|
A Summer Bride
Actually, cleaning up the wreckage hadn't been that difficult. There were plenty of otherwise useless mages and the like just lounging around the town half the time anyway. Working together in a manner Sandrylene chose, they cleared up the streets, buried the dead, and got a new boat out of the whole ordeal. There still remained the question of what to do with the pirates that remained, since there were an awful lot of them, but everyone mostly agreed they could be dealt with after the wedding and the ship had been properly searched.
The morning of the wedding was a warm one, and there were plenty of loud birds of all types - gulls, mostly, though. There was a depressing shortage of songbirds on the island, something Xylon had privately sworn to rectify eventually. But it was a warm morning, which meant it would be a hot day. There would be a thunderstorm later in the day; the people had gotten used to that fact of life on the islands. Mountains, invariably, meant rain, and there was a mountain on each of the islands.
Kip and Delinet had both agreed to help the others' bondmate get ready for the wedding, to make sure they got their final words in before they were all irreparably family. Kip spent his time with Tren prattling off a list of apologies for all the times he tried to kill the prince. It was a long list. It took up most of the morning. The rest of the time, Kip offered fashion advice and told Tren to *Braid your hair, dammit. You're getting married. At least try to look presentable.*
Delinet, meanwhile, had a very very intensive dressing ritual all plotted out for Annabel. They went up to the freshwater springs and washed the bride-to-be thoroughly. Her reasoning was actually very close to Kip's. *You're getting married! You should look and smell your best!*
After washing, which Annabel argued that she could have done in her own home, since hers was one of the houses with indoor plumbing, Delinet made certain that Annabel didn't get an inch of her dirty while marching her back to her house. There, Marina sewed her into her wedding dress. That was a strange experiance to be certain.
Annabel, however, was soon very close to finished. And Delinet told her she had to stay where she was for just a little while longer while the clarus dragon ran out for an errand. So Annabel waited, her feet in soft black shoes, her ears being assaulted by the chatter of Marina on how happy she must be this day!
And then, to her surprise, Kip rescued her. Sort of. He had slunk into the house through his tunnel in the basement, which Annabel thought seriously about closing up this time. But she soon forgot all about that when he told her *You've only got about an hour left of being a single woman. How do you want to spend it?*
Annabel blinked. "I... Really can't think of -- By the Gates! Is the cake all right!?"
Kip rolled his eyes. *Cake's fine, Nabel. I just came to tell you if you were having second thoughts, now's the time to run away and never look back.*
Annabel rose imperiously to her feet. "Thanks Kipfel. I wasn't having second thoughts until you mentioned that."
"Don't worry, Annabel!" Marina trilled. "It's going to be a wonderful day to start a wonderful life!"
Annabel thought for a moment that she was certain she could see hearts floating away from Marina's head.
Just then, the door opened, and Delinet returned in her human form. "Oh bother!" she said, seeing Kip there. "Go away and let us girls handle this end!"
Kip stuck his nose in the air and retreated to the pantry. *You got an hour, girls,* he told them as he wriggled into his tunnels.
Delinet sighed and arranged a bouquet of wildflowers before tying them together with a white ribbon. "I think we're all set now!" she said cheerily.
"Wait!" Marina said, couting out change in her hand.
"Bother," Annabel sighed. "What now?"
Marina giggled girlishly. "Something old," she said pointing to the main body of Annabel's dress. "Something new," she said, pointing to the lacework. "Something borrowed," was the choker from Kip. "Something blue," was the whole ruddy ensamble.
"Yes? And?" Annabel asked, trying to sound patient.
"And lucky six-pence in her shoe!" Delinet and Marina both exclaimed excitedly.
Annabel blinked. "You want to put loose change in my shoe?"
They nodded with manic grins.
"Put it in your own shoe, will you?" Annabel replied. "I am not walking on sixpence."
***
Actually, Annabel wound up walking not on sixpence, but on twelvepence, since Marina and Delinet couldn't agree which shoe it belonged in. The hour had passed in their argument, and Annabel got her shoes back with much relief. Meanwhile, all around the city, a big holiday was being held, since it was, after all, their first wedding. There was even a little parade, which simply humiliated Annabel beyond words.
"I don't even get a say in how private my own wedding is going to be," she muttered as Delinet and Marina helped her into a carriage to carry her to the make-shift chapel.
"Serves you right for getting married first," Delinet giggled as she waved her off and took to the air to beat her there.
