Love, Courtly Romance, and Marriage in Cornay

She remembered the strangeness of their wedding day, a dozen customs that each felt more alien than the last. With no house colours of her own, the ladies in waiting had woven a wedding wreath of desert flowers entwined with the purple roses and yellow daylillies whilst Freystorm's cooks had baked thick crusted pie. When Ser Thomelin cut the pastry with his longsword, three shy of two dozen live songbirds burst from opening and filled Freystorm's great hall with colour and song. Amira had watched them fly high into the rafters, their wings of metallic blue and gold catching the light and shimmering like the sun on Agaarian waters.

Much like chivalry, love is one of the defining parts of Cornayan society - the stuff of legend, the inspiring force behind the most chivalric of knights and the most tragic of misfortunes. As the Cornayan Pantheon sets out, Love is one of the most powerful gifts given to mortal people - a gift granted to the first mortal of the world by The Lady in Green. In reality, Love is a complex matter in the nation of Cornay and often the source of trouble for many of the noble people of the world - when politics mingle with feelings, only tragedy lies ahead.

Unlike the common people of the realm who are free to love and marry whoever they please, it is the purpose of nobility to be closer to the Gods of the Cornayan Pantheon and shepherd the commonfolk they are responsible for. Due to this, there are great restrictions on the nobility of the realm - both in who they may love and how they should go about it. To begin with, whilst homosexuality is common amongst the commonfolk, it is considered a great failing and shame amongst the nobility; it is their duty to carry on their noble bloodlines and to give in to the urges that would prevent such a thing is considered a defiance of the teachings of The Lord in Purple, who defined the right of succession. Similarly, it is considered a shameful thing to pursue lust and engage physically with another before or outside of marriage - a violation of the "True" form of love that The Lady in Green had laid out in her teachings.

The ideals of love are one of the core defining principles of Chivalry, with the pursuit of Courtly Romances and eventually marriage being the aspiration for knights and romantics across the realm. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule: the role of Thronesguard forbids attachments beyond that to the Throne and the duty to protect; the role of Monk of Bridkeep requires undivided attention to the recording of history, but these are largely considered ultimate sacrifices in the eyes of the Cornayan People for a higher purpose. Courtly Romance is a curious practice to all but the people of Cornay, a seemingly hypocritical approach to love that, at first glance, seems only to invite trouble.

The practice of Courtly Romance is defined by restraint, encouraging romantic affairs between two unmarried individuals that are passionate and romantic but never physical. The exchanging of favours, the composing of poems, the gracing of courtesy are all that encapsulate Courtly Romance - which is considered a deeply honourable and admirable thing. However, the moment a Courtly Romance becomes physical - the moment a kiss is exchanged or the relationship moves further into lust - all honour and admiration are lost, and the relationship is deemed sinful. The only way a Courtly Romance may progress is through marriage, and that is often rarer than society would like.

Four and twenty favours were affixed to the old knight's shield, each wilting with the rain that battered its way from the north. Ser Jorren looked at him curiously, surely the point of a favour was to champion the one you loved? When he asked as such, the travelling knight replied with a barking laugh. "I love all who will love me, and love none who will not" He did not like the old knight, nor his shield of wilting lovers.

Marriages, on the other hand, are largely political affairs, where every part of a person is boiled down to their political worth. The surname that each individual takes is always negotiated, rather than patrilineally inherited, as is the same for the surname that the pairing's future children will take. Occasionally, new cadet houses are born of marriages between non-heirs that are granted parcels of land to be their own. The common practice for cadet houses is to either invert the colours of their mother house or to change a colour to their own palette, though not all cadet houses follow these rules. House Featherblade, for example, cousins to House Highrock, took an entirely different crest in hopes of forging their own destiny - unfortunately, their house has never grown beyond a manor on the outskirts of Highrock Point. The ceremony of a marriage between two nobles can be a grand affair and usually is; it is a great opportunity for individuals to show off their wealth and the splendour of their houses. The actual ceremony is defined by a number of rituals, each important to the marriage being considered legal and sound in the eyes of the Gods. The first stage is the march, where husband and wife walk hand in hand down an aisle between their two houses and show to all around that both parties are willing to go through with the marriage. Second, a wreath is held between the pair as they wrap ribbons of their houses' colours around it - this is often called a Colour Wreath and symbolises the joining of colours that represent both the Gods and the Houses before them. As the Colour Wreath is woven, a holy vow is said aloud by both.

