Arranged Marriage

Part 15

All royals and noble guests are gathered in the great hall to celebrate another day of the royal wedding reception, only the newlyweds' seats remain still empty what is not left unnoticed by visibly perturbed princess Sibylla, who spares no effort to draw everyone's attention from her sister-in-law's mysterious absence, albeit unavailingly as rumors are already spreading among the agog crowd. Some claim the king locked the bride in a tower to keep her all for himself, others predicate the new queen ran away a long time ago.

''How strange. The bride is nowhere to be seen.'' - comments sarcastically lord Guy and slurps the rest of his dry wine without taking his eyes off his frowned wife.

''Your highness!'' - calls Heraclius, sitting beside the princess's husband. ''Today is too grand to waste it on griefs. Let's raise a toast and enjoy the feast. To our king!''

''And the queen!'' - adds quickly William of Tyre, ambling toward their table.

''Brother William, fancy seeing you here! To the best of my knowledge, social gatherings don't catch your interest.''

''Only those attended by ignorant men. I would consider joining the banquet if the only available seat wasn't next to a man of that kind...'' This sardonic punditry doesn't appeal to Heraclius, whose supercilious smirk at once fades away as the two of them exchange cold glares. ''As a matter of fact, I was on my way to the scriptorium, hence if you excuse me, I'll return to my paperwork. There's a lot of latest events to be recorded in order that future generations won't have the wrong image about certain people.'' Turning on his heel, the archbishop of Tyre rushes then to the archive in the attic and the moment he presses the handle, a soft giggle coming from the depth of the chamber makes him halt in the doorway. There under the opened window stands the king embracing the queen from behind and whispering honeyed words into her ear. Not to interrupt the lovers, the man tries to imperceptibly retreat, however a parquet floor's squeak exposes his presence.

''My teacher.'' - greets him cheerily Baldwin.

''Heavens! You're still calling me teacher.''

''That's out of habit, I believe.'' - chuckles the king at the sight of his former tutor sighing heavily.

''Come, my son, let me see you better.'' Broadly grinning, the scholar grasps both Baldwin's arms to eye him up to down. ''At last my handsome son got married. I'm so proud of you.''

''You once told me marriage wasn't meant for me, do you remember?''

''Listen, my dear child, not everyone has the same goal in life. For ones it's to bring up a family, for others it's wealth and for some it's renown, but you, my son, have a great task to accomplish and it's to find your own happiness. I feared you would yield due to your health state thus telling you to live in holiness was the only choice I had to maintain your verve to rule the kingdom.''

''Though I haven't fulfilled your wish, I don't regret choosing this path of life because it led me to my new hope.'' With that said Baldwin glances over his shoulder at lady (Y/N). ''My future.'' Under his boastful gaze the blushing queen deeply lowers her head and bits her botom lip to suppress the grin.

Observing them intently, the dominus raises his index finger as he harangues the groom: ''Remember, my son, to always take good care of your wife.''

''Do not worry, teacher. I'm not like my father. In my heart there is only place for my dear (Y/N).''

A fond smile forms on the sage's lips and letting out a thoughtful sigh, he urges: ''Go, my children, celebrate with others. I want to see the two of you laughing and smiling from ear to ear. I surmise the queen would like to see the guests now.''