Lunesday, 18th of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

All of the foreign kings and their courts had arrived in Goria by Solsday. After the divine liturgy, the Gorian royal court had worked tirelessly to accommodate these royal guests. Starting on Lunesday, each consecutive day of the week was to be a wedding celebration. The elders of Goria had coordinated among themselves in advance as to the order in which the weddings were to be held.

It was agreed that Lune's day would be for Mateus of the Sigompul and Lady Arta of the Idabagak. The next day would celebrate Sadrach's union with Lady Helena of the Sinatua. Followed by the wedding of Hesekiel and Lady Safira of the Hutabaru. The last two days of weddings would be the ones directly involving members of the Sigumogo clan. Johannes and Maria's wedding on Tirsday followed by a grand celebration of Josias' union with Serena.

It was an obvious decision. Josias was a direct heir of the Hulubalang while Serena was the only daughter of the Lord Archbishop. If that wasn't to be the highlight of all the celebrations in Goria, what would?

Everyone had gotten up early for the day's celebration. It was to be a routine they'd keep for at least the entirety of the week. The first traditional rite the Halak did in regards to wedding celebrations was called the 'Sibuhabuhai'. It was where the family of the paranak (groom) would bring food in the form of meat to the family home of the parboru (bride). There the groom would also symbolically take his bride out of her home after the small short feast.

Josias and Serena did not participate in the ceremony because he wasn't directly related to the Sigompul clan nor to the Idabagak clan. While Serena and Mateus were cousins it was through their mothers as she was a part of the Rapmasari clan and so wasn't obliged to join in.

Instead, Serena and Josias had readied themselves for the church ceremony. The Sibuhabuhai ceremony would perhaps only last for an hour at most and so everyone was still expected to be at the church by late morning. Because of that, the church pews were already almost filled to the brim with people representing the extended families of the bride and groom.

The two of them were instead busied by last-minute rehearsals for the 'Naposo' choir at the church. That week would be the last one for Josias and his companions to participate within the Naposo. After all, the main requirement to be a part of the naposo was to in fact be an unmarried person. After marriage, technically speaking, Josias' place would be with his father in the 'Koor Ama'. That was also why Johannes – as the current chair of the church Naposo – was busy looking for a replacement.

The main candidates would be their unmarried friends and family who were also already catechised. The two main candidates were either Priscilla's brother Reinhard Binangabalok or one of Arta's brothers, the young Lord Arthur Idabagak.

As the choir made their final performance with Hesekiel providing piano accompaniment, the day's happiest couple and their families were already preparing to enter the church. The choir quickly dispersed as the clergymen readied themselves. This first wedding was officiated by the Lord Archbishop Ludwig himself.

As the lady who would usually lead the singing liturgies was the one getting married herself, the naposo had to find a replacement lead singer. Priscilla happily volunteered herself for the job. And to her credit her voice was splendid. The best part was, Josias didn't even need to look at her direction to enjoy the singing. He didn't want to invite any more of Serena's 'threats' towards his well-being.

Someone who was clearly enjoying both the song and the singer was Prince Panghirimon of Hutangali. He sat near the back of the church with some of the other young Hutangali men. They had no obligation to be there but there they were. Josias exchanged glances with the prince before he raised his eyebrows playfully, motioning his eyes at Priscilla.

The prince's bashful expression was an enjoyable thing to see. After the week was over and the royals returned, no doubt Prince Panghirimon would also have to return to Hutangali. That would cut his time with Priscilla short. Though, he could still extend his 'training period' in Goria. Or he could convince Priscilla to move with her father to Hutangali more permanently once he was instated bishop there.

Love was truly in the air among the Halak youth. Perhaps by the end of the year, the naposo's numbers would be utterly reduced with the amount of young couples forming and getting married.

The church ceremony of the wedding went without a hitch. Yes, Arta might look a little uncomfortable here and there but for the most part she was all smiles. Also tears. Tears of joy, though. For some reason, Mateus also decided to cry with her. He was always a big softie on the inside.

Everyone cheered when the exchanging of vows and rings were made. Once it was time for Mateus to kiss his new bride, he planted a loving kiss on Arta's forehead.

