Okay, if you are someone who likes action, this is not a chapter for you. I
advise you don't read it if you are not interested in the wedding. I always
have so much action that I really wanted a nice, calm, wedding chapter.
That's all that happens, seriously. If you're not interested, you're not
missing anything. This is a very romantic chapter. Not that there is actual
romance, but romantic notions. It makes sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
They laughed the night away, just like Kel had guessed they would. She went to bed happier than she had in a long time.
The next morning, Kel woke up extra early to do some training. She would be going back to the palace, and wanted to make sure her skills were up to par with the other knights. She also needed to get everything ready for her guests. Even with all that, she was packed and ready to go in time for breakfast.
Walking down to the front hall, she found Neal and Merric looking lost. "Dining room is this way, gentlemen." She laughed.
They grinned sheepishly and followed her.
"So, Kel. How does it feel to be engaged?" Merric asked.
Kel smiled. "Why did no one ask Neal that? He has been engaged for a long while!"
Merric shrugged. "That's because no one cares about Neal."
Kel laughed out loud. "So true. I guess it's nice. It's not really any different. Really it is just a title. Until we are actually married, it doesn't mean anything."
Merric rolled his eyes. "That was a really horrible answer."
Kel shrugged. "Ask Neal."
"Neal, same question."
Merric and Kel spent quite a while laughing at Neal's attempt at an answer. He tried to be poetic about it, but failed miserably. After breakfast, they loaded their packs onto their horses and set off. Kel rode in the middle of the party, as she had Mia in a basket in front of her, and they wanted to be careful of any possible bandit attacks.
Dom stayed with her, and when they had time, they jokingly talked about their wedding.
"I think Neal should get to do something." Kel said when he rode up.
"I agree," Dom nodded, "What do you say to flower girl, Meathead?"
Neal flipped his hair. "I've always wanted a pretty daisy crown."
* * * * *
After four days, they arrived at the palace. Kel took a deep breath as they entered. It had been almost three years since she'd been to Corus.
"Don't worry, Kel." Raoul whispered. "Alanna has quite a few children, and no one condemns her for it."
That did make Kel feel better, and she sat a little straighter.
"Welcome back, Lady Knight." Kel turned around as she was putting Peachblossom in his stall.
"Daine! Wonderful to see you again!" She gave her a hug.
Daine raised an eyebrow. "I see you are not alone." She said, glancing at Mia, who was sleeping in her basket at Peachblossom's feet.
Kel laughed. "Daine, this is Mia. I have much to tell all of you, but I don't want to repeat myself again. Come, lets find the others." Kel picked up Mia's basket and they set out to find Alanna, Yuki, Buri, Lalasa, and Thayet.
Kel sighed as she watched her friends fawn over Ma. It was nice to have other women around, so interested in these aspects of Kel's life.
Kel and Dom spent most of their free time planning the wedding. Their party, guests, location.
"I think I'd like to have it at home. How does that sound?"
Dom shrugged. "Sure, but what about the palace?"
They decided on Mindelan, having Lalasa make Kel's dress, and a very large and complicated wedding party. Neal was best man, that was easy. Kel's party, on the other hand, was much more complicated.
Yuki was her maid of honour, and Alanna, Buri, Thayet, Daine, and Lalasa were bridesmaids. Thayet had agreed to do it, although it was not common course for royalty to act in such a position, and it was certainly frowned upon for royalty to act in the same party as a commoner. Kel didn't care. Thayet seemed to understand that, and she also said that no one had ever asked her to be a bridesmaid, because they always felt she would be insulted.
"Actually, I would be flattered." She said.
Kel smiled. "Thank you so much. This makes life so much easier."
Kel's young nieces were flower girls, and her nephews were ring bearers.
"What about your sisters in law?" Dom asked.
Kel shrugged. "They always told me I would never get a husband. So they can be guests."
Dom smiled.
"What about your family? We've really only got Neal in our party."
