Wedding Night

(align:"=><=")+(box:"x")[The Marshillan Crown Formally Announces The Marriage of |= His Royal Majesty (input: bind $name, "=xx=", "Aman")King of Marshille =|= & =| His Royal Highness (input: bind $prince, "=xx=", "Sandro")Prince of Tolomia |==| [[You take one last look at the discarded invitation.]]]

It is all still a bit surreal—for so long, your subjects have known you as the Bachelor King. You didn't live in seemingly perpetual bachelorhood out of a desire to never marry; if anything, that would have simplified things quite a bit. But it always seemed that something would get in your way: sudden crises, sudden betrayals, sudden deaths. Mere weeks ago, the idea that you would soon wed would be laughable. [[Yet here you are.]]

Prince $prince is, by almost all standards, a good match. A third-born prince from a small but wealthy country you have had few relations with up until this point. Devilishly handsome, well read. Even knowing that this is hardly a love match, you can hardly complain about him. You almost wish that the two of you had been introduced sooner; but there's a rather obvious reason why that wasn't practical. $prince is a good two decades younger than you, and so it was only relatively recently that he became an eligible match at all. But that's hardly a real issue, is it? [[In fact, you might consider it a boon.]]

With youth comes inexperience, and with inexperience comes the thrill and joy of teaching your partner how to obtain sexual pleasure.(click-append: "the thrill and joy of teaching your partner how to obtain sexual pleasure.")[..is what you would say if you had any sexual experience at all.(click-append: "any sexual experience at all.")[ You have lived forty-seven years without managing to bed or be bedded by anyone, and at this point it's a bit embarrassing. [[Having a partner who's similarly inexperienced with you should make the whole thing go a bit more smoothly.]]]]

But it's not the time to be thinking so much about your old sex life—or lack thereof. The ceremony is over, and you and your new consort have been escorted to your summer palace's largest, most luxurious bedroom in order to consummate your brand-new matrimony. [[You've been waiting for this moment for decades.]]

You cup your hand on your new husband's cheek. "$prince..." He leans into the touch, a youthful smirk on his face. He's just as roguishly handsome as he was in the portraits you saw of him; moreso, perhaps. "I'll do whatever I can to make this enjoyable for you." He chuckles ever so slightly.(click-append: "He chuckles ever so slightly.")[ "You don't have to do the gentle act with me, $name, [[I've ridden plenty in my time.]]"]

You stare at him.(click-append: "You stare at him.")[ He stares at you.(click-append: "He stares at you.")[ A moment goes by without either of you saying anything. "You...have, $prince?" you ask. "Well, of course. What self-respecting royal would manage //not// to fuck before turning 22? Unless you deliberately didn't want to, but that //emphatically// was not the case for me, as I'm sure it wasn't the case for you. Not that I haven't enjoyed taking people's virginity, but it'll be nice to be with someone who knows what he's doing for a change." You stare at him again. [[Divorce him immediately.]] [[Explain in a roundabout way that you haven't ridden any in your time.]] ]]

Unfortunately, the Marshillan state religion forbids rulers from divorcing their spouses. The only way you can formally separate is by instigating a religious schism. [[Instigate a religious schism so you can get a divorce.]] [[Explain in a roundabout way that you haven't ridden any in your time.]]

"You see, dear boy..." you begin to explain, inwardly cringing at the entire situation. "It's not necessarily...accurate...to assume that people have the same...experiences with riding as you do." $prince rolls his eyes at you. "I don't need an etiquette lesson, old man. Not when we're about to fuck!" [[Explain in a blunt way that you haven't managed to fuck before turning 47.]] [[Continue to try nudging $prince into understanding.->nudge]]

(set: $bluntConfession to True)

Everyone is shocked by your declaration, not least $prince himself. The schism causes a rift not just in your marriage but also in your country's populace, as your citizens are torn between their own religious convictions and their loyalty to you. It isn't long before tensions flare up into an outright war—one which before long results in the surrounding nations taking sides and intervening as well. But you didn't have to admit to being a virgin at 47, so it wasn't all bad. Ending 1 - $name VIII

You try to keep your patience. "It's not an //etiquette lesson//, $prince, it's just the truth. Those kinds of assumptions won't always serve you well." "Is this what you get off on? Lecturing men half your age?" He's glaring at you with the boyish impudence of a student caught writing a note to his best friend in class. (Not that *you* ever did anything so unbecoming—you had a private tutor.) [["No," you say truthfully.->nudge2]] [["No," you lie.->nudge2]] [["That's not important."->nudge2]]

"The point is...//riding// isn't a universal experience for people of any age." "Alright, alright, I get it! If you're going to be like this, I'm just going to go." [[Let him go.]] [[Stop him.]]

Your new husband turns to leave the room, and you let him. Your married life after that point consists of only cool relations between you and your husband. He does not bother to initiate sex, and you //still// feel too awkward to do it yourself. You start to suspect that he is "riding" others on the side, and you can hardly blame him. Ending 2 - Back Where You Started, But Worse Off

You grab $prince's upper arm before he can leave. He looks at you with an expression you can't quite place. "What is it?" "Alright. The actual point I was trying to make...is simply that //I// do not have as much as experience as you have assumed I do." He scrunches his brows. "That's it?" "Well...yes. I thought you would be more disappointed." "What? No." "You said you were tired of bedding virgins." "Not *that* tired. Just a teensy-weensy little bit tired." $prince pinches his index finger and thumb together to emphasize the point. "It is *fine*, really." "Really?" "Really." *[[Really?]]*

"It'll *stop* being fine if you keep acting like that!" "Right. Sorry." You once negotiated a peace treaty between two nations who had been fighting a war for several hundred years. But this, right now, feels like an even more intense emotional trial. [[Admit your nervousness.]] [[Don't admit your nervousness because you are not nervous, godsdammit.]]

You swallow. Decades of power have largely insulated you from the idea of ever having to show true vulnerability. But now, it seems, you have no other choice. (No other *sensible* choice, perhaps.) "I do not enjoy having to say this...but it seems necessary now."(click-replace:"\"I do not enjoy having to say this...but it seems necessary now.\"")["I do not enjoy having to say this...but it seems necessary now. I'm not...proud of having gone this long without...experiencing...sex..." $prince rolls his eyes again, waving at you dismissively. "Gods help me, the speech isn't necessary. It *really* isn't as big a deal as you're making it." "But—" "*Please.*" He reaches both of his hands up to your face, placing each on one of your cheeks. You aren't fully sure whether it's meant to be comforting or meant to make you feel like a dim sandwich. "I'll teach you the ropes, whatever you want. We'll have fun. A lot more fun than you fretting about being too old or whatever." You really were thinking much too hard about this, weren't you? "Yes. Thank you." "No need to thank me yet." He smiles impishly; it's a beautiful look on him. "Now, were you interested in topping or bottoming tonight? I'm pretty damn good at both." Ending 4 - Happily Tonight]

If you keep telling yourself that, perhaps it will eventually become true. "Now," you start, "isn't it time for us to be getting on with this?" $prince squints his eyes at you. "Not exactly the most sensual way to lead into it, is that?" "What?" "It's not going to be fun for either of us if you're on-edge like that." "What makes you think I'm on edge?"(click-append:"\"What makes you think I'm on edge?\"")[ "...never mind. This is hopeless. I'm leaving." This time, you let him. Ending 3 - Maximum Evasion]