Trouble before the wedding.

 In the eyes of the three women in the bedroom, Sigrid saw wonder and shock which made her smile, this was the goal she was hoping to achieve, a bride memorable enough and stunning enough to match Emmah in the looks department.

Emmah was described as a tender beauty by the author, she was soft and gentle, delicate and warm, evoking a heroic desire in all the men that came across her, the male leads especially.

She had a soothing nature and gentle aura which made anyone comfortable around her.

Sigrid on the other hand was described as a striking but unsettling beauty, her looks commanded attention but they were intimidating. Her cheekbones were sharp, her eyes piercing, her hair untamed, all of her was summed in one word, 'bold.'

While there was an allure to her, the gentle Emmah was preferred to the fierce untamed Sigrid. It did not help that she had grown up learning how to fight so her body was not as delicate as Emmah's.

"You..you..." Iryne stammered.

She could not take her eyes off her daughter for she looked appealing in an unusual way. Her beauty was less challenging and more inviting as if some changes had been made to some of her features.

Duchess Mila could not respond, she was in tears, drying her eyes with a silk handkerchief embroidered with daisies.

"You look radiant my lady, the crown prince will trip over his feet when he sees you." Lanai said.

Iryne nodded. "he will be a fool not to appreciate you, if I had known that I gave birth to Eldoria's number one beauty I would have showed you off more and rubbed it in Portia Winchester's face. She is not shy to proclaim that her daughter Aurora is Eldoria's number one beauty but I think Aurora pales in comparison to you."

"It is the truth, you my Siggy have..." Duchess Mila broke off and sobbed lightly.

Sigrid hugged her grandmother, it was nice having a family that loved her for the first time in her life. If she died in this life, at least someone would mourn her.

The door was opened without a knock, Lama and Mirena peeked inside, when they saw Sigrid, they both gasped. Mirena took in her sight for ten seconds, turned on her heels and run out of the room choking back sobs.

"Hmph!" Duchess Mila's mouth curved downwards.

She could not believe that there were things her eyes had not noticed, like the looks Mirena sometimes shot Sigrid. Many times they were filled with sadness, surely she had been thinking of her daughter in such times.

"This estate is not a prison, if she asked me for her freedom, I would have gladly returned it to her so that she could live with her daughter. Instead, she stayed on and now I am the insidious one for keeping her here." The duchess said softly but in an angry voice.

She was so glad that Sigrid had opened her eyes to the truth.

"Mother, we should not ruin a fine day for Siggy, the bridal carriage is waiting." Mila said.

The women gathered around Sigrid and slowly, she was walked downstairs, taking four flights of steps before reaching the ground floor where the men of the family were waiting.

Her grandfather, father and brothers were wearing their different uniforms representing the different branches of the military that they had served.

They were also wielding their swords as if they were ready for a fight.

"Are we going to a wedding or a battle?" Sigrid asked them, joking lightly.

Before she could get an answer, Paxton Thorin started sniveling, which was unexpected. His wife handed him a handkerchief immediately like she had been ready for this.

"Father, are those tears in your eyes?" she asked.

"I can't help it, my only daughter will be handed over to a bastard like Roland Maximus who doesn't know how to appreciate good things. Hmph!" Paxton complained.

He could not bear to give out his precious daughter, it was if he was tearing his heart out of his chest.

Sigrid looked at each of her brothers, her arms shrugged and she tilted her head.

"What do you think?"

"Sister, you look beautiful." Nathaniel answered.

"You are the most beautiful bride Eldoria has ever witnessed, you will make a fine queen." John added.

Elowin stepped forward and hugged her. "You are unmatched Sigrid, the finest woman in all of Eldoria. Father is right, Roland is not deserving of you."

The last one to compliment her was her grandfather, the duke. He waited for all of them to exhaust their unsatisfactory praises which he felt did not do justice to his granddaughter.

"Not even the biggest jewel on the king's crown can outshine you my dear Siggy. John is wrong, you will not make a fine queen, you will be exceptional and remarkable. And your father is right, Roland should praise the gods the be for giving him a wife like you." He pinched her cheek lightly. "Home will not be the same without you, remember to come and visit often."

"I will be back tomorrow." Sigrid answered without thinking.

Her brothers burst into laughter but her mother and grandmother frowned. What married woman returned to the home of her family the day after her wedding? It was unheard of.

Paxton Thorin was not of the same mind, he gladly took Sigrid's words. "Good, good, your bedroom will remain untouched. We should tell the servants to return your belongings..."

In the crowd of servants that were mostly glad to see the tyrant named Sigrid leaving, the royal herald and a few of the knights sent to escort the bride were in absolute disarray.

How bold were the Thorin's to say Sigrid would make a fine, exceptional queen when the actual queen was still alive? Also, weren't they going a little overboard by saying the crown prince was unworthy of Sigrid?

Sigrid's reputation was darker the shoes on their feet, the crown prince was the opposite, his reputation was stellar.

"We should start the journey, we are losing time." The royal herald loudly reminded the Thorin's.

The wedding was going to be held in a church on the grounds of the royal castle, the king, queen and secondary consort were waiting. It was never a good thing to keep royalty waiting, especially not a king.

The journey to the castle was not long and it was rather uneventful until Cosmos knocked on the window of Sigrid's carriage.

"I am afraid that you have run into trouble outside the plot, your groom is not very sober right now, two days of binge drinking have consequences. So, what do you plan to do?

Will you change the groom or cancel the wedding? Oh, the nobles have a stand in tradition, one of the brothers or his father can stand in for him however, people will talk.

Will you go with the flow, are you still RV?"