A Sinless Betrayal by Cherie Benjamin (books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

smile at him a little. He shrugs, placing the pelt back onto his back.

We stand in silence for a few moments. He looks at his feet as if he does not know what to say. "You will come to the wedding, right?" I ask him.

He still doesn't look at me. "Everyone comes to wedding," he whispers in his thick accent.

I roll my eyes slightly. "I'm not worried about everyone. I'm worried about you, and if you're going to come."

Black Bear whips around on the heel of his foot and comes face to face with me. "Why?"

"Because we're friends," I murmur. "I thought we already went over this."

"Oh, I forgot," he says sarcastically. "You only tol' me a hun'red time." I let out a huff of surprised laughter. He even cracks a smile at me. I turn back to go to the table. He reaches out and grabs me by the shoulders. When we lock eyes, he nods his head. "O' course I be 'dere."

I smile in thanks at him and return to Abigor's side. He's giving Black Bear the death glare but the younger boy is too chipper to even notice the angry king. "Are you done?" he asks me gruffly.

I furrow my eyebrows together and look at him funny. "Done what?"

"Stringing that boy along," he growls. "I see how he looks at you. You're mine."'

I move closer to him and stroke a finger down his heated cheek. He looks down at me from under his thick black lashes and can't help but smile at me. "I thought I've proved countless times to you that I'm yours," I say softly to him, my tiny finger tracing the outline of his jaw.

He kisses my nose, calmer now. "I'm a jealous fucker, I know," he sighs, kissing the tip of my finger. "Soon enough the whole world will know that you are mine."

"In two days," I whisper to him.

He nods. "Two days."
Bond

Wedding bells ring out into the distance as the gates of Castle Rock are opened to the public. I've never been so nervous in all my life. Abigor and I haven't seen each other all day because in Barbarian country it's a custom for the bride not to see the groom. Radiant Moon brings the dress she's been working on for me to see in the afternoon.

It is absolutely beautiful, but if my father saw me wearing it he'd most likely roll in his grave. The brassiere undergarment is entirely made of crystal and winds around my breast like a celestial vine, connecting in the middle with a few dangling diamonds. The bottom half is rather skimpy, a rhinestone belt connecting to a white pair of silky underwear, bedazzled with gems as well.

Radiant Moon has me lift my arms up as she places somewhat transparent white silk over my shoulders and winds it around my body loosely. It does a lot more than I expected to cover me up. Then she adds a long train to the silk that I have to pick up to be able to walk with. She places a beautiful crystal anklet upon my foot, the gems stretching from my ankle all the way down to my toes.

She uses a pink cream to put on my lips and have them look glossy and rose-like. As for my hair, Radiant Moon crafts it into a long braid that hangs halfway down my back. Then out of a case, she plucks two beautiful earrings and hangs them on my earlobes. Stepping back to look at her creation, Radiant Moon realizes she is very satisfied with herself.

I hear a knock on my door. Radiant Moon steps away from me momentarily to open the door. In comes her brother Black Bear, wearing a smile on his face. "People are everywhere," he says in his deep husky voice. The younger man smiles. "'Dey have come to see 'dere new queen."

Radiant Moon tugs on my silks a little as I step down from the pedestal she had me standing on. "Perfect," I hear her say. "You look like a clam's finest pearl."

I laugh, not knowing if being a pearl is a compliment or not. Black Bear will be the one to walk me down the aisle. Abigor said that I'd needed a male escort to walk me down the aisle to him. He'd offered to give me one of his most trusted men but I politely refused because I'd already known of the perfect man to do the honour.

Black Bear takes my hand and I go to look at myself in front of the mirror. "You look very beaut'ful," he whispers in his deep accent. "Are you ready to get marry?"

"Married," I correct him and he smiles slightly. I take his warm, calloused hands in mine. "Yes, I am." For Black Bear, it's very symbolic. He is giving away his only female friend to his king to have forever.

Black Bear leads me out of the room and into the hallway. Light pours in through open windows as we walk down the stone path, the sound of chatter getting louder gradually. I begin to shake a little. "Nervous?" he asks me, looking at my shaking arm.

"No," I whisper. "Excited. And maybe a little nervous."

He chuckles and leads me outside where the wedding is held. Not everyone could fit inside Castle Rock, and everyone from Stauckana travelled far and wide to see this wedding happen.

The sound of drums is starting up to signal my arrival. Ahead of me, there are two, great wooden doors with golden handles. Just beyond those doors is Abigor, waiting for me, waiting to be married to me. I clench Black Bear harder. He grunts in discomfort but makes no move to separate us.

