Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
It's cold outside, and I draw my cloak tighter around myself. It had been much warmer when Eliza got married, and now I'm starting to question the sanity of vampires for wanting to get married outside. And it's only going to be worse for us.
"May I escort you to the wedding stones?" Linc says, offering me his arm.
I'm sure my whole face lights up at the sound of his voice. "You may. Lord Fallmartin did say that I'm to spend time with you today where everyone can see us." I slip my arm through his and rest my hand on his sleeve, enjoying how right it feels.
"That doesn't surprise me," he responds. "I'm sure he wants to remind everyone that House Rothorne is about to be connected to royalty. Well, more than they already are, considering Marcus is half-Fallmartin himself."
"It's a definite advantage of our betrothal no longer being secret," I agree.
"Mmm, I think you'll appreciate my asides during the wedding more than Marcus does." He nods towards his brother as we pass.
I smother a laugh. "I don't know, you and Marcus seemed close at Eliza's wedding."
"Eliza?"
"My other cousin. Lady Tyberan now. I think. I don't really understand how the title thing works."
"Oh, that's easy," he says as he leads me into the area where the stones are set up.
I raise an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Maybe not," he concedes.
Lord Fallmartin stands at the front of the stones with Bastian by his side. My brother doesn't look nearly as cocksure as he has been doing. It makes me feel for him. Up until I learned it was Lincoln I was marrying, I thought my wedding day was going to be like this too.
"Explain it to me?" I ask Linc, turning to look at him.
The fact he's been at court five years longer than me is helpful when it comes to understanding how some of this works.
I've done my best to learn, but it's not been that long and I can't expect myself to have learned everything yet, even if I want to.
"Hmm, so take the bride," he says. "She's Lady Ermintrude Tufflion of House Tufflion at the moment."
I nod to show I'm following.
"Once they're married, she'll be Lady Ermintrude Tufflion of House Rothorne. Unless your brother dies, anyway."
"Something that's becoming increasingly likely," I mutter under my breath.
Linc chuckles. "Let's hope not, that will create a power shift for House Rothorne that we don't want.
Anyway, when Lord Fallmartin dies, if you use her first name, she'll still be Lady Ermintrude Tufflion, but you could also call her Lady Fallmartin because she'd be married to the current Lord Fallmartin. Do you follow?"
"Just about."
Eliza catches my attention with a smile, and I nod back. She seems happy with her new husband, though I wish I'd had a chance to properly talk to her since the wedding.
"So that would make me...Lady Beatrice Fallmartin of House Soveguine once we're married?" I ask, checking that I'm understanding correctly.
He leans in, his breath brushing against my cheek and making me wish we were alone. "It'll make you Princess Beatrice."
"Oh." I frown. "Somehow, I hadn't thought of that. It sounds odd."
"It becomes normal," he promises, putting his hand over mine and giving it a reassuring squeeze as we walk. "It took me a while to get used to people calling me Prince Lincoln."
"Mmm, and I guess that's how I'm supposed to talk to you when we're in public?" The number of people around us now makes me a little nervous about the risk of accidentally being too informal with him, even if I don't think there'd be any terrible consequences.
He grimaces. "Probably."
"Prince Lincoln," I say, sounding it out. "That's not so bad."
"Is that so, Princess Beatrice?"
I wrinkle my nose. "I think I prefer it when you call me Bea."
"Ah, so no calling you my love."
"Please, don't."
An amused expression crosses his face. "It doesn't suit you."
Members of the court fill the area around the stones. I try my best to match the people to the names I've read on the blood charts and in Linc's books, but I'm either not as good at it as I thought, or there are more people at court than I realised. I think the latter is probably true.
A woman in a dark red dress gestures to the man beside her and whispers something while looking in our direction and I swallow hard, realising that they're talking about us.
And that I don't like it.
"I think there's a downside to our betrothal being announced," I say, my voice shaking slightly.
"You're now the target of every woman who wants to marry into the royal family? And every head of House that wants her to?" Linc asks.
"What? No. I didn't even think of that. Do you think that's going to be an issue?"
He shrugs as we take our place near the front, giving us a good view of the wedding stones where Bastian waits. "Hard to say. I haven't spent much time getting to know many people at court yet. Does that make me the mysterious and handsome prince, or does it make me strange?"
"Definitely the first one," I tease.
"I don't really mind so long as that's the one you pick." His eyes crinkle around the edges, and it's clear he's in good spirits, which will probably make it easier for him to resist wine when it's offered at the banquet later. "What's your downside?"
"Hmm?"
"Your downside to our betrothal being announced?" he reminds me.
"Oh, right. It's that now we have to spend time together in public. I'd much rather be back in the library with you." And away from all of the eyes I can feel on us now.
"Good point. But I think there's an hour or so between the ceremony and when the dancing starts, we could go to the library then."
"Maybe."
"Or?" he prompts.
"Well, the House Rothorne apartments are both closer and empty. We could go there." I almost can't believe I'm suggesting it, but it's not like we can get into any sort of trouble for going there.
"It almost sounds like you're inviting me to go home with you, Beatrice."
"Pip will be there," I say.
"Ah, your dog, now that's truly how to convince me," he teases. "But we can do that. It'll save sending any servants for something to drink."
I lean against him as a hush falls over the clearing, and I turn to where Lady Ermentrude and her mother are approaching.
"Oh, those colours aren't good together," I murmur as I take in Lady Ermentrude's dress. The yellow and green clash violently with only a white border to part them.
"That's the Tufflion crest for you," Linc responds.
"I mean, yes, but surely there's a way to work with yellow and green that looks better than that."
"I would think so, but maybe not. I'm sure you'll find Lady Ermentrude dressing in House Rothorne colours very soon."
I touch my own dress. "What am I supposed to do when we're married?" I look across to the other side of the clearing to see if I can work it out from the women standing with their husbands there, but without names and family trees, it's almost impossible to make sense of what I'm seeing.
"Most ladies use both their House colours. So you don't need a whole new wardrobe, don't fear."
"I'm glad, because that would have been a complete waste. I don't think I've ever worn some of the dresses I have at the moment." Though I suppose I could give them to Bella.
Except that she should be wearing Vermouten colours. I don't understand why clothing has to be so complicated, but it seems to be the vampire way.
Lady Ermentrude and her mother reach the wedding stones, and Lady Tufflion steps back, gesturing for Bastian to take over.
I watch curiously, not entirely sure how my brother is going to take any of this. He's been against the match for weeks, but that's been in private rather than in front of many members of the court.
Lord Fallmartin runs the ceremony, which I know is the norm from what Bella told me last time. Though it won't be what I experience. The King will do the ceremony in my father's stead.
It isn't until Lady Ermentrude bites into her wrist that I realise there's something else I've not really been considering. The biting part of the wedding ceremony made me nervous before, but that was when I thought I was going to be drinking the blood of a stranger.
Drinking from Linc, and being drunk from by Linc, are very different. Especially when it's something I've had the urge to do already, and it's definitely not a position that I want to be in when I'm in front of other people.
"Are you all right?" Linc murmurs. "You look a little pale."
"Fine," I promise. I want to talk to him about it, but I don't think here is the right place for the conversation.
But maybe once we're in the House Rothorne apartments, it will be a different matter.