Road to the Crown

15th April 1574

After the bomb dropped by the governor, all the other gifts that we received seem blank at best, and simply worthless when the queue reached the less wealthy figures, yet I still received them all with all the necessary honours, keeping both my smile and gratitude plastered all over my face.

From the two small villages from the Ostros Prince family, through the elaborate, french jewellery gifted by the Prince of Cherrie, all the way to the simpler staff like dresses, horses and even just a few coins from the smaller nobles, the pile of wedding gifts continuously grow for the next two hours that this procession of wealth took.

As soon as this part of the show was over, we could finally move on to the main event, being the feast itself.

With everyone located at a long, circular table placed in the very middle of the camp, the kitchen was located in the very middle of the table, allowing everyone to raise their expectations while watching the food prepared right in front of their eyes. Considered how cheaply I could obtain my new spice from just a fistful of grain, most of the meals used it in abundance, turning what was supposed to be a great feast, into a event rivalling the royal celebrations in the culinary aspect.

"Once again, and for the last time, welcome, everyone!"

With everyone now seated in their place, the closer to me and my dear wife the greater their status was, I waited for the natural noise of people talking to subsidize just enough before standing up and raising my cup. Considering how I and Elia were the most important people in this day, no one dared to touch their cups before we would wet our lips first.

"At first, I would like to thank everyone for attending this small ceremony of mine, despite sending the invitations on such short notice. It really soothes my heart to see our noble brotherhood as united as we are today in the times of joy!"

Seeing how everyone was paying attention to me while clearly in a merry mood, I couldn't help but think about the future, when internal strifes would tear this unity apart, putting the entire country on a silver platter for the powerful neighbours to feast on.

With how there was still a lot of time before the current trends would turn this nobility into nothing more than just a rowdy bunch of entitled slackers, I could still do my best to prevent at least some of the worst events that would upset the stability of the country. But while I had this thought, doing so during my wedding speech would be a disaster!

"But rather than boring everyone with a lengthy speech, I would simply like to invite you all, to have a drink with us!"

Without needing to hint Elia at all, she raised to her legs and raised the same cup that we drank the wine from at the church doorstep. According to the tradition, during the entire afternoon and night, we were forced to drink from this cup alone, always at the same speed. If I wanted to take a sip, Elia had to follow, while her drinking would indicate yet another portion of alcohol for me.

While it was nothing more than just a superstition, if the cup broke due to our drunkness or the constant use of it, our marriage would be said to be unstable, fated to break apart just like the cup. But while nobody really paid any real attention to it just a few days after the wedding, it served as a good limitation for our drinking during this most important day for the two of us!

"While some of you might already heard about it, I want to come clean in front of everyone!"

Starting my sentence like that was aimed at nothing else but just brining back the people's attention that despite how quick I was with my words, was already wandering away towards the content of their cups rather my lips.

"Today, for our first drink, everyone will have the chance to taste the greatest beer ever produced in the Commonwealth lands!"

While I had no way of telling with how everyone instantly grabbed their cups and raised up from their seats, I could only hope that the rumours about new brand of beer of mine already reached the ears of most of the people gathered at the table. With how I aimed this feast to be the breaking point in the limited advertisement campaign that I would run in the current times if it turned out to be a failure, the entire premium beer idea would have to be scrapped!

But before everyone could drink, I had to do my part of the ceremony.

Raising the crystalline cup in my hands, I felt Elia's soft fingers touching the upper part of my hands, as she added her strength to mine, pushing the cups towards her lips first and allowing her to take a huge gulp, before she generously angled the cup in the other way, even going as far as to stop me when I already filled my entire mouth, forcing me to gulp away everything I had hidden behind my teeth just to not let this precious drink spill on my face!

As soon as I finally managed to bring the cup down, everyone shouted "cheers" and went to drink themselves, yet I was simply too focused on my wife to bother with that. As soon as the base of the cup touched the table, I pushed my head forward and attacked her lips.

With some of the beer still in my mouth, I repeated the same dead that marked the first time when we enjoyed our skinship in our entire relationship. Only when the drink finally stopped circulating between our connected mouth, soaked into the interior of our mouth, did I realise that the cheering that should only announce the start of drinking, continued through our actions, even aided with some of the guests hitting their more solid cups against the table!

Prompted into action by their encouragement, instead of stopping as soon as we could depart from each other without spilling the drink away, I pushed my tongue inside her mouth, instantly rubbing it against hers.

With my hands landing on the sides of her waist, I pulled Elia even closer to me, feeling her hands coiling behind my neck as she reacted with even more vigour than I expected. Second by second, instead of moving the beer around our connected mouth, we continued to exchange our saliva, while enjoying this rare moment of open closeness that we could finally show to other people without fear of losing our Christian reputation.

"You little…"

When we finally separated from each other, I still couldn't break our eye contact, drawn to her pupils like a mouse to a trap. Only when I felt a strong nudge to my back, did I manage to recover myself from this loving daze.

"Mike… Everyone is waiting…"

Rather than Elia or any of my servants, it was the Governor himself, sitting on my left, prompting me to give the order. Recovering myself from this momentary mishap, I could only hope that people would either understand or forgive me this mistake, before facing the entire crowd and shouting.

"Let's the feast begin!"