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Niniane finished brushing her daughter's hair, smiling at the way it shone like burnished copper in the early morning light. Her happiness was tempered by sorrow, however, knowing that the day had finally come; Dawn would be marrying her cousins in a ceremony that would irrevocabbly bind hers and her future children's fates to the council. But she refused to let her sadness show as she carefully fitted the silken veil on her daughter's hair, securing it with a golden circlet set with a gleaming emerald. "I think you're going to turn some heads," she remarked. Dawn was growing into a beautiful young woman, and any children she had would be just as stunning as her.
Dawn smiled at her mother's reflection in the mirror. "I think so too," she said, taking a deep breath as she stood. "Right. Let's hope my future husbands will be besotted enough with my beauty that they'll forget their nefarious purpose. And if not..." She shrugged. "I can manage."
Niniane felt her heart twist into a painful knot as she embraced her daughter, heedless of any wrinkles she might put in the dress. "I know you will," she murmured, hoping the tears in her eyes were happiness for her daughter, but even she knew that was a lie.
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Gwydion and Mordred watched their bride approach with hungry gazes. Having not seen her for more than six months, the impact stopped their breath as Dawn walked down the greenery-bordered aisle, attended by her best friends. The combined effect of her red hair and green eyes against the white of her dress and veil were enough to arrest more than a few hearts, but the two young men to whom she was about to swear her loyalty cared not a whit for the way she turned heads. To them, she was a means to an end, and they shared a significant look as their young bride came to stand between them. "You look radiant," Gwydion said courteously, eyeing her slim form. Dawn turned as red as her hair at his bold look, and it wasn't helped when Mordred put a properiatory arm around her waist. The elder presiding over the ceremony looked mortified, and not a few guests murmured outrage at this bold claim on a girl who hadn't even yet sworn her life and loyalty to the two men about to marry her and share in the gifts her dress hid. The brothers ignored the looks and mutterings, and though the elder looked as if she wanted to be elswhere, she took a deep breath, centred her awareness in the earth under her feet, and began the ceremony.
Dawn barely heard the words; nor did she pay attention to the shocked silence when, at the end of the vow exchange, Mordered kissed her forcefully, his hands boldy roaming her body. Gwydion then took his turn at kissing his new bride, his hands just as bold as his brother's, and quite a few angry mutters abounded through the crowd. They were not adverse to the open display of affection; forest elves were very open when it came to displayingn their feelings for their loved ones. It was more the bold and arrogant way in which the brothers publicly displayed their dominance over their new wife, without any regard for how she might feel about the matter.
But Dawn endured it, reminding herself that she'd chosen to undertake this mission of her own free will. She was deeply regretting her decision, but she reminded herself, as the elder concluded the ceremony with a ritual blessing, that one day, the council would be brought to its knees. She'd have no say over how her future children would be raised, but she promised herself she'd tell them the truth in her own way, regardless of what her new husbands thought. Forest elves were highly intiutive beings, and they had ways of imparting knowledge to their unborn children that no other elven race had the ability to do. A small smile touched Dawn's swollen lips as she accepted the congratulations of her family and friends - though the smile was erased when, under the watchful eye of her husbands, her male friends were forced to hug her only briefly, not even daring a kiss on the cheek as they might have done under less trying circumstances.
But Dawn endured it. Out of today would come the seeds by which the council would be brought down, and no matter what it took, or how long, the council would soon find itself choking on the gift she was giving them of her own free will. It would be her children, or their children, who would bring the council down.
And she could hardly wait for that day to come.
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