Chapter 64: Chapter 64

Langrion picked up the ring Shia had thrown down against the hard floor of his cell. The ring on his fingers felt unusually warm, or was it because Shia had just worn it?

He turned it around and saw that it matched his mother’s signet ring in appearance, but that signet ring was hanging securely around his neck. He had carried it with him ever since the day Shia had given it back. Even after spending a night together with Shia, he did not give it back to her because he was waiting at the right time to propose to her, and she knew that Nana’s death wasn’t the right moment.

Now, he starred back at the duplicate ring she had tossed to him eagerly. He was perplexed. Where did this ring come from? Also, why did she give it to him?

Under the dim lights, Langrey was surprised to see that he could make out the figures in its insignia. Unlike his ring, there was only the figure of a single heron at the left upper corner of the cross. Then by and by, Shia’s words earlier started to come back to him.

“Do you remember promising to give me lessons when we were at the fields of marigold? You said on a day with warm weather, you will teach me how to ride a horse...”

“I’m sorry I cannot fulfil my promise of tying red laces around our arms together in the future...”

Red laces – of course - how could he forget?! He was even the one who suggested to Shia that they use that code to mean that one is being forced to do something. That could only mean that Shia was being forced to get married, right? Then, her talk about the weather meant he should just trust her, and a horse riding lesson meant that she has a plan!

A plan – what plan would that be, specifically?

Langrion unconsciously fumbled the ring in his fingers as he thought about the matter in his head. Then, without thinking much about it, he slipped the ring in his pinky finger.

Almost immediately, Langrion’s ill feelings due to the guiding stones had worn off from his body. He started to feel light-hearted. His breathing became easy, and his muscles felt invigorated.

He looked incredulously at the ring in his finger. Was it the effect of the ring? It surely seemed like so...

The more he looked into the ring, the brighter it seemed in his eyes. He was taken back to the time that Shia showed him a tear in the air using Freya’s power of light.

Curious, Langrey drew an invisible line in the air using his pinky finger. Something seemed to quiver. He looked closely at it and smiled.

******************

Instead of feeling relieved after seeing Langrion, Shia’s countenance looked much worse. Clearly, Langrey had been treated so poorly as a captive inside that blasted cell. How can she have even a second of peace knowing that he was suffering in such inhumane conditions?

What’s more, Langrey looked at her as if he does not remember the codes they had talked about before when they travelled along the field of marigolds with Khailis and Gavil. What should she do now?...

Her frightened and listless behaviour was so apparent that it even showed during her meeting with the king.

Attributing it all to last minute wedding jitters, the king paid no attention. He escorted Shia as she entered and put her down on a seat opposite him.

“How was the meeting? I hope it wasn’t too painful, love.”

Of course the old king’s words were a mockery to Shia. He must be positively overjoyed to see her so shaken up.

“Why do you want to see me?” Shia said. She had prepared herself to face the evil king after meeting Langrion, but her heart was still shaking from fright unsteadily. If he asks her to strip or sleep with him at that very instant, how can she fight him off without endangering Langrey? This was the thought that was going through her head at the moment.

Before the king could answer, there was a soft knock on the door, and the king’s personal servant came in.

“Sire, they are here.”

“Ah, let them in!”

Shia turned around from her seat and saw a group of people carrying several white gowns, mannequins, rolls of luxurious white fabric, and measuring devices.

“My Shia, tomorrow afternoon is our wedding, so you must have your gown fitted today,” the king said, putting an arm around Shia’s shoulders. “Did you like my surprise?”

Indeed, Shia was so surprised and so relieved to know that he only called her over for a wedding gown fitting! She was so comforted that she wanted to cry, but she resolved to keep her nonchalant countenance to hide her real feelings.

The designers curtsied to the king and then to her. “Greetings, my lady! We understand that you had just attended the debutant ball this year, so we got in contact with Master Dredsell from Sensala to get your measurements. We’ve brought several dresses with us that fit the measurements he sent. Which one would you like to try on first?”

There were about ten to fifteen dresses all in all, and they were all well-made and gorgeous. Any woman would have swooned over just by looking at the dresses, but Shia’s heart, knowing the occasion where she would need to wear them, wasn’t moved at all.

“Go on. Try all of them, my love. I wanted to see them on you. I’ll pick the one that I like best to help you decide,” the king said, his face spitting into a huge smile that was too repulsive for Shia to look at.

“As you wish, your grace, but did you not know the saying that it’s bad luck for the groom to see her bride in her wedding dress prematurely?” Shia said bitterly.

“No need to worry about that, I have enough luck in me. Seeing you in a wedding dress is a sort of good luck in itself,” the old king chuckled softly.

Shia began to understand the ‘sort of luck’ that the king mentioned in seeing her in a wedding gown once the servants and the designers started to help her get dressed. They moved her into one side of the room and set up a long but rather semi-transparent mesh between her and the king, making her efforts to get dressed utterly exposed to its one and only senile audience. Shia did not complain, but she gritted her teeth and consented to be undressed by the servants only with her back turned against the old fool during the whole fitting session.

There were exactly fourteen dresses when she counted, and he made her try all of them one by one, like a store mannequin. It was a burdensome task that Shia did not enjoy, especially since she could feel the hair at the back of her neck rise in hate under the old man’s gaze every time she was asked to change dresses.

At last, when Shia was donned in the final dress, the king clasped his hand and said, “This will do, love. You look absolutely fantastic!”

It was a white, laced dress that snugly fitted her body. A sheen white material covered her arms and neck. Its trail was about several meters long and would have to be carried by at least three other people.

The dress had a rather conservative look that it did not seem to match the dirty, old man’s image in Shia’s mind. It did not expose any part of her body indecently. The only thing that Shia was worried about was how she could run fast in such a long dress.

The old man saw the disappointed look in Shia’s eyes. He strode to her and put his arms around her body. Her body tensed up, and she slumped backwards, hiding her chest as his arms completely wrapped themselves around her shoulders.

“Do you not like this choice, love? The other ones were too vulgar for my tastes. I don’t want any other person fantasizing about your body like I do, so why don’t we bear with his one, eh?”

Shia frowned and did not speak. She actually had no interest whatsoever in any of these dresses. She was going to a funeral, so why would she bother to care?

After some time, the king did not budge from his embrace, and Shia squirmed. She wanted to push him harder and slap his face, but she thought that it was best not to antagonize him. The end of all these nonsense was closing upon them anyway...

Still, the king did not move away, and she started to hear him cry softly at the back of her neck. After a few more minutes, perhaps when he was able to compose himself already, he whispered. “You look so stunning, Tristal! You always were...”

After saying this, he moved away from her and left his own bed chambers in such a hurry that Shia and everyone else were left speechless.

After waiting for the king to return for more than an hour, Shia got bored. She sent the designers away and left the king’s chamber to go to her own room.

Once she reached her bed, she collapsed. Tomorrow is her wedding day, and her heart was beating so fast inside her rib cage. If they succeed, all will be well; if not, she would just make sure that Langrion emerge through this unscathed. She could only pray that all would go as planned in the bottom of her heavy yet hopeful heart.