"Tch, of all the places and time…" Josias clicked his tongue as all of a sudden Johannes – who was sitting to his right – extended his arm and palm towards him. Josias rolled his eyes before placing five bronze kepengs on Johannes' palm. "It's his bloody wedding day! Man can't muster up the courage to properly kiss his bride on the lips…"

"I told you not to make the bet. You never listen though." Johannes chuckled as he pocketed the money.

Serena rubbed the bridge of her nose as she sighed before giving a dry laugh. "Is there anything you two don't bet on?"

"Ito, is that a serious question?" Johannes chuckled. "So long as your man here keeps losing, I will keep on accepting his bets."

"Come now, hasian. I just need one more victory over Bang Jo here and I swear that'd be my last bet with him." Josias gave his most sincere smile but Serena looked like she was having none of it. She flicked his nose before reprimanding him.

"Don't take oaths you know you won't keep, Josi." Serena said.

"I never make oaths I don't keep, hasian." Josias held his fiance's hand. "But because you've said that, the swear I made about betting doesn't count. I'll take it back."

"Well, at least you're self aware."

After the church liturgy, the couple and their families had moved on to the field where they had prepared for the grand 'adat' wedding celebrations. They were married in the eyes of the church already, but not yet in the eyes of tradition.

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Thousands of guests had already gathered, all representing each side's Dalihan Natolu. It wasn't just the immediate clan of the bride and groom who were invited but also the clans of each of their mothers' and grandmothers'.

This was where the presence of the other realms could be more felt.

One of the most important parts of the 'Marria' wedding celebrations were the distribution of the 'jambar' by the bride and groom to their 'tulang' or uncles' families. The 'jambar' were cut parts of a buffaloe that would be distributed. And by uncles, that meant their immediate uncles, their parents' uncles, and by that extent perhaps the entire village to boot.

This was not before the tradition of each marrying clan entering into the ceremonial field one by one, starting from the wife's clan, to the clan of the groom's mother, then to the clan of the bride's mother, then the groom's paternal grandmother, and so on and so forth.

Sometimes Josias wondered what went through the ancestors' minds when they came up with all these tedious bloody customs. From what he read of sacred scripture, it gave off the impression that marriage was an intimate thing. A union between one man and one woman, no longer two but becoming one. As it was written, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.'

But clearly the author of sacred scripture had never met the Halak. In these lands, a marriage was a formal contract between clans and interests. It was an event that involved the entire community, or even more. It was neither intimate nor private. It was a public event.

That being said, Josias knew of no other way to conduct a marriage other than that. Of course it had its strengths and weaknesses, but all things considered, the good outweighed the bad. A feeling and sense of belonging within the community was always a good thing to have. Because of this communal attitude, in places where there were no Halak, any Halak person would become one's kinsmen.

Serena had lined up with the Archbishop in the ceremony on the side of the Sinatua clan. She was a part of Mateus' larger 'bona tulang' despite the fact her mother was the one who was a Sinatua. Implementation of Halak customs could also be flexible depending on the circumstances.

Josias lined up as a part of the Binangabalok line. Technically, he was a bit distant in his blood relations to the two, but it was at least something. His maternal grandmother was still Mateus' grandaunt, thus making her a part of his father's bona tulang.

The first day of wedding celebrations lasted well into the evening but no one dared to over-feast or overdrink. After all there were still four more weddings to go and with each wedding involving different clans, people's positions would also change.

***

Tynesday, 19th of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

The next day, Josias and Serena each had to wake up early as this time they had to participate more actively within the wedding celebrations. Funnily enough, their participation in the wedding of Sadrach and Helena were on opposite ends.

Here, Josias was part of Sadrach's larger 'Paranak' as his mother was a Hutabaru. Serena by virtue of her mother was on the side of the 'Parboru'. Josias had accompanied his mother's family as they came to deliver a plate of boar meat to Johannes' house. There they would be the ones to 'mangalap' (pick up) Helena from her family's home.

Josias' position as the son of the female side of the groom's family was an absolute nightmare. In Halak tradition it was his position as an 'Ibebere' that obligated him to become a 'parhobas' for the duration of the ceremonies. Which was a fancy word to mean 'the help'.

