Married life was a blissful, perpetual dream for me. Our bodies constantly contorted around each other... day and night, night and day, even during the countless weddings.
"Shh... I think I heard someone," Zephyr whispered, his hands clamped over my mouth as my legs wrapped securely around his waist, pinning him against the cool wooden wall of the hallway.
To our credit, this was the eighth wedding we had attended, and we had successfully held back... at the first two. Now, however, the inside of the tavern room felt safe, especially during moments of raucous music, which had just abruptly ended, sticking us in an extremely... pleasurable position.
I licked his hand to turn his head around, my eyes wide and demanding. "There is no music," he whispered, his mouth only an inch from mine, his eyes burning.
"Do... me... slowly..." I breathed.
He shook his head, wanting to escape to the celebration, but it was impossible to move with my legs locking him tightly against the wall.
( POP! )
"Shh! I swear it was..." he started.
"It was a bottle getting popped. You will not leave until the job is done," I made my decision final.
So, the job had to be done.
~
"Nice ceremony, Bea. You looked lovely. Congratulations," I said, my voice only slightly strained.
We made it out of the hallway just in time as the new couple passed by and received their congratulations. "Thank you for coming," the new bride, Beatrice, replied politely. They passed us without noticing anything... well.
"Sisi, your hair is..." Granny began, her eyes immediately zeroing in on my slightly rumpled state.
Damn it. I quickly pressed down my hair, which was invaluable for Zephyr's grip during these clandestine moments, while the guilty one next to me smirked.
Granny came toward us, looking tired and utterly done. "The rest will be finished in a week," she announced, leaning heavily on her staff.
"You should take better care of yourself, Vistellia, my love. Is there no one else...?"
"""Thank you...""" We interrupted dear Metill, who had finally had enough of seeing her so busy while the rest celebrated. Us three—myself, Zephyr, and Metill—who'd been saying that to her for a while, just stared at her until she relented.
"Fine, I will leave the rest to Menir then... at least until Setil's wedding at the end." She smiled toward the couple.
Setil and Stuart had gotten remarkably close since their ceremony, to the point that they actually looked like a somewhat happy couple. Miri's initial anger had settled into a grudging acceptance, and now she just smiled with the rest of us at the future couple.
"Master Zephyr!!... Master?" A young man came in like a hurricane, looking frantically for him.
"What is it?" Zephyr asked.
"Dad injured himself. He asked for you to perform the small repairs." It was Olaf's son, Bjorn, who was running inside, not really panicked at all, which told us it wasn't serious.
"No..." Zephyr was firm, likely having dealt with this numerous times.
"Master, he won't have it any other way... for some reason."
~
We soon found ourselves far from the hall, the celebration, and inside Olaf and Rachel's home.
"Oyy, Zephyr, thanks for coming," Olaf greeted him.
Granny came in but was shooed away. "With respect, Vistellia, Zephyr has already done this before. Go on, son."
Zephyr looked exhausted but put the poker in the fire and walked away. "Little brother... the whiskey," he requested.
Lucian handed him the bottle. Zephyr sat behind the man on a stool as Olaf lifted his shirt, showing a small puncture wound that looked like it was caused by a blade.
Olaf saw our confusion and smiled. "I walked into a damn thing... left out and backed into it. OUCHH!"
Zephyr cleaned his wound with a cloth and some whiskey while Granny stood behind them, watching with expert eyes.
Olaf grunted a little. "There's a fresh coin in this for you, you know."
"Don't need your coin," he told him flatly and then smiled. "All I will require is your undiminished loyalty from here to Tetra."
"You have that already," the man smiled.
Zephyr got up and walked to the fire. Bjorn poured some more whiskey on his father's back, making him wince.
"Idiot boy! You are wasting good whiskey," Olaf complained, taking the bottle for a swig. He made wide eyes at the red hot poker in Zephyr's hand. The iron rod sizzled as Zephyr walked past carefully, pointing it at the floor, sitting behind him, and waited.
"Do it," Olaf commanded.
Zephyr nodded while the others prepared to hold Olaf steady.
( SLAP! )
"Ahh!! AHHHHH!!... HAHAHA!" Zephyr landed a large slap on the left side of his face, and while Olaf was distracted, he pushed the hot poker on his right side, sealing the wound. His blood and flesh seared as Olaf screamed, first in agony, then with laughter, joined by his son and Zephyr, then the rest of us.
Zephyr took the poker away, put it into water, and checked his work. "From now, pay better attention." He stood up, received a small hug from Rachel, and let Granny take over.
"Well, it's crude but effective. I usually use a heated blade..." She went on and on how to do it properly, but we all were ready to leave.
Outside, I asked, "So this happened before?"
"Twice. He is so engrossed in his work that he forgets himself. The first time, I had whiskey and... well, iron rods. So, here we are," he said, leading us toward the main hall to yet another celebration.
"I can't believe it's still nine to go," he looked ahead with an unenthusiastic expression.
I leaned on his shoulder. "Hey... we made this one enjoyable, no?"
"Hell yeah, we did... bloody demanding, but, yeah."
I pinched his side. "You want to talk about demands during sex?"
He was a damn tyrant in the bedroom. "Fine... it's a draw," he smiled.
I enjoyed the warm sun in contrast with the rigid cold weather. I saw the river frozen and wished for spring and, most importantly, summer to come ever sooner. His birthday was pushed so far away, but it gave me time to plan the perfect party.
~
Once inside, we found ourselves separated—him sitting with the new husband, Gerry Brown, and us with his new wife, Beatta, or Bea Brown.
"So, tonight is your first night...?" I leaned closer.
We surrounded the shy girl, not much older than Eleanor, who, after her second cup of wine, became very talkative.
"We wanted to wait... Gerry was so busy with the houses and the wall. But now..."
We squealed with her, all remembering and reminiscing about our own first nights. "I was nervous myself, but it was incredible... and a little painful..." Eleanor, who had the most recent experience, shared some of the details with her.
"Just incredible," I confirmed, "And the relief of finally being married... you have no idea how much stress just melts away." I was referring to the social pressure and the stress of the ceremony. But then Bea said something that shifted my focus entirely.
"I do, Lylly. Gerry had to empty almost his whole life savings for the wedding, and with Master Zephyr's bride price, the expectations are higher now. Everyone expects us all to do well. That's why he's so stressed about the wall work," she admitted, fidgeting with her rings. "It's a lot of pressure, marrying under the new Master."
I realized with a sudden jolt how much my marriage had changed the social and financial landscape of Emet. The Bride Price—the enormous sum of money Zephyr had brought—wasn't just for me; it had raised the bar for everyone.
I saw Anna immersed as the others talked to her father, resting on Zephyr's chest while Ciren did the same with Carlos. Carlos was scheduled to leave after the weddings finished. In order to spare himself weeks or months of traveling on the road, Zephyr would use his powers to carry him and his luggage to and from Dharma.
That way, the trip would only take a couple of days.
I was sad and happy at the same time: sad because he was leaving, and I couldn't go, and happy because once he returned, Carlos could pursue his own happiness with my mother. I'm looking at her now, so bubbly and happy. We all sacrificed for her happiness. Mine, for a few days, will be my husband's absence.