Chapter Two
"Hurry girl! Hurry!" Gratima scolded Freudian, "Only two hours until the celebration!!! And you, not even dressed!" She pushed Freudian behind the curtain, and handed her the dress.
"I didn't want to get my dress dirty!" Freudian retorted. Taking it and stroking it lovingly.
"Just hurry girl!"
Lief ran his fingers through his dark blond hair one last time. The bucket of water didn't give a very pleasing reflection. "Lief come on!" Sherdac called looking through the door. "You look fine, and your new wife-to-be probably doesn't want us to be late!"
"Sherdac!" He groaned, "I don't want to get married!"
"Well you're not, till next year. Hurry up! Even if you're not curious to know who she'll be I am!"
"What if she's ugly?" Lief vaulted onto the horse behind Sherdac. The horse was big, and heavy, the neighbours used him for ploughing, but now Sherdac and Lief had borrowed him to ride to the next village for the celebration.
"What if she's really pretty?"
"Sherdac! I'm scared! I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life with that girl." He stopped for a moment. "She might be old!"
"She is younger than you are, remember? Stop your whining! At least you have a betrothed." Sherdac sighed, the girl he had been betrothed to had died, when she was only just eight, and no one had yet been found to take her place.
"Oh! My daughter!" Freudian's father exclaimed when he saw her, finally dressed and ready for the celebration. He lent over and kissed her on the cheek. "You are so beautiful!"
Freudian blushed, but what her father had said was true. The dress had been made splendidly, the rich green velvet went wonderfully with her green eyes. Her long brown hair was done up elegantly at the back of her neck. "Thank-you father, has..." She looked around, "Has my husband-to-be, come yet?"
"No," he shook his head, "Soon, my darling, very soon."
Freudian looked at the people who had been invited, the women lined one side of the celebration hall, the men the other. She and her husband-to-be were to meet at this end, walk down the centre of the building, and then sit together at the long table piled high with food. She twisted her hands nervously.