The fanfare made Balt jump.
His palms began to sweat and he stared at the beautiful white arch in front of him, trying to gather himself. Pale blue Lyran lilies and roses entwined themselves around it and through the fretwork. The royal city of Lyra Prime lie beyond it and the balcony of the white square, the wide steps leading his eye down into the heart of it. The tall spires of the financial district rose high in the centre and beyond them even taller spikes pierced the rich blue sky. The Lyran parliament. Nearer to him, tiled brown roofs gave off a shimmering haze under the hot Lyran sun. They spread far and wide, marking the civilian section of the city, all shopping streets and houses of the merchants and soldiers who were stationed on the planet.
It was beautiful but he couldn’t focus on it.
His heart pounded, deep and hard against his ribs, and he couldn’t bring it under control.
The fanfare continued and he drew a long breath in an attempt to regain some control over his scattered feelings.
“She isn’t coming,” Acer said and grinned when Balt glared at him. His younger brother was joking, his aquamarine eyes bright and sparkling with amusement, but it didn’t feel like a joke to him. The fanfare was lasting forever. Usually at royal weddings, the bride appeared the moment it started, stepping slowly along the sky blue carpeted aisle between the hundred rows of guests.
Balt glanced over his shoulder at the guests and regretted it straight away.
He had never been afraid of anything. He had faced Vegans, wars that threatened to crush Lyra, and met all manner of terrifying creatures in his time as a captain of the Lyran Imperial Army, and never once had he felt so nervous and scared. He swallowed and stared at the dark arched doorway of the grand white palace at the end of the aisle.
Where was she?
“Relax,” Acer said and placed his hand on Balt’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Balt couldn’t, but he was glad to have his younger brother with him. They had always been close and it had been Kayla’s idea to have what the Terrans called a ‘best man’ at his wedding. Acer had been the obvious choice and he had immediately asked him if he would perform the duties. His brother had been flattered but he was the only one who had accepted the decision so lightly. It had caused much talk amongst the aristocrats who were to attend the wedding. No one had ever heard of a change being made to a Lyran royal wedding before.
His dark gaze skipped over the heads of the guests to settle on the front rows to his left. His oldest brother Sebastian and his youngest brother Remi sat there, dressed in dark blue tailcoats with a sky blue cravat. Sebastian shrugged and gave him a sorry look. Remi glanced over his shoulder towards the open doorway of the palace and then looked back at him, his dark eyes matching Sebastian’s in their apologetic look.
Balt flexed his fingers and then loosened the collar of his shirt, tugging at the cravat and wishing he could undo it for a few minutes so he could breathe. His dark blue jacket felt too tight, hugging his figure too closely. He toyed with the hem where it ran along his waist, meeting the top of his tight dark blue trousers, and then followed it down into the tail at the back. He’d thought that flight suits were restrictive but they had never irritated him like this.
He tapped his foot, following the beat of the fanfare, wondering where Kayla was. It felt as though time was stretching into infinity. The guests were beginning to talk. He could hear their chatter as it grew in volume. Everyone wanted to know where Kayla was, none more so than him.
He looked down at his polished black knee-high boots, staring at his warped reflection.
Didn’t she want to marry him?
“It’s probably just a glitch. She’ll be along in a minute,” Acer said and looked past him towards his family. Balt looked there too, catching the unimpressed look on his mother’s face, and then faced front again.
The fanfare began to die down.
She wasn’t coming.
His heart ached and he clenched his fists against the pain. He had rushed her into this and she was probably having second thoughts about marrying a Lyran, a prince of the species that had decimated her people, the Terrans, and obliterated their home. He couldn’t blame her either. She probably saw this as another form of enslavement and he knew that she’d spent most of her life as a slave and had had enough of living such a terrible life. He didn’t want to make her his slave. He had freed her, hadn’t he? He only wanted to love her and be her husband, and to give them both a place that they could call home.
He had to speak to her and make her see that. He loved her more than anything. If she didn’t want to marry him right away, they could wait until they knew each other better, or until she was ready.
Balt turned and was about to run down the rich blue aisle and find her when the fanfare started again.
