Special Event #1 The banquet after the wedding

Adam was sitting in the table of the wedding reception. He looked the bride and he thought she was really beautiful although she was very nervous and pale. He understood how she felt and in the same situation he would feel like her. Adam focused his attention on the groom: his cousin John smiled in a formal way, but was not very happy. Adam imagined to be in his place and if he were the groom his would be happy to marry a girl like Jane.
Suddenly John stood up and gave an announcement:
"My beautiful bride has requested a dance, and who am I to deny her?"
Adam saw the couple get up and go dancing. Along with the other guests got up and followed them near the dance floor. Jane looked so delicate as she followed John, on the other hand he seemed very distant. As soon as they began to dance, though, it seemed as if they had reached a harmony. Both danced very well, she was so graceful ... especially Adam felt a sting of envy for his cousin.
Upset by his own thoughts and feelings, he went back to the table. At least the wine was delicious.

Damian´s eyes widened just as his smile when Anne gave her approval. "Thank you mommy." He turned his head to watch Jane and her husband dance again but spotted someone special, Adam Tully who would live along with his sister and and brother in law at her new home. Damian didn´t know why or what but something about the man disturbed him. It was a wedding, the wedding of his sister but that man looked rather sad than happy. For some time Damian focused on him trying to get an idea how to change the mood when he eventually got one. He turned to his mother again whispering towards her ear. "Mommy are others allowed to dance too?"

The moment felt weird to John. He had danced with other women, of course. He had to, as both courtesies and practise. However, he had never danced with someone he thought he could develop feelings for. He had never dared, knowing his entire adult life that he was engaged to someone else. He had never dared lend his heart to anyone else, for the knowledge they would have to break it off later, inevitably. As a result, this was the first time John had really danced, and meant it.
He could feel everything, from her silky smooth dress to her sweaty palm in his other. Or was he the one sweating? There was no way to know. In that one moment he wanted to pull Jane closer, but that would be indecent. Instead he smiled at her and twirled her under his arm. "There's an expression I haven't seen before," he said in a low voice and almost grinned at her. She looked happy, and confident. All he had seen of her so far was anxiety and fear.

Jane’s heart was still beating like a little hummingbird, but her anxiety had lowered a lot. Sure, she was still a bit self-conscious but she was way more relaxed. Dancing was really bringing out the best of her, showing all her grace, her beauty. She loved dancing, it was obvious to everyone who saw her, even if she had never danced with anyone except close relatives in her life she still had impressive dancing skills. She could even look confident in that moment, the hint of the woman she could actually become. Her smile looked more heartfelt and she was even regaining a bit of color in her cheeks, something that allowed her to blush a little at his words.
“I could say the same to you…” she replied after a moment of hesitation in an equally low voice. She was only barely aware that they were surrounded by people, she knew that they had to behave because they were watched but beside that, it felt like it was only her and him. And he had never looked more charming… Suddenly she was wished to be kissed again, even if she was well aware that such a thing couldn’t be appropriate…

John tightened his grip on Jane's hand, without crushing it. It was a gentle, comforting squeeze. It was the only way to show he was there for her without everyone around seeing it. He couldn't explain the feeling in his stomach. He felt nausiated, but in a good way, and he wasn't sure why.
With a spark of excitement John moved his hand from hers and to her waist, only to lift her up and twirl her half a round. When he gently let her down on the ground again, he was half embarrassed because he didn't know how she would feel about that, and half embarrassed that he had touched her dress with his sweaty palm. Luckily, it didn't show.
Her landing marked the end of the song and the beginning of another. John was unsure of what to do. Would she want to dance again, or did she just want the one for tradition's sake? He looked to her for answers. He didn't want to push her, nor did he want to abandon her.

She kept smiling to him, reciprocating his squeeze. She was happy he was trying to give her strength, she really appreciated it, and her newfound confidence was connected to his kindness, no doubt about that.
When he took her by her waist, lifting her and twirling her, she was terribly surprised, but definitely not in a bad way: it felt like a scene from a fairytale. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach and her smile got wider. As he put his hands on her waist, she put hers on his shoulders, in this way, when he put her back on the ground, she risked to briefly caress his cheek.
Only after this gesture she started reconnecting with the real world, being aware once again of the people that were watching them: she had completely erased them when John lifted her.
She looked back at him, still smiling, maybe a little more embarrassed now that the dance was over. Realizing he was waiting for her decision, she bit her lower lip and slightly nodded toward him: yes, she would love to dance more...

John both hated and loved her habit of biting her lip. It seemed so childlike, so unladylike and so insecure. On the other hand he had to look at her twice every time she did. He couldn't deny she was cute while doing it.
For a moment even John forgot the crowd, and even if he had remembered, he wouldn't care. It was their wedding after all. People would stare, but people would expect this kind of behavior from a happy couple. It was nothing out of the ordinary.
It was a feeling he had kept hidden and restrained for the entirety of the dance, not daring to unleash it, because he didn't even quite understand it himself, but her nod gave him the confidence and the certainty he needed.
With said certainty, he pulled Jane closer to him, bent his head, and laid his lips over hers in a gentle kiss.

