle of the garden and around it, in a huge circle, swarmed thousands of beings of many different races, all subjects of King Holdort and her royal groom.
Garlands and wreaths of all kinds and full of flowers bedecked the platform, half of which was covered over by a living gazebo, similar to the bench she had sat on in Venna's secret garden.
In front of the gazebo stood Xagrun, his scales shimmering and gleaming in the dewy rays of morning light. His whole body seemed to ripple with expectation as he strained to see his bride approaching on the arm of her adoptive father.
The crowd moving around him was involved in a repetitive dance, swaying and writhing like a single being while they sang a traditional wedding song to welcome the approaching bride.
Beautiful Bride, Radiant Princess
Your future awaits you
As does your husband
Enter the garden of your future
Fill it with love
And your bright legacy.
All the beauty around Ria made her ache. Partly because she longed for her own father to be leading her to the altar; partly because she already loved the people who had made her part of their family; and partly because everything was just so darn breathtaking!
Especially Xagrun. She realised she had been looking at him through many different points of view. As an Earthling prisoner, as a concubine, as a diplomat, and all that time it had been so easy to see his faults. So easy to look down on him.
If she was honest with herself, it was not she who had changed the course of history, but Xagrun himself, who had reacted to her self-righteous criticism in a way that bettered him, instead of embittering him.
It came to her that his golden, shimmering scales were truly a representation of his heart. A heart of gold that she had only begun to discover. She was filled with an overwhelming desire to know him better, to understand him more, to learn from him as much as he had learned from her.
In that moment she knew that, despite the sacrifices she was making, Xagrun was the best thing that could ever have happened to her. He was worth every sacrifice she could or would ever make, and more. Suddenly she couldn't wait to reach him, but she had to. There were customs to be respected, as her culture chip mechanically reminded her.
As she and her two escorts neared the edge of the crowd, and it gave way, opening a path for them to enter and then closing up behind them again, so that they were surrounded by dancing singing creatures on every side, moving through the mass of bodies in slow motion towards the incomparable being waiting impatiently on the platform.
At last, Ria put her foot on the first step, and as she did so, the guests stopped dancing. A breathless hush descended on the crowd as she walked up slowly, step by step, her eyes locked on Xagrun's glowing golden ones, her heart beating like a drum.
And then her heartbeat was suddenly echoed by real drums as some of the foremost guests stepped forward and began beating on small, skin-covered djembes. At first, a slow beat, growing in speed and volume, into a staccato, bouncing rhythm full of life and vigour. Venna had stayed down below and continued her dance of joy around the platform, aligning her movements to the rhythm of the drums.
The moment Ria and King Holdort reached Xagrun, the drums stopped with one mighty, unison boom that seemed to echo around the expanse of the garden.
Ria saw nothing, knew nothing, registered nothing but the eyes of her beloved, his voice saying her name, promising to cherish her, to protect her, to make her blossom, to love her and no other until the day he died. She had no need of the culture chip to express her full reciprocation and the words flowed from her lips even more easily than her inspired poetry, supposedly for Venna, had flowed from her pencil.
She had to laugh. It was all so hilarious, really. She had taught him to love a princess, and now she was the princess he loved. His eyes danced, and he laughed with her.
She hardly heard the words of King Holdort as he solemnised their union and declared them, "...husband and wife, the King and Queen of Dragona." But she knew that he must have said, "You may kiss the bride," or whatever the Hautian equivalent was when Xagrun drew her to him, dipped her over his arm and kissed her with all the fiery passion in his beautiful soul until she thought she would pass out from ecstasy.
The crowd went wild, jumping up and down and cheering ecstatically, before breaking into another song and dance, again writhing around the platform like a dizzying kaleidoscope.
The sun was high in the sky by now, and Xagrun took her hand, raising it high in triumph. The crowd gradually ceased their celebrations, and when all was quiet, he cleared his throat.
"Loyal citizens and subjects of Haut and Dragona! I present to you the most honourable, virtuous and just Queen I have ever known. Apologies to you, Queen Noratia, but you come a close second."
