Beautiful Music Together

At their wedding banquet, Carn and Amala come up with a different way to spend their wedding night.

72.

Beautiful Music Together

 

It would be long remembered by those who attended the reception as a cozy, but elegant affair after a wearisome period of time.

At the center table, Carn and Amala sat at the heart of attention, which made both of them feel awkward, but they still enjoyed the banquet, surrounded by family and friends.

Amala was subtly fidgety, often giving Carn a very telling look while her hands secretly roamed all over his body.    She was trying nobly to not yield to the Ssinssrigg-Chath, but he sensed that she was starting to fail as the evening progressed.    She began to playfully nibble on his ear as they sat among her family.    Everyone knew what she was struggling against, but did not mention it so as not to ruin the evening.

“I can’t wait much longer, Carn.”  She whispered into his ear as she squirmed next to him, “I don’t want to embarrass myself or my family, but it is getting much worse.”

He leaned back and spoke into her ear, “My love, do you trust me?”

“Trust you?   Of course I trust you!  Why?”

“I’m going to chant a spell that will enable you to deal with the Ssinssrigg-Chath, but you will feel somewhat drugged.   I was going to use this to help you yesterday, but I selected another one.   This spell has the ridiculously simple title of ‘The Calming Spell’.”  

“It is cast upon someone who is about to experience extreme stress or terrible news, such as news of the death of a loved one.    It will enable you to function at a relaxed level, but this spell can only be cast on someone once a year - I don’t know exactly why that is, but it will enable you to enjoy our wedding reception.”

“Cast it, then!”  She immediately responded, “Or else I’m going to do something that will long be remembered by everyone!   Hurry, please!”

He began softly singing in Faesidhe a soothing tune.   Those nearby looked up, thinking that the Bard was singing to his bride and they smiled at the romance of the moment.    The song went on for about a minute, and slowly the fire went out of Amala’s eyes and her shoulders relaxed.    A serene expression came across her face and she sighed deeply, hugging her husband’s arm in relief from the spell.

“How wonderful.”  She said sleepily, “How long will this last?”

“Until this time tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?   Well what about our wedding night?”   She asked more amused than upset.

“You’ll probably be asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.”

“Well, that sure stinks… oh well, we’ll just postpone it until tomorrow night, after the funeral.”

“It might not be a bad idea.   I was hoping to complete a ballad in honor of Aeric and Alis for the funeral, but I wasn’t expecting a wedding.”   He kissed the cheek of his wife and she smiled happily.

“Have you sung ballads at a lot of funerals?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it ‘a lot’, but I have done several.    In fact, in the old days, there was a protocol for the funerals of notable people.”

Snoe and Aedric were seated across the table from them and had heard most of the conversation.

“What was the protocol, Carn?”  Snoe asked, “I think Aeric and Alis deserve special treatment.”

“Well, it was somewhat like the wakes that the humans have for their dead.    But it was more of a community ceremony.”

“Community ceremony?   How?”  Aedric asked his new brother-in-law.

“For one, everyone who was close to the deceased would spend the day before the funeral in quiet reflection of them.    They would dress somberly and would refrain from all sorts of merriment.  Everyone would gather the evening before the funeral and would fast and not drink any alcoholic drinks.    All the focus would be on the memory of their loved one.    There would be no songs, but those gathered would sit and recollect the life of the deceased.”

 

“So no wedding night… activities?”   Amala verified.

“Oh certainly not!   There would not be a wedding the day before a funeral - in those days.   Everyone would abstain from marital relations the night before and no business was conducted.”

 

“Well, I guess that clinches it then.”   The new bride said with a laugh.   The spell was making her extremely relaxed and revealing her usually hidden sense of humor.

“That changes my plans too.”  Snoe added, leaning in close so only her husband and the newlyweds could hear, “I was planning on making tonight meaningful to Aedric and me as well.”

She looked sheepishly at her husband, and Aedric’s eyes popped open, “Really?”

She shrugged and blushed, “We’ve waited too long, so I thought I’d surprise you.”

“But now you have other plans.”   Aedric said with mild frustration.

“Well, knowing how the dead used to be honored, I think I’d feel guilty if we went forth with my plan.    I’ve known Aeric and Alis my whole life, Aedric, and as they were your adopted parents, it would be very shameful to not just wait another day, to honor their memory in the old way.”

Aedric agreed and took his wife’s hand, “I never dreamed that married life would be so maddeningly celibate.”

The four laughed and Amala grinned, “I never dreamed that it would even be an option for me tonight!”

 

“So what else happened?”   Snoe asked Carn, turning the focus back to the funeral customs of long ago.

“They would stay up with the dead, but not all night.    At exactly the beginning of the third watch of the night, they would rise, put a single flower each in the casket of the dead person, and go home to go to bed.   Tradition was that the deceased would visit them in their dreams and speak one last time to each of them.    Then the next day the funeral would complete the time of mourning.”

“So that included Ballads about the dead?”

“Yes, when there was a Bard present to construct one.   I have the tune already in mind for Alis and Aeric’s ballad, but I want to honor them with carefully crafted lyrics, so I probably won’t have time to finish it.”

“Carn, since it looks like none of us newlyweds are going to engage in the typical newlywed activity tonight, why don’t the four of us work on the lyrics with you?   Perhaps you could finish it by morning?”   Amala suggested, “Aedric, Snoe and I knew them very well, so we can certainly help and it will get our minds off what we are giving up for this evening.”

Carn was pleased with the idea and so to the amazement of their family and friends, the two couples spent Carn and Amala’s wedding night crafting a ballad for Aeric and Alis.  

 

As a result, the next day, Carn had the ballad ready and had asked his three co-creators to sing it with him during the funeral ceremony.   They practiced several times just before dawn, in the dungeon level of the Ducal Keep so as to not wake everyone else. Then confident of the sound of the song and their singing, they went to bed exhausted, to catch a few hours sleep until the somber day began.