Reyna was sure her sister would not take Havi's outstretched hand. Her sister would only accept contact with someone she respected-
"My name is Addilyn Gord and I have no idea who you are," Addilyn said and to her sister's surprise, she took Havi's hand and shook it with that uncharacteristic smile on her face.
Havi nodded with a chuckle,
"I'm finding that I'm not as well known as I would like to be," he said as their hands separated and then he looked past Addilyn at the seated couple,
"If you'll excuse me ladies, I should pay my respect to the couple. Maybe I'll have better hope for recognition there" he added and with a courteous bow to the two, he walked away.
Addliyn went to stand more by her sister's side and then turned around to watch Havi approach the couple,
"Havi, Havi, yeah, I have no idea who he is. There is something about him though" she said with the expression of getting sucked into deep thought and when she shook out of it, she smiled at her sister,
"Drink up sister dear. Make merry! We shall spar after the celebrations... I fear I might have been lax with your training as of late." she said to which Reyna frowned upon noticing that her sister had that psychotic look on her face that meant she would not be taking it easy with her.
"We can leave now," Reyna said. As painful as the spar and subsequent training was bound to be, Reyna felt it would be much more entertaining than standing in the hall and being present for celebrating a step she felt was not in the best interest of the clan.
Addilyn promptly shook her head and downed the glass of liquid she was holding and replaced it with a full glass as she said,
"No. Take this moment to relax. I need you at a hundred percent especially since I will not be accommodating any complaints."
"I won't complain," Reyna said with a bit of a pout.
"Oh, you will. Having you relax beforehand will not change that but it will take away any excuse you might want to justify yourself with."
"Congratulations. I was not around when you got married so this is coming late" Havi said with a salute to Dakon who was confused,
"Do I know you?" he asked while his veiled wife turned her head over to have a more direct look at this greeter, and that was her most notable movement of the night.
"Not really, but that should not stop me, your clansman, from congratulating you, should it?" Havi asked and although still confused, Dakon nodded his head in agreement, while Havi's attention turned to the Pheonix Princess,
"Your highness," he said and reached out his hand which the Pheonix princess slowly and gracefully put her hand into for his to kiss.
That she had done so surprised Dakon but neither the Princess nor Havi paid attention to him. Havi took his lips off her hand and stroked the area he had kissed.
As he stroked, Dakon, who was feeling uncomfortable at the sight noticed minor reactions from his wife that only made his uncomfortable feeling worse.
"I see immense satisfaction in your future," Havi said.
The Pheonix Princess gave a small chuckle and said,
"I highly doubt that"
Dakon's face instantly turned bad but the conversation continued without consideration for how he was feeling.
"Forced arranged marriage," Havi asked with a shake of his head and a sympathetic look.
"Forced? No, I went along with it willingly. I'll do anything to help my family but that does not mean I am happy about it." the Pheonix Princess said.
"Hm, but happiness is important," Havi said.
"It is but I have accepted that it will not be in this aspect of my life. I will get my happiness by focusing on my cultivation and becoming the greatest in my clan.
In a thousand years, this will only be a minor inconvenience" the Princess said with a head gesture at her husband.
"Will you please refrain from referring to me as an inconvenience? I'm not happy about this marriage either" Dakon said through gritted teeth.
"Well, your happiness does not matter," the Princess said and Dakon froze before growling a bit,
"I will not take any disrespect!" he said with his Draconic pride and rage boiling quickly to the surface.
"Calm, calm" Havi said and he released the Princess' hand to thrust out his palms to placate them both.
"You have both been placed so high and all eyes are on you. Your demeanors are being closely studied" he said and the two saw reason.
There was a brief second of silence which Havi then spoke to break,
"That said, Dakon, the Princess is right. Your happiness does not matter" the words flowed quickly and smoothly and at the end, the two just froze before the Princess began to giggle.
Dakon's face became ashen and he looked ready to blow up but for some reason, he felt pressed to comport himself and not make a scene.
Rather than speak to Havi, he spoke to his wife,
"Since when did you express yourself?" he asked her.
"Since ever, I just don't bother to express myself in front of strangers and here I am surrounded by them," the Princess said.
"Well, he's a stranger too. A Gord in fact!" Dakon said and pointed at Havi.
"Yes he is, but I like and can stand him though. You, I absolutely detest. Alas, duty binds me to you. Fate sure is cruel" the Princess responded.
Dakon clenched his fists and glared at Havi with the strong urge to strike him but that urge was properly suppressed by an external force Dakon could not truly place.
Meanwhile, Havi bowed,
"I will leave you two now. It seems I have overstayed and overstepped. (To the Princess) Your Highness, I wish you happiness and satisfaction henceforth."
After speaking, Havi turned away and walked over to an area dense with guests where he promptly vanished from all sights and senses in a way that is impossible by simply blending with the crowd.
After he left, the couple went back to ignoring one another with Dakon making a specific effort to just stare away and not even pay her the usual appreciative glance.
An hour more of sitting in the hall, constantly supplied with cultivational inebriation brew that the Princess always rejected and Dakon always downed, the celebrations were finally over, or at least there was no longer a need for the couple to be around.
They could now proceed to the bridal chamber for the long-awaited consummation.
The Princess went away first to prepare as was the custom of her clan and in the minutes before he went off to join her, Dakon received encouraging messages from his father the King who had not been present in the hall along with many other high profile members of the clan.
Along with the encouragements, Dakon was also reminded of how much his clan's future was resting on this moment with many experts making it clear that they would have their ears keen for the sounds of successful consummation.
This sort of pressure would likely kill the virility of an ordinary man of an ordinary race but Dakon was a Dragon!
He might be in a mortal world and not have a bloodline worth noting when compared to that of the progenitor of his bloodline but he still had traits to tie back to said progenitor just like any member of the royal family.
The pressure he was getting, added to his so-far suppressed rage, had his virility at the highest level it could possibly be at.
(In layman's terms; Dakon had a massive perpetual boner)
The Prince was ready and he gathered up his voluminous and luxurious robes, stitched in the center with the image of a majestic dragon, and went off to the bridal chamber without any escorts.
He had hope in the security of his clan and why should he not? He had no reason to doubt that capabilities.
Even as he walked, there were experts patrolling for even the slightest sign of sabotaging presence.
Security was tight and no one besides Dakon was allowed close to the bridal hall, so why the hell was there a skinny pale-skinned man with coal-black hair and eyes of the Gord clan staring at Dakon and blocking his path to the bridal chamber?
...
Aspasia, Princess of the Pheonix clan, had shed the robes she had worn in the celebrating hall for a more sleek and revealing garment and she sat in front of a mirror stroking her hair which she had styled especially for the occasion.
And then the door of the chamber opened.
Even though there was a curtain demarcation that blocked sight into the area Aspasia was seated, the area with the massive bridal bed, she could still sense that there were two individuals in the chamber now even though there should only be one.
The Princess began glowing with the activation of her bloodline ability and prepared to fight as one of the two approached the curtain demarcation and pulled it aside.
Aspasia was ready to strike but she could not help but freeze when the person revealed his face,
"Havi?" she said and Havi smiled before his already tall height increased an inch or three and his physique filled out and went from skinny to lean and clearly thick with muscles.
His hair went from coal-black to nightmarishly mysterious black and his coal-black eyes became completely blue, sclera and all, with gold flecks within.
His pale skin gained more color and appeared to glow luminescent. His face went from okay to glorious and beyond perfection.
And when he spoke, his voice was revealed to have gone from ordinary to authoritative, calm, and musical,
"The name is Hal but you can stick with Havi if you so wish. I doubt you will though"
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