The crowd roared with laughter as Venna's mother bowed and smiled graciously. Xagrun waited for the hubbub to subside and then continued.
"This woman has brought out the best in me; in fact, she has awakened things in me I never knew were there. Because of her, you now not only have a new Queen, but a new, and improved, King!"
Applause and whoops accompanied with a smattering of gleeful laughter echoed around a blushing Ria.
"There will be more changes in Dragona, changes for the better. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome your new queen, Queen Ria of Dragona!"
Whistles and whoops, applause and stamping feet, chanting and swaying drowned out all other sounds. Ria could hardly hear herself think, as her new husband took her in his arms and kissed her again.
Then the crowd parted, like a double receding tide, and opened a pathway for the wedding party to walk through to the palace. In Hautian culture, only the extended royal family were included in the reception celebration afterwards, but the King and Queen of Haut had outdone themselves, nonetheless.
Long, elaborately decorated tables in the great hall groaned under the weight of all the sumptuous dishes waiting to be sampled by the happy couple and their entourage. Ria was startled to see that there were many more 'extended family' members than she expected.
As she entered the hall with Xagrun on one side and Venna holding her hand on the other, she whispered to her, "Why are there so many people?"
Venna laughed, enjoying her adoptive sister's naivete. "These are mostly your adoptive brothers and sisters, Princess Ria, besides my many aunts and uncles and cousi
ns. My family likes to expand itself in any way it can." She winked.
The generosity of the Hautians had been very deeply hidden by their irritatingly cautious customs, and Ria wished she hadn't judged them so harshly on arrival.
There were no formal speeches, but every ten minutes, the nervous lizard butler would ring a small, silver bell and the first person to stand up would pronounce their well wishes over the couple.
From long life to many children, to a successful reign, the list went on and on. Ria watched all these strangers dishing out their goodwill so freely and realised that was what Earth needed more of. Generous hearts. More than the advanced technology and lifestyle.
As the celebrations progressed, Venna would periodically come over to the wedding couple and ask if there was anything she could do for them. It was, according to Hautian custom, part of the duties of a matron of honour.
"You can do something for me, but out of earshot of my husband," Ria said playfully, taking Venna aside. "Tell me, sister, who is that young man you are making so much eye contact with?" Ria nodded towards a youthful looking guest who looked quickly away as he saw their attention on him. He was obviously of the same race as Venna, his scales holding a more coppery tone than hers.
Venna's scales seemed to flutter and shiver with excitement as she looked at him. Ria had never seen her like that. "That is Borden, the most handsome dragon shapeshifter that has ever trod on Hautian soil," Venna waxed lyrical, her eyes bright.
"Oh!" Ria gave her a knowing look. "So he's the real reason you didn't want to marry Xagrun, isn't he?"
"You found me out, my sister Queen, I have no argument to offer."
"Hmmm... I can understand why. He's more your type, I'd say," Ria quipped.
Venna laughed again, giddy on happiness. "I just need to twist father's arm to let him be my suitor. His genetic profile isn't half as impressive as Xagrun's, but he makes me so happy, Ria. I never wanted a political marriage anyway."
"Well, if I know you, you're going to get that right, especially with your mother's backing, and then you are going to be the best queen Haut has ever known."
"You are beautiful, Queen Ria. I will miss you." Venna kissed her on the cheek and pranced off.
Just then Xagrun joined his bride. "Do you think they'll miss us if we leave now, my Queen?" he whispered, kissing her on her neck.
"Hmmm... I'm wondering if that even matters." Ria giggled, nestling against him.
Without another word, he took her hand and they slipped away, across the great entrance hall, up the wide staircase, over the landing, past her old quarters, and into his chambers. Ria was surprised to find that all her things had already been moved across to her new abode.
"This is what happens when you are royalty, my dear. A great many things are done for you."
Ria smiled, "As long as they don't undress me as well."
