Chapter Seventeen #2
Unfortunately, the inside of the church was actually brighter than she had expected, so she could see their disapproving faces clearly.
Thick beeswax candles burned in raised dishes of sand, presumably to avoid accidental fire, and daylight streamed in from the windows above and towards the back of the church.
The three stacked tiers were actually hollow, and when she looked up she could see directly up to the bell-tower above.
They made their way down the aisle to the empty bench at the front of the congregation. Selina followed Magnus’s lead and kept her head high and firmly focused on the altar ahead.
The clergyman began speaking in Norwegian, but of course she couldn’t understand a word of it.
After a while she allowed herself the simple joy of admiring all the carvings and tranquillity of the church.
One large painting of Christ on the cross was placed behind the altar, but the rest of the decorations were far more cheerful, with fresh flowers on stands and bunches tied to the ends of the pews.
How many royal brides had been married here in all those hundreds of years?
Would her sons and daughters stand here too in the future?
She jumped when Magnus’s hand embraced hers, startling her out of her daydream, and she wondered what had brought out this unexpected and public display of affection. His brows knitted together in disapproval, as he explained quietly, ‘We need to stand for the blessing.’
She nodded and tried to ignore the smirks of some of the congregation as she belatedly stood with the rest of them. Had she looked stupid staring around herself blankly? Self-conscious, she stumbled forward glad of Magnus’s strong arm beside her.
She was a little confused by the large blue velvet cushion on the floor, until Magnus indicated they should kneel on it facing each other.
He leaned forward and took both of her hands in his.
Warmth enveloped her, and she stared down in fascination at his large gloved hands encasing hers.
Magnus had said he wouldn’t consider them officially married until after this ceremony.
Did that mean he would expect a wedding night tonight? A wicked part of her hoped so.
The clergyman began to speak again, and belatedly Selina said Amen, after the rest of the congregation, as she hadn’t expected it until it was too late.
In the end she looked to Magnus for guidance, and he opened his mouth a little early to give her the silent indication that she would need to say Amen again soon. Thankfully, it was a religious word and didn’t change much according to the language spoken.
Staring at Magnus made her forget the people watching.
There was only one time when she fumbled the affirmation, when she spoke it a little early, and they both smiled in amusement at her struggling with the language barrier.
She didn’t mind staring at his mouth: it was strangely pleasant, like admiring the beautiful carvings, and she’d rather stare at him than look at the sea of disapproving strangers.
She was momentarily distracted when the clergyman took hold of their clasped hands and began to wrap a red rope around them.
They were symbolically being bound together, and she glanced up at Magnus in surprise.
She could understand why he had not felt married to her in England, with their special licence and dry ceremony.
This felt far more intimate and symbolic of their future together.
Surrounded by his people and hundreds of years of history, she realised they were truly bound together now, and although she still didn’t fully understand Magnus, she appreciated the significance of this moment.
His eyes burned into hers as he gave a silent nod of mutual understanding.
She only prayed they wouldn’t live to regret it.
Incense was burned around their bound hands and yet more words were spoken by the clergyman. Her knees began to ache despite the cushion, and she was a little relieved when after the final Amen, the rope was removed and Magnus helped her to her feet.
Hymns were sung, but again Selina was at a loss and she tried her best to sing along to the hymn sheet.
While it was hard enough to read aloud at the best of times, it was far worse when the words were in a foreign language.
She ended up mumbling through it, hoping it would at least look as if she were trying.
At the end of the ceremony, Magnus thanked the clergyman, and the bells began to ring, not only from the stave church but from the other churches around the city, filling the air with angelic music.
A shower of dried petals greeted them as they left the church, although she was sure one handful had been aimed directly at her face, and she’d had to shake her head with a splutter.
Thankfully she made it back to the carriage without being blinded, although she was a little sad to lose Magnus’s touch.
The warmth of his gloved hand had been a comfort throughout the ceremony, and she hadn’t realised she was still holding onto him tightly until he handed her into the carriage himself, making the poor coachman waiting beside the open door redundant.
‘What will happen now?’ she asked, still a little dazed that she’d been married twice to the same man in two very different ceremonies.
‘Next will be the wedding feast, as it is known in Thrudheim. It is basically a ball. You should enjoy that,’ he answered, but he seemed distracted as he stared out of the window and waved at the crowd.
Selina swallowed nervously and forced a smile.
There would be a wedding feast followed by a wedding night, and Magnus didn’t seem to be relishing the thought of either, which significantly soured her earlier excitement.
‘So, no more chapters of the book, tonight?’ she teased, although her smile felt forced.
He turned to face her, his jaw tight, and the cleft in his chin tilted up so that he could stare down at her with those ice-blue eyes of his. ‘No, not tonight.’
She tried to cover her embarrassment with a jest. ‘Pity, I was looking forward to hearing more about how Queen Skadi met her second husband. It sounded as if she was about to carve him in two.’
Magnus raised a sardonic brow. ‘I wasn’t entirely sure you were listening.’
Selina shrugged. ‘I usually give that impression. Aunt Mary used to wonder the same, but the truth is I can concentrate a lot better on what someone is saying when my hands are busy.’
He gave a light snort of amusement and turned his attention back to the crowds.
Would they have a wedding night? She supposed not if there was going to be a ball, as those tended to last until the early hours of the morning.
There’d been no mention of a honeymoon, but she supposed with the coronation fast approaching there wasn’t any time to go away, even if it were only for a few days.
He hadn’t kissed her since the ship. Their last two evenings had been friendly and comfortable, but she had hoped after the hand-binding that he would consider them married now. It had certainly felt that way in the church when he’d stared at her so intently.
‘If you wish to dance, I suggest you do so before midnight,’ Magnus said, his eyes still fixed on the crowds as he spoke. ‘At midnight the bride and groom retire for the evening. Your things will be moved to the queen’s chamber, and I will visit you…if I may?’
She presumed he didn’t mean for tea and cake.
‘Very well,’ she said and then cringed at the formality of her reply.
In some ways, Magnus was the closest true friend she had in Thrudheim, and yet she had no idea how he really felt about her.