The last few weeks had been the busiest since Washington left man camp. After giving Marcus Mettius Rufus ten talents of gold as a betrothal present, Washington had to prepare for his wedding. A part of this involved giving his father-in-law tremendously advantageous deals in Paulsland trade that was worth more than the ten talents of gold he gave for his daughter. With the betrothal, they were now family, and so linking the two families' assets together was just part of the preparation for marriage.

All of Washington’s Paulsland servants warned him to leave this Roman girl alone, that the Romans were not like the people of Paulsland. That they viewed marriage very differently. The fact that Washington did not think his servants were out of order for giving their advice proved their point, as a Roman would have had his servants beaten for giving such unsolicited advice. But Washington answered their worries with the same answer each time, “Paulsland is at war. Even if this marriage is not good for me, it is good for my nation.”

As Washington and Marcus were bringing their business close together in preparation for the wedding, Marcia and her mother were also preparing. A part of this preparation of a bride-to-be was to publicly talk about her fears of marriage, and many of her fears had to do with Washington.

Washington’s servants were not fans of this marriage or Washington marrying any Roman, so they could barely hold in their excitement as they looked for him to tell him what she said. One of the servants found Washington as he was leaving his father-in-law's office after Washington spent all day with him hammering out some details that financially put Rome on their side.

The servant knew better than to look happy as he gave his news, so he put on a sad, annoyed face and said, “Washington, your betrothed was at the coffee house saying some terrible things about you.”

Washington was offended and almost sarcastically asked, “What terrible thing did she say?” He knew his people were not for this marriage.

“First of all, she came in and talked about how she was fearful, and yes, she used the word fearful of this marriage because you are so young. Then she began comparing you to other Romans. How that most girls her age marry a Roman in their twenties, and yet she will be marrying someone who is a few months younger than her like barbarians do.”

“Well, that’s a little rough, but she has a right to her own fears.”

“That’s not all she said. She mentioned that she is glad you’re rich, but you don’t exactly help her house politically. In fact, her house helps you politically, and she feared that if something happens to your money that her house would be taken down with you.”

“Considering Paulsland is at war, that’s a legitimate fear.”

The servant winced as he saved the best for last, “Finally, she said that, unlike other Roman men, you are not sexually experienced. She is afraid of what it will be like to be with you.”

That last one hurt. His father let him know in no uncertain terms that if he fathered a child, he better take care of it. It was not just something his father told him, but it was a theme in the schools, as many of the children grew up without fathers because their fathers often died young, and so it was a principle of Paulsland that men take care of their women and children, which was at odds with Roman culture. Romans often sent their sons to the brothels to get an education in sexual matters in their early teen years, and when they hit their twenties, they were expected to get married and produce children to carry the name of the house. A Roman man was expected to be very sexually experienced when he married his young wife, who was expected to be a virgin. Any children that resulted from the young men’s indiscretion would likely be exposed, and left to die, which was an abomination to anyone from Paulsland.

Exposure was such an abomination to Washington and the Paulsland merchants that they automatically rescued any infants they found. Which made them natural allies with the Christians. If the Christians had any political influence at all, Washington would have likely tried marrying one of them, although he had no way to know they would have outrightly rejected the offer, outside of Washington becoming a practicing Christian himself. The fact that Marcia had not mentioned Washington’s close ties to the Christians meant either Marcia did not know about Washington’s close ties with them or was politically savvy enough not to bring it up.

After a long moment of contemplation, Washington said, “I need to talk to Marcia’s father.”

As Washington turned, the servant smiled. He hoped he talked some sense into Washington. That girl was no good for him.

A few minutes later, Washington was back in the office with his father-in-law. The betrothment had already been made, so despite the wedding not happening yet, Marcus was his father-in-law according to the laws that governed the Romans.

When Washington came in, Marcus happily asked, “What brings you back so soon?”

“Does Marcia want to go through with this wedding?”

Marcus looked confused and then said, “Of course. This wedding is very important to our house. Why would you think otherwise?”

“I just received word that she went to the coffee house and told everyone her fears about our marriage.”

Marcus burst out laughing.

Washington was confused and said, “I don’t see what's so funny. If she is against this marriage, then I won't force her.”

Marcus stopped laughing and grew serious with those words and said, “Washington, you do not understand our customs. As smart as you are, you should have investigated Roman marriage customs. A Roman girl must show both her fear and joy of the upcoming marriage. Obviously, whoever came to you left out the joyful details. When a woman is about to get married, she publicly shows her fear and joy, and it shows that she is preparing to submit to you.”

“She said some rather disrespectful things.”

Marcus frowned and said, “That does not sound like my daughter. What did she say?”

“She said I was younger than other men.”

“And? Would you rather be old and frail?”

Washington frowned, and when Marcus put it that way, it didn’t sound so bad, “She also said that I do not help your house politically.”

“Unless you’re the son of a Roman senator, you don’t.”

“She also mentioned my sexual inexperience.”

“Come with me. I will take you to a brothel, and we can fix that tonight.”

Washington blushed and said, “No. I have responsibilities. I can not go to a brothel.”

“Then what’s the problem? The reality is that you are not the normal Roman, and these are areas that she will have to submit to you whether she likes it or not once you are wed. She didn’t say anything anyone didn’t know about you, and it seems you hold some of her fears as virtues. So, what's the problem?”

“I guess, when you put it like that, I am being a jerk.”

