The Viking's Bride

Chapter Forty Three - Wedding Ceremony

"It was Thorin's mother's bridal crown" Terni told me and I looked up at her. "Are you sure I should use it?" I asked and she smiled at me. "Thorin wants you too" she told me and I gave a small nod. She moved behind me and placed the bridal crown on my head. 

Someone slipped my shoes onto my feet before I was allowed to stand again. I put on a lovely gold necklace, with small rubies and emeralds embedded into it as my only jewelry. "You are ready" Terni said and I smiled at her. "Thank you" I said to all of them and they nodded before a knock on the door sounded. Fregya opened it to reveal Aden. "Valin, it's time" he announced and I nodded. We all left the room and made our way down the hall. The wedding ceremony was going to be in a lovely grove behind the village.

"Did you get it, Aden?" I asked the younger boy who nodded, unwrapping the long parcel he carried, showing me the sword I had made for today. "You look nice" he told me with a small smile that I returned. "Thank you" I told him and he grinned as we continued to our destination.

Thorin's Pov...

I was standing in the grove, before the gothi, waiting for Valin to arrive. There were several rows of benches set out for my family and our guests and witnesses, all of which were currently occupied. Valin wanted to have the wedding ceremony outside because it was different to what her kin were used to. 

I stood there, dressed in my finest clothes and my family's ancestral sword on my hip. "The bride!" someone shouted and it immediately became silent as Valin approached. The other women with her quickly found their seats and she stood across the grove with Aden by her side. Everyone stood as she walked down the aisle, she looked beautiful, her hair was left open and as the breeze blew through the trees, it whipped her hair around wildly. It looked like fire.

When she stopped before me, I could not help but smile down at her as she grinned up at me. "You look beautiful, my love" I whispered to her and had the pleasure of watching her cheeks heat with a blush. "You look handsome" she whispered back and I grinned at her before we turned to the gothi. I held Valin hand in my own and the gothi continued.

He took a knife and moved to the animals we had for the sacrifice to invoke the gods of fertility. There were three of them, a goat for Thór, a sow for Freyja, and a boar for Freyr. He began the sacred prayers as he slit the goat's throat and caught some of it's blood in the bowl. He then repeated the action with the other two animals. The bowl was then placed on the horgr (alter) built of heaped stones for the occasion. 

He then dipped the hlaut-teinn into the bowl, before using it lightly sprinkle the blood on Valin and I. He also sprinkles some on the guests to confer the blessings of the gods. I then turned to Valin and almost smirked at her. She had tiny flecks of the blood on her face, and if not for it's colour, it could have been her light freckles. "Present your bride with the sword" the gothi said and I released her hands before presenting the sword to her.

"I, Thorin, give you, Valin, this sword, to hold until the time you are to in trust it to our son. Do you accept?" I told her as she place her hands under the hilt and the flat of the blade. "I accept" she said, her voice even as she looked into my eyes. She then sheathed the sword and passed it to Aden, who gave her another sword. She turned to me and offered me the blade. 

"I, Valin, give you, Thorin, this sword, to signify that you now hold the power of guardianship and protection over me. Do you accept?" she asked and I took the sword from her. "I accept" I told her, my voice sure and strong. "You may now exchange finger rings" he told us and Thror gave Valin each other's rings.

I placed Valin's ring on the hilt of the sword she gave me and I then offered the ring to her. She nodded and I took her ring off the sword and slipped it onto her finger. I was happy to see her old husband's ring was now gone. She then took my ring and placed it on the hilt of the sword and offered it to me. I nodded and she smiled as she slipped it onto my finger. We then joined hand on the sword's hilt.