Ivithia rubbed her sleeping child’s back then looked up towards the ceiling and let the sounds of the servants’ hustle and bustle fade into the background. Above her, near the very top of the sloped ceilings of the temple, drifted wooden carvings of stars, ebbing in the air as if they were floating on a stream of water. Occasionally, the runes carved on one of the stars would briefly light up before eventually dimming again.

The shape of the wooden carvings would change depending on which temple a person was visiting, but every temple featured them. Each carving had specific runes etched into it that would react if the particular deity that the runes symbolized was visiting the deity that was worshiped there. Whether the visiting deities were in their spiritual form, their mortal form, or even if they were taking an entirely different form to visit, the runes would react to their presence in the temple. It was believed that, when in their spiritual form, the deities would use their carvings as resting spots while they chatted with the other deities present.

They would also use the carvings to present their blessings on their Favored Mortals if said mortal was a patron of another’s temple. Usually, the deities waited until a child turned at least six before claiming them as one of their chosen—but that wasn’t always the case. Once a child was claimed by at least one deity, their new guardian deity would bestow their blessings in the form of the magic that the child would specialize in.

Ivithia knew she probably wouldn’t be able to actually recognize it from so far away, but she searched for her own guardian deity’s star in an attempt to calm herself down.

The semi-anxious mother had been blessed by the goddess Gunnr—the lesser goddess of small battles—who was the daughter of Guntram, the god of war. While the blessings Ivithia gained helped her to command and direct the servants, they also had the drawback of elevating her emotions when she wasn’t paying attention to them or focusing on keeping herself calm. It was also prone to happening during the very rare moments where she just didn’t have the energy to care who was watching.

Knowing she was in the presence of her guardian goddess usually helped Ivithia to refresh herself and to help quell her emotions. She needed to calm herself down before the anxiety about everything potentially going wrong consumed her, so she continued to seek out Gunnr’s floating star. Ivithia let out a small prayer in hopes that Gunnr would answer and watch over her and her child during the engagement ceremony, especially during the ritual portion.

Finally, Ivithia’s eyes settled on a small carved star. The light coming from its runes was a ruby red color. Almost instantly, Ivithia felt calm; her guardian deity had come to attend her child’s engagement. Gunnr was a lesser goddess, so she wouldn’t be able to sway how the sibling deities in charge of the engagement would react, but having her there as an observer was enough for Ivithia.

Almost as if on cue, Alf came into the temple carrying a small chest that contained the gifts the Frotleikr family had prepared for their future son-in-law.

Ivithia followed her husband as he carried the chest to the front of the room, wanting to make sure nothing had been left out. After very carefully handing her sleeping toddler over to their father, so as to not wake them, Ivithia turned to the chest that Alf had placed on the floor in front of her.

Alf had placed the chest right next to the stack of packages that the envoy had brought for Freyja—but Ivithia was too nervous about double-checking their own stash of betrothal gifts to be curious about what types of gifts the other family was contributing. She had barely opened the lid before her husband checked in with her.

“I didn’t forget anything. . . Right?” Alf hesitantly asked, looking for the approval of his wife—even though he technically had the highest amount of authority in the room.

“At least give me a chance to look through it, Pet.” Ivithia smiled slightly to herself at her husband’s royal blue puppy eyes, which she could see staring at her through the corner of her own eyes.

After Ivithia finished opening the lid, she leaned over the simple looking chest to peer into it. Right on top was a small bow meant for children and a matching quiver full of arrows. The bow and arrows had been crafted by an acclaimed married couple; the husband was a bowyer blessed by a lesser god of tillering, and the wife was a fletcher who had been directly blessed by Gunnr’s mother, the main goddess of archery.

The couple were known kingdom-wide for their mastery of carving runes into their works to properly pass on the archery goddess’s temporary blessings to the wielders. Along with the runes, Ivithia had also requested the sigil of the Silvius family to be placed somewhere along the bow’s grip. The quiver was then fashioned with various additional symbols of the Silvius family to match the child’s bow.

