Destined Path

Chapter Five: Pagan

Emery PoV

I sat on the plush lounge, feeling more and more the chaperone. I brushed Leif's hair gently soothing him into sleepiness for his afternoon nap. His small blonde head lay numbly upon the maroon skirts of my ruffled gown. The wide, leather belt forced me into sitting especially straight despite my own tiredness.

Princess Onyxia and my brother had been engaged in an intense game of hoops for almost two hours. I never knew trying to throw a series of rings onto two long sticks caused such competitive rivalry. The two had managed to make a quite a game of mocking and taunting each other into missing or having a bad throw.

The princess looked rather natural, homely. Her pale hair was braided on the sides of her head and then pulled as a whole into two loose tails. The crinkled strands rivered down her back and over her shoulders. She wore a buff coloured gown, which laced up the sides with brown drawstrings, and down the front up to her waist. Fawn coloured leather created a three-layered effect for sleeves on her shoulders. They were decorated with beads of metal, which lined her dipped bodice too. Her eyes that seemed to change colour by her mood, right now they were a bright blue-violet. They were lined with black kohl, a traditional look. They had black kohl, we had blue paint. Long, wide, decorated cuffs clicked on ear rim, and her clan arm ring glittered in the light near her elbow. She was rather beautiful, she had very elegant features.

My brother dressed rather comfortably despite being in company; he wore brown, worn trousers that were tucked into his old boots. His short-sleeved cream tunic hung around his body, every movement made the trinkets of his threaded necklaces jingle. His jaw was rusted with stubble. I hoped he wasn't planning to grow a beard; it made him look like an unkept farmer. A smile stayed curved on his lips and his eyes were a bright blue with the joy of playful challenge. I smiled to myself, for once they didn't seem to have formalities between them, they merely enjoyed versing each other in any game they could involve themselves with.

But my amused happiness was fuelled indefinitely by the fact that Kyarah was sitting in the corner and for the whole time, Alex had barely noticed her. I watched her scowl darken when Alex wrapped his arms around Onyx's waist to tickle her so she missed her target. She sat mending one of his shirts with her painted lips pursed. Her golden hair was bunned in a graceful, ladylike style. She wore a tight, form-fitting gown made out of midnight blue velvet. It was decorated by floral patterns sewn by golden thread. The sleeves flared out into the long design worn by many Saxons. Her green eyes narrowed like an insulted cat.

I tugged the green cloaked cape Onyx had offered me when I shivered against the gentle cold breeze of night to come. It brought much welcome warmth.

Over the days passed, I had noted that the betrothed pair was growing more and more comfortable with each other. Which was a very good sign, I wish them to grow much more intimate but that was to the Gods. Alex had come to me in more than one occasion to ask me about the Aesir and the gods they had across the seas. So different to our own, yet very much the same. They spent the more time with each other, talking about war and the cost of blood and battle, showing what he thought was the more interesting areas of our home. But despite he's apparent attentions and liking towards his becoming wife, he spent every night with his mistresses, the many he has.

She seemed to like the ring he gave her, when I asked her what she thought, she had told me that she thought it nice and that she thanked him. He had also given her a chainmail shirt of amour, stating that he didn't trust their bound leathered amour to protect her in battle, in which she replied that it had even good protection so far but she'll take his offering. And with my help, he had managed to create a gown for her, wanting to design it himself in a ploy to impress her. The purple-burgundy gown startled her a bit, but she accepted it and told him not to get her anything more. I was unsure if she took the gift as Alex trying to spoil her or if he was trying to make her dress in the draped fashions of our people.