Gem watched from behind her purple veil as the people danced around, rejoicing that their crown prince was finally getting joined. The ceremony had been boring and long but she did enjoy tightening the marriage band round his thighs and close to his balls which earned her shocked gasps from the elders of the court. He fumed while he tied his own golden band round her wrist, tightening it twice to pour out his embarrassment at how bold she was to do such a thing.
She had not expected her wedding to be like this, the hall was too gloomy even with the thousands of red flowers decorating it, the purple curtains trimmed with red and gold looked too much like the guards color of the land and reminded her of war and Riblah and her father were also missing so the joining ceremony seemed null in her head. Even after she walked down the golden isle it all still felt like a dream.
She smiled cold like at them, pushing her nose up as if they were dirt. She had already planned what she would do with her share of the kingdom and nobody was going to stop her. Not the prince nor his grandmother who had been the only one really welcoming in the entire palace.
The prince hardly said a word to her, his best friend had not even spared her a second glance and since the guards were loyal to the two of them it had been a cold reception. Even though they had both come to an agreement to be civil to one another, it did not stop her from stepping on his tail, and he in turn was always ready to bare his teeth.
He stared straight at his grandmother who was sitting at the far end of the mahogany rectangle table, quietly mouthing how proud she was that he was getting married and he rolled his eyes at her, she was always proud when he did something good. But if he did something bad, then he was no longer her grandson but his father's son.
Gem watched them dance and she was perplexed because since the beginning of the reception when they had left the temple for the official joining ceremony till now where they had been plowed with wine and did not have their wits about them, it was blatantly obvious that these people liked to be merry.
She yawned to catch the attention of the prince who had not had a drop of wine. He looked pale, as if he had seen a ghost, probably caused by all the clenching of fists and gritting of teeth, either way Gem ate like a woman who was truly happy.
"Are you tired?" He asked with a frown.
"Yes, I wondered when you would notice from my continuous yawning that I would like to retire for the night." She said sarcastically.
"Respect or-"
"Or else what," she jeered at him, drawing the attention of half the onlookers, ready to tear into her if she so much as looked at their prince wrongly. Ebedmelech glared at them and they hastily minded their business.
"Do not push me," he gestured for Shashan who looked just as pale faced as his friend. "Take her to her quarters, I believe you prepared it earlier."
"I did, until that old...." He trailed off, trying not to insult the queen, with his eyes closed he took three deep calming breaths before continuing, "she said you had to share a room unless people would start getting suspicious that all this was fake and for her benefit."
Gem began to panic as sweat pooled under the silky veil, sticking it to her face as she became hot, her feet tapping the floor in an agitated manner which did not go unnoticed by her husband.
"I see," Ebedmelech said, finally smiling for the first time since he found out he was to be joined to an outsider, he could clearly feel her panic and if he had to be unhappy, so should she.
"I refuse to share a room with you," Gem said with an air of finality which he dismissed in a bored manner.
"We are one my lady, you are now crown princess until I become King and then you will be queen, it is only right that we share this night in each other's solid embrace under the silver moonlight on silky sheets, or what do you think, Shashan?" He smirked.
"I think he is right, after all you are now one," he said with the same smile that Ebedmelech had on. Gem gulped loudly and began choking on air as the overwhelming urge to flee came over her.
Ebedmelech only handed her a cup of wine while slowly patting her on the back, "it would not do to see my new bride choking before we consummate our first night now would it? Give me some more time and the choking might just be mutual." He pat her some more before gently parting her veil to look into her dark green eyes, the torches giving her an ethereal glow.
"What will you do to me?" Gem squeaked out, as hot flashes of that night made her mind cringe while her body seemed to betray her, becoming mushy in anticipation, talk about getting scared and aroused at the same time.
He looked into her eyes, the wicked smile never leaving his handsome roguish face, "Nothing I have not already done, ifè mí," he said, gently grabbing her arm and standing up.
"I wish to retire for the night, ifè mí is tired and we have some business to attend to," he said as loud laughter reverberated around the room, some very nasty comments passed round the men and Gem colored crimson as Shashan bent low to whisper in her ear.
"I hope he does not wear you out," he said gleefully.
Ebemelech tugged her up, "Let us go," and they both headed for his Chambers, one feeling dread and the other just tired. He gave his grandmother a very mean glare which she only smiled at before continuing her talk with her suitors. How she still managed to get them at that age was beyond him.
The walk to the room was filled with awkward silence and heavy breathing, once or twice Gem stared at him through her veil, trying to decipher what was running through his mind.
"Can I remove the veil?" she asked, getting irritated that it kept on clinging to her skin.