Next to the archery set was an ever-glowing lantern styled with a dragon motif to reveal the pale blue light that it gave off. Then, tucked along the front of the chest, were the scabbards for a set of twin swords that they would gift Aleksei during the wedding ceremony. The scabbards were black with crimson flames traveling along their length. Rumor had it that Aleksei had already received a blessing from the god of flames, even though he hadn't yet reached his third birthday.

The last item in the chest was a large blanket cushioning the bottom of the chest. It would be used as bedding for their marriage bed when the time came, and was embroidered with the Frotleikr’s symbol of a world serpent wound around a sycamore tree that represented the Silvius family’s druidic ancestors.

Ivithia nodded. All the gifts were indeed in the chest. She felt her nerves start to kick back in; since the servants had also finished gathering the other required items, it meant that they would be starting the ceremony soon. There would soon be no turning back, as she engaged one of her only two children to a son-in-law who didn’t even live in the same kingdom as them. They needed this alliance, though. She glanced back towards her guardian deity’s floating star, took a deep breath, then nodded towards the high priestess before turning around.

“We should be ready now to begin the engagement ceremony.”

***

Teenage Freyr slipped on the white dress that would be the base of his traveling outfit. The gown had been made from the same fabric that his toddler engagement dress was crafted from. It was tradition to either use the same exact dress, or to use the same fabric of the original dress to craft a new wedding dress when getting married.

Since Freyr’s parents wouldn’t be able to join him for his actual wedding, his mother had at least wanted to see him wear it as he left. He really didn’t want to disappoint her. Freyr already felt bad for her because he had been secretly told about how anxious his mother had been on the day of his accidental engagement.

Despite how strong Freyr’s mother appeared to others, he knew from inside sources that she was often anxious and worried about how the public perceived their family. His father’s laid back attitude regarding public opinion didn’t help her concerns, either.

Freyr carefully arranged the white, off-the-shoulder dress so that the hem with the embroidered blue runes wouldn’t risk dragging along the ground during his travels. He then reached for the high-collared light blue vest that was draped over the changing partition in his bedroom. The vest was lined with dark blue on the edges and was adorned with a subtle dragon motif pattern.

The style of vest had at some point become almost like a source of security for him whenever he had to end up crossdressing. Even though it had a keyhole front to appear more feminine, it secretly made him feel more masculine, instead, since he didn’t have anything to show off. Once he was finished fastening the jacket, Freyr came out from behind the partition and went over to a table that held a wooden container on top of it.

Freyr felt a pang shoot through his heart as he opened the medium-sized accessory box that had been carved with his family crest. It hadn’t been opened a single time in all the years that they had possessed it. They had received it well after the engagement ritual was already complete and the irreversible blunder had been made. Looking inside the box revealed that the accessories within were very evidently intended for a different bride—his sister Freyja. Although she had never worn a single piece, Freyr felt odd selecting what to wear with the outfit he was leaving in.

He finally decided on the simplest looking item—a very carefully folded wedding veil, tucked to the side of the box. It was evident that it was for the wedding, not the engagement, so it didn’t feel as improper to wear. He was indeed the “bride” who would be married to the heir of the Silvius family, after all. It would be better than wearing an accessory that was commissioned for an engagement that was actually meant for his sister.

Freyr carefully slipped the loops on either side of the veil around his curved horns. Once he was done, he looked at himself in the mirror again. This time his long hair had been styled into twin braids with small beads running through them. He had been practicing crossdressing, so he had started getting used to how he looked in a dress, yet wearing his actual wedding gown sent shivers up his back that he couldn’t exactly define the source of.

Then he heard the voice that he had grown the most frustrated with growing up. . .

The strings of fate do not make mistakes. Just look how well the gradient of the blue to white of that veil compliments you.

The voice seemed to be in a joyous mood, for once, as she complimented Freyr.

“You say that, but I still think it was just on a whim that I was the one who was accidentally brought.” Freyr muttered to the empty room.