The words that came from his mouth meant little to him, but they meant everything to Georgina. The pair spoke in union as they turned ribbons of Black and Emerald, Orange and Brown. "By all the Colours, By the Queen in White, I swear this vow, To Strengthen, To Follow, To Struggle, To Embrace, To Learn, and To Protect. To be with, from now until always" The ribbon was tied together on the final word, their hands still gripping to the entwined sticks as if it was a shield from the world ahead. Later, Lord Grayson would light a fire for himself in the royal gardens - not quite a grand ceremony but enough to make it count in his eyes.

The celebration of the ceremony then begins, with music, dancing, feasting and, if the nobility can spare the coin, often a joust in the honour of the recently wed couple. Most importantly, though, is the Wedding Pie, a pie of many tiers made of as many different savoury fillings as the families can afford - it is said that the more tiers, the more good fortune will befall the married couple in their lives. The top layer of the Wedding Pie is deliberately baked hollow, instead, it is filled with a number of live birds so that they might fly free when the cake is cut. The most common birds in a Wedding Pie are blackbirds, though more ostentatious ceremonies will have Agaarian Sunbirds, Wedrobian Fairywrens, or even live parrots imported from Southern Shehir. Most notably, at Lord Almeric Asterland's wedding, three live swans were placed in the wedding pie to escape and make their way down Freystorm Hall's middle aisle.

Jousting is commonplace at noble weddings, with great prizes of coin or priceless historical artefacts being offered to those who win the tilt. It is uncommon for the Bride or Groom to take part in the joust, but both are expected to provide favour to a knight each in the form of a cutting of their wedding gowns. If a knight bearing the favour is defeated, they pass the favour on to the victor, and the two carry on until the two favours meet in the final tilt. Once the final tilt is done, the two favours may be exchanged for the prize. Historically, the prizes at such weddings have included a variety of artefacts, ranging from the Victor's Wreath of Ser Holden Barryl, the supposed skull of the last Lord of Lostwatch before it was ruined, and the broken lance used by King Romidor the Golden at the tourney at Bearsport.

A marriage is a holy thing in the eyes of the Cornayan people, it is an eternal union not only of two individuals but also their families. In the wake of a wedding union, a holy vow is taken that neither family may pursue violence against the other until one of them breaks the promise. This is often the way minor wars are ended, with the wedding of the eldest daughter to the eldest son - though such promises are only worth their salt if both sides agree. When it comes to the Royal Family and other prominent houses, it is harder for them to cheat such an agreement unnoticed, but lesser houses will wed and war, war and wed to their hearts' content. Myths say those who break the Wedding Peace are often cursed by the gods, as is the case of Lord and Lady Bottlee, who were turned into black-spotted beetles for murdering Lord Bottlee's brother so Lady Bottlee's sister could gain a parcel of land. Of course, with many myths of Cornay, there is no historical precedent or evidence to suggest any truth to these stories. More commonly, the punishment is a further escalation of the conflict.

In the north, in the lands of Hilinor, weddings are an all too different affair. Though much of the understanding remains the same, such as the Wedding Peace or the push to celebrate, the rituals and vows are completely different to reflect their religious practices. Hilinor favour the Fey Gods, a nature-based faith with its own laws and expectations. In Hilinor, weddings are for the joining of families and to carry on the legacy of those bloodlines - similar to in Cornay - but have no reverence for the Gods and are viewed entirely as a matter of mortals. Any religious ceremony held in a Hilinorian wedding is to bless future children or to ask for good favour in the coming year, rather than to make holy promises before the Fey Gods. Feasting is common at weddings in Hilinor, as well as the practice of gift-giving and bonfires. The only true "ritual" of Hilinorian Weddings comes in the form of the Burning of the Wrongs, a practice in which the bride and groom write down their individual wrongdoings on parchment and then cast them into flame. This ritual supposedly prevents their wrongdoings from following them into their marriage and affecting their new partner.

Lord Declan watched the parchment curl and smoulder in the flame before him, the names of wartime deaths and sentences of misplaced trusts fading away in the flickering orange. If only it was that simple, if only a single ceremony would wash away the consequences that were coming. Lady Bathilda watched him across the fire, her eyes were steady and sure - a Queen's eyes.

Overall, marriage is a system that binds the noble people of the world together, a political and religious affair that has shaped history as we know it countless times. Love too has shaped history, but much more subtly in its influence - sadly, the pair rarely go hand in hand. There are few who combine the two, love and marriage; perhaps these are the luckiest of all.