In Which Celina Learns What She Has Missed

Warning: This post contains both male and female nudity. No genitals are shown, but there are boobies. NSFW.

June 14, 1167

Celina pried herself away from the mirror and rose from her chair. In truth, she felt a little silly, just staring at her own reflection for what must have been a good quarter of an hour, and perhaps her self-consciousness was a little unfair, but... well, she'd let her daughters do her hair. Considering their ages, she supposed they'd done a splendid job, but all the same, maybe she should have just had her maid fix her hair for the wedding. But then again, the girls had wanted so badly to do it themselves...

Ah, but what did it matter, really? Ovrean hadn't seemed to mind it, nor had any of the guests. Maybe she was just being change-averse--if so, she'd have to work on that, and quickly.

"Finally!" exclaimed Holladrin as Celina pushed in the chair and turned around. "Really, Celina, you look fine all dressed up--not that your husband's going to be seeing you like that when he comes in, of course," she added with a wink.

She felt a warm flush swell throughout her face from her cheeks; she hadn't forgotten about that part in the slightest, but it was something else entirely to hear it from somebody else's mouth. "I... suppose that's true..."

Through her peripheral vision, she saw Ovrean's sister roll her eyes. Renata and her husband--Dalston's brother--had come to the wedding in order to represent the Dovian nobility. They'd probably volunteered to go in order to see their middle two sons--Searle was Severin's squire, and Conant was Lorn's page--but all the same, Celina had been glad to see them. After all, Renata's presence allowed for Celina to have one of Ovrean's sisters among her ladies without it having to be Laralita.

Had she really just thought that? Dear Lord, what was wrong with her today?

"Welcome to the family, sister," Renata bade her as she pulled Celina in for an embrace. It felt odd being called 'sister' by someone so tall and fair-haired and flawless, like all Ovrean's sisters were. It might have sounded a little less strange coming from Alina, as she had known her better, but Alina was no more. Today, Renata was here in her stead, but as far as anyone in Naroni was concerned, her void would never be filled. Ovrean had many sisters--now Celina herself, she supposed, had many sisters--but there had only ever been one Alina.

Celina gave a faint smile as her sister-in-law released her. "Thank you... sister."

Holladrin grinned at the two of them, then glanced over her shoulder toward the door. "It won't be long before the men are here, you realize--unless of course you'd prefer for Ovrean to undress you himself?"

"I doubt he knows how to deal with all these laces," Celina laughed, turning around for Holladrin to untie her gown.

Holladrin snickered. "Oh, so you think he's a maiden, then?"

"Holladrin!" hissed Renata in a warning tone--as if Celina had any silly illusions to be shattered.

"I'm just saying," the younger woman insisted as she let Celina's skirts fall to the floor and started releasing her hair, "you'd be hard-pressed to find a man who goes to his wedding bed without knowing what to expect."

Celina nodded in agreement as her freed hair tumbled to her shoulders. "Anyway, Ovrean knows I'm not a maiden, so it hardly seems fair of me to expect it of him--besides, he slept with one of the chambermaids at Veldora when he first arrived." Alina told me, she had meant to add, but she'd opted out at the last minute; it seemed eerie, passing gossip from a dead woman.

The baroness shrugged as she and Renata took to gathering Celina's discarded clothing. "If you say so. Now, I take it you want us out of here before the men arrive?"

Shaking her head, Celina made her way to the bed and slipped under the covers. "Why would you want otherwise? Is the sight of my naked husband one you'd care to lay eyes on?"

Renata shuddered, while Holladrin cackled delightedly. "Tempting, but I doubt my own husband would appreciate that--granted, he'll be in here with the clearly naked you, so maybe I should stay."

"I'll be under the blankets the whole time," Celina promised.

Laughing along, Holladrin crossed the room and stepped outside, Renata at her heels. Celina was grateful for the moment of privacy--she'd been the center of attention throughout the day, and it was not a position she enjoyed--but alas, a moment was all it was.

"Well, thank you for escorting me, gentlemen," Ovrean addressed his men as they filed into the room.

"Our duty," Octavius assured him. "It's no secret that you have a terrible sense of direction; if we'd left you to find the room yourself, you wouldn't have made it up here until you'd reached the age when the required piece of the anatomy no longer functions as it should."

It seemed the sort of joke Severin might have made instead, but over the past few months, his vocabulary had been all but reduced to grunts and murmurs, and joking was well beyond his reach. In all that time, Celina doubted he'd even smiled. She couldn't blame him--though she tried to put on a brave face, she had been as such on the inside for those first few months following Dalston's death. In some ways, she supposed it was even harder on a man; men were expected to be strong.

"True. Thank you both for being sure to prevent such an unpleasant occurrence." He grabbed the rim of his blue wedding tunic and pulled it over his head, leaving only a thin white shirt covering his torso; if Celina squinted, she could see the ridges of his muscles. "Now, do either of you really care to see what's underneath my clothing? Personally, if I wanted either of you to do just that... well, I doubt I would have been married today in the first place."

Octavius nodded. "True. Anyway, I should probably find out where my children have gotten to; I imagine they've all had far too much sugar for their own good."

"For your own good, you mean," muttered Severin as the two of them made their way out of the room.

"Point taken."

As the door snapped shut, Ovrean continued to undress. Celina closed her eyes; she wouldn't look until he was on the bed, she had told herself earlier. Instead, she listened, trying to imagine the scene as painted by the rustle of his clothes as he tossed them to the side--his footsteps on the floorboards--the soft moan of the mattress as he reclined upon it...

As soon as he had settled, Celina kicked back the covers and swung herself atop them; it seemed only fair that he should get to see her when she got to see him. Smirking, he surveyed her naked form while she immediately glanced to his nether regions. One of the things she had learned from all these years of overhearing chatty servants was that the size of the fully-developed male genitals did, in fact, vary from man to man. Celina wouldn't have known this firsthand, as she'd only even seen one naked adult male in her life, but now that she was about to see a second, she might confirm it for herself. Perhaps it was larger than Dalston's? Or smaller?

Really, it looked about the same. She supposed this made sense; they were similarly-sized men, after all.

"And you women get upset when we look at your breasts--a little hypocritical, don't you think?"

Giggling, Celina pulled her eyes from his manhood and fell back into his arms; she didn't think she was supposed to be this giddy, but for whatever reason, giddy was exactly what she was. "For what it's worth, I've never gotten upset when you looked at my breasts."

"And you never should--they're quite lovely, and you should be very proud of them."

Celina rolled her eyes. "Romantic, really."

Ovrean chuckled. "Sorry, love--you'll have to remember that between the two of us, you're the expert on marriage."

"In that case, perhaps I ought to mislead you to suit my purposes."

"I wouldn't know any better if you did," he reminded her with a wink, "and in all honesty, I can't say I'd dislike that."

"You would if you knew what was good for you."

"Ah, but I don't."

How long had it been since a man had made her laugh like this? Even more than the sex, this was what she had missed. The companionship. The intimacy. The knowledge that somebody was there.

The refreshing cool of his wedding band against her skin, Ovrean ran his finger along her hairline until he veered off and made a loop around her ear. "I love you."

She wrapped her arm around his neck and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. She did not think she could say the same to him--not yet. She would, one day. She knew she would, and she was sure that he knew it too. As long as it had been, she would have been lying to herself if she thought she was quite ready.

Meanwhile, she was glad she had someone who was willing to give her all the time she needed; in the end, she would love him all the more for it.

NEXT CHAPTER: