Rory:

I stood in the church waiting for the guests to pile in, this wedding was a waste of money and time and the sooner it was over the better. I was standing in my position at the front of the church when I noticed William and Denny approaching me, grim looks on their faces.

"I think we need to talk about Cecilia," William said clearly. The first thought that crossed my mind was that he wanted to marry Cecilia himself, I felt an ounce of anger bubble up in my chest but pushed it down, I didn't care if he wanted Cecilia for himself or not, the girl had to marry me.

"Does she return these affections?" The words sprung from my lips before the thought could even pass properly through my brain.

"What? No, no you misunderstand me." I sent William a bored look although I was inwardly pleased for some reason, maybe it was the bottle of port I had drunk earlier to calm my nerves.

A few minutes later and I'd been verbally assaulted by my two closest friends about looking after Cecilia. Quite frankly, it was the girl's father who had got us into this mess in the first place, she could look after herself. I need not see or speak to the wretched girl and I certainly didn't need to look after her. I scoffed at the notion.

Where was the blasted girl? I had been stood here for nigh on ten minutes awaiting the arrival of my bride, didn't she understand I had other duties to attend to besides this damned wedding? The word made my insides twist, I was going to be married within the hour. Me, a married man, and at the age of twenty at that, why, it was practically unheard of! My youth had been stolen from me by that godawful girl and her scheming father.

Unfortunately, just before I could come up with any more colourful descriptions of the devil girl and her equally evil father, the large church doors swung open as the wedding march resonated around the stone columns of the old church and in they walked. My eyes landed first on the tall greying man walking smoothly down the aisle, a smug grin stuck to his pale face, his sunken eyes glinting with mischief. After taking in the appearance of the man who was presumably Cecilia's father, my eyes travelled to his left to his daughter walking next to him.

As soon as my eyes landed on her I felt as if they had been glued to her, I couldn't have lifted my eyes away from her had I wanted to. From the whispers running through the church it was evident that I was not alone in being captivated by her looks. She wore a pale ivory dress that hugged her around the bodice, accentuating her small waist and petite frame.

The bottom of the dress then fell in swathes of snowy satin to the ground as behind her a long train trailed across the flagstoned floor. In her hands she was clasping a small bunch of flowers, I noticed the flowers wavering in the wind, before suddenly realising that we were not outdoors; there was no wind and the cause of their wavering was her quivering hands. Just as I had noticed this detail however she straightened her shoulders and held her head a little higher, trying to erase her transparent nervousness.

I kept my eyes focussed on her face as her eyes wandered around the room, her lips lifting into an enchanting smile when she saw people she knew or those who offered her a smile. I watched as her eyes lingered on one area of the church, I tilted my head to follow her line of sight and see what had captured her attention.

I felt my fists curl at my sides as I saw the guilty, beseeching look on his face. I had to admit he wasn't as monstrous looking as I might have hoped him to be, and it was clear he wanted Cecilia, that much had been plain from his encounter with her not too long ago. My eyes returned to Cecilia, her eyes showed alarm and fear but she quickly hid these behind a mask of indifference paying no heed to his imploring looks and swiftly turning her head from him. I noticed my own lips lifting into a smug smile as she shunned him, she definitely didn't seem to want him.

Her eyes looked to my left, landing on Denny who I'd chosen to be my best man. He gave her a reassuring smile and she in turn gave him a dazzling smile of her own back. If only she'd smile at me like that, what? I blinked, had I really just wanted her to smile at me? God, what was wrong with me? I must be going insane, the girl was surely a witch. I did not seek her good opinion of me, nor did I hold her in high regard, she was a foolish girl, why in Satan's name would I want her to smile at me?

Just as I was berating myself for thinking of her as anything more than the plain mare she was, her eyes moved towards me as she took the final steps and was passed over to me. I took her small, gloved hands in mine softly as her eyes shot up to meet mine, a look of slight bewilderment coursing through her irises.

I felt as if her eyes were scorching my insides as her gaze deepened like she were diving into the depths of my eyes trying to see my soul. She blinked once then pulled her eyes away from mine as the priest stood up in front of the congregation to start the ceremony.

"Pull yourself together Cecilia," I barely heard her mutter to herself. I let a smirk play along my face as I heard the words leave her mouth, she was either extremely nervous, or she had enjoyed staring into my eyes a little too much. I preferred the sound of the latter, my smirk widened, this was something I could definitely use against the little minx.

The service started and soon we were both saying "I do," although for a split second I thought she might change her mind as she silently shook her head, ever so slightly, before nodding and saying the words that bound us together forever. Standing here with her now though, I didn't feel as repulsed by the idea of spending the rest of my life with her as I should have or would have but a few days ago. I cursed myself but still could not manage to pull my eyes away from her as she looked innocently up at the priest before us.