"Not until we get in, only I get to see you unveil the night of the joining, and since we already missed the annual ceremonial joining it is better if you do not remove it," he stopped in front of his Chambers, opened the golden double doors and stepped inside, leaving her staring at his strong back. He was wearing a simple purple shirt with cream cuffs and buttons.
"If you do not step inside I will close the door in front of you and if you catch your death of cold that would only make my life easier," he called from inside.
Gem froze, everything still seemed surreal, first off she had gotten captured, now she was married and if the weight of what she had done had not hit her during the ceremony, her crossing the last line into his private quarters was the last straw. She began to hyperventilate, she was not ready to get married, she wanted love, happiness and her mother, she wanted her father and her best friends, she wanted to train with Pashur and perfect her use of the dagger.
What she did not want, was to be married to a brute who had all but dragged her to his private quarters.
She held onto the doors, trying to stop her vision from dancing around when she felt two warm hands hold onto her head as two coal dark eyes focused on her.
"You have to breath, I promise not to touch you, nothing will happen, by the laws of our land I can not separate from you or dissolve this union until three full moons have passed, by coincidence this is the first full moon, two more to go and you are free, I regret my actions and I consider this my punishment that is why I am going through with this," he explained and watched as her face seemed to relax in his warm hands.
"I-" Gem was speechless, she had not expected the apology or sincerity behind his words.
"Just try not to choke on air and die, my yeye will have my head if that happens," he finished before removing his hand from her head and slowly backing away from the door into the room, beckoning for her to come in.
Gem let out a heavy breath, she was not a coward to die so easily and she stepped into the room.
The room screamed royalty, from the gold to the priceless gems lining almost every surface she began to feel that there was royalty and there was being born a royal, the fire burning from a single torch by the far end of the room cast a soft glow on every surface and she looked around in unashamed awe. Gem could get used to being a queen.
Ebedmelech watched her reaction with pride before clearing his throat, "I prefer sleeping on the left side and away from the window so the right side is all yours, also take off your sandals and put it under the bed, you can sleep in what you are wearing but I assure you now that it is only going to be very uncomfortable when it gets all sticky from sweat."
"I can not sleep naked beside you, that would be like flaunting meat in front of a lion," she narrowed her eyes at him.
"And I am the lion in that analogy, look I already told you I will not touch you, I am a man of my word, so I will not touch you even if you begged me to," he finished coming to stop in front of her.
Gem looked up at him, taken aback by the way he managed to sound sincere and arrogant at the same time, "what can I wear?" She quietly asked after a while.
"I have some shirts from my younger years, they should fit you and you can sleep in my shorts," he opened a wardrobe and rummaged through it before producing a brown shirt and shorts. "The bathroom is behind that door, get changed and come to bed, we have a long day tomorrow."
Gem nodded and headed for the bathroom, the bowl in front of the mirror was golden and she quickly went about getting undressed, the bathtub looked so inviting that she ended up dozing off in it until a chill breeze blew her awake.
When Gem went back into the room Ebedmelech had already slept off so she quietly joined him, curling in on herself so there was a large space between them.
Ebedmelech frowned at the stream of sunlight peeking from behind his cream curtains, until he felt a weight on his neck, he looked down to see his wife's leg on his neck while half her body was on the bed and the other half off the bed.
He chuckled, gently removing her leg from his neck, he was rubbing the now red spot where it had been when she woke up.
"Hello there sleeping horror," he greeted with a playful smile, the tension of the night before leaving with the sunlight. Ebedmelech concluded that it was better to be friends than enemies if they were to make this work at all.
Gem narrowed her eyes at him, surprised at his playful tone. "Why am I almost on the floor?"
"Ask yourself that question, you nearly choked me with your heavy and big feet, what size of shoe do you wear by the way?" He joked and color spread on her cheeks as she righted herself on the bed.
Two can play this nice game, she thought.
"I need more sleep," she said trying to hide her blush, he looked absolutely roguish with his short hair standing on end and a five o'clock shadow littering his sharp jaw.
"Are you secretly checking me out and do you like what you see?" He asked doing exactly the same to her, she looked absolutely yummy in his clothes and if not for the hands off he promised her, he would have loved to undress her and watched her toes curl in ecstasy against his bedspread.
"You honestly can not wake up with no shirt on looking all devlish and not expect me to like what I see, I may hate you on a more normal plain but that does not mean that you are not attractive and what is attractive by the way, you have a nice face and you seem to be very very fit and-"
"You are rambling," he cut in with a smirk.
"I need sleep," she repeated, snuggling further into the covers in order to hide her reddening cheeks and hardening nipples.
