Today was David's wedding, and Marc was happy for him. David had the privilege of marrying the daughter of Lord Syris, Harley Syris. This was not just a happy day for David, but it also made the Aries family considerably richer. The Aries house was the noble family lording over Sorun. The only source of wealth in Sorun was animal exports, like furs and meat. This brought in a good enough amount of money for the Aries family, but Lord William Aries, Marc's father, was still one of the poorest in the country. The Syris house were rich horse lords, and with a marriage alliance the Aries house was going to be much richer. Though this was a happy day for his family, and for his brother more specifically. Despite the happiness of this day, Marc felt alone.

 This was the fourth ceremony that he had to sit through, both of his older brothers and his sister were already married. Now was David's turn, and Marc was too bored to pay any attention. Marc had seen this ceremony before. The priest would talk for a few minutes about the blessings of Toraan, then would have the bride and groom hold hands. The priest would tie a silk string around both of their wrists and speak about love and happiness, having them repeat wedding vows afterwards. Then they would kiss and be married. It was always a large ceremony. Marc caught some of his aunts crying. His mother and father were leaning on each other, and if he wasn't mistaken, Mother was crying too.

Once the ceremony was over they had a big party with lots of wine and food. There was music and dancing. It was almost like a feast, but happier and with more drunk relatives. Marc saw David and Harley coming his way, arm-in-arm, and braced for conversation. David wasn't Marc's least favorite brother, that honor belonged to Jaymes, but David and Marc still barely knew each other. Realizing this, Marc felt another wave of sadness wash over him. This was the brother closest to his age, but the one he knew the least.

"Hello, dear Brother!" David said once he was close enough for Marc to hear him.

"Hello, David" replied Marc, trying to make it obvious that he wasn't in the mood to talk at the moment.

"Why so sad, Brother? Loosen up, have some wine! This is a happy day for all of us" David said with a little too much enthusiasm. Perhaps he had already had a bit too much wine? Or maybe it was just his natural hyperactive energy that he was so well known for.

"I'm just too happy to smile, dear Brother, and I don't like wine" said Marc sarcastically, putting on the most obviously fake smile he could. "I'm going to be in the training yard if anyone needs me, David, I need to work on my sword-arm" With that Marc walked away in the direction of the training yard.

 The wedding made Marc feel alone. At sixteen he had never been with anyone, romantically or in...other ways. The fact that he was a virgin at sixteen was embarrassing enough, but he never found anyone. Not even the maids were interested in him. It wasn't that he was unattractive. He inherited his father's regal form and angular face, and his mother's deep brown hair and amber eyes. His bad luck with women stemmed from his personality. As the sixth child or one of the poorest noble houses in the Torian Empire, he often felt inadequate. This feeling of inadequacy often led him to feel unhappy, and he was awful at hiding his emotions.

Once Marc reached the training grounds he picked up a practise sword and began swinging at the straw dummies the soldiers trained with. He didn't really need to do this, he could already beat most people his age in a sparring match, but he had little else to do. Even being one of the best sixteen year old swordsman in the country, he could always improve upon his technique.

He swung vigorously at the dummy, leaving it in shambles. After a few hours, and several ruined dummies, Jordan, Marc's eldest and closest brother, found him. Jordan said nothing for a long time, watching Marc destroy another training dummy. Marc could feel Jordan's eyes on his back, making him self-conscious.

"It won't always be this way, Minnow" Jordan said. Marc could feel his face reddening at his nickname. Jordan had called him Minnow for as long as he could remember.

"What do you mean?" Marc replied, pretending not to know what his brother was going to say.

"You won't always be alone. Father will find you a nice girl in a couple years. You just have to be patient," This is almost exactly what Marc expected him to say.

"I don't want that, Jordan, I don't want to be forced to marry some random woman I've never met like you did. I want to find someone, ya know? Like, I want something real, not just doing my duty," Marc felt relief in talking to his brother. This was the only time that he could be open about his real feelings. Jordan just nodded in response and stood back as Marc kept killing the straw dummies with extreme prejudice. His presence was no longer imposing. It became calming. Marc knew he was safe with him around, Jordan always protected him when he needed it.

"You should go to bed Marc" said Jordan. Marc almost forgot he was there, but obeyed. He was exhausted and covered with cold sweat. He walked through the servants door into the palace, making his way to his bedchamber. Again was his feeling of inadequacy. Unlike the noble households he had visited, there were no fine artworks or golden chandeliers. The walls were a simple velvet, the color of his family's sigil, and occasionally housed the portraits of his ancestors. 

When Marc finally reached his bedroom, he quickly undressed and hopped into bed. He lay in bed, trying to ignore the sounds of consummation coming from David's room down the hall. Eventually they stopped, and allowed Marc to drift off to sleep.