The Royal Wedding III

"You look beautiful!" Aurora dabbed at the continually falling tears from her eyes. Mairwen's attendants--which included her lady-in-waiting Allyson, Brinn and Renat's two oldest sisters--oohed and aahed over the loveliness of the bride.

To offset all the purple of the ceremony, Mairwen had chosen a gown of purest gold with a sleek, lustrous sash. The bottom of the voluminous skirt was stitched intricately with small honey-colored diamonds, topaz and garnets to shimmer like the sun. The bodice of the gown began with a heart-shaped neckline, and cinched tightly at the waist so the yellow satin sash could accentuate her narrow waist. It was also encrusted with gems, even across the small capped sleeve.

"The dress is a work of art," the princess conceded after hearing her mother's compliment. She spun around, sending a shower of flickering lights bouncing around the room as the gems reflected and refracted the window's sunbeams. She touched her dark hair, which was half in a bun with the rest of her locks cascading around her shoulders in undulating waves.

Atop her head, a small golden circlet sat proudly with an intertwining pattern of snowflakes, flowers, and leaves. At the front, it dipped down to form a sun. From the lowest ray, a single crystal hung on the princess's forehead, suspended.

"The dress is nothing in comparison to its wearer, and I know Renat will feel the same." Aurora stepped up next to Mairwen and looked at her through the full-length mirrors. "I am so happy for you."

Aurora's own dress was a powder blue with stunning silver gems along the sheer sleeves and hem. Her hair was braided in a coronet such that the shades of red, yellow and orange mixed in with the darker strands to create a beautiful crown below the coronet on her head. Although not as stunning as the bride, the Empress was still as vision.

"Is everybody decent?" a voice came from the door. Renat's sisters giggled as the Emperor entered while shielding his eyes.

"You are safe, my love. We are all dressed and ready to go." the Empress called out. She walked over to him and lowered his hand, where he immediately stole a kiss. "You will mess up my make-up!" she scolded as she blushed.

"Can one mess up perfection itself?" Devrim countered as he captured another quick kiss. His eyes turned to the bride. "How fortunate am I to have two examples of such perfection in my family! The Maker has blessed me greatly." The grey-eyed man kissed his daughter on the cheek.

A servant came shortly behind the Emperor and bowed. "Everyone has been introduced and the audience is in place."

"Thank you," Aurora dismissed the woman. "I will go on ahead and get in place. Ladies, let us give the Emperor and Princess a moment." The Empress took the four attendants with her as the servants also cleared the room.

"You are a diamond in human form, beautiful inside and out." Devrim took the hand of his daughter and led her from the room and down the corridor. "I remember when I first saw you as a baby. You looked up at me with those clear blue eyes, and I knew you were special. It seems like just yesterday."

Mairwen smiled, fighting back tears. "Thank you for everything. I could not have asked for a better father."

"Through everything I wanted to keep you safe. I would have laid down my life without a second thought. Even now..."

They now walked arm in arm as they turned a corner. "Father?" Mairwen's brow furrowed.

"Even now I would do anything to protect you should you need it."

"Father!" the princess stopped the man who was beginning to ramble. "I think we took a wrong turn. The ceremony is that way," she pointed.

Devrim laughed nervously. "Is it? Ha, I must have gotten turned around while I was reminiscing. Or perhaps I really just wanted you to know that should you need to escape, there's a door right there to the outside and a horse ready to take you anywhere you need to go. I will smooth everything over. You do not have to go through with anything just because we have gone to all this trouble."

"I love Renat, and I have never wanted anything more than I want to marry him today." The princess arched her brow until she saw her father relax.

"Good," the Emperor said solemnly. "You cannot blame me for wanting to make sure." He turned them back on a path toward the ceremony. "I love you, my daughter."

"I love you too. Tell me, was there really a horse on the other side of that door?" Mairwen tilted her head curiously to one side.

The Emperor winked. "What do you think?"

The girl batted her eyelashes in response. "I think you are making a secret signal behind your back to a servant to remove the horse before people start to ask too many questions."

