The Beginning of Everything by Kristen Ashley Page 0,136

with a narrowing of eyes practically the second I rested my behind on them, and after but moments of me sitting as such, he solved this problem by pulling me to the side so I could lean against the arm of his chair.

This also allowed him access to the back of my exposed neck, something he took advantage of, stroking it lightly with his finger.

This felt nice, at first.

This was then noticed by his people.

Everything was noticed by his people.

And the way they noticed Mars touching me was not something they appeared to like.

So even though he kept doing it, and it was lovely, it sadly didn’t feel as nice.

I’d been told of the presentations, though I thought I had until the next afternoon to prepare for them.

But Elpis wanted it done prior to having dinner that night as well as to clear the schedule to have more time to prepare for the big event the next day. When the discussions at the diplomatic table ended early that afternoon, she had her chance, and took it.

So there I was, wearing the Dellish wedding gown Tril painstakingly crafted along our journey from the exquisite fabric we’d been lucky to find when we went into town to urgently pull together my trousseau.

I was glad of the chance to wear it for an important occasion for Tril’s sake. All that hard work would be sad to waste.

And I was glad to wear it because it was important I put forward my best for this ceremony, not only to represent Mars, but Wodell.

At least these were my thoughts, in the beginning.

Yards and yards of diaphanous material in a pink so pale, it was almost white. There was embroidery so delicate throughout, it looked almost like lace. This grew heavier down at the scalloped hem. An also scalloped, demure V-neckline and graceful, full sleeves that gathered tight at the wrists with a satin ribbon and flared out to a dramatic ruffle of embroidery.

My hair was up in soft curls threaded with a slender pale-pink satin ribbon.

And I wore my marital chain hoops.

The wide skirt of the gown with that embroidery looked lovely arranged in a fall around my cushions and swathing the floor of the thronal podium.

But I knew, very early in the ceremony, that there would be no flower petal throwing or coin tossing with this lot.

The Firenz men who moved into that room to make their presentations to the king did not like me.

And I was not certain they liked the other things they saw either.

Even with Queen Ha-Lah, Farah, Elena, Serena, Sofia, Queen Mercy, my mother and father, Jell, Liam, Seph and Queen Elpis sitting in chairs at the side, a few members of personal guards milling about, the throne room was so large, it was not near full.

But the thronal podium was crowded.

Aramus sat on a grand chair to Mars’s right.

Wilmer sat to Aramus’s right with True standing to the back, right of his father’s chair.

Ophelia sat in a chair to Mars’s left.

But Cassius sat to Ophelia’s left with Gallienus, looking mutinous, in a chair that was set to Cassius’s left, but it was set five inches back.

Those five inches were important.

And the men who filed into the room did not miss it.

I just couldn’t work out how they were reacting to it.

Lorenz, Mars’s captain, stood in front of us but a bit off to the side, and he heralded every new man who entered, saying his name and his clan.

He would then order, “In celebration of their marriage, make your presentation to your king and your future queen, Silence, Countess of the Arbor.”

I noted that he mentioned my title, but he did not mention I was Dellish.

However, I knew this was not missed and not simply because it was already known.

Each man then laid a small chest or a pouch on the steps in front of Mars. After it was lain, with no ado, they bowed at the waist deeply, then walked out without a word spoken.

The men were known as barons and they were the heads of the various clans throughout Firenze.

There were seventeen of them.

I saw only two of them were elderly, most of them I approximated at around my father’s age, and just three of them were Mars’s age (which I had learned, that very day, was thirty-two).

Elpis warned me they did not all get along (a’tall).

Or support Mars as sovereign.

They were followed by the heads of the nomadic tribes which roamed Firenze. They were referred to