It was Dom's turn to shrug. "Well, I don't have any other cousins or siblings, other than Neal. (A/N Neal doesn't have any siblings, does he?) My father and mother will be happy just being there, so I don't think there is anything else."
Kel kissed him. "Perfect."
They sent out invitations. But they did it differently than nobles normally did. They didn't send invitations to all the nobles in Tortall. They sent them to their friends. Everyone from servants to royalty, Tortallan to Yamani, Kel and Dom didn't care.
Finally, after months of preparation, the day finally came. Kel lay in her bed, trying to breathe. Mia was still asleep in the next room. She was almost one, her birthday was less than a month after the wedding. Kel tried to think about that instead of her wedding.
There was a knock on the door. Kel dragged herself out of bed and opened the door.
"Kel, it's eight o'clock. Your wedding starts in three hours." Yuki was standing there with her arms crossed, with the rest of the women doing the same behind her.
"So?"
They all sighed, and Yuki rolled her eyes. They walked into her room and pulling out face paints and hair pins.
Kel just shrugged and closed the door.
She was shooed into the bath tub, and ordered to bathe as fast as she could. When she emerged from the tub, she was pushed into a chair, where she sat for an hour and a half getting her face paint and hair done by Yuki and Lalasa, while Daine, Buri, Alanna, and Thayet looked on, laughing.
Finally, half an hour before her wedding was due to start, Kel was ready. Her bridesmaids were dressed and their face paint was done, and Mia was put in a dress.
Kel looked in the mirror at herself. Her face had small traces of green on her eyes, small flowers in her hair, and the dress, the dress was beautiful.
It was long and white, with a train in the back, a low neck, and small white beads sewn into flowers, climbing up towards the bosom.
"One more thing, Keladry." Ilane said, having just slipped in a moment earlier. "One more tradition."
"before the wedding, at least." Alanna added.
"Something old." Ilane held out her hand and dropped a small silver bracelet into Kel's palm. It had a small heart shaped pendant, and small pearls along the string. It was beautiful. "Your bracelet." Ilane smiled, and gave Kel a hug.
"Something new." Alanna said, handing her a box, which when Kel opened, it showed a small pair of silver drop earrings, a pearl at her ear, with a tear shaped silver piece hanging from it. "We had it specially made for you." She, too, gave Kel a hug.
"Something borrowed." Thayet stepped forward. Kel was quite surprised that she would be willing to lend her something. "One of the Tortallan jewels." She opened her hand, and gave Kel a necklace with a small pendant hanging from it. It was composed of two jewels, side by side in a tear dropped shape: emerald and sapphire. They shone brightly, the blue and the green, sitting at Kel's throat.
"Something blue." Daine said, adding, along with the blue flowers in her hair, a bright blue feather into the back. Buri also added another flower behind her ear.
Alanna tapped her foot. "Let's go! The wedding starts in fifteen minutes!"
Kel looked at the mirror one more time. "Now Kel, aren't you glad that you never got around to cutting your hair?" Yuki asked.
Kel smiled. It was true, her hair was below her shoulders now, and it looked beautiful, with the front bits pulled back, the feather stuck into where it was tied.
"Come on!" Alanna said impatiently, and they all rushed out of the room. Someone handed Kel a bouquet. Everything was happening so fast, she hadn't had time to be nervous since she had been sitting in bed.
She stood just outside the door to the ballroom. She was shaking slightly now, but her father held her arm, calming her down.
The doors opened. All the people around her were watching her. She looked straight forward, and could see Dom standing at the front. His blue eyes made contact with hers, and he smiled. Kel smiled too, and try as she might, she could not stop smiling.
Everything happened so fast. Before she knew it, Kel was married. All she heard of the entire ceremony was "You may kiss the bride." Dom smiled again. He leaned forward and kissed her. She felt her body melt in his arms, and she took in nothing around her. Not the clapping, the cheering, the crying, nor the laughter.
