All of his siblings looked at her sympathetically. "Yes..." they all said softly, clearly a sad apology. They knew why, their parents though loving had created a sort of monster when they determined that their first born was to be the kind of God that they thought was appropriate. It wasn't as though he did it to be rude, because he did it unless he was working. Which was most of the time, they only got to see him a couple times a day, but honestly he always made time for them. They weren't sure about how he'd react to having his choice taken away, but they knew he was not upset at Aelida.

Ophelia spoke, "He is acting quite normal... it may be best that when he comes to his chamber tonight to talk to him, he'll listen to everything you say. Forgive him, he was raised to be the Guiding One for us, our parents forced him to be what they wanted when he was very young... and to this day he has yet to disobey them. Give him time to adjust Lida, do you mind if we call you that?"

The children had finished their meals and were chasing each other around and out of the room now, and each set of parents bid Aelida good night, each woman gave her a kiss on the cheek and the men gave her hugs.

Meanwhile...

Detiric was unwinding with spiked blood and Beethovon's Symphony #9, lazily going through paperwork and revisions of documents. Such a tedious and demanding task wass his least favorite and most time consuming. He intended to clear away some of this crush of work to give him some freetim, he knew he would have to get to know his bride. Tomorrow and after were perfect, just not tonight. He couldn't explain but Aelida was very much a problem, not that he disliked her but he was not sure how to go about becoming her husband; how did one become the man a woman could trust and turn to, the one to ease her fears and share her burdens, the one to keep her happy and safe. He had no idea on how to go about it, but the one fact that made his normally ice-cold temper begn to boil was that their happiness was being sacrificed for the greater good, and that they might not ever fall in love, but simply be companions. He detested that, and more than he wished to spare himself... Aelida was young and had many things to learn, he was old enough to be her father and that bothered him, how could he knowingly take away her youth? He turnd his gaze to the fire place for a few minutes before standing with resolution.

The castle bell struck midnight, his favorite time of night, and he knew he should get his chamber and let the ice blue and black colors sooth his nerves as he talked with her. Damn his caring soul, it would probably get him into many troubles. When he opened the doors he didn't see her, but no matter, he changed into his cotton sleeping pants and crawled under the covers of the massive four poster bed. Hopefully Aelida wouldn't mind talking before they slept.

(Pulled that outta my arse! Hope it sparks interest! XD)