The Knight of Settadel

Chapter 20

(Daisies symbolize innocence and purity. This stems from an old Celtic legend. According to the legend, whenever an infant died, God sprinkled daisies over the earth to cheer the parents up. In Norse mythology, the daisy is Freya's sacred flower.)

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Time passed by quickly after my history lessons with Mr. Hughes and, before I knew it, was already time for my dance lessons, which is also my last for the day. Of course, I immediately got immersed into the dance and, honestly, I think I'm able to learn more about Settadel's history in my dance lessons than when I'm in my History lessons.

Every sway of my hips, motion of my hands, and movement of my body, I am able to envision the past of the island as I am taught to represent the past with how my body moves and, in order to do that, I am first taught about it before I can represent it.

My dance instructor, Madam Clarke, clapped her hands elegantly as I slowly came into the end of the dance, holding my position for 5 seconds before standing up straight, a proud smile on my face as I am finally able to perform the new dance flawlessly. Madam Clarke had stated that this new dance that I was taught was how Settadel had risen from its most recent catastrophe and, whether it's a coincidence or not, I can't help but think that now is the appropriate time to learn it. I have performed for the public countless of times already, ever since I was a little girl, and I know that this dance will uplift their spirits from the recent tragedy that had hit us.

"For this next one that I'm about to teach you, it is what's performed during a matrimony ceremony to celebrate the union of two individuals that will be joined as one with the King as a witness along with close relatives and friends" Madame Clarke stated as she had shown me how the first few steps are done.

At first, it looked awkward when she was doing it, and that's coming from her, who is one of the most elegant and graceful people that I know. But her next words were able to explain why it looked awkward, as if she was able to sense the confusion on my face.

"Since it is a dance of matrimony, this must be done by two people, one that has great chemistry between them. Perhaps Elyse would like to join?"

At the mention of her name, my head automatically snapped toward the door behind me and saw Elyse who has her eyes widened, looking as shocked as I was.

"Oh, sorry, I thought I was being sneaky" she gave us a cheeky smile as she pushed herself off the door and hesitantly walked towards us, but still kept a safe distance.

"With a woman your size, it will be quite a challenge to hide, especially since you were so engrossed in watching Mackenzie here" Madam Clarke teased with a smile which made me blush a deep red while Elyse cleared her throat sheepishly.

"I wouldn't mind joining her, though. But I'm not a great dancer" Elyse spoke again and, again, caught me off guard, but Madam Clarke doesn't seem surprised at all as she gave her a smile. "You won't have to worry about being a great dancer, all you have to have is great chemistry, and I'm pretty sure you won't have to worry about that as well" she gave us a wink before motioning for Elyse to come closer as she moved to the side and rummaged something in her pile of things. 

When she re-emerged in front of us, she was holding two things: one is a set of keys held together by a circle holder, the other is plastic flowers which I can identify as daisies.

She gave the keys to Elyse and handed the plastic flowers over to me.

"These two things are important in our traditional matrimony ceremony" she started then began to show us the first few steps, starting with the woman's part before proceeding with the man's part. "The bride will hand over the daisies to the groom, signifying that she is giving up her virginity, her innocence, and trust the groom to protect it; while the groom will hand over the keys to the bride, signifying that, not only he is opening up his home to his bride, but also into his heart. By the end, neither of the two will take the items, instead, they will share it with each other" Madam Clarke finished and, based on Elyse's focused face, I know I wasn't the only one enthralled by the dance and her words.