She moved back. She was still smiling, as was Dom. They walked down the aisle, arm in arm, towards the garden, where they were having the reception.
Kel felt Dom's hand. It was sweaty. "Calm down, Dom. I don't bite."
He laughed, and noticeably loosened up. Kel kissed him. "I love you, Dom."
He smiled. "I love you too, Lady Knight."
Hey got to the garden before anyone else, and sat down in two chairs to wait.
A few minutes later, the garden filled with people. It looked beautiful now, the flowers in bloom, people filling all the chairs.
Kel smiled. She could name every person there, which was exactly what she wanted.
"Well, Dom," Neal said, walking up to them, "You're officially old."
"What do you mean?" He demanded.
Neal laughed. "Who's the Meathead now?"
Kel laughed.
"Congratulations, Kel." Raoul gave her a hug. "I hope you'll still work for the crown." He looked to Dom. "And I know you will."
Dom grinned. "That was the point."
Kel spent the rest of the night greeting her friends and family, receiving wedding gifts, and introducing her daughter to everyone.
Finally, Ilane scooped up her young granddaughter and took her to her own rooms, and went to make sure all of the guests had beds.
Kel said goodnight to everyone, and she and Dom went back to their rooms. After Dom closed the door, Kel smiled. "Don't get too excited," she said, looking down at her great white gown, "this dress will take a substantial amount of time to get out of."
Dom grinned. "I'm allowed to help, right?"
Kel kissed him. "If you are any help at all, I should be ashamed to be married to you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that was the end of the story in my notebook, but I realized that that was a pretty crappy ending. So it will continue!
Imogenhm: Glad you liked it. and by the way: coolest name ever.
Vslibra: cheese is always, always good. It is so true. This chapter is full of it too!
Hogwarts, A History Girl: so happy you enjoyed it.
AJ 4EVA: again I say, glad you liked it.
Treanz-alyce: are you saying it is too cheesy? Are you dissing the cheese? You best not be dissing the cheese! I like cheese! And if you don't this chapter was even cheesier! Huzzah!
Mageletl: so true.
PsychoLioness13: of course! You are the perfect reader for this story!
-unolimbo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
They laughed the night away, just like Kel had guessed they would. She went to bed happier than she had in a long time.
The next morning, Kel woke up extra early to do some training. She would be going back to the palace, and wanted to make sure her skills were up to par with the other knights. She also needed to get everything ready for her guests. Even with all that, she was packed and ready to go in time for breakfast.
Walking down to the front hall, she found Neal and Merric looking lost. "Dining room is this way, gentlemen." She laughed.
They grinned sheepishly and followed her.
"So, Kel. How does it feel to be engaged?" Merric asked.
Kel smiled. "Why did no one ask Neal that? He has been engaged for a long while!"
Merric shrugged. "That's because no one cares about Neal."
Kel laughed out loud. "So true. I guess it's nice. It's not really any different. Really it is just a title. Until we are actually married, it doesn't mean anything."
Merric rolled his eyes. "That was a really horrible answer."
Kel shrugged. "Ask Neal."
"Neal, same question."
Merric and Kel spent quite a while laughing at Neal's attempt at an answer. He tried to be poetic about it, but failed miserably. After breakfast, they loaded their packs onto their horses and set off. Kel rode in the middle of the party, as she had Mia in a basket in front of her, and they wanted to be careful of any possible bandit attacks.
Dom stayed with her, and when they had time, they jokingly talked about their wedding.
"I think Neal should get to do something." Kel said when he rode up.
"I agree," Dom nodded, "What do you say to flower girl, Meathead?"
Neal flipped his hair. "I've always wanted a pretty daisy crown."
* * * * *
After four days, they arrived at the palace. Kel took a deep breath as they entered. It had been almost three years since she'd been to Corus.
"Don't worry, Kel." Raoul whispered. "Alanna has quite a few children, and no one condemns her for it."
That did make Kel feel better, and she sat a little straighter.
