Starcrossed - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,89

talking and laughing and remembering. Ginny enjoyed it immensely and thought it was a great tradition that humans would do well to adopt from the jit’suku.

They all slept in the big room that had been set aside for this event, on colorful couches designed for lounging. It was like a pajama party or a camp out, where the women talked until the wee hours of the morning and remembered why they were friends…and family.

In the morning, a late breakfast was served buffet style in the room next door. Everybody cleaned up and put on fluffy robes that had been prepared for them, for the next part of the day involved dressing for the ceremony. Since this particular marriage involved the head of the entire empire, it had to be more elaborate than a simple provincial wedding. There were heavy ceremonial robes to be worn for the actual ceremony, with underclothes that were much more comfortable, that would be revealed once the party began, later that evening.

In between, there would be a few hours of sitting in state on the throne, receiving emissaries and lords from far-flung regions of space within the empire. It seemed like everyone who could possibly do so had sent a high-ranking representative or come themselves to pledge fealty to the emperor and see the new empress for themselves.

Ginny knew she would be under close scrutiny. She just hoped the Goddess who’d been taking such an active interest in this situation would stick by her now. She would need a deity’s stamina to sit through all the rigmarole expected this afternoon after the wedding ceremony.

Maybe that’s why they made the formal robes so stiff and cumbersome, she thought. Sitting for hours was hard enough, but with the support of the robes, she wouldn’t slouch. She couldn’t. The bead-encrusted fabric wouldn’t allow it.

When Tigh saw his bride walking down the aisle toward him, his heart skipped a beat in pure pleasure. She was radiant. The formal wear made her move slowly, but she had a grace that was all Ginny and owed little to the restrictive clothing.

She met his gaze and smiled at him as the news bots hovered in front and behind. They were less obtrusive than he’d thought they’d be, but both he and Ginny understood the need for everyone in the empire to see this event. Those who couldn’t be here in person would be able to view it live on their newsfeeds. It was an historic day that deserved to be marked.

Therefore, they’d agreed to the newsbots. Ginny’s crew also had their own floating cams arrayed around the room. Tiggy had rigged a monitoring station where specially trained and screened security agents were watching the direct live feeds from the floaters, watching the crowd for potential trouble.

Tiggy would also be recording this to send back to human space so they could see the result of the Valkyrie’s adventure. The wedding would cement the deal and make everything official. Which was why it was so important that it go off without a hitch.

The palace guard was on high alert, and the new palace contingent of Zenai priests hadn’t let either Ginny or Tigh out of their sight. During the ladies’ party, they’d posted themselves at every entrance to the large chamber where the dinner and slumber party had been held, and examined everything in minute detail before letting it into Ginny’s presence.

The tight security was a bit tiresome, but Tigh knew Ginny understood it was necessary. For that matter, he wasn’t comfortable with it either, but he endured. It helped that he knew these men and had studied with them. He’d started setting up a wing of the palace specifically for the Zenai. If they were going to guard him and his empress, he wanted them to be in familiar and comfortable surroundings.

To that end, Tigh had begun remodeling some of the unused rooms into something resembling the rooms and facilities he’d become accustomed to on the Zenai mountain. He’d given the men leave to create a shrine to the Goddess, an exercise area both indoors and outside in a disused courtyard, and whatever else they wanted. Tigh only asked that they allow him to train with them on occasion, to keep his skills sharp.

But the warrior priests had gone even farther. They’d welcomed Henny and the ladies who wanted to continue learning the fighting arts to their outdoor courtyard. The mixed group of martial artists had drawn quite a few onlookers from the palace