In Which Dalston Hopes for More Weddings

January 15, 1157

Dalston had found his brother, but it seemed that Arkon had already settled in the company of his in-laws.

They were seated on the bride's side--not surprising, seeing as Lileina was their niece, after all. Lileina was an Andronei, but it was obvious that the Sadiel clan from which her mother came would dominate her seating. Most of the guests had not yet gathered on the platform where the ceremony would take place, but the Sadiel men seemed to have made a point to congregate earlier than everyone else. Sir Marsden, the youngest of the Sadiel brothers, exchanged a good-natured, yet visibly bored glance with Dalston from where he stood behind the back bench, where silently sat Karlspan, the sickly Earl of Bandera, another Sadiel in-law. In front of him was Arkon, seemingly talking to his father-in-law in the row in front of him, and wearing the absolute ugliest tunic Dalston had ever seen; he was somewhat surprised that Renata had allowed him to come to her niece's wedding sporting something that was seemingly made from a faded tapestry and a few old bedsheets.

Dalston was rather surprised to find the redheaded Sir Vulcran here, sitting with his brother Sir Tarien; ordinarily, Vulcran could be found only wherever wine and women could also be found. Perhaps he was showing some restraint for the sake of his oldest sister's oldest daughter, though, whether of his own accord or by the insistence of some other family member.

Tarien too seemed rather out-of-place. As usual, he had not bothered to comb his hair--he had probably come straight from the stables.

However, the oldest two brothers, Koradril and Sir Ovrean, were as immaculate as ever.

And of course, there was their brother-in-law--Haldred, the Baron of Hoprine. The father of the bride looked as majestically apathetic as he ever did, despite the occasion; Dalston suspected that the act was all he could do to keep himself from bursting into tears.

Behind him sat his wife's father, the Count of Valcria and Sadiel patriarch. Dalston had been quite young when Cladelia had married Haldred, but if he remembered correctly, Searle was exactly as he had been in the front pew of the chapel at Hoprine that day.

He'd forgotten how much he missed these men, and everyone else at this wedding. They hadn't necessarily been close, but with only ten fully interbred noble families in Dovia, they had certainly been a part of each other's lives--spending holidays in a distant shire, sending younger sons off to be raised by other lords...

Weddings and funerals; that would be it for them now. Personally... Dalston was hoping for more weddings.

NEXT CHAPTER: