The Convert Queen: Prophecy Fulfilled

Chapter 12: A Feast of Friends and Fools (Part 1)

'You and Eyvan are to be guests of Mynythia,' Arner was explaining.

They had returned to Aleyna's town house not long after the revelation in the library that Arner now feared for his future bride's safety. Aleyna had eventually agreed that she could probably put up with the company of the Mynythian king. If she had to. It would, she reasoned to herself, be far more tolerable than a giant of a warrior, bowing and scraping at every turn. At least she could converse with Arner.

'Eyvan? Petor's putting Eyvan through this too?' Was it not enough that she was being put through this charade?

'Look. The whole island believed until this morning that one day you would be wedding Eyvan. Now they learn, out of the blue, that you and I are to wed. Having Eyvan there makes this appear less...' His words petered out as he tried to come up with the right word.

'Strange?'

'Exactly. If Eyvan wasn't there, people would be wondering what happened between you. This is the surest way of stopping gossip, and ultimately, stopping people from asking questions of Eyvan when we leave.'

'Oh. I hadn't thought about that.' Aleyna didn't like the idea that Eyvan would have to face so much on his own after they left. Was it only now she was realising how much Eyvan would have to shoulder in the wake of her absence? She felt ashamed for being so selfish and dwelling on her own pain, and that put her in mind of Leena and the cruel words she had said.

'Petor thinks that making known our union is to come about through a prophecy will be hard for some of your people to accept, so he is forbidding its mention.'

'Oh,' she said again. She rather liked the idea of not taking any responsibility for this marriage. Now it seemed her king was denying her this.

'Has he given a reason as to why we are to wed then?'

'I have fallen instantly in love with you.'

At this, Aleyna burst out laughing.

'What? You don't think it's possible for me to fall in love with you?'

'The King and The Professor. It sounds like a silly romance novel. And besides, no-one falls in love instantly.'

'I see.'

'You see what?'

'That you are a stone-cold scientist.'

'And you are a sentimental, love-struck warrior? I don't think so.'

'Ah, but you don't know me. I could be, you know.'

Aleyna scoffed. Then sighed.

'I will be convincing tonight, I promise,' Arner then said in all seriousness. 'I want this to reflect well not only on my homeland but yours too. Yet, more than anything, I want to do what I can to ensure Eyvan's life is not made the harder for all this.'

Aleyna nodded. 'I do appreciate it. You have been very kind in the way you've tried to handle this.'

Arner placed his hand over Aleyna's. It was so much bigger than hers, she noticed, only a heartbeat later realising she hadn't felt the need to pull it away.

'It's the least I can do, Aleyna. Neither of you asked for this.'

'And neither did you.'

Arner was staring intently at Aleyna when she looked up.

'If you can pretend to be in love with me for the sake of Eyvan, I can do no less than pretend to be in love with you. The question is, what am I going to wear?'

*

Arner had helped Aleyna choose her gown for the banquet. After all, he had more knowledge of state occasions than she. Usually she would have worn anything she liked, but that evening she would be dining at the top table, in the company of two kings. She was also going to have her wedding announced to the whole of Lyknisia.

She was wearing an indigo coloured gown with a sweetheart neckline, and her long wavy dark tresses were hanging loose though a silver net with tiny blue gems, a present from King Petor, kept all neat and tidy. From her ears she wore simple silver drops and around her waist was a woven girdle also in silver.

An hour before the carriage arrived to take the three of them to the palace, Arner returned to his lodgings to get ready himself. Her guard until he returned was a man named Regnar, whom Aleyna instantly recognised as the warrior who had cried out, 'Arner! The prophecy!' the day before.

'My queen,' he had said with a grave nod.

'I'm not your queen just yet,' she had answered. 'Aleyna will do for now.'

'Arner said you were proving a bit stubborn.'

'He said what?'

'That you're finding our ways a little difficult to accept. And that you're digging your heels in and refusing to believe there are powers in the world that you can't see or understand. Anyway, to us, you became our queen when the prophecy came into being yesterday. Although, there are still things to be done to formalise your marriage.'

Aleyna hadn't expected such plain-speaking from Regnar, but rather than disliking it, she found it refreshing. Her earlier thought of a guard bowing and scraping had been wide of the mark indeed.

Not long after Regnar's arrival, Eyvan turned up, wearing his best dark green outfit, consisting of a long tunic over matching trousers. Over the tunic, he had a highly embroidered waistcoat in darker green and browns, a gift from the King of Mynythia, to go with the silver belt buckle he had also been sent by Arner. They were kingly gifts indeed.

'You look beautiful,' Eyvan said when he saw her, before kissing her gently on the lips.

Regnar clearly feeling awkward, coughed.

'Am I not allowed to do that? Sorry.' He smiled sadly. 'My love, I do believe you are out of my league now.'

'Shush, don't speak like that. You'll have me in tears and then no-one will believe this little charade because my eyes will be red and my face tear-stained.'

'Then I shall desist, my lady,' he said with an exaggerated bow.

'Now you're teasing me.'

'I have always teased you, and I'm not about to stop. It's so much fun.' At this he offered a wink to Regnar, who couldn't help but laugh.

* * * **

[Word count for chapter: 1004, Word count for whole story: 14872]

Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider voting for it and / or leaving me a comment to let me know what you think.

This was another long chapter to write, so I made the decision to split it into two again, so it wasn't overwhelming to read. You can find Part 2 in the next chapter. Enjoy!

Have a great day!