Wedding of Prince Stanislavas Ojeras and Lady Eleanor Ellyarian
Prince Stanislavas Ojeras & Last Eleanor Ellyarian
The Arms of House Ojeras and House Ellyarian brought together
Prince Stanislavas Ojeras & Last Eleanor Ellyarian
The Arms of House Ojeras and House Ellyarian brought together
Taurville, Liegalla
Horns blared as the first of the guests arrived on the royal tournament field in Taurville. Located but a few miles north of the capital of Vysla and the Great imposing Tvirtore Palace— and even less so east from the dark spikes of Vakaru Castle, the ancestral seat of House Ojeras— Taurville has been selected to host the grand wedding of Prince Stanislavas and Lady Eleanor. It had been selected by none other than Prince Stanislavas himself.
Taking the tournament grounds that he had overseen the construction of for older his brother’s coronation, the prince had in the intervening months expanded them, cementing with with fine stones and ornate finishes, as well as leveling another hill and overseeing the construction of a new manor, done in magnificent white and gold in a tailored neoclassical style that stood out against the more gothic architecture of the kingdom. He had also overseen the construction of a great outdoor chapel. The tourney grounds including a jousting list, several fighting rings, a stage, an amphitheater and a firing range. The whole site has been decked out in elaborate decorations, Finn’s, streamers and lights. Forty foot tall posts had been erected through out the site from which hung massive banners, each carrying two, one of House Ojeras with its quartered golden dragon and golden lilies on red and white respectively while the other was the golden field with the black mailly pattern of House Ellyarian.
Never before had a prince of House Ojeras married a foreign bride, and the wedding, set to be a grand multi-day event, was being held to honor this grand first step. Lady Eleanor Ellyarian hailed from the Royal Family of Tarrata, being one of many granddaughters of their sovereign Prince. It was not simply a matter of foreign relations that the wedding was so grand. It was hoped that with this marriage, the future of House Ojeras would be save by the arrival of new children to carry on the dynasty into a new era.
House Ojeras had ruled Liegalla for over a century and a quarter, but now they seemed to titter on the brink of extinction. King Juozas II himself was a strong and healthy man, tall and a soldier built through and through. Known as the Hammer for his destruction of the rebellion in the north that had plagued the first nine months of his reign, he was the very model of a Liegallan king. He was joined by his wife, the petite and shy Queen Guoda, the model of a loyal wife, though she had proven herself capable when serving as regent for her husband. Together they had two daughters.
Their eldest, Princess Julita had been given over to the Faith, taking the habit of a nun, as penitence for having a child out of wedlock, the baby Vayva, who, born out of sin as a bastard was handed over at birth to the Faith. Yet perhaps more controversially was their youngest daughter, Princess Zieda, known the world over as the Helen of Vysla. The queen who might have been. The most beautiful woman in Liegalla, countless suitors had vied for her hand in marriage as she had been named her father’s heir. But her union with Princess Catherine of Mediama, while opening the door for the protection of gay rights in Liegalla, had seemingly scuttled most of the support of her succession.
Made Ambassador of Mediama, some say as a consolation prize, others whisper as an effective banishment, the princess has grown resentful of her uncle’s usurpation of her position. Nor was she alone in this bitterness. Queen Dowagers Gintare (mother of Queen Guoda) and Brigita (sister of King Juozas and widow of the gated Vytautas IV) found themselves for once agreeing, loathing selection of Stanislavas as heir. Each feared and having gain reputations for skullduggery, espionage and knowledge of dark matters, they each move in the shadows for their respective beneficiaries. Gintare, forever the advocate for her granddaughter Zieda, while Brigita plots with her new husband, Jayas Wynters, to place her son, Prince Juozas on the throne.
Above it all, Queen Mother Jurgita, well respected and great support to her son, she struggles to hold together the divided dynasty of her family.
And yet the cracks do not show as the nobles of the realm, from the great families, to the lowest of the gentry, poured onto the field, dressed in their finery and marveling at the opulence brought into creation for what was sure to be the grandest wedding ever recorded in the history of Liegalla. And with them came the arrival of the foreign guests, royals and ambassadors and elites who had come to attend the joyous occasion.
