Chapter 8

                                        

                                              
There was poetic irony in the fact that the abundance of Court bound wedding guests had obligated yet another compromise to Xutia's customs. Normally Emberlee would be presenting herself to the King for the first time as Marchioness, and yet the reality was that her delivering the wedding gifts was considered adequate compliance. 
And Uncle Albert had been so ready to act as her adult chaperone since Father couldn't attend. It wasn't often a man of his flirtatious reputation was entrusted with such an honourable title. Though Emberlee had long ago realized that his cover as a playboy worked well to disguise his information brokering. 
He got to once again pretend to be the mature one of their pair as he escorted her to the Royal Wedding a few days later. She'd met Uncle at his Capital House to spare him, and to make use of the location being closer to the temple in the center of the Capital. Xutia had Seven Godly Forms, none supreme and none reviled. And at the temple there were seven overlapping altar circles for each; Gods of Wisdom, Gods of War, Gods of Life, Gods of Protection, Gods of Healing, Gods of Magic, and Gods of Beauty. Within each Godly Form, there were multiple Gods, as the Beloved was one of the Gods of Beauty, but Emberlee hadn't realized the temple at the Capital also included a circle for the Vapours. Each marble ring for the Gods was interwoven with a white bleached wooden ring for the Vapour each form deflected. At least, that's what the mosaics filling the temple would have her believe. But having just been inundated with Adaba's Superstitions, Emberlee couldn't help but wonder if the Vapour was the reflection of the Godly form given the connections between them. 
Emberlee would have loved to study the details of the temple further, but the actual ceremony at hand called for attention as well as filled the space with eager witnesses. The dress and robe combination she'd chosen to mesh the two cultural styles seemed to have been the safe choice. Those guests filling the temple from the Xutian Noble families had taken similar stylistic choices; albeit with some fashionable variations, but the guests from Stussica were all in strict formal Stussican style. Emberlee had only heard of a dress made from a thousand layers, but the actual attire was like nothing she'd imagined.
Certainly, there was hyperbole, as although the formal Stussican attire did call for extensive layers, there were not a thousand of them. The guests looked like a whirlwind of flower petals had been set loose, though they respectfully abstained from including purple in their attire, and Emberlee was astonished to see the Bride arrive in a diaphanous white robe that revealed her gold-painted body underneath. While others had carefully stitched or painted their robes to be the artwork, the new Xutian Empress-to-be was the artwork being presented. 
"Thank you, Gods of Protection, for giving me a sturdy heart at such a sight," her Uncle prayed audibly as the Bride was escorted to the center of the temple's altar circles. 
Normally the married couple would present themselves at the altar together, but to work Stussica's customs in the Bride was presented first. Emberlee had never attended a wedding, let alone a Royal wedding where two cultures were being represented, but it was astonishingly boring and awkward to play witness to. King Andrion entered in a heavy purple robe that was far too warm for the season, his head almost entombed in a crown of flowers to match the one worn by his new Bride. Crown Prince Damien came in with who must be the new Xutian Princess at his side, and Emberlee couldn't recall a thing about the man for the Princess' attire. 
Princess Vivian looked to be wearing all the concealing clothes her Mother had discarded. She was swaddled in so many layers, several of which dragged heavily behind her, that the Princess looked at the risk of toppling over with each step. The Crown Prince seemed to be her steadier instead of her escort. They stood at the Bride and Groom's back while King Andrion and Imperial Princess Clara vowed before the Gods, and the Courts, to be a united pair. Imperial Princess Clara even vowed to take Xutia as her home, promising to love its people as she did her daughter.