Born in a small elven village, I was arranged to be married to a young boy named Jerhic Roughbark soon after we were born. He was a slim athletic boy with a shy smile and looks that would prove to be a heartbreaker as he got older. He was often near, ready to help me if I needed it. He was a good friend and very polite. Stories and song fascinated me from my first words and so when I reached apprenticing age I approached the town bard, Master Kado Songsinger, for instruction. To my surprise, Jerhic did as well! He was standing behind me, almost cowering behind a building when Master Kado noticed him and asked if he wished to be an apprentice as well. It surprised me a little when Jerhic accepted. He was always quiet even when he was helping me.
The lessons came naturally to me. I loved entertaining and learning the ancient tales. Jerhic did very well, his quick mind and deep voice making his songs energetic and moving. He never seemed to have a good memory though, he often forgot entire verses while singing to me and Master Kado, covering his mistakes with lyrics he made up on the spot. Ironic and funny, his adlibs earned him many bouts with Master Kado and smiles from me.
Master Kado was a bit rough and tumble for a bard, preferring to perform in bars to the village greens and had gotten very good at brawling. He never punished Tradayn, but Tradayn often went home with a bruised eye or bloody lip from the "reinforcement" techniques Master Kado used.
Soon we were approaching the age our parents set for the wedding. Both of us were terribly independent and resentful of the arranged marriage. We found a quiet corner of the village and swore to each other to marry only for love. When I overheard our parents talking about the wedding, I knew I had no other option. I had to run away, the fact that they wanted to marry us under the old traditions was too much. I took a map from the wall of Master Kado's home and made my way to Wehnimer's Landing.
I fled a fate worse then death in my eyes. I ran blindly, not making any attempts to cover my trail until it was far too late and decided speed was my only protection. I arrived in Wehnimer's Landing and realized I had no means of protection or even a way to get food. After spending a long miserable night on the streets, huddled on the steps of the temple in the middle of town, Jerhic appeared from the crowd and took me to the inn. There he bought me food and made me rest at a table. Then he shocked me, he told me he loved me and always had. He poured out his feelings, and his decision to follow me to Landing and how he used to follow me around the village. I didn't know how to respond, I just stared at him amazed. When he asked why I left all I could do is blush and tell him I had to flee the arranged marriage. I had never seen him as anything but a friend but his revelations opened my eyes to the man before me not longer the youth I had always seen in my eyes, but a handsome well muscled man with an air of confidence. He was understanding and let me set the pace of how fast our relationship progressed.
We agreed to be friends and explore the city, learning its ways. He bought us proper equipment from funds he had earned while singing at the inn the night before. I was shocked to hear he was set upon bandits a scant day behind me. My blood ran cold and I was glad for Jerhic's support.
I was tired from the sleepless night on the steps of the temple so Jerhic purchased a room at Thrak's Inn for the night from what little he had left of his earnings. I laid down and was a little nervous when he didn't leave the room, but he tucked me in and told me he would sleep outside my door to protect me while I slept. He closed the door and I heard him settle against it. I stared at the ceiling, thinking of the events of the past week before exhaustion took over and I slept. When I woke Jerhic was there outside my door, looking slightly worse for the rough night but with a bright smile as he took me to breakfast.
We hunted in various places, running when things were too hard for us then laughing at our foolishness. He took me dancing and to dinner, the whole time he was charming and romantic, a bard in the truest sense. Finally I could put it off no longer. I confessed why I felt I had to flee the village. I told him of our parents meeting and their intentions to have us wed under the old traditions. The ancient ceremony started with the bride and groom being stripped naked and blindfolded, their limbs bound in front of the entire village and then the ceremony continued with the couple facing each other. Wedding bands were placed in the mouth of each, then they had to search the body of the other with their face to place the ring on the finger. If one or both dropped the rings, it was felt they were not ready for marriage. If the parents still wished them wed they lived together for a year and a day, in all ways a married couple but forbidden from making love. If the bride was still a virgin and they were still together at the end of this time they were married. The couple was then taken to a wedding cottage and the next morning the groom had to display the bedsheet to prove the consummation of the marriage and the sheet was hung from the town hall for a week so all knew that the marriage was complete.
One day about a week later, Jerhic asked me to come with him, his manner oddly expectant and fearful. Curious, I agreed and he took me on a tour of the town, to all the places we had not seen yet. We went to the museum, strolled thru the gardens and ended at the temple I had spent my first night here at. We admired the architecture as we walked thru the building, the frescoes and stained glass breathtaking. The last room we entered was the wedding chapel, a lovely place with murals of married life on the walls. There before the altar Jerhic bent down on one knee and asked me to marry him, for love and not our families. I was stunned, I had grown fond of him, our days together had deepened our friendship to something more I was not sure of. It was too close to what our parents had wanted and just as I was about to refuse him I looked into his eyes. There I saw the vulnerable need and deep love that moved me more then words ever could have. His love was bottomless for me and I knew now that I loved him as well. My voice caught in my throat and I accepted his ring and nodded before whispering yes, and the joy in his eyes I will remember forever.
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Royo, Thank you.