His voice was deep and husky as he looked at her, his scales beginning to glow with pulsating light. "That, my Queen, is my job from now on." He pulled her against him, "But don't worry, a beautiful, feisty and rather cheeky concubine I once had taught me how to take it slow. Thanks to her, I can say I know how to love a princess."
He swept her up in another deep kiss and then sat her down gently on the bed. The room was filled with strange little butterfly-like insects flitting about, ensconced in little spheres, like the soap bubbles that Earth children like to blow.
Xagrun knelt down in front of her and removed her sandals first, kissing her feet and working his way up to her thighs. She giggled, bending down to take his head in her hands and kissed the back of his neck.
He shivered, reaching up and pulling her down onto the floor with him. As he kissed her all over her face and down her neck, his fingers found the little pearly buttons on the back of her dress.
Slowly he unbuttoned them one by one, as she returned his kisses and nibbled his ear. "Ria, you're making it very difficult for me to go slow," he whispered hoarsely.
"Well, you're doing a pretty good job, all the same, so keep it up," she whispered back, giggling.
At last her dress was free and he lifted her to her feet. Placing his hands on her shoulders, his eyes locked on hers, communicating all his passionate desire, as he shifted the straps down her arms so that the featherlight cloth fell in a noiseless, frothy heap at her feet.
She did the same with his bolero, kissing him all over his chest, while he unclasped the sampot-like garment that covered his lower body. The heavy cloth fell easily to the floor. She moved slightly closer until their bodies were just barely touching and felt him shiver again as an electric current seemed to course through them simultaneously.
"My Queen Ria, it's only you. Only you I want," he whispered, as she drew him with her onto the bed.
"I'm yours, Xagrun, only yours," she whispered back. They lay there, entangled in each other, exploring each other's bodies with their hands, with their mouths. Ria was surprised at how sensitive Xagrun's scales actually were to her slightest touch. His responses were all she needed to confirm that it was true.
And then he took over, and she surrendered herself to him as he carried them both to the most delicious la petit morte she had ever experienced. So many times before she had reached a similar place, but it had never filled her. She had always felt like there was something missing, and often beat herself up about it, thinking that maybe she was expecting too much.
But there was something in how their bodies blended together that was more than physical. It was as if their bodies, souls, minds and spirits had become one beautiful unit, fused together in mutual adoration and appreciation.
Ria lay staring dreamily at the flitting butterfly-like creatures and stroking her beloved's back as he lay atop her, all his strength spent in glorious vulnerability. "You are right, King Xagrun," she said, smiling impishly, "You do know how to love a Queen. Please extend my grateful thanks to your former concubine if you ever see her again."
A deep laugh rumbled in his chest and he lifted himself up, looking into her eyes. "Indeed, I shall." He smiled down at her. "And that reminds me. I have a wedding gift for you."
That was not a tradition Ria's culture chip had told her about. Should I have gotten him something, too? she thought, mentally facepalming herself.
He disappeared into the sitting room and returned with a sheet of thick, yellow paper, like the ones Ria had written her overdone love poems on. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he handed it to her without comment, allowing her to read what was written on it, in his own handwriting, with bold, black ink.
I, King Xagrun, ruling monarch of the Galaxy of Dragona, do hereby declare that from this day forth, with no exceptions, no King or Dignitary of the Galaxy of Dragona shall be permitted to keep a harem, a mistress, or a lover of any kind, save his one, chosen and betrothed Queen or Spouse.
By Royal Order and Decree.
Signed by his Royal Majesty, King Xagrun of Dragona, on this 18th day of the month of Iglin, 29074.
Ria sat up, stared at him and then read it again. Just to make sure her eyes and her mind were not playing tricks on her. No more concubines? How much more proof did she need that this man adored her? No cultural norm or protocol could stand in his way when it came to taking care of her greatest and smallest need.
"King Xagrun, this is the best wedding gift any queen could ever wish for." Her voice was laden with emotion as she wrapped herself around him.
He was hers, only hers, forever and ever. That was all Ria needed to feel like a true queen.
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Gifted To The Dragon King Page 15