The Shield of Gentem

Chapter 1 : Long live the Bride and Groom

She didn't understand.

Walking down the aisle of the White Cathedral, hidden under her veil, Flavia was in shock.

Never, ever, would she have believed that the Duke of Clypeus would agree to marry her. Besides, she was not the only one to think so. She could see the shocked faces of the guests, who had come to witness another wedding debacle. And yet...

Raising her head, she looked at the profile of her new husband. Silver hair, violet eyes, he was breathtakingly beautiful. When he had taken her face in his hands, she had thought her last hour had come. But no.

His smile...

She quickly turned her head when he lowered his towards her. Peony red, she felt her heart beating rapidly.

Was it her husband?

Really?

No. He was going to repudiate her. He was going to humiliate her, as he had done to all the others, and... yes, but for the others, he hadn't even bothered to go up to the priest. All the other times, from what she'd heard, he'd said some cruel words, and then walked away.

So why was it different this time? Why was it different?

It was not her beauty that could have captivated him, she knew it. Her face ravaged by scars could not please him. Then, why had he smiled at her like that when he discovered her? Why had he smiled at her? If she could claim to have feelings for him, the reciprocal could not be true. After all, they had never really met. So why?

-You should stop thinking, smoke will eventually come out of your ears, the Duke of Clypeus whispered to her.

His deep tone, whispering against her ear, startled her.

They stood on the outside steps of the White Cathedral. There they greeted their family. Flavia didn't dare look at her family. Her father, her stepmother and her sisters must have been staring at her angrily. Because... Because she wasn't supposed to end up married. Lev should have rejected her, like all the others. Even more so, because of her ugly features.

The Duke's father, on the other hand... Irvin Clypeus seemed as delighted as he was furious. No wonder. Instead, it should have been Vera, her older sister. Duchess of her state.

Flavia preferred to look straight ahead.

A carriage was to take them to the Clypeus fortress, a few miles from the protective wall. There, the other guests would join them for the wedding festivities.

Normally, the journey would take two weeks from the capital. But the mages of the Tower had set up a portal an hour away so that they could arrive within thirty minutes of the house.

Thus, she found herself alone with the Duke, locked in the carriage drawn by four horses.

Face to face on the benches, they remained silent for a while. At least until they could no longer distinguish the guests. The carriage drove quietly through the streets of the capital. But she was totally panicked. Not because of the Protector's presence by her side. Well, yes. In fact, she was realizing that... Her heart began to beat faster. There was going to be a wedding night, right?

Her panic was not getting better when the Duke pulled the curtains of the small windows of the carriage, which was suddenly in darkness.

-Good, he said. Now that we're free of these hyenas, we can talk.

-Mr. Duke...

-I am your husband, call me Lev.

-Uh...