When John pulled her closer to kiss her, Jane had the weird impression that she was just going too far with her imagination, but this impression didn't last long. She closed her eyes, tensing up a bit, but this tension had nothing to do with the painful fear she was feeling before, this was somehow sweet, and felt right. Even if the kiss didn't last long, she abandoned herself in it and for a moment she wasn't even able to breath. She instinctively put her hands on his shoulders, but in such a delicate way that she was barely touching him. The crowd around them was gone once more, wiped away from her mind.

Anne smiled to her little Damian and nodded to him: it was always hard to say no to him, even if he didn’t know that. Sometimes, though, it was just impossible, and this time was one of them. As her son, she turned to watch once again Jane and John dancing: they were really lovely, and it felt like the more they stayed on that dance floor, the more chemistry they showed. Anne smiled to herself, feeling happy for her daughter and, for once, so terribly proud of her.
“Yes, dear, but only after they finish this first dance.” she replied to her son’s question, just a moment before the song and the dance actually finished. Right after that, John pulled Jane closer and kissed her. Anne didn’t find that very appropriate, but she couldn’t deny she was happy to see that they were able to be something more than awkward teenagers toward each other…

He let go of her before long. He didn't want to keep her close for too long, considering people were most likely staring at them. His suspicion was quickly confirmed when he heard someone amongst the crowd yell "Bedding ceremony!!"
Pure fear struck John. They had barely begun easing up on each other, and now he was afraid Jane would break. This was too much for her, too soon. He could see the fear in her eyes as well. As much as he might want it to, this wasn't going to be a pleasant night.
That was the last thought of dread he could manage before people started ripping them apart from each other, the women gathering around John and the men around Jane. She was so childish and innocent, she would probably feel violated by every man's touch on her naked skin.
"It'll be okay!" he told her hurriedly before she fell out of sight. He was unsure of whether or not she had even heard him, but he hoped she had, and he hoped it would help any, though he doubted it would.

She smiled shyly at him when he let her go, but the smile froze on her lips as soon as someone amongst the crowd yelled "Bedding cerimony!". Suddenly the color she had regained on the dance floor disappeared from her cheeks once more, this time she wasn't even able to hide the fear: there was pure terror in her eyes. If the dance had been a dream, well that was the point where the dream turned into a nightmare.
As soon as people started pulling her and her clothes, her eyes widened in panic: she tried to hold John's hand but the men dragged her away after she had just managed to touch him. She heard John's voice say something, but his voice sounded distant, she couldn't get what he said.
After that Jane's mind almost blacked out: she was barely able to breath and a waxwork would look more lively than her. She kept her glance stuck in front of her, focusing on nothing, just praying that that horrible moment would pass quickly. But instead it looked endless...
The men quickly carried her away from the dance floor, out of the room, away from the banquet, starting to undress her without any grace.
The horrible feeling of the dress being ripped apart, showing piece by piece her frail and naked body... the sickening sensation of all those stares upon her, on her body that no men had ever seen without her clothes on... she could hear their laughter, but she couldn't focus enough to understand their words.
As her chest was set free she instinctively hid it with her arms, shutting her eyes.

Anne couldn't help but stiffen as she heard someone from the crowd yelling for the bedding ceremony to start. She knew her daughter, she knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant for her. Well, she doubted that any bride could find that pleasant, she herself had found that quite unpleasant, but it was tradition and it had to be done. Her child, though... she was such a delicate flower, she was going to be hurt by that, and there was nothing she could do about it. She had warn her, of course, she had told her it wasn't going to last long, that it was going to be quick, that she was going to be alright... but it didn't matter. She secretly hoped John would be kind to her that night.
She remembered Jeor was very kind to her on their first night, but she was tougher than Jane, she was annoyed by the ceremony but she had too much pride to act as anything different from a perfect bride.
As she saw the men carrying Jane away she felt a sting of pain in her heart: she was so pale and scared... nonetheless, she turned toward Garrett and Cedric, as well as toward Eilonwy, while placing a hand on Damian's shoulder. "You'll stay here." she didn't need to say more, she knew her boy too well not to know they would have hurried to their sister's rescue, but they would have listened to her. After all Jane could survive that ceremony, what she wouldn't have been able to survive easily was her wedding night turning into a fight: that would have brought shame on both house Tully and Mormont. Jeor was soft-hearted, but he knew that as well as she did so she knew she didn't have to warn him.

John was pulled in every direction, his clothes ripped opp, and eager eyes viewing every inch of his naked skin. He knew many had wished to bed him, but he was taken aback by their eager. It was flattering, but also quite dissettling.
Trying to avoid the crowd, he looked for Jane, only catching short glimpses of her from time to time. His grin was plastered on his face, as was expected, and he truly did not mind the hands on his body. He had been prepared for this his entire life, and if pinching his butt or catching a glimpse of his flesh satisfied them for God knew what reason, he let them. His only worry was with Jane now.
As John was lifted up into the air by strong, female hands, he looked to his side to see Jane being lifted too. Her delicate, fragile body was light enough for one man to carry, but it seemed many were eager to help. Eager for any excuse to touch her now almost naked body. John knew it was wrong, but in that moment he found her beautiful, even if she was on the verge of tears.