"If you sleep in, my guards will assume that we had a roughly pleasant night and will keep whispering behind your back and making fun of you, the woman who once held a sword to my neck now made lowly by marriage," he offered.
"As if I care."
"You will, especially if Sara see's you,"
"You mean the mean but uncannily beautiful lady that threatened me earlier?" She asked remembering how she had walked up to her and told her they wouldn't last and he was hers now and forever before spinning around to use her long brown hair to slap Gem in the face.
"Yes, she is my first maiden, well was my first maiden seeing as I am now yours if the taluha band near my manhood says anything," he gave her a smile that would have made her heart flatline for a some seconds if she were looking at him.
"Well if she tries anything you best believe that I can handle it well." Her face was still buried in the pillow, blush never leaving her face as sh remembered tying the marriage band.
"I know, you tried to kill me twice and nearly succeeded, but just to warn you she is also a fighter, not quite like you but still That is why I have been unable to succesfully cheat on her in the past," he said getting up and heading for the bathroom to freshen up.
"So you would try to cheat on me too?" She asked, the thought sitting heavily in her stomach that as soon as he left this doors he would fall into the arms of another. She scolded herself, he wasn't hers by love or choice, he was hers by obligation and she needed to remember that.
Theirs was a loveless affair turned into a loveless marriage.
"I'm a one man woman, now look away before you see what you can not un-see" he pulled down his trousers to curb the uncomfortable conversation. Gem just closed her eyes and smiled, she was going to enjoy this marriage while it lasted.
After they both freshened up and had breakfast Gem felt rather useless when he went off to town to seperate some squabbles so she went to the seeing room.
Yeye smiled as she walked in, her white hair flowing behind her like a curtain when the wind blew it. This was the first time she had let her hair down since Gem entered the palace
Gem sat down and watched her work, fascinated by the way she just mixed up everything and then bottled it up in small containers. After a short while and Yeye saw that she would not initiate a conversation she asked, "How would you like to become a seer?"
Gem scrunched up her nose in distaste, she had run away from such lessons back in igdaliah, there was no way she would start that now. "I'm not interested," Gem said now perched on a stool in front of Yeye who regarded her coldly.
"You better be, you can't just sit down all day while your man goes out to work, you have to keep busy and work too," she said matter of fact.
"I just got joined yesterday, I am entitled according to the laws of igdaliah to relax for a week," Gem said with building irritation.
"Pity you are not in igdaliah," she replied without missing a beat.
Gem narrowed her eyes at her, "I am well aware that this is not igdaliah," she gritted out, tired of the scolding look on her face she stood up and left. Gem walked down the hallway, avoiding eye contact with most of the guards who bowed low in greeting as she passed. The very guards that had knocked her out and bundled her like coal to the palace. Gem was very bitter and wished she could hurt them.
Gem went down to the training room which Ebedmelech had showed her the day before as they walked down the aisle together after the joining ceremony. She entered without knocking and came face to face with a shirtless Ebedmelech and a sweating Sara. Bile rose up her throat before she could stop it.
"Ah, my queen," he greeted, trying to draw Gem's attention from Sara who readily returned her glare.
"You are holding the sword wrong," she pointed out. Sara hastily corrected her grip and the sword clattered to the ground. Sara could not say much because by law, Gem had the right to have her hanged so she could only glare at her in anger.
"What brings you to the training room Gemariah?" He asked before she turned to face him. Her eyes trailed his body appreciatively. He was glistening in sweat, the only downside was how bad he stunk from training so hard.
"I got bored with Yeye and deemed it fit to come and sharpen my skills, I was also wondering as a skilled swordsman will you be adverse to training me?" Melech was taken aback with how politely she had asked to train with him. Before he could answer some guards ran in to tell him of a problem that needed his attention.
"Come with me," he told Gem before grabbing her by the hand and pulling her along with him.
There was a small crowd gathered by the palace gate's and they were very loud. Shouting at the top of their voices at each other.
As soon as they noticed Ebedmelech standing with the palace guards they all quiet down and bowed in greeting.
Gem noticed the faint smell of spices in the air and the different clothes the people wore.
Some were dressed in a red tunic and a blue jacket coupled with purple bell triple layered skirt and a gold cap while the rest were dressed like the natives of the town she had hid in for over a year.
"What brings you to the palace?" He asked effectively silencing the mumblings that continued after the initial silence of his presence.
"May you live long our prince!" An old man in red stepped forward,
Ebedmelech squinted at him cautiously, whenever he was around Ebedmelech knew he was in for it, "Ababwe, what brings you here?"
"We came because the babarians who deal in tubers upturned my spice stall at tunipoint market after leering at my daughter who by the laws of our land is still too young," he explained and an uproar erupted among the men standing.
