After a morning of preparation – a morning in which she was exhausted from the day before and yet had hardly slept – the wedding had finally arrived. Tetenia had been half expecting His Supremacy to call it off somehow, to take her into concubinage, but there was – as yet – no sign of that.
Tetenia and her father, King Ulsan, arrived at the traditional temple near the castle grounds. The streets around it were decorated and onlookers milled around in streets nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal wedding. Or, perhaps, a glimpse of His Supremacy, Tetenia thought. The temple was called a ‘traditional temple’ to distinguish it from His Supremacy’s temple, after all – and the latter was much larger and grander.
Tetenia and her father entered the temple’s anteroom and saw her uncle, Lord Sarly, pacing nervously. The minute he saw them, he looked at them and said “His Supremacy has not arrived yet. There is no sign of Him.”