The marriage peace treaty

Chapter 12 Departure

Maryden wakes up and sees Lucius sleeping beside her. At first, she stares blankly at him, not registering completely why a man is sleeping beside her, but then it suddenly hits her. She is married now to this man and remembering what happened the night before she becomes a little embarrassed. 

Maryden: What did I do? How could I act so unladylike? Stupid, stupid. I am no longer a soldier, you need to act like it. She reprimands herself.

Maryden: No, wait, why do I care? He said to himself that it was alright so why do I feel guilty? Even if he did not mean it, he still said it so he can't blame me. So why am I blaming myself? 

Maryden decides to put these thoughts behind her, so she stands up and walks towards the bathroom to clean herself. After she had cleaned herself she rang the bell in the closet connected to the bathroom, to summon the maids. After all, she needs some clothes to wear. It did not take long for maids to come in together with clothes as if they already knew and were waiting to bring it to her. They wanted to dress her up but she turned it down.

Maryden: " There is no need, I can do it myself. Just go and prepare breakfast."

Hearing this the maids sigh with relief and one of them says: "Alright, right away." Then they walk out leaving the clothes behind. What they gave her was a dress that is made for travel so it was shorter than a ball gown and not as heavily decorated. The dress is dark blue with silver embroidery. This dress is easy to move but for someone who is used to wearing pants and blouses or armor, like her, it is something she is unaccustomed to wearing. It seems like ever since she came back from the war she has been put in uncomfortable situations. Wearing dresses, getting served by maids, not needing to watch her back when she is sleeping. The list goes on. She wonders if she can get used to it, she needs to but she doesn't know if she wants to. She never realized until now that war seemed easier for her than the comfort of a noble. She finds it weird, after all, she did wear dresses before she went to fight in the war, and years later she has become unaccustomed to it. Though her dresses were never as fancy as this one, even if it was simple she could tell that the fabric was much more expansive. It is her sister's work no doubt. Although the dresses she wore back when she moved to the palace were befitting of a princess it could never compare to the dresses her sister got. This fabric reminds her of the fabrics her sister used and still uses for her dresses. She thinks that her sister mentioned it before. Something about it comes from a country called Bal'ven. Bal'ven is a tiny country that lies between Avilen, Dyrk, and Zakeri. Although it is tiny, it is very purposes and rich as because of its position it is often the middle man when it comes to trading from Zakeri to Avilen and Dyrk. 

Bal'ven is also known for its textile and pottery industry and has been classified as a cultural heritage art form and protected. This textile for the dress and the embroidery is one. shush example and these it is very expensive and sought after as they can only be made in Bal'ven and by authorized artisans for them to be authentic. She looks at the dress with apprehension but still puts it on. After all, she suspects that she won't get anything of lesser quality if she asks to change it. She was also given a new mask to wear that is silver matching the dress embroidery. So she takes off the blindfold she is wearing and puts on the mask. Once she is done with that she ties her hair in a high ponytail and enters the bedroom again seeing a now awake Lucius.

Lucius is sitting up on the bedside showing his upper body with all the hickes she gave him last night. It appears that he has been helped by the servants as beside the bed lays a bowl of water which he has used to weaken a tow that he uses behind his neck. Doing so he simply oozes sex appeal that would make even a straight man want to ravish him. She can't believe that her enemy would be so sexy. If she had not undergone training as a knight where they taught her to forgo worldly desires as such thing has no place on the battlefield. She would probably be ogling him right now. After all, who doesn't appreciate beauty? 

Lucius: " I see that you haven't left."

Maryden: "Don't we need to eat together to complete the ceremony?"

Lucius: " Ah, is that something you do here?"

Maryden: " From what I have heard yes."

Lucius: " Then, have you informed them to get a meal for us already?"

Maryden: " Yes."

Lucius: " Alright then."

After that conversation the room turns silent, neither knowing what to talk about. Luckily it did not take long for breakfast to arrive. They sat down to eat and once that was done it was time for them to head out to their new territory. It turns out that Maryden's companions who were going to go with her had started their travel during the wedding, to escort her birds there. So unfortunately she could not introduce them to Lucius but she did introduce him to her maid Dina. Dina looked very nervous when she greeted him, even though he was being very polite. It seems that the natural aura that he has gained from fighting in the war scared her. Maryden also has such an aura but since Dina considers Maryden as her child she has not noticed. Maryden told her last goodbye to her sister who wanted to send her off then they hopped on the carriage and went on their journey to their new home.