by Cpt._Funkotron » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:49 am
The day of the wedding has arrived.
Sir Pamigen returns to the castle sopping wet, wrapped in several wollen blankets. Despite assurances of the bishop that a bowl of well drawn holy water would have sufficed for the baptism, the now-former pagan insisted on a final pagan feat of endurance in which to enter the fold, using the semi-frozen river nearby instead.
The three brides and the three grooms are of course kept in separate ends of the castle.
Terwynn and Arcadia are dressed in beautiful gowns of blue and green, the colors respectively symbolizing purity and youth in cymric tradition. Tatiana is dressed in a pure white gown, in roman fashion, contrasting nicely with her duskier olive skin, with spiraling trim of blue and green on the hem, in deference to local custom. They each have a bridesmaid, who helps them bathe, get into their dresses, and set their hair into good order, Terwynn is served by her young sister Diane, Arcadia by Lady Llewella (on loan from the countess), and Tatiana by Elinor, her brother's squire.
The Christian wedding is carried out first. The three wedding parties, including the Earl's family and particulars, form a long procession into the city itself, to the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin. There, Sir Pamigen ap Amig is wed to Tatiana Persidia Anna, their joining overseen by Bishop Roger himself. Persidius naturally gives his sister away, and Sir Lycus stands as his brother's best man. A Latin mass is read, and the couple exchanges rehearsed vows, in latin first and in cymric second, knelt before the altar, and then exchange rings. The Bishop blesses the couple, and they kiss. The ceremony of marriage does not require a religious rite in these days, simply an exchange of consent, but they are certainly a mark of prestige, and a must have for roman families of such standing and piety as the Persidii.
Next the procession exits the city and goes to a nearby grove, for the wedding of Sir Amig ap Llud, Lord of Ebble, to Sir Arcadia of Winterstream, beneath the barren bows of winter oak. The rites here are simple. The couple meets face to face. The woman holds her hand upwards before her, and the husband places his palm to hers, not dissimilar to the ceremony of homage. The Earl stands between them and binds their hands together in a figure-eight pattern with a violet cord. The man swears that he takes the woman as his wife of his own will. Their hands flip so that the woman's hand is on top, and she swears the same. As with the christian ceremony, the vow is sealed with a kiss. By this action solidifying the bond spiritually, the physical cord is no longer necessary and is thus unwound. Sir Jaradan the Champion and Sir Terwynn the Challenger are wed in this way next.
The procession, now with three newlywed couples, return to the castle, and commence such feasting as can scarcely be described, the wedding feasts of three nobles with the contribution of the earl combined into one event of singular opulence, the rarest delicacies, fine imported wines, seafood, capon, venison, swan, honeyed pork, peppered beef, barrel after barrel of the finest ale and beer.
At sundown, the married couples are each escorted by the revelers, making relevant jokes and signing bawdy songs along the way, each to their own private chamber one by one, and left alone inside to get on with their wedding nights, while the revelers return to the party in the hall. The chambers are not to be disturbed until morning. The next day, most of the courtiers make ready to depart, visitors back to their own lands, knights back to their own hearths, and the newlyweds to their new homes.