I have so much to do. There is only a week left until the wedding and so many guests are already here. Things are starting to come together. Perhaps I will get married after all. I still haven't seen my bride yet. Father keeps telling me that she is nice and beautiful, but how will I come to like her if I can't see her.

We are trading the horse. The big, black stallion. That thing was a demon to train. I did it myself of course. None of our handlers could do a damn thing with it. They said it was too wild. Impossible. No horse is too wild. I haven't met an untrainable horse yet. They say that there is a young girl who is also very skilled in horse taming. I'd rather marry her than some stuck up noble with no sense of value. I shouldn't say such things.

Jenin's wedding has a lot at stake. Many people stand to gain, and even more stand to lose. I do hope that everything will be alright. I couldn't bear it if anything should happen to him. Nor will I stand back and let it. No, I will be prepared for a fight. I will switch my ceremonial blade with my real one. Preparations must be made for all possibilities. Those who don't prepare for fate are doomed by it.

Still the wedding will be fun. I think I have a good chance of actually liking my wife. Hopefully all will go well. I will make sure all will go well.

***

Thoughts like this had been running through Enderron's head all day. With just a week left until the wedding, things were starting to get tense.

((Mind if I join?))

Standing at the bottom of an ornate stairway, Xavier watched as servants scurried to and fro, all aflutter with preparations for the fast-approaching nuptials. It was almost amusing how they ran about, in such a tizzy that collisions were all too frequent. Things were so different here than at home, where the house was nearly silent, the maids quiet and unobtrusive. His house hadn’t seen this sort of activity for years now, and the solemnity had been taking a toll on all of the family. That was why he’d leaped at the chance to attend this wedding, something so out of the ordinary, an event so full of cheer and happiness.

It was only natural that he had received an invitation. A Duke was a Duke, even in Taye, where the Calandaes were disliked, though not shunned. The minute he’d laid his eyes on the invitation, he’d known that he would go, and that he would bring Yvette along with him. She, out of all of them, most deserved the sort of respite this type of event would bring. She was the one who needed this the most, to see what she had given up to stay with their father. Xavier still had not forgiven her for throwing her life away to play the nursemaid to their lunatic father. Hopefully, this wedding would get some sense into her head. Although…

His eye was caught by one still figure in the whirlwind of activity. A young man, of dark hair and skin, and several years younger than himself, still emerging from boyhood. With a sudden insight, Xavier realized that this young man was one of the two grooms, and the son of the High Seat of House Marlas himself. But why did he appear so somber? He was about to be married, after all, an event that was usually accompanied by bliss. Then again, there were so many matches made in the noble world for the sake of political ties rather than love. It would make sense in this case, considering just who this man was related to. He almost felt sorry for the boy.

Lately, though, he had found it difficult to feel sorry for anyone.

Would it be rude to approach him while he was contemplating thus. Being the eldest son, he’d been trained in the art of subtlety and refinement from a young age, but there were times when such lines could be crossed. This was probably one of those times. Stepping from his inconspicuous location at the staircase, he approached the man warily, careful not to dismay or alarm him.

“I don’t mean to interrupt you, but you don’t look very happy. A serious face seems rather out of place here.”