Falling Skies

Fourty Four

The three have long since left the room yet the room still carries on, the jingling of hand bells singing alongside the fall of white petals and the chatter of excited guests. December picks the falling petals from his hair, attention turning towards the quiet man beside him who stares at the empty stairs, a pain hidden in his red eyes.

"We should get going, the consummation will start soon." Sasha states yet doesn't move from his seat on the dark oak pew, eyes still gazing at the now empty spot on the stairs.

The man pays no attention to the noise around him, the falling petals or the moving of bodies that now pour from the room. Rather, he slowly pulls his body from his seat, head downcast towards December with a somber expression as he offers out a pale hand.

"Isn't that weird?" December quizzes, hand falling into the man's icy grasp as he pulls himself from the pew. "You're his uncle, I know royalty has different rules about that but on an ethical le-"

"What do you think we are about to watch?" Sasha cuts him off with the raise of a silver brow, a hint of a smile forming on his lips as he walks towards the door with December at his heels.

"Well, if this was a wedding then usually a consummation is..." December doesn't finish his sentence, face ducking towards the floor as his cheeks blush a shade that rivals the velvet beneath them.

Sasha merely shakes his head with a gentle laugh, pulling December to the left of the corridor as the crowd pours out to the right. "This wasn't a wedding, December. You humans have such a small world view, you believe everyone shares your customs and your traditions." The older man lectures, hands falling into the pockets of his black suit with a pitiful laugh. "The consummation we're going to is a blood consummation. Usually the public would be invited but because of the circumstances it's been limited to the council and the Priestly Order." With this his lips harden into a line, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling as he squints at some distant thought.

Sasha pauses at a plain door as members of the council pass by, his thin shoulders leaning against the rough stone of the corridor as he glances down at December. Something has changed in his demeanor, his eyes unable to focus, rather darting from December to the stone walls and back again until he settles himself with a slow inhale and bite of the nail.

"December, are you sure you want to watch this?"

His question catches December off guard, brows furrowing in confusion as he scans Sasha's features for an answer. "I want to be there." He states. His voice is steady though his mind begins to fill with uncertainties, to doubt himself and his reasoning for being here.

Sasha lets out a defeated sigh, shoulders slumping with the movement as he pulls himself from the stone wall. "I've never been one for bear baiting." He mumbles under his breath, eyes shutting as he follows the crowd into the bedroom.

The man takes a seat towards the front, a similar set of dark wood pews lining the left side of the room. December takes his seat beside the man, an awkwardness settling in his stomach as he stares into the room ahead of him.

It's as ornate and glamorous as the previous room, the theme of ivy and marble carrying over into the bedroom. From where he sits December can view the lavish bed from the side, the bed long enough and surely wide enough to fit more than three people.

The bed is framed in pure gold with thick cream-colored banisters that shoot from its four corners. They're dressed in ivy and white flowers, and from each banister drapes a sheer white material, a canopy of sorts that slightly shields the bed's contents from view. Golden and cream pillows lay propped at the front of the bed, resting against a golden headrest with a twisted design. Cream blankets dress the bed, the material plush yet unknown to December, it's appearance seemingly soft and thick.