In front of the manor— the Game House as it had been nicknamed for it operated more like a caricature of a manor than a proper one with a grand dance hall, open hair salons and buy a pair of small private rooms on its second floor— King Juozas and Queen Guoda arrived with a slightly muted splendor. The King and Queen looked made for one another, and in a somewhat literal sense they had been. Both hailing from House Ojeras they had the famous silver blond hair and purple eyes of that royal dynasty. King Juozas wore his typical white formal military uniform— the idea of a bride wearing white was a foreign concept in Liegalla and thus white had instead been reserved for the king. Queen Guoda meanwhile wore a pastel red dress with a gold braided belt. A red and gold French hood studded with pearls sat high on her head, her silver blonde hair braided into a bun behind it. The King and Queen walked arm in arm as they over saw the festivities, as guests from across the realm, and soon enough beyond milled about.
Footmen dress in fine liveries patterned with the coat of arms of House Ojeras attended to people’s needs, offering trays of hor d’ourves— Liegallan spiced meatballs, smoked and cured slices of pork, pork filled kibin pastries, as well as a vegetarian option and the most famous of Liegallan snacks, fried bread—thin slices spiced and salted before being fried in oil. A select few Tarrantine dishes too were on offer, skewered freshwater prawn with peppers, salted seaweed chips, sugar ghee-doughnut holes filled with cream, and the centerpiece, Tarrantine baklava filled with grounded almonds and drizzled in honey.
From the fields of the festivities one could look south, towards the capital city, the great stone Tvirtore palace rising high on its high hill above the red roofs and stunning spires of the city. Meanwhile to the west, spread out the waters of Vysaliv Bay, Vakaru Castle hugging its shore to the northwest.
Queen Dowager Gintare, a short elderly woman, gave a small scowl as she arrived. The Queen Dowager, the eldest of the four queens who lived in Liegalla, was draped in the all black that she had worn since the death of her husband some fifty odd years ago. Not that one would mistake her for a somber mourning. The Queen dowager was decked out in heavy diamonds jewelry, a ring on each of her fingers, a studded diamond with a black shawl atop her head. The great treasures that had been gifted to Liegalla by Prince Marcus had been put to good use under the advice of Gintare and the new Governor of the Treasury— her nephew Lord Nervonyte. While the Queen dowager was good at acquiring wealth, her thrifty nephew was more adept at managing it. He had meticulously overseen the budgeting of the wedding, exploiting the overpopulation crisis of the city by employing the northern immigrants who had flooded the south and paying them at dirt cheap wages.
Queen Mother Jurgita, a great talk woman whose sharp eyes scanned the festivities with cold observation was in great contrast to Gintare. Dressed in splendid burgundy and gold, she gave polite smiles here and there, accepting a cup of wine brought from one of the five fountains that spewed forth the fine drink from a footman. Though five years younger than Gintare at seventy years old, Jurgita had the distinction of being the longest serving queen of Liegalla in living memory, as well as being mother to the current king. The most liberal of the royal family, she had been untrusted by her son in handling the managing of foreign affairs.
The Crown alone was not represented, for two members of House Ojeras who had become servants of the Faith, the Catholic Church in Liegalla, were also in attendance— the Archbishop of Voersk, the highest religious authority in the kingdom, and Princess Julita.
Archbishop Mecislovas, dressed in fine pontifical investments with its grand robes, high mitre and croiser made his way towards the king. The Archbishop was himself an Ojeras born out of wed lock by the late scandalous Princess Jadvyga the Younger. It had long been the tradition of the royal family to give over bastard children and younger daughters over to the Faith, as part of the alliance between Church and State. The King and Archbishop, near the same age, as cousins and of the same mind had strengthen that alliance as the king increased the Church’s rights and privileges while the archbishop liberalized the church’s doctrine.
Trailing behind the Archbishop was someone no one had seen in over eighteen months, Princess Julita, eldest daughter of King Juozas. A tall lovely woman, though not as beautiful as her famous younger sister, the princess had taken the veil, and given herself over to the Faith. Said to have been a fiery and temperamental woman, now the princess, dressed in a white habit, with a red scapular and a black veil was as cold as ice. Her purple eyes were unwelcoming, her face a placid mask of nothingness, as if she were a pillar of stone that could walk. In this she resembled her father, said not to be man or beast, but statue.
The princess noted, as no one else seemed to, her uncle, the groom to be, was nowhere in sight.