Devrim's eyes grew wide. "Too smart for your own good," he laughed. "I always knew you had a good head on your shoulders. I do not envy Renat. He will never get away with anything!"

------------------------

The suite of rooms for the groom contained Renat, his attendants and the servants dressing them. Because the scientist had gone out to greet his family and wrinkled his clothes, they had to be removed, pressed and donned once again. If he had known the royal dresser was so fussy, he would not have put on the clothes in the first place.

Now he looked at himself in the mirror. His long silver tunic was fitted with long sleeves that puffed down to the cuff and split at regular intervals to reveal a dark purple fabric below.

His legs were clad in fabric of the same deep amethyst as the slits running down his arms. His hair, which was cut short and curled slightly, held a silver princely crown that was given to him just for this occasion. All in all, he cut quite the dashing figure.

On either side of him, his four groomsmen were split into two pairs as they waited to take their places.

The two attendants who were scholars were passionately discussing the merits of using the explosive power from Renat's burst balls to project objects in a given direction. They were slowly coming to the conclusion that they would just have to experiment once their colleague was available after his honeymoon. The conversation to get there, however, had become laborious as each man needed to argue his point. Renat had spent many hours debating with these men. They were good friends, but he was not sad to be left out of this conversation.

The other two attendants were his brother Amaki and Prince Alvar. As the primary attendant needed to be royalty, and Alaron was unable to fill the position, Alvar was the obvious choice for Best Elf. The elven prince had risked his life to sneak the young man out of the palace during the gnomic occupation and his wife, Brinn was Mairwen's Matron of Honor.

These two male attendants sat across from each other at a small table. They were entertaining themselves in quite a different manner. With fists interlaced, they struggled against the other's strength to smash their opponent's hand onto the table.

Unlike Renat, Amaki was much broader shouldered and had the natural strength that came with it. However, even with all the man's pull, it was clear that the he-elf was just toying with him. Alvar kept waiting a respectable amount of time before slamming his hand forward in victory.

"That's six to zero," Alvar announced. "Do you concede?"

Amaki shook out his hand to ease the tension in it. "Never! Just give me a moment."

The elf shook his head. "Much more of this and my hand may actually start getting a cramp. Then my wife will know what I have been up to. You already owe me more than you can possibly pay. Give up now and we will forget the whole thing."

"If you two are going to gamble on my wedding day, at least have the decency to be more covert." The groom rolled his eyes.

"Whatever was gained surely would have been donated as a a wedding gift," Alvar assured him. "But you are right; we should be more supportive."

The elven prince stood and placed a hand on the groom's shoulder, "As the only married man here, I feel I should give you some advice about what you are going to experience here shortly…"

The room went deathly quiet. Renat tried to squirm out of his grasp, only to experience first hand the strength that Amaki had just fighting against while arm wrestling. "We don't need to have this conversation," the groom pleaded. "I believe what I don't know should remain a mystery for now…"

"No, you need to be educated," Alvar insisted, tightening his grip. There was no escape. "First things first. Marriage is a wonderful thing. After all, you only get one wife: treasure her. And tonight you must remember one thing..."

"Please don't..."

Alvar pinched the man's chin in his free hand. "No, no you need to hear this. Tonight, when everything goes quiet, and it is just the two of you together and you are getting ready to go to bed... whatever you do, don't use her hairbrush..."

Renat stared at him blankly. "Excuse me?"

Alvar nodded gravely. "If it belonged to her before your marriage, especially things involving hygiene, never--and I mean never--touch them. I nearly lost my head when Brinn claimed I messed up the bristles of her most-beloved brush."

"Oh," the scientist relaxed, and the energy came back into the room. "I will keep that in mind. Thank you."

"You seem very jumpy," the elf released the man from the vice-like grip. "You nervous?"

"No, I just thought you were going to give me...different advice."

Alvar smiled mischievously. "Oh I can do that too. The secret to a successful honeymoon is..."

The door swung wide and the herald from the ceremony bowed. "Everyone is prepared, and the moment has come. If you are ready, it is time to take your places."

"Thank the Fates!" Renat exclaimed, catching himself too late. He smoothed his tunic and straightened his back. "I mean, thank you. Please lead the way."