My Story~ Whatcha think?

Hello readers! This is the very beginning of a story I am working on, I was hoping to get some feedback and opinions. So leave a comment and tell me what you think! (But please keep in mind it's only a first draft! I grimaced a few times as I was typing it out!)

This is it, thought the beautiful girl in the pale pink dress as she fixed her hair one last time. This is the day I wed and start a new life and a family of my own. She studied her reflection in the full size mirror that rested against the wall in her room. She knew it was near the top of a long list of reasons why she was the envy of every young woman in the whole village. The picture it showed her was a pleasant one, that nobody could deny. Thick, curling dark brown hair,. Big blue eyes with a brown streak in one of them that made he look unique, not strange. Perfect pale porcelain skin, not a blemish in sight. Full lips, even white teeth, classically sculpted nose.... Alia was indeed a beauty. And today she was to be joined to a man, a husband to appreciate and enjoy that beauty. The few details she'd been able to wrestle out of her father, Eli, suggested that she would not be the only one bringing good looks to the table in this marriage. Rich brown hair, deep brown eyes, a kind smile, and a frame that was lean, but well muscled. That was all her father would tell her, but it was enough. Markus sounded like her type exactly, and by the end of the day he would be hers, and she would be his. There was a substantial bride price for a girl as beautiful as Alia, and Markus would be making payments to his almost father-in-law for years to come. It made Alia feel precious, desirable,and sought after. It also made her valuable to her father, a fact she was rather proud of. Just as she put the last touches on her outfit, a knock sounded at the door and she looked over to see her father walk in. Eli stopped a few steps into her room, and his dark eyes filled with tears. "My daughter, my beautiful precious daughter. I am so proud of you Alia, so proud.... You are doing your duty to your family, your village, and yourself. Now listen to me well, my girl, and if you are wise you will heed what I say." He sat down on the chair by her dressing table, and crossed his arms first one way and then another, in an obvious state of discomfort. Alia arched one brown and waited for her father to continue. "There is much you do not know about your future husband my dear, much more than you do know in fact. And some of it will be very hard for you to accept." Her expression grew trouped. "Father, why did you not tell me this before? What kind of man am I about to marry?" Her breath grew short as she panicked, imagining the possibilities. Eli quickly stood and put a hand on her trembling shoulder. He looked her in the eyes and tried to reassure his daughter. "A good man, I promise you that Alia. Markus is kind, and gentle, and a good worker. He will take care of you and the family you have together for as long as he lives, I have no doubts whatsoever of that. I wouldn't be allowing him to claim your hand in marriage if that were not so." He put his hands behind his back and started pacing restlessly. "I want you to be as happy in marriage as you can possible be Alia. That was why I approached your betrothed about a possible marriage. You know I could have married you off to someone more wealthy and powerful long ago, when you were as young as twelve years old. The fact that I have waited until you were eighteen to give your hand has brought censure on my head from many in the village. None of that mattered in the light of you having a happy marriage. But you have to realize that happiness, true happiness, may not come in the form you expect it to. If you can find a man you can respect, a man who will cherish and provide for you, a man who loves children, has compassion on the poor, honors his mother, and above all, a man who loves and serves God sincerely and zealously...." He stopped pacing and looked at his daughter, tears clouding his vision once more. "find such a man, my precious girl, and I promise you, you will grow to love him deeper and truer than any passing affection you may form for a village boy with a handsome smile and pleasing manners and a shallow heart. Nothing matters but the heart. That is what you must remember as you enter this new stage of life. Will you try to do that for your old father?" He looked at the ceiling to try and regain his composure. Alia rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck, not caring what happened to her perfectly pressed wedding dress. Her voice thick with emotion, she said "I don't know what exactly you are trying to tell me Papa, but I trust you. I know you would not have chosen Markus had he not been that sort of man. I will do my best to be a good wife to him, if for no other reason than to be a good daughter to you." Here Eli stopped her. "No Alia, as much as it warms my heart to hear you say that, you mustn't bring that mindset into your marriage. Once the ceremony is complete today, you will be out from under my roof. I will miss you till my heart aches, I can't deny that. But your thoughts must from that point on be for your husband and him alone. A wife with half her heart and her mind still in her fathers house is a sore trial for a young husband.: Eli gently took his daughters face between his hands and looked at her with eyebrows raised. "Do you understand what I am saying, little one?" A quivering smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "Yes papa. I will do my best..... But I don't know how I could take my heart from you and give it to another. And I shall miss you so, so much...." She leaned her dark head on her fathers shoulder and he gently stroked her shining hair. His tremulous smile matched his daughter's as he said, "I know my Alia, I know. But someday soon you will not be able to imagine how you ever thought that, so firmly will your heart be planted in your new home. Now. I have delayed you long enough." He stepped back and eyed the daughter he was about to give away, and Alia thought she could still see worry on his face, a fact that troubled her. Eli cleared his throat. "Well, I think you look perfect, but I'm sure you'd like to touch up any thing your old father has rumpled." They both gave teary eyed smiles, then Eli turned to leave. But he stopped at her door and spoke without turning to look at her. "Just remember my precious girl, it's about the heart. Nothing else matters but what is in his heart, nothing." And with that he left, closing the door behind him. Alia took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Then she turned back to the mirror and made the final preparations to marry a man she had never seen.