The entire day for Josias was filled with helping people move chairs, place tables, and help with other equipment. All for the celebration to run smoothly. For some reason, his uncle and maternal grandfather had no end to their requests of him. 'Help set the children's tables'. 'Help, a stray wolf pack is ransacking near the field'. 'Help move over the piano over to the field so Hesekiel can provide music!'.

Bloody fucking hell. Josias couldn't catch a break at all. All of that while Serena was happily chatting along with her family members on the Sinatua side. Josias swore that tomorrow on Safira and Hesekiel's wedding day the tables would be completely turned.

He couldn't even take part in his favourite pastime of annoying his cousin Sadrach. His usual suave demeanor was absolutely nowhere to be found that day. During the entire celebration, from the church to the field, Sadrach was fidgety and nervous. Luckily enough, he didn't make a fool of himself and actually managed to kiss Helena properly at the church.

Johannes refused to take part in this bet however. The absolute coward. But, it was probably a strange feeling seeing your sister kiss another man like that. Considering how Julia was still six years old, it'd be quite a while until he would fully understand Johannes' feelings.

Josias only managed to catch a break when the sun was just about to set and the field was to be cleared for tomorrow's wedding. It was a wedding with so much fun to be had and so much food to eat but he didn't get to enjoy it at all.

Just as everyone was about to head back and turn in for the night, Josias saw Serena sitting down and talking with Safira. The two had complicated looks on their faces and their eyes were red and teary. Beyond all his expectations, by the end of it, the two started sobbing and even hugged each other.

Josias checked on the horizon once more to be sure. The sun was still at its normal trajectory of setting on the west. A good sign. The world wasn't ending anytime soon.

When Josias finally approached them, the two were already getting up to prepare to leave.

"Is this a good sign, I hope?" Josias asked as he immediately put his arm around Serena and pulled her into his embrace. Hesekiel did the same to Safira albeit without any words and with that flat, stoic expression of his as always plastered on his face.

"It is… I've finally decided to apologise to Safira for everything I've put her through…" Serena said, still wiping her eyes from her tears. "She's my sister and… and yet I've held a grudge for so long for such a stupid reason!! And, realising that we're all getting married this week and becoming proper adults… I just thought I had to at least try to grow up as well, y'know…"

"Serena? You're actually apologising? Hallelujah, Puji Jahowa!" Josias shook his hands in the air in a teasing celebration. He meant to lighten the mood but when Serena saw that she pouted as she puffed up her cheeks and buried her face in his chest while holding onto him tightly.

"I'm an awful person aren't I…??? To think I could be so petty and vindictive… waaaa!!!" Serena said. It was only then that Josias noticed her words were becoming slightly slurred and that her face was flushed.

"Oy, Oy, Josi-...!! What're you doing making sister Serena cry like that…Hic! You want me to punch you, huh?!" Safira finally spoke up as well as she walked to approach Josias but was clearly wobbly. If it weren't for Hesekiel holding her, she might have actually fallen back on the ground.

Josias finally noticed the two empty bottles of wine and half empty tankards of 'tuak' by their cushions. Josias and Hesekiel both let out an exasperated sigh at the same time.

"Bloody hell, Safira, tomorrow's your wedding day and you have to wake up early so Hese here van pick you up properly!" Josias complained.

"I DON'T CARE!! Apologise to Serena NOW..!! Before I, woah-!! Huh…?? Hese let me go!!" Without a second thought, Hesekiel had picked up his bride to be and slumped her over his left shoulder like a sack of rice. He gave Josias an understanding nod before taking his leave.

Meanwhile, Serena was still sobbing and calling herself stupid in his embrace. Josias let out an exasperated sigh before planting a kiss on Serena's cheek.

"Hmph! Look at you drinking while your man was working the entire day! We're gonna have to get you home, so hold tight!"

Josias did the exact same thing as Hesekiel as he carried his lover over his shoulder.

"Wait, wait, Josi, if you do this I'm gonna puke-...!!! AHHHHHH!!!!"

Josias laughed heartily as he took off running, empowered by his aura. He was determined to get her to her home safely regardless of whatever she spilled out of her guts. If she was to be his wife, then whatever burden she was carrying, whatever dirt she was going through, whatever she laid off on him, he'll be there. He'll always be there with her, through it all, all the way.

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