The parade was of a ridiculous length in Annabel's opinion. And she was somehow in the very back end of it, in a carriage, drawn by six white horses that she swore she had sent back to the Godly Emperor. Still, she couldn't complain too much, since everyone stopped what they were doing to watch her go by. They'd all show up for the after-party, even if they didn't attend the official ceremony.
As the carriage drew near, she felt markedly nervous, and her hands grabbed a little too tightly at the bouquet in her lap. There were a good deal of pews, most of which were made by Xylon, Havelock, and Egil, as well as other, lesserknown woodcraftsmen. The pews were filled with people, and there was a table at the end of a red carpet, on which were the markers of some crazy religious rituals.
Sandrylene stood in a dark purple sundress in front of the table on a platform. Tren stood to her left. Kip sat patiently by Tren's feet, the rings tied to his horns. Annabel wondered who had convinced him to partake in something so disgustingly cute when she saw Löwenherzchen playfully batting at one of them.
"Well," she said as Delinet walked to her place next to Astrid on Sandry's right. "Here goes nothing."
The carriage stopped, and Tor and Ira took to a bugling version of what Tor swore was a wedding march. To Annabel, it sounded more like a funeral procession, but everyone else liked it, so she decided she could bear it.
She stepped out of the carriage, and everyone rose to their feet and turned toward her. Ira had told her the best way to walk down the aisle was step-together-step, no matter how much she might want to bolt-and-run. It was more, what was the word? Couth. That was it. It was more couth to do step-together-step.
So, she took a deep breath, drew her head up high, and smiled. Step. Together. Step. Together. Step. Together. Step.
In that manner, she made her way down the aisle, towards the people who mattered the most to her. Tren, Kip, Astrid, Löwen, Del, and Sandry.
She felt the eyes of the attendance watching her, boring into her, as she walked slowly, demurely, towards her future with the man she loved and who loved her. Her heart was pounding in the heat, trying to break out of the dress she'd been bloody sewn into. She could make it. Just to the end of the aisle. But the aisle seemed to go on forever, just like that bloody song.
And then she was there, holding a bouquet of wildflowers, and standing next to Tren, smiling because if she stopped, she'd start crying, and she couldn't think of a reason she ought to be allowed to do that.
It is kind of scary, though, she admitted to herself as Sandrylene smiled at her and took a deep breath. Sandry's even nervous, and she hardly ever gets that way. She looked over at Tren, who was staring fixedly at a tree over Annabel's head. And whatever that is, it can't be a good sign, she decided. So I'm not alone in this feeling. Okay. Then I can do this.
"Friends," Sandrylene said gently, using her strong and clear voice to address the assembled people and bondmates. "I welcome you all here as friends. Because in realizing that two people love each other, it must also be realized that they are indeed the deepest and closest of friends among us. And so on this day, I ask that all of us take it upon ourselves to take the example of these two brave souls, and love and befriend those whom we would otherwise drive out of our lives. For friendship, like love, is not something so easily tossed aside. And on this, the happiest of summer days, Annabel and Tren have both decided to embrace that friendship and that love, and share it with each of us, their friends and family."
Sandry then smiled at the couple. "I would like to personally thank you both for taking the bold step of being the first among us to marry on the islands. Is there anything either of you would like to say to each other?"
Tren nodded then. "Annabel, I loved you from the day I first saw you. And even though we haven't always agreed, and even though Kip or Del haven't always agreed with our choices, we've persevered. And I can only hope that we continue to do so until we hit that ripe old age at which time we return to the water, the earth, and the air."
Annabel fought to keep her smile up. "I want to let you know, Tren, that I am standing here, feeling ridiculous, because I can't think of any other way to prove I love you. And I'm going to keep on loving you, no matter how ridiculous it makes me feel."
Sandrylene laughed. "Alright, then. Since it's so important to both of your bondmates, I want to ask them. Kip. Are you all finished trying to drive Annabel and Tren apart?"
Kip started to scoff, but Löwen glared down at him. He saved it by sounding like he was trying to clear his throat. *I am.*
"Good. And Delinet, are you finished trying to drive the two of them apart?"
"Oh, sure! I've been finished that for weeks!"
Tren privately rolled his eyes to Annabel, who tried very hard not to laugh out loud.
"Very well then," Sandrylene said before Delinet could continue telling the crowd how well-behaved she'd been. Sandry turned to the assembled people. "If there are any among you who would protest the union of these two lovers, please speak now, or forever hold your peace!"
No one said a thing. And it was better for that, since Del and Kip probably would have gotten a bit angry if someone had.