We finally are standing in touching distance of those doors. And with one magnificent push, they swing open, revealing the swarms of commoners and nobles on the sides, anxiously peering around each other to see the king's wife to be and what I'm wearing.

The deep, majestic sounds of the drums echo through my ears as my feet touch the cold ground. Everyone cheers me on loudly. At the end of the long path I see Abigor, his bangs pulled back and his long hair flowing around his waist in the wind. He wears only a breechcloth but his men have painted him with many symbols and tattoos, reaching from his legs to his face. In his hair sits the golden crown.

Abigor has told me once that he'd never smiled purposefully in public, and that the people of his villages thought he was a loveless man because of it. But once he sees me dressed in white, and clad head to toe in sparkling crystals, the corners of his lips tug up and a slip of pearly white teeth is shown to the public eye.

As I walk down the aisle, people throw petals of flowers where my feet touch the grass. Abigor looks upon me as I near him, smiling in the wake of my presence. One of the Elders has been chosen to marry us, a close friend of Abigor's father, and Black Bear's own father.

Black Bear hands me off to Abigor, who holds my hands in his own. The drumming stops as the old man prepares to say something. "Mu tara a nan yau, ya shaida wa shiga na wani mutum da wata mace, ta hanyar aure shaidu. A yau za mu duba mu mai girma, Sarkin aure da kyau Tiger Claw kuma Ya tabbatar da ita wa sarauniya." (We gather here today to witness the joining of a man and a woman through marital bonds. Today we shall see our great king marry the beautiful Tiger Claw and make her his queen.)

The old man places his hands on our shoulders. "Ta hanyar lokacin farin ciki da kuma bakin ciki, nan biyu za su kasance tare. Ta hanyar ruwan sama da kuma dusar kankara, ta hanyar kankara da wuta, ta hanyar cuta da kiwon lafiya ... kome ba za su iya karya su rababbe. Babu abin da za su iya raba da dangantaka da soyayya. Shin, wani rai son su tsaya da kuma ki da wannan aure?" (Through thick and thin, these two will remain together. Through rain and snow, through ice and fire, through sickness and health...nothing will be able to break them apart. Nothing will be able to sever the ties of their love. Does any soul wish to stand and object this marriage?)

The Elder waits for any objections. The crowds of people are silent and stand still like wooden logs. I shoot a glance over to Black Bear, whose head is down and fingers clutch at the skin on his wrists. More Elders come under the tent in which we are standing under with berry paints.

Black Bear's father paints my face with red paint in the shape of two stripes along my cheekbone. Abigor dips his thumb in the paint made from blackberries and makes two identical stripes on the other side of my face. Another Elder takes my hand and dips it into a bowl of red paint. He tells me to put my hand on Abigor's chest.

I look up at the man I love. I take my hand and place it on his bronze, muscled peck. The imprint of my hand is left over his heart. The Elder acknowledges Abigor to say his own vows.

"I, Raye-Raye da Wolves, babban sarki na Stauckana mutane, mulki da nisa da wide daga Barbarian Sea ga gefuna da wannan m datti kasar, kai ka as my daya kadai. Kai ne ta bugu, kana da zuciyata in hannunka. Ina jingina my love zuwa gare ka har abada." He says to me. All of the women in the crowd "aww" and coo at his speech. (I, Dances With Wolves, great king of the Stauckana people, ruling far and wide from the Barbarian Sea to the edges of this endless dirt land, take you as my one and only. You are my claimed mate, you have my heart in your hand. I pledge my love to you forever.)

I wet my dry lips with my tongue and take his hand in mine, spreading berry paint on his fingers. He doesn't seem to mind. "Kuma ina, m noblewoman daga mulkin Bellechester, kai ka as my daya kadai. Za ka, kuma, ka rike zuciyata a hannunka. Ka nuna mini yadda za a yi karfi da kuma yaki na soyayya ... kuma na jingina wannan unyielding soyayya a cikin zuciyata zuwa gare ku. Ina da gaske girmama su zama matarka da kuma sarauniya." (And I, feeble noblewoman from the kingdom of Bellechester, take you as my one and only. You, too, hold my heart in your hand. You have shown me how to be strong and fight for a love...and I pledge this unyielding love in my heart to you. I am truly honoured to be your wife and queen.)

The drums start up again, beating low and sending vibrations through my body. It's like a heartbeat in tune with mine, how it's racing and anticipating the moment my lips will touch his. The Elders begin to chant, throwing some sort of powder over our heads to officially seal the deal. They sing and they throw their heads back,