Just as my train of thought was brought back to the end of the ceremony, which had all gone by in rather a daze, I heard the priest utter the final words, "You may now kiss the bride."

Cecilia turned to me, her large ocean eyes wide and searching, it seemed she was looking to me for direction. I cannot say what overcame me in that one second, maybe it was how striking and innocent she looked in her wedding gown, or her doe like eyes that had me mesmerised, but before I knew what I was doing I had bent down and closed the distance between us.

I had kissed plenty of girls before, but kissing Cecilia was completely different. As my lips touched hers I felt sparks coursing through my blood, setting my body on fire. I instantly pulled back with shock, but as soon as my lips left hers I wished I hadn't. My body felt instantly colder and I felt a sense of emptiness balling in the pit of my stomach.

Then it hit me, I had just kissed Cecilia. I, Rory Huntington, the future duke of Wotley, had kissed my longterm enemy who just so happened to now be my wife. That wasn't the worst of it though. I had kissed her, and I had enjoyed it. I groaned internally, what was wrong me? She must definitely be a witch.

I looked back at Cecilia who just stood looking up at me with confusion swimming through her eyes, I watched as something else darted across her pupils as our eyes connected, but it was gone so quickly I couldn't have sworn it wasn't just a trick of the light.

I desperately searched her eyes for some sort of sign that I had effected her as much as she had effected me. I scowled angrily at myself, she had not effected me, this was Cecilia for God's sake! But the more I denied it the more I realised how untrue it was, only fuelling my anger at myself. I should' have never kissed the miserable girl in the first place I thought irritatedly. 'But you don't regret it,' a voice whispered in the back of my head.

Annoyed with my growing attraction to my new wife I grabbed her arm forcefully, I saw her flinch as my hand grasped her arm tightly and I loosened my grip, I hadn't meant to hurt the girl. We walked out of the church to the sound of cheerful applause, I scanned my eyes over the crowd before I saw him, standing near the back of the church, a murderous expression on his face.

His eyes met mine, a fiery green as his eyes flitted between me and the girl I had just married. I pulled Cecilia tighter to me, she was my wife now and I would not let myself be embarrassed by scandalous rumours of secret liaisons. I didn't want a wife and I certainly didn't want Cecilia as my wife, but she was now, and I wouldn't let anyone else have her, she was mine.

I made sure to throw the 'friend' of Cecilia's a dirty scowl before twisting my head away from his and stepping out into the sunlight. As soon as we set foot outside of the church we were assaulted with small pieces of flying paper that attached themselves to my hair and jacket as well as Cecilia's long veil.

I growled at the pieces of confetti, attempting to halt their flight by waving my hands above my head. I heard the musical laughter of Cecilia float up to my ears as she watched my attempt to defend myself from the onslaught. Musical laughter? God where had this sudden sentimentality come from? I inwardly cursed my stupid thoughts.

I turned my face to look down at Cecilia, my initial anger at her for mocking me and my own idiotic thoughts seemed to evaporate instantly though and I found myself joining in her mirth.

When our laughter had subsided I felt her gazing up at me, a confused but joyous smile gracing her delicate features. I couldn't help but smile back at her unabashed gaiety. I was overwhelmed with a sense of satisfaction in my stomach, although this was a very different type of satisfaction to the satisfaction I had felt insulting her. I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was but I was sure it would only lead to my inevitable downfall.

I scolded myself realising I had momentarily let my guard down with my sworn enemy, the girl I had vowed to tease till death did we part rather than to love, my mind choked on the foreign word. I would never love her no, but maybe we could become friends of sorts.

Friends? I scoffed at the ridiculous notion as it filtered through my mind, no I would stick to my original plan, make the girl feel unwelcome and treat her no differently. Just because the avaricious animal was my wife now, didn't mean I needed to change my ways. No, I shook my head firmly at the idea.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hardly noticed we were at our carriage until I found myself helping my bride up into the plushly lined interior. I rapped on the roof of the carriage with my fist to let the driver know we were ready to depart after I had jumped into the carriage.

I sat myself across from Cecilia who was nervously biting her lip and occasionally glancing my way. I forced my eyes to stare outside of the carriage as the carriage continued its journey homeward, refusing to let myself be hypnotised yet again by my young wife. I let out a low growl of frustration, why did the girl I hated have to be so damn beautiful.

There, I'd finally admitted it, she was the most gorgeous creature I ever beheld, but I'd be damned if I ever told her so.

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