"Welcome back, Lady Knight." Kel turned around as she was putting Peachblossom in his stall.
"Daine! Wonderful to see you again!" She gave her a hug.
Daine raised an eyebrow. "I see you are not alone." She said, glancing at Mia, who was sleeping in her basket at Peachblossom's feet.
Kel laughed. "Daine, this is Mia. I have much to tell all of you, but I don't want to repeat myself again. Come, lets find the others." Kel picked up Mia's basket and they set out to find Alanna, Yuki, Buri, Lalasa, and Thayet.
Kel sighed as she watched her friends fawn over Ma. It was nice to have other women around, so interested in these aspects of Kel's life.
Kel and Dom spent most of their free time planning the wedding. Their party, guests, location.
"I think I'd like to have it at home. How does that sound?"
Dom shrugged. "Sure, but what about the palace?"
They decided on Mindelan, having Lalasa make Kel's dress, and a very large and complicated wedding party. Neal was best man, that was easy. Kel's party, on the other hand, was much more complicated.
Yuki was her maid of honour, and Alanna, Buri, Thayet, Daine, and Lalasa were bridesmaids. Thayet had agreed to do it, although it was not common course for royalty to act in such a position, and it was certainly frowned upon for royalty to act in the same party as a commoner. Kel didn't care. Thayet seemed to understand that, and she also said that no one had ever asked her to be a bridesmaid, because they always felt she would be insulted.
"Actually, I would be flattered." She said.
Kel smiled. "Thank you so much. This makes life so much easier."
Kel's young nieces were flower girls, and her nephews were ring bearers.
"What about your sisters in law?" Dom asked.
Kel shrugged. "They always told me I would never get a husband. So they can be guests."
Dom smiled.
"What about your family? We've really only got Neal in our party."
It was Dom's turn to shrug. "Well, I don't have any other cousins or siblings, other than Neal. (A/N Neal doesn't have any siblings, does he?) My father and mother will be happy just being there, so I don't think there is anything else."
Kel kissed him. "Perfect."
They sent out invitations. But they did it differently than nobles normally did. They didn't send invitations to all the nobles in Tortall. They sent them to their friends. Everyone from servants to royalty, Tortallan to Yamani, Kel and Dom didn't care.
Finally, after months of preparation, the day finally came. Kel lay in her bed, trying to breathe. Mia was still asleep in the next room. She was almost one, her birthday was less than a month after the wedding. Kel tried to think about that instead of her wedding.
There was a knock on the door. Kel dragged herself out of bed and opened the door.
"Kel, it's eight o'clock. Your wedding starts in three hours." Yuki was standing there with her arms crossed, with the rest of the women doing the same behind her.
"So?"
They all sighed, and Yuki rolled her eyes. They walked into her room and pulling out face paints and hair pins.
Kel just shrugged and closed the door.
She was shooed into the bath tub, and ordered to bathe as fast as she could. When she emerged from the tub, she was pushed into a chair, where she sat for an hour and a half getting her face paint and hair done by Yuki and Lalasa, while Daine, Buri, Alanna, and Thayet looked on, laughing.
Finally, half an hour before her wedding was due to start, Kel was ready. Her bridesmaids were dressed and their face paint was done, and Mia was put in a dress.
Kel looked in the mirror at herself. Her face had small traces of green on her eyes, small flowers in her hair, and the dress, the dress was beautiful.
It was long and white, with a train in the back, a low neck, and small white beads sewn into flowers, climbing up towards the bosom.
"One more thing, Keladry." Ilane said, having just slipped in a moment earlier. "One more tradition."
"before the wedding, at least." Alanna added.
"Something old." Ilane held out her hand and dropped a small silver bracelet into Kel's palm. It had a small heart shaped pendant, and small pearls along the string. It was beautiful. "Your bracelet." Ilane smiled, and gave Kel a hug.