"Very well then," Sandry said. "If I may have the bouquet, please."
Annabel handed Sandry the bouquet. Sandry untied the ribbon, and the flowers fell to the floor. "Your right hand, please, Annabel." Annabel presented her right hand and Sandry wound the ribbon once around it. "And your left, please, Tren." Tren placed his left hand on top of Annabel's right.
Sandry wound the two together with the length of the ribbon while saying, "The flowers are a symbol of youth and innocence, both of which are lost gradually over time and completely by the time a woman is wed. By taking hands, you secure your futures in each other. By fastening your hands with this chord, you are shown the unbreakable bond which now holds you to one another forever."
Sandry turned to Kip. "The rings, please."
Kip stepped forwards, Löwen still on his head, admiring the rings. Sandry pulled them free of the cords holding them to Kip's horns, and he stepped back into place.
"These rings are symbols that you give to one another will serve as a constant reminder that you two are of one heart. Tren, take this ring."
She handed the smaller of the rings to Tren. He took it and held it above Annabel's ring finger.
"Repeat after me, Tren. I, Tren Ipsii Galdro III, heir to the kingdom of Marea."
Tren turned to Annabel and repeated the words as Sandry prompted him.
"Do take you, Annabel Lee Harvey Oswald, to be my wife, my safe harbor, and my good friend, in sickness, health, poverty, wealth, and all other shades of human condition from now until death do us part." He slid the ring down onto Annabel's bound hand.
"Annabel, take this ring and repeat after me." Sandry handed Annabel the larger of the rings. "I, Annabel Lee Harvey Oswald, daughter of Tirival Hend, son of World."
Annabel repeated Sandry's words as she held the larger ring over Tren's ring finger.
"Do take you, Tren Ipsii Galdro III, to be my husband, my steady captain, my most trusted confidant, in sickness, health, poverty, wealth, and all other shades of human condition, from now until death do us part." She slid her ring down onto Tren's bound hand.
"With these rings in place, I now pronounce you two wed." Sandry pulled the ribbon free of their hands and laid it on the table behind her. From there, she took a glass, newly made for the occasion, and covered it with a white cloth. "Tren, I believe you know what to do."
Tren and Annabel then shared their first kiss as a Mister and Missus. It was short and sweet and shy, nothing earthshattering or lusty. And when they broke away, Tren crushed the glass under the cloth with his foot, symbolically breaking the past to start the future with a clean slate. He then took Annabel by the hand and they ran through a shower of flowers and petals to the carriage, which was driven by Aki.
Laughingly, they fell into the seat, and Aki snapped the reigns to drive the horses off. There, they shared a proper kiss and laughed more. At length Aki brought them around to the other side of town to allow the others time to set up for the after-party.
While they were trotting along, Annabel leaned her head on Tren's shoulder and sighed. "I do feel right ridiculous," she said cheerfully.
"I never doubted you for a moment. But I feel pretty silly myself."
"You look like a blooming peacock dipped in white paint."
Tren laughed. It was true. He was dressed all in white with crazy blue chords and gold chords and crazy fringes and the like. "Aki tells me this is ceremonial marriage wear for the Marean royal family."
"And he makes it look good!" Aki piped up.
"This is good?" Annabel asked with a laugh.
"Play nice, Nabel," Aki said cheerfully. "That's your husband you're talking about."
"And what a wonderful husband he already is," Annabel whispered to Tren and kissed him on the cheek.
Tren smiled down at her and ran his fingers through her tight red curls.
Aki kept them busy on a sort of touring parade to let everyone in the city know the ceremony was over and the celebration could begin for a good hour or two. Then, he brought them back towards where the pavillion was. It had grown small compared to the size of the city, but it was the easiest place to prepare the foods.
Kip and Delinet and Löwenherzchen were all there to greet them. Aki dropped off the newlyweds and drove off with the horses. The dragons exchanged a knowing grin.
*We've been waiting for you,* Kip said in a tone that was remarkably personable.
*Yes. We can't properly party without the guests of honor! Come on!* Delinet said, fluttering into the air.
Löwenherzchen cut a caper in the air and ran off down the path from the pavilion to the Celebration Glade, which is the same place they had Thanksgiving that spring. The dragons followed, and Tren and Annabel followed after them.
When they arrived in the Glade, there was much rejoicing. There was more food eaten than even at Thanksgiving it seemed. Of course, there were more people now compared to then. And they all had a wonderful time, and they all put aside their differences finally. And no one tried to kill each other.
At least not for the rest of the month.
| 