The city
of Raun Nijhor was bustling with excitement as everyone waited for the
announcement of the wedding day of their beloved princess. It had been a year
ago that her husband-to-be Josun had set out to find the sword Vedion to stop
the Magic’s Bane, an order of knights from Earth who were dedicated to
exterminating anything and everything magical in an attempt to create peace.
The knights had been let in by the dark wizard Drakorn, who had wanted them to
upset Dymos so much that it would destroy itself while he left to take over
Earth. Luckily Josun and his friends arrived in time to stop his diabolical
plot and save the world.
From his quarters in the castle,
Josun looked out at the eager city that was preparing to hear the announcement.
Although Josun was a peasant and not a prince, he had asked the princess
Saurina to marry him. She had accepted, but according to Bylouth tradition
marriage between a noble and a peasant had to go through a trial. Josun had to
prove that he could handle the affairs of the kingdom and wouldn’t abuse the
power of the king when the current ruler passed away. It had been a difficult
time for him to learn about the way hierarchy worked, but he managed to pass
the test. Now they could announce the day of the marriage.
“Nervous?” A voice asked behind him.
Josun looked to see Saurina standing in the doorway. The princess had a royal
green dress on with purple sleeves and a crystal tiara on. Her brownish-blonde
hair billowed past her shoulders, giving her amber eyes a beautiful look.
“Very much.” Josun admitted, “It’s
just so tense to announce something to a large multitude of people in one
place.”
Saurina smiled. “My father felt the
same way.” She told him, “He just kept taking breathes and made sure he knew
what he was going to say to the crowd.”
“I still think I’d rather be
learning to read from Ipurv than speak to a multitude.”
Saurina laughed. “My father felt the
same way, only it was to go and face a rabid dragon instead of learning from a
wizard.”
Josun laughed with her. When they
were together, it was hard to not be in a good mood. It was hard to think that
a year ago he had been dreading a visit from his aunt and cousins. Now here he
was, preparing to announce the day that he would wed Saurina.
“Sir Josun! Princess Saurina!” A
voice cried out from the hallway. Both of them poked their heads out to the
door to see a page running up to them. “The king wants the two of you outside
in the next few minutes to announce your wedding day!” The page said.
Looking at each other in surprise at
the sudden announcement of hurry, Josun and Saurina rushed past the page and
rand down the hallway. Past the murals and portraits of heroes and kings they
hurried, eager to not be late for this important announcement. They each ran
down two stairs at a time, with Josun nearly tripping over himself. The halls
continued to echo their footsteps as they hurried to the door.
As they approached the immense doors,
they saw Saurina’s mother, Queen Arias, waiting for them. She had on her royal
purple gown and had her blonde hair braided in her usual fashion. However,
today she had on a silver crown that Saurina knew she only wore to special
occasions.
“Where have you two been?” She asked
as they approached. “The crowd’s been waiting patiently to hear you announce
your big day.”
“We know. We thought we didn’t need
to be here for a little while.” Saurina explained while her mother looked
eagerly outside.
“It’s fine. You’re here and
everyone’s there. Just go out there and tell them of the big day!” With that,
Queen Arias shoved them outside. Immediately a cheer went up from the crowd as
they saw that the people who they’ve been waiting for had finally arrived. The
both of them waved nervously as they got to the stand where Saurina’s father,
King Ifen, stood waiting for them. The king had on a blue and brown tunic with
leather pants and his royal purple cape on. His golden crown sat in his brown
hair.
“Okay you two, you know what to do.”
He said as he stepped off and allowed them to step up. Josun immediately became
scared when he saw the vastness of the crowd. It was as if every citizen in
Bylouth had come for the announcement of the special day. His stomach felt weak
and his legs felt as if they would just give way.
“Come on Josun, tell them.” Saurina
whispered in his ear. Hearing her voice gave him confidence and repelled his
weakness. Standing up, Josun cleared his throat and spoke loudly.
“Good day everyone,” He began. “It
has been a long year since I asked this beautiful princess to marry me. I have
worked hard to prove I am worthy of her and now the time has come for when we
can end the waiting of our wedding day announcement.” Clearing his throat one
more time, he continued, “We have decided to be wed on the day when spring
gives way to summer.”
At this declaration, a loud cheer
went up from the crowd. That day was only a few weeks away and that meant these
two wouldn’t have to wait long before their lives were joined. That still gave
them plenty of time to prepare for that day.
When they were back inside, Josun
breathed hard in relief that it was over. King Ifen had stepped up and
continued to speak to the people of the importance of how summer would allow
them to grow their crops before the winter season blew in. Josun knew the
lessons well, and was just glad he didn’t have to speak to the crowd again.
“I know how you feel.” Saurina
comforted him, “I was just as nervous being up there in front of all those
people.”
“I can’t imagine anyone being
comfortable with giving a speech to a multitude.” Josun said.
“It would certainly take nerves of
steel to do it.”
“At least everyone knows when we’ll
be married.”
“No, not everyone.” Saurina
remembered. “Our closest friends don’t know.”
Josun nodded, remembering all the
friends they made while they were traveling the land. The elf Ehist had
returned to her home city of Fiaxiclaun to visit her family while Tnor the
dwarf went back home to Mining Falls to continue making things. Belizth, their
centauride friend, had gone off to be with her own centaur herd somewhere on
Sodow, but they were always moving so Josun had no idea where they were. Their
biggest companion, Goalith the dragon, had returned to his territory on the
mainland of Bylouth. They had never found out where exactly it was.
“So that’s when you two plan to
finally stop waiting.” A familiar voice said. The two of them turned to see
Ofni coming towards them. Ofni was a fire thief they had met in the Myriad
Mountains. He couldn’t speak human languages at first, but the Dream Damsel
bestowed upon him this ability because he had wanted to be able to understand
humans.
“And how have you been Ofni?” Josun asked
their little friend.
Ofni reached down to preen some of
his fiery red and orange down before answering, “Just hunting. Those squirrels
are really quick and hard to get. They also cheat, going up trees.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get there.”
Saurina comforted. She was a husaur and had a special connection to all the
animals of the land. Although she liked the squirrels, she preferred to not
discourage Ofni from practicing his hunting skills.
“My pack would not be as
understanding as you two are.” Ofni replied. This was a new statement for
Josun, for although he had heard that fire thieves hunted in packs, Ofni had
never mentioned his pack before. They had tried to ask him about it, but
neither of them had been able to get the information from him.
“Well, we
can hope that everyone else hears about it in time to get here to join us.”
Saurina said. Josun smiled, knowing that would make Ofni happy.
