The Widow

Chapter Five: No going back against the promise to the Almighty

Tradition, everything were decorated by tradition. The halls leading to the front door of the castle from Emelie's room were decorated with apple blossoms and white ribbons as a sign of fertility, as if walking past them all would make Emelie sterile just by smelling them. Her dress were white as well, a traditional sign of her innocence and purity. The church were already filled with villagers, dukes, ladies, princes, and princesses looking for luck in getting married themselves. Everyone, even the maids and foot men, wore their finest working clothes. The day was sunny, birds chirping, no sign of crows to signify bad luck or death, not even a dark cloud hovered over the castle. Everything was good and at peace.

As soon as Emelie woke up, her step-mother pulled her into prayer, then she was thrown into a tube of hot water and scrubbed clean- Emelie even thought the maids mistaken her skin as much and tried to get rid of it, but seeing her skin turned red and formed slightly raw to the touch, they moved onto another spot. Finally, she was pampering with perfume, dress wasn't as tight nor revealing, hair wasn't brushed too hard, and her in-laws nor step-mother did not badger her in anyway.

"Deep breath love." Harold sent his daughter a soft smile, the carriage rocked back in forth when rolling on the uneven stone ground, the sound of the villagers filled the quiet air- they did not shout in disapproval, only praise and wonder.

Emelie took a needed breath as soon as the carriage stopped in front of the large church, soldiers stood side by side, a wide path covered in white rose petals greeted her. Immediately, she felt like royalty, the treatment and praise was foreign but also needed. Harold stepped out first to lend a hand, his tight protective grasp calmed her, along with his soft gaze and small smile. Emelie recognizes the look from when she were a little girl, the first time she rode a horse by herself with no form of help. The fact that she's moving on and growing up is what's making him look soft and ready to burst out in tears, but the older man kept himself together while leading his daughter to the next big step in her life.

*~*~*~*

Emelie did not feel different after the ceremony, she did not smile or frown, cry or laugh, nor felt nervous or ecstatic. Her mind have not yet wrapped around the fact she's married, not just that, but to a prince- one that's strong, powerful, knows how to hunt and fight; a man that she would read in Abigail's secret stash of poems from naughty writers.

However, when the night fell upon them, when the feast ended with a savvy joke from the king, Emelie felt the wary thought of what's to come; the official bond of marriage... sex. Her skin crawled with heat and her muscles became tense when Ouen extended his hand out to his wife. Forcing herself to place her hand in his, she was risked away with a small crowd of Ouen's aunts, uncles, and even a few family friends to take witness of them getting ready to officially bind the marriage. Even Abigail and Talia came to take witness.

The walk to their shared bedroom was the longest and most painful experience Emelie has ever been through on her own. During the years, intercourse wasn't the main topic nor even a minor topic of the household, the talk of such sacred things was taboo and should be kept between husband and wife or lover and lover. With a few young married maids at the manor, they spoke as if sex were an obligation, a simple task with no passion or excitement. "Be stuff as a board." They would say. "That would make him finish faster."

There words could be true and it would help Emelie end the night faster, however, there were a few villagers that spoke about their bedroom remedies in public. Every time her father granted her permission to go out the manor walls with an escort, she would adventure off towards the market, listen to the old woman near the clothes and fabrics, she'll ease drop on their conversation by standing behind the thin headscarf's from India.