Charles
Lady Anna Barrmount
Grunewald Castle library

"Indeed, not much is needed" She replied as she walked side by side with him. She remained quiet untill they reached the library once again.

She opened the door, but stopped right before entering.

"I uhm... I-I wanted to say I..." She looked up, facing him "Thank you. I know all of this must be a real inconvenience for you, getting married all of a sudden to a complete stranger..." A faint smile crossed her face "Thank you."

Anna entered the library and sat down on her knees, right next to the crackling fire of the fireplace.

"Would you please take a seat with me? It will be quick I promise" She said as she gestured to the spot in front of her. When he did, she took both his hands in hers and closed her eyes.

"Oh elder gods, even though I strayed far from home please hear my call" She started, taking a deep breath before resuming "You have made my path tough and rough, made me lose people along the way that I hope you take good care of under your embrace"

She felt a lump in her throath remembering Rodrick last days and how dangerous the way to the council was, where her guard gave up his life for Anna and her maid to scape the bandits.

"My duty to protect my people has brought me here, to get engaged with this man you see here with me. Thanks to him, help will come to my people... But for that to happen I must abandon my roots"

Her hands squeezed his. 

"Kirk" She said in a whisper without opening her eyes "After I'm done with my vow, do yours" 

This was it, her last goodbye to her faith and home. She cleared her throat and resumed her speech.

"As my last act before the Frozen Gods' presence, and under my ancestors' gaze, I, Lady Anna Barrmount of the Iron Plaines, take Kirk Pinewood as my husband, thus making him Lord and swearing to remain by his side until my dying day"
John
**Kirk Pinewood
The Castle Library for the second time that day without reading a single thing**

Kirk could do little more than nod when Anna thanked him due to both the lump in his throat and also because he knew things could have been much worse for him. His problem was one of unexpected inconvenience. Anna's was one of survival for herself, her sister, and everyone else in The Iron Plaines.

Kirk instinctively reached to cover his groin when Anna knelt down and said it would be over quickly. Fortunately, she did not brandish a knife, and he passed his reaction off as merely brushing his pants. His fears of what a Northern wedding might involve seemed to be unfounded thus far.

Kirk had never been part of a Northern wedding before, so he attempted to come up with his own vow on the fly in the vein of Anna's. He swallowed, trying to clear the lump in his throat. "As my first and also likely last act before the Frozen Gods' presence, and under the gaze of my ancestors, I, Kirk Pinewood- or rather, Lord Kirk Pinewood of..." Lucrezia hadn't been clear about what holdings he would receive, if any. "...From Ibethiel, take Lady Anna Barrmount as my wife, swearing to remain her side until my dying day." It had been one thing to agree to the marital arrangement that had been forced on him, but actually saying the words in that moment weighed upon him like nothing else.
Elise
The Ice Lord Marshall Carter
The Great Hall, Castle Grunewald, Vallen 

From beyond the shadows the ensemble of Witherlander men appeared, gloomy and grim as ever. Their travels had worn them, but they stood there, imperturbable. Marshall appeared from the centre, standing behind but towering over the Wrencrest girls as they looked to their kin. At first he couldn't have made it out in the dreary, dim misshapen halls of the Grunewald's castle, but he saw it now. These were definitely Wrencrests, with their porcelain features of snow-white skin, and platinum blonde hair, the same shade that the sun would shine down on their lands on a good day, gleaming through the grey. Usually, he'd been disturbed by the sight of their countenance, but after the tumultuous couple of weeks he'd had, he was almost glad to see them. 

"Lord Bennard, Lady Adelhayd," He addressed them formally, standing in the middle of the Great Hall. "You are a welcome sight in these times of ruin and wrath." Slowly, his sharp blue eyes analysed them, and their actions. He deduced what they were supping on. *Have they already had their fill? Have the Southerners already gotten to them?* He asked himself, bringing his worn gloved hands together.

"I must apologise for my sequestered nature. The contents of my arrival here could not be made knowledgable to anyone. Not House Grunewald, not the council, not even my own bannermen. It has been... A long journey," He sighed, letting his weariness overcome him for a split second, but the one that followed, he was steel once again. "My Kingdom is torn in half once again. The tyrant and war criminal Nathaniel Vivayn seeks to overthrow and the Carter Dynasty and install himself atop the Northern Throne. He plots, he prods, he pulls. His army grows ever stronger, and he rides with power in the Iron Plaines, as last my scouts have reported, that was of course before they were sent back to me in pieces; flayed and completely stripped of anything that made them identifiable. All the while a plague consumes the people who suffer from yet another struggle for power. Hundreds of thousands have succumbed to the affliction, dead. Their bodies couldn't even be buried in the snow banks in order to preserve them for the Frozen Gods. They had to be burnt, rendering them nothing but ash." The Ice Lord spoke words of remorse, but his voice did not jitter, or fumble. He was used to speaking words of mourning and death.

"So that it is why I stand here before you. I am here to offer what help I can and learn of this plague so we may cut it off at its crux. Our people have suffered long enough." The Ice Lord's chainmail rattled as he made for their gathering at the table, looking with disdain at the pallet that lay before them all. He looked as if he were about flip the whole table in frustration but instead reached and broke off a piece of bog bread, knowing the rules of guest rites. "Please, tell me what I have missed." He bit in to it.
Charles
Lady Anna Barrmount
Grunewald Castle library

"May our journey be blessed" She finished "Goodbye and thank you for everything."

Something felt heavy in her chest, too heavy, as her last goodbye scaped her lips. She opened her eyes and smiled thankfully at Kirk, a hint of sadness in her glistening and tired eyes.

"That was perfect, thank you for doing this with me" Anna said as she stood up and patted her clothes down to tidy them "Shall we go prepare for the public ceremony?"