Thread: Arranged for the Best(closed for xanaphia)

Lucian stood behind the king and queen, it was both heart wrenching and good to be their for the well toned, strong and good looking young man. As he stood at attention, watching as each guest came up to the new king and queen to personally congratulate them. Some of the comments made him gulp hard, especially the ladies asking how long before their would be an heir to the kingdom. Lucian knew from the beginning she was out of his realm, they were friends since childhood, when Lucian started thinking about girls Lorelai was the first and only girl he thought about. They grew to be closer friends, but with the arrangement for marriage, and her high rank, he knew that is all it could ever be. Lucian was jealous, envious of the king, but he did take comfort in knowing his friend would be well taken care of. He just didn't know if he would have the heart to stay as her personal guard, had she not begged him to stay, he would have already gone. The kiss of the king and queen after they said their ' I do's ', he had to look away. The kiss was nothing like the ones he was able to share with Lorelai, seeming so long ago, but still stung his heart. Lucian tried his best to just focus on his job, but if there would have been anything to worry about, he would have been slow to respond to it. The king watched and took in everything from the wedding through the reception. But even as he watched it was but a blur to him, his focus through it all was his new bride, Lorelai. She was everything any man could want in a bride, except for the want. Not that he didn't want her, it was more that he could feel the apprehension behind her respectful attitude towards him. Even if she was not his bride, she would have been respectful from his age as well as his crown. But the plain unexcited words she spoke, those beautiful eyes that looked like she was staring off into nowhere at times. He watched her through the corner of his eye, even when looking away, the king had fantastic peripheral vision, which had saved his life in battle on more than one occasion. He watched for her to fidget, he watched her picking up her cup to drink more wine, still in sips but signs of reluctance, apprehension, and questioning. Barclif also caught sight of the only time her eyes sparkled since she kissed her father before her hand was placed on the kings, catching a look at Lucian. Maybe you shouldn't drink so much wine so quickly Lorelai, there is still much left to the night , he said laying his hand on top of hers lightly, taking her small hand in his rough hand, his thumb rubbing lightly and gently. The kings touch was remarkably soft, gentle and soothing, for such a strong, rough and well used hands such as his. The king knew of their long friendship between Lucian and Lorelai, a couple of his confidants questioned his letting Lucian stay on as Lorelai's personal guard. But King Barclif was know for thinking things out and he had been thinking about this for years. The king made up things to say to each guest who congratulated their marriage, the line of people seemed endless to him when he thought about it. It was easier to just make up something to say thanking them, but he really didn't think about what he was saying. His mind was still fixated on his bride, carefully posing to the guests as she was well taught in the art of being proper, it seemed as if she didn't even try, as it was second nature to her as he watched her. The king too was drinking, even more then the queen was, but he was well used to handling his drinks. The king was well versed in negotiating while drinking, he had made many deals better by drinking his negotiating rival under the table into a less advantageous position or into giving out information that might not have been gained while his verbal opponent was sober. Food was served while the guests were making their way up to say words to the couple, the king ate without even noticing what he was eating. It was some of the best food most of the guest commented about when they got back to their tables to try it. But the king barely noticed as his mind was a flutter of many things of more importance, even more thought pouring through his mind as the night wore on. The king sought to lighten up the mood of his new queen, so he started making fun of a few of a few of the people coming up to the couple. The clothes of some of the men and how they looked, or what someone said to them that was just too weird or a bit off. He kept at it through out the procession of well wishers until he had her laughing. Lucian could tell the king was trying to make the queen cheerful. Lucian knew of his friend the queen's worry over the marriage, knew that she was going to go through with it even though she didn't want to. He couldn't tell from the back how static her face was, as when he saw her face, it was full of life, with sparkling eyes and wide smile. Now just the face of a young queen only dutifully looking happy for the king and crowd.