29. Twenty-Six

Twenty-Six

A Grand Wedding

L ily sat still, staring at a couple of birds sitting in a tree, gossiping to each other in their own way. Behind them, the sun was waking, and a warm mist filled the meadow below. She no longer listened to Alruna rambling on about how her wedding dress wasn't going to be as special as normal due to the time constraints of having it sewn overnight.

Alruna and Stora worked together on combing and braiding Lily's brown hair while she sat silent.

The night before, after her bath, she had tried to escape. She had hoped the girls would find some sympathy toward her. They hadn't, and caught her before she managed to get out of the door. All three accompanied her to Gitta's home, where Lily was immediately taken to bed.

Now, as she watched the village wake with a buzzing excitement for the coming wedding, Lily tried to put together a different plan of escape. She spotted the horse pasture near the fighting arena. The best plan she could come up with was patience. She needed to be patient until she could tell Asher during his fight to run. He could leap over the wooden fence and they could steal a horse or two. In order to prevent the barbarians from following easily, Lily would have to let the other horses escape too.

If only she had her magic, that task would be easy.

She didn't know how long she would be without magic, but she would have to try periodically throughout the day.

"Oh yes, she is very pretty. But she's got very little hips. Not good for our big babies."

Lily turned her head.

"Don't move!" Alruna ordered and pushed her head forward.

But Lily had spotted the woman who had spoken and knew she must have been Alruna's mother, because they were spitting images of each other.

"We're almost done," Stora said. "Just putting in the final beads. I'm impressed you were able to make any sort of wedding dress in time. It's actually pretty."

"You can stand now," Alruna said, patting Lily on the head. "We're going to dress you."

Lily turned to see the red-headed woman with a dull yellow dress slung over her arm, gray fur, and some other items. Lily stepped back into Gitta's home and was handed a white linen dress to put on first.

"I don't suppose I can successfully argue my point that this is slavery?" She looked at Alruna's mother.

"Even a thrall is treated nicely here," she replied coldly. "And Torbjun deserves a reward for his years of hard work for the clan. Put it on."

Lily tightened her lips and turned her back to the strangers before removing her clothes and tugging the white dress on first. When the dress was on, the others stepped forward to help get the yellow dress on over it, then adorned it with the gray fur that went around her shoulders and buttoned on two large bronze buttons at the front of the two straps. The front of the yellow dress had a simple piece of fabric hanging down from the neckline, and a leather belt was added to make her waist look small.

"Now you're ready for your wedding."

They all stepped away from her, and the chief's wife gestured to a mirror Lily didn't even know had been there. In spite of Lily's bitterness, she couldn't deny that she looked stunning. They had braided the top of her hair back in a big braid and then the sides in smaller braids, adding metal beads periodically throughout. It had all been gathered at the back of her head into a ponytail, and the braids hung down from there.

"I'm not going to accept his hand in marriage," she said.

"You don't have to if you're going to be a thrall," the woman replied.

Lily felt bile rise in the back of her throat. She was filled with disgust at the thought they so easily enslaved other humans.

"Torbjun has arrived," Stora said with excitement.

Lily kept her jaw clenched tight. She tried desperately to reach out to the magic she'd grown so accustomed to. Around her, she saw little sparks of energy, but she couldn't touch any of them. Tears stung at her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She wouldn't give Torbjun the satisfaction. She wouldn't give any of these barbarians the satisfaction.

She lifted her chin and didn't wait for one of the women to open the door. She flung it open herself and stepped outside.

Torbjun stood with the men who had captured her and Asher, and he turned when he heard the door bang open. He faced her, eyes widening. "You look stunning! You look like one of us now."

Lily walked right past him. She'd been told they would be going to watch the "animals" fight in the arena, and that's where she headed.

Torbjun caught her arm and roughly pulled her to a stop. "I know you're upset, but I will not allow you to disrespect me."

"You're allowed to disrespect me, though?" she challenged.

He shook his head slowly. "You don't get it, do you? I own you now."

Lily tried to pull her arm away, but Torbjun's grip tightened. "I'm a person, not a rock. You can't own a person."

"Yet I own you, just the same. You'll walk at my side." He moved his grip to her wrist and placed her hand in the crook of his arm. "This will show everyone that you and I are to be together."

Lily resisted the urge to pull away this time. She'd already done too much and just needed to keep her head and focus. She didn't verbally reply, but when Torbjun began walking, she followed alongside him, like the good girl she was supposed to be. Because if she wasn't, she wouldn't be able to get Asher home.