<h4>Chapter 13: The wedding calls.</h4>


    The continuous and increasingly annoying neighing of horses together with the chomping like noise of their hooves against the cobblestones prompted Sigrid to wake up.


    She opened her eyes and looked out of the window, it was rather dull outside, the sun had yet to bless the day. "It has arrived," she silently thought.


    The day of her wedding hade, the two days had gone by rather quickly, she had used what little time she had to pack up her belongings and sent them out to the crown prince''s fief or The Stormwind as it was named after it''s lord, master and owner, the crown prince.


    The Stormwind castle was perched high on the edge of a rugged cliff close to the boundary of the capital city of Eldoria named Doria. It overlooked the sea and was known for it''s vast lush green pastures which were used to breed and raise the finest horses in the kingdom.


    Sigrid was not too excited to be moving to Stormwind, it wasparable to moving from one city to another in her opinion which wasrgely exaggerated as the castle was only a three hour ride away from the center of the city.


    The door opened with a creak just when she was about to close her eyes and return to slumbernd.


    "Siggy, it''s time to wake up."


    Iryne Thorin, her mother pushed her way inside together with duchess M and they found their way to the bed. Lanai and Lama were not far behind the women along with her mother''s personal maid Mirena.


    Sigrid twisted int he bed and groaned but made no move to sit up.


    "This child, you are getting married today but you still are acting like a little girl." Irynemented.


    She pulled the covers back and the cold air from the window which Lanai had just opened hit Sigrid who winced and unwillingly sat up. Her hands searched for the bed covers but her mother swatted them away as if they were annoying flies.


    "You are about to be someone''s wife, the crown prince no less. In future, you will have to rise at the cock''s crow and do the duties of a crown princess." Iryne told Sigrid. In her voice was some minor chastising.


    "She has maids for that Iryne, I don''t think the crown princess must wake up at cock''s crow to prepare breakfast for the prince." The duchessmented.


    Sigrid satisfactorily looked at her mother with a very happy glint in her eyes.


    "See mother, I have noplicated duties, all I have to do is look beautiful and bear heirs for the crown prince." She replied.


    In the back of her mind, it was not what she was thinking, she had to scheme against Emmah, guard against those that would be scheming against her in turn. Save her husband from death, steal his heart and start businesses to prevent Emmah from building a strong economic base upon which she would stabilize her foundation.


    Oh, and she had to fight for the rights of women in Eldoria because life was unfair to them.


    Duchess M moved closer and took Sigrid''s arm. "Speaking of bearing heirs, has your mother discussed with you how it works?"


    "How what works?" Sigrid asked.


    The door creaked, it was opened and a third woman entered, her sister-inw Deanna Winters, the wife to her eldest brother.


    "Greeting your graces," she curtsied.


    She had a very soft gentle voice that put a smile on everyone''s face, it made Sigrid want to hug her and dote on her.


    Beneath the gentleness however, she was one of Sigrid''s most loyal helpers and advisors. The advise she usually gave was questionable however, she was the one that told Sigrid to give Rnd an aphrodisiac on the wedding night. That did not end well!


    "Sit down Deanna." Iryne said to her daughter-inw and then turned to her daughter. "Siggy about the talk...." she started.


    She felt rather ufortable and her face turned a few shades of red all over.


    Duchess M could not help rolling her eyes. "You have had four children but the subject still embarrasses you, I already taught you Iryne don''t tell me that I have to do the same for my granddaughter."


    "It''s not that easy to exin mother." Iryne whined.


    "Should i do it?" Deanna volunteered.


    "No." both women replied.


    On the bed, Sigrid scratched her head and looked from one woman to the next, she could not understand what all the fuss was about. If the talk they were discussing was the birds and bees, she had a full manuscript of information.


    "Is this about sex because if that''s what''s causing all this, I already got the talk." Sigrid blurted out. "I could even give you one." she chuckled.


    The women gasped and the washbasin in Lama''s hands collided with the ground, pouring water everywhere. The poor girl apologized and run out of the room quickly.


    Normally, one of them would chastise her for being careless but it was different on this day, they were all rather more horrified that Sigrid seemed to have knowledge about the private dealings of men and women behind closed doors.


    "Mirena seal the door and stand guard outside." Duchess M ordered.


    Everything suddenly turned serious in a way Sigrid had not expected.


    "You should have kept your mouth shut." The system cackled.


    Duchess M''s hands went around Sigrid''s shoulders. "Siggy, who have you been talking to about these matters? Please, please oh please tell me that you have not engaged in any rtions with a man before."


    The duchess was frightened, Sigrid was five and twenty today, mature andte to the institution of marriage in Eldoria. It was not abnormal for her to hear about some things from her friends that were her age but already married, some young women loved to overshare after all.


    The trouble was that some decided to act on what they had heard. While it did not create a storm of trouble among themoners, it was a different story among the nobles.


    It was even worse when it came to royals, only virgins could marry princes, a measure put in ce to ensure that royal blood was not tainted by women marrying in when they were already expecting.


    "I am untouched grandmother, worry not." Sigrid assured her.


    All the women sighed in relief.


    "Great, that means we don''t need to have the talk." Iryne was d to dodge the bullet.


    Duchess M shot her daughter-inw a look of disapproval.


    "You forget that things are different for royals, M you have bex in your responsibilities." She looked at Sigrid. "Girl, listen to me, on the night of your wedding, you must make the first move, I got this information from the queen''s governess. Normally someone is sent from the castle to teach you these things but this wedding has been rushed so they skipped this part."


    "She makes the first move!" Deanna eximed.


    The duchess nodded. "It is a tradition for them, it shows how eager you are for your husband. First you take a bath and clean your body, you put on something inviting and approach the bed, undress him and then initiate the first kiss."


    While the duchess exined, M hid her face in a pillow, Lanai wanted to disappear under the bed and Deanna was fascinated.


    "Siggy, do you know how to kiss?" Deanna asked.