“Don’t worry about it. I can understand a man being worried about a wife disrespecting him, but that’s not what's happening here. Soon enough, you will be married to my daughter, and both of our houses will be better for it.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Thanks.”

“Oh, make sure you’re not late to the temple tomorrow.”

“Of course.”

The next day Washington arrived at the temple with some of his servants as part of the marriage ceremonies. Washington had a vague idea of what his fiancée was here for but honestly knew little about the gods of this temple. He didn’t care. He did have a couple of Christian friends who cared greatly and so would not be here to watch this ceremony because they didn’t believe in the Roman gods but would be at his wedding the next day.

Washington and his entourage watched as Marcia went from one alter to the next and burned her dolls as sacrifice. Marcia was fifteen, and despite her being a few months older than Washington, he had seen her play with the dolls she was now sacrificing to her gods. She was sacrificing the toys of her childhood, so the gods would bless her in the duties of adulthood. Even though Washington didn’t understand her beliefs or faith, he appreciated her determination and sacrifice.

Once she had offered her sacrifice, showing she was leaving childhood behind and doing so in a way that gave her the blessing of the gods, it was Washington’s turn to get the protection of the gods. He did so by leaving a gold coin to every deity in the temple, including the statue that represented Emperor Domitian. As Washington left the coins behind, he realized he was glad his Christian friends were not there. They would have been upset that he gave coins to gods with mouths that did not speak, ears that did not hear, and eyes that did not see. He heard about it enough in the coffee house.

With the sacrifices and ceremony done, Marcia was dragged away by her mother and womenfolk to prepare for the wedding tomorrow. Washington returned home to make sure everything was up to Roman standards for his Roman bride.

The next day his business was shut down as every Paulsland citizen went to the wedding, in an entourage, following Washington. As the groom's party came to the home of the governor, every businessman, politician, priest, and person of any clout whatsoever was already at the wedding. To miss the wedding would have been a slap in the face to the governor. That was not healthy for their body or their business.

As he looked around, he noticed all the women were wearing the same dress, and he asked one of his Roman friends, “Why are the women all dressed the same?”

This particular friend was a Christian who rolled his eyes and started explaining, “Because Romans are superstitious. Your bride has household gods, and she does not want to be cursed by her house's gods when she leaves her house and goes to yours. So all the women wear the same clothes to confuse the household gods because apparently, the Roman gods have scales on their eyes and can not tell her apart from all the people who are not part of her house. Great protectors that.”

“Be respectful. Her father is the governor, after all.”

“Sorry, you’re right.”

As they stood there, a servant came to Washington and said, “Good, you’re here. Let me take you to your place for the wedding feast.”

Washington followed the servant through the governor's estate. It was filled with statues, artwork, servants, and guests. In a short time, they made their way into the banquet hall, and the hall was filled with guests, servants, musicians, and singers. The tables were covered in food, cakes, wine, and for Washington and his people, tea.

Washington spotted Marcia sitting at the table next to her father and mother, and when Markus spotted Washington, he yelled out, “THE GROOM HAS ARRIVED! YOU MAY NOW BEGIN FEASTING!”

Instead of eating, everyone immediately came to Washington to congratulate him and give him gifts. Even though the feast was for Washington’s wedding, it took him fifteen more minutes before he could sit down. Washington and his bride had so many well-wishers they hardly took three bites during the entire wedding feast. But this wedding wasn’t really about Washington or Marcia; this wedding was about their houses. Washington could help the Rufus house become much richer, and the Rufus house could help Paulsland politically. Most of the people who were there were trying to benefit from the unification of these two forces, and so their wedding had nearly no thought of the couple.

The reality was the couple was giving little thought to their marriage, at this time. Marcia was deftly using her husband’s connection and wealth to help her father politically as there would be few times outside of her wedding where she could meet so many influential people in such a short amount of time, and Washington was using his wife’s house to help Paulsland diplomatically, and materially. It may be an odd thing but weddings of the rich and noble are some of the best places to practice unofficial diplomacy.

Eventually, Marcia’s mother noticed everyone of worth had finished their business with the couple and so she went over to her daughter and wrapped her arms around the girl.

Marcia, taking the hint, started crying out loudly, “Don’t take me from my home.”

When she yelled that phrase, the entire room went silent, and smiles spread over the faces of the guests. It meant it was time for Washington to steal his bride away, directly from the arms of her mother. It was a call back to the time the Romans stole their brides from the Sabines.

Washington grabbed Marcia’s hand, and she went with him all the while yelling out, “Don’t take me from my home. Don’t take me from my parents.”

While she shouted her protest, the wedding guest began singing. When they left the Governor’s house, her parents house, the guest started tossing grain at the couple. When they were out of grain they walked with the couple to Washington’s home. All the while Marcia playfully protested the entire way, like a good bride should. Besides, it supposedly fooled the gods.

When they reached the house, Washington lifted his wife and carried her into his house. Now that she was in his house, they were officially husband and wife, although the ceremony was not finished yet. Washington then took a loaf of bread and broke it over his wife’s head; then he laid the pieces down and put some alcohol that was mixed with other things and put it on her hands like soap. Then he took a brazier and lit the alcohol on fire. As the fire burned on her hand, the mixture designed to be to cool to burn her skin, she then reached into a bowl of water and put the fire out. Now that she had touched the fire and water of his home, the public ceremony was finished, and they closed the door. After weeks of betrothment, they would finally get some alone time.