"May you be granted with peace from the spirits of our forefathers," an old woman in a simple brown turtle neck top with a golden skirt stepped forward and all the rest of her people lay face down and echoed her prayer.
"Get up litigwe," he said obviously used to this while Gem had been taken aback.
"And May our new princess have love that satisfies her soul," she said before getting up and dusting her skirts.
"What say you to this accusation layed down by the olobe tribe?"
"False," someone shouted from the crowd.
"Silence!" Ebedmelech barked scaring all the People except for Shashan who gently nudged him behind the knees.
"Forgive my people for their insolence your highness"
"Clearly they are born with it," Ababwe scoffed and he received a glare from Shashan that had remorse clouding his features immediately.
"Silence Ababwe or I will have your stalls given to litigwe without even a second thought," he threatened and you could hear a pin drop with how silent everyone became. Ebedmelech didn't make threats regularly but when he did he was very serious about executing it.
His eyes roamed around the people gathered in front of the gate and he felt the beginnings of a headache. Ever since he could remember the olobe people and the isu people had been at loggerheads with one another.
And even after settling an argument it was only a matter of time before they came back to the palace with another grievance committed against the other tribe. They could not be more different from their cloths to their language but their myths and way of living was the same and that caused confusion among other tribes because if the two most popular tribes couldn't see eye to eye then who could.
"What do you think?" He turned to Gem who froze in shock, she pointed at herself and Ebedmelech nodded.
"Yes you, what do you think about this, what would you do if you were in my shoes?" He whispered for only her to hear and she shook her head, whispering fiercely back.
"I do not know, how do you expect me to know what to do, this is your land, fix it," she glared at him openly.
"It is now yours by marriage, you get to share the wonders of the headaches I get from judging and separating incoming fights," he said with a smug expression because this was it. The ways he could make sure she felt the weight of agreeing with his grandmother to a joining ceremony.
Gem looked at their eager faces, waiting for a verdict and she prayed to her goddess not to mess things up further. "Where is the young man and woman who are involved in this argument?" She asked with as much confidence that had not been beating from her body by submitting to them.
Two young people stepped forward and she noted how long the young man's hair was. It was even longer than the lady's who was a very tall, dark skinned beauty.
She saw how the lady blushed as their hands touched and she frowned, honing in on that moment. If she did not suddenly remember Riblah from the ladys action then she had not payed attention.
The darting eyes, and the unconscious movement towards him coupled with the way he smiled for her which all happened within a couple of seconds. She did not think they would object to being put together.
"How old are they if she is too young for such a look?" She whispered in Ebedmelech's ear.
"She seems to be almost two decades, their laws state that she be twenty and a couple of months while he even seems to be younger than her," he said.
"Well they obviously like each other, what do I do?"
"That's for you to decide, as for me I am sitting this one out."
"I too would rather be in the seeing room right now,"
"Too late, welcome to the life my princess," his voice dripped with sarcasm as he flicked her chin.
"Do you like each other?" She asked and the crowd gasped, shocked at such an outrageous idea.
"With all due respect your highness-" litigwe started.
Ebedmelech cut in,"With all due respect I would like you to keep quiet while my wife speaks," he effectively shut her up.
Gemariah couldn't help but shiver at the word wife and how possessive he seemed with that one word. He radiated deathly calm that even had Shashan straightening behind him as they all looked to her for words of wisdom. Words she was sure she packed but Gemariah could wing it, she vaguely recalled her father settling cases but wished she had stayed to listen to him give out verdicts.
She was too busy being mischievous to actually stay in one place and learn something. The only thing that seemed to catch her attention for long was her trainings with her father and pashur.
"Do you like each other?" she asked once again and noticed their hesistation. "Look at me when I am speaking and tell the truth If you lie just know that I will find out."
"Yes we do," they spoke at the same time and Ababwe fainted behind them, his skirt flying up to momentarily give a glimpse of black tights.
"Then it is settled, when you are both of age get married but for the time being, an adult should supervise your visits to each others house and as for the stalls upturned, litigwe is to to pay in full in tubers, no gold or silver but in goods. As you might be in- laws soon," she said with a smile and noted that a lot of them were red faced with anger, some were appalled by the idea and the rest just looked on as if they would rather be selling than be here right now.
"You heard her!" Shashan barked jolting everyone from their states of shock, "this case is closed and shall under no circumstances be posted before his or her highness." He finished and dismissed the crowd.
Ebedmelech took Gem by the elbow and ushered her back into the palace for fear that she would try to bolt once again but Gem was lost at the fact that this was the first time she was doing something like this and it felt good.
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