The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 561: Rotation

The Acolytes from the Sect arrived only moments later, and Dominic called the clerics over.

“If you would like to come with me to the Manor, I will find you a room. It might not be fancy, but I can guarantee that it’s warm and dry. We could use the relief for the priests who are doing the weddings.” He explained.

“Of course, Your Grace. It is an honour to perform wedding rituals. What customs are you abiding by? The Cygnia custom?”

Dominic shrugged. “Mostly? We’re letting the men wait for their wives to come down the aisle, instead of coming second. We have a lot of weddings to get through, and it is both faster and highly popular among the Barons.

There might be a few who will want to go by the actual tradition, or the Wavemates tradition. But they will inform you beforehand.”

The cleric laughed. “You can’t think that someone would actually roar at his wife in this day and age?”

Dave and the city guards both began to laugh.

“I did. I must say, it went over rather well, considering that we were in the Cygnia Royal Palace.” Dominic explained.

The cleric shook his head and tried not to laugh. “I can’t believe that you did it. I mean, given your lineage, it’s not anything that wouldn’t have been considered tradition a generation ago.

But the last generation of Wavemates Nobles almost all eschewed the tradition in favour of a more egalitarian ceremony.”

Dominic smiled. “I agree, we need more equal ceremonies. I shall endeavour to teach my future daughters to roar at their husbands.”

Dave nodded in agreement. Trollish women often simply took their chosen husband and threw him over her shoulder. It was a good tradition.

The cleric’s apprentice smiled at Dominic. “I think that we will do just fine here. The old ways are quite flexible, and the Dragon Gods approve of their followers expressing their devotion in public.”

“Well, we can talk later. Amie, if you’d please return us to the Manor. The Gentlemen of the guard will remain here for a while until the mages arrive to take over.”

Amie opened the portal directly to the entrance to the main hall that they were using as a chapel.

Dave waved at the bride, who was waiting to come in, then giggled as she held out her arm for her to escort her down the aisle.

The crowd cheered, then laughed as they realized that the dainty noblewoman was being escorted down the aisle by a gigantic Mountain Troll.

It was a bit ridiculous to watch, as his hand was nearly as large as her torso, but Dave was gentle with the bride, and even took a moment to fix her hair pin before the ceremony started.

Then he sat down cross-legged behind Alexis to watch the show.

The wedding ceremony went quickly, and Dominic came forward to swap positions with Alexis.

“I’ve received the first batch of refugees, and set patrols to watch them. I told them that I would be back in the morning with a list of Baronies and the available specialties.

They understand that most of the new residents will have the option of farming, farming or starving. So, we shouldn’t have too many problems.

They do have some skilled workers, and from what I can tell, there are a bunch of trained magic users who are just out of practice after hiding it so they weren’t recruited to serve the Dagos Lords.” He whispered.

“Good job. I will keep updating the list as everyone leaves so that we know how many can be shipped out at a time. It’s better not to overwhelm any of the new Barons, and we don’t want anyone arriving before their new Lord has time to at least clean and repair his house.”

“Oh, the mages are helping with that too. The radio reports said most had it figured out, but the Sect sent out people. How late are we planning to run ceremonies?

I brought a bunch more Clerics from the Dragon Church.”

“That will make many of the couples happy. Why don’t you give our poor pastor a break, he’s been slowing down.” Alexis suggested.

Dominic waved the aging priest of the Dragon Church forward, and moved to stand beside the other cleric, so everyone knew what was going on.

“Pastor, you can rest. We’ve got a new arrival and his Acolytes to take over the blessings while you get some food and sleep.

If nobody objects, we will continue until we run out of folks to marry.” Dominic announced.

The Barons laughed. Someone would have to inform the ones who had given up on being on the list tonight, but other than that, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to spend their first night here at the Manor.

Well, not a major problem. There were other considerations than logistics.

On second thought, they should stop for a few hours so that every couple got the chance to spend their first night together properly. Assuming that they wanted to. If they didn’t mind, then Dominic was happy to let the priests work.

Betty brought the new arrivals snacks and coffee, which the old man sniffed gently, then sighed in profound appreciation.

“You have no idea how good it is to smell fresh brewed coffee after so long on the road. You are a true blessing to humanity.”

Betty laughed. “I will pass the message along to the Elf and the Trolls who grow and roast the coffee beans. We’re all very appreciative of their efforts.

Tea is good, but it’s not coffee.”

The priest nodded as he washed down a sandwich, and the next groom in line moved to the front, while Dominic and the Acolytes stepped back to let the ceremony begin.

The young men immediately retreated behind the curtain that hid the stone wall from the venue, and took out pillows.

“If we nap now, we’ll be awake and ready when he gets tired. We’ve done this before, usually for the new year blessings, which run for three days straight.” The young man whispered.

“I will leave you to it.” Dominic whispered back, then took his seat to wach the ceremonies.

It was going to be a long night.