"Something new." Alanna said, handing her a box, which when Kel opened, it showed a small pair of silver drop earrings, a pearl at her ear, with a tear shaped silver piece hanging from it. "We had it specially made for you." She, too, gave Kel a hug.
"Something borrowed." Thayet stepped forward. Kel was quite surprised that she would be willing to lend her something. "One of the Tortallan jewels." She opened her hand, and gave Kel a necklace with a small pendant hanging from it. It was composed of two jewels, side by side in a tear dropped shape: emerald and sapphire. They shone brightly, the blue and the green, sitting at Kel's throat.
"Something blue." Daine said, adding, along with the blue flowers in her hair, a bright blue feather into the back. Buri also added another flower behind her ear.
Alanna tapped her foot. "Let's go! The wedding starts in fifteen minutes!"
Kel looked at the mirror one more time. "Now Kel, aren't you glad that you never got around to cutting your hair?" Yuki asked.
Kel smiled. It was true, her hair was below her shoulders now, and it looked beautiful, with the front bits pulled back, the feather stuck into where it was tied.
"Come on!" Alanna said impatiently, and they all rushed out of the room. Someone handed Kel a bouquet. Everything was happening so fast, she hadn't had time to be nervous since she had been sitting in bed.
She stood just outside the door to the ballroom. She was shaking slightly now, but her father held her arm, calming her down.
The doors opened. All the people around her were watching her. She looked straight forward, and could see Dom standing at the front. His blue eyes made contact with hers, and he smiled. Kel smiled too, and try as she might, she could not stop smiling.
Everything happened so fast. Before she knew it, Kel was married. All she heard of the entire ceremony was "You may kiss the bride." Dom smiled again. He leaned forward and kissed her. She felt her body melt in his arms, and she took in nothing around her. Not the clapping, the cheering, the crying, nor the laughter.
She moved back. She was still smiling, as was Dom. They walked down the aisle, arm in arm, towards the garden, where they were having the reception.
Kel felt Dom's hand. It was sweaty. "Calm down, Dom. I don't bite."
He laughed, and noticeably loosened up. Kel kissed him. "I love you, Dom."
He smiled. "I love you too, Lady Knight."
Hey got to the garden before anyone else, and sat down in two chairs to wait.
A few minutes later, the garden filled with people. It looked beautiful now, the flowers in bloom, people filling all the chairs.
Kel smiled. She could name every person there, which was exactly what she wanted.
"Well, Dom," Neal said, walking up to them, "You're officially old."
"What do you mean?" He demanded.
Neal laughed. "Who's the Meathead now?"
Kel laughed.
"Congratulations, Kel." Raoul gave her a hug. "I hope you'll still work for the crown." He looked to Dom. "And I know you will."
Dom grinned. "That was the point."
Kel spent the rest of the night greeting her friends and family, receiving wedding gifts, and introducing her daughter to everyone.
Finally, Ilane scooped up her young granddaughter and took her to her own rooms, and went to make sure all of the guests had beds.
Kel said goodnight to everyone, and she and Dom went back to their rooms. After Dom closed the door, Kel smiled. "Don't get too excited," she said, looking down at her great white gown, "this dress will take a substantial amount of time to get out of."
Dom grinned. "I'm allowed to help, right?"
Kel kissed him. "If you are any help at all, I should be ashamed to be married to you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that was the end of the story in my notebook, but I realized that that was a pretty crappy ending. So it will continue!
Imogenhm: Glad you liked it. and by the way: coolest name ever.
Vslibra: cheese is always, always good. It is so true. This chapter is full of it too!
Hogwarts, A History Girl: so happy you enjoyed it.
AJ 4EVA: again I say, glad you liked it.
Treanz-alyce: are you saying it is too cheesy? Are you dissing the cheese? You best not be dissing the cheese! I like cheese! And if you don't this chapter was even cheesier! Huzzah!
Mageletl: so true.
PsychoLioness13: of course! You are the perfect reader for this story!
-unolimbo