Stromharad, Asendavia
1138 Hours, March 24th, 3761 AA (2024 AD)
Alex was waiting at the entrance to the palace as the car carrying Arvid pulled up. Watching his step, the stairs were still a bit slippery, he went to greet Arvid. Waving the chauffeur off, he opened the car door, and Arvid stepped out. Arvid Havlik, the fourth son of the Duke of Majula, stood a couple inches shorter than Alex and had dark brown hair compared to Alex’s own light blonde hair, but both of them sported dark red eyes, the hallmark of Asendavian high nobility. Though he’d been a priest for a few years now, he wore no priestly garments today, and was ostensibly only here for a friendly visit that would last a day or two.
“It’s good to see you in person Arvid, it’s been too long,” Alex held his hand out.
“It’s only been, what, five months?” Arvid stepped out of the car unassisted but clasped Alex’s hand in his and shook his hand.
“Give or take,” Alex began walking back up the steps to the palace. “The steps are still a bit slippery from yesterday’s rain, so watch your step.”
“Well noted,” Arvid followed close behind Alex. “When will I get to meet the bride?” he whispered.
“It’s possible we might see her while we’re walking through the halls, in which case I’ll try to discreetly point her out. If we don’t, you’ll just have to wait until later tonight. She already knows the time and which chapel,” Alex looked straight ahead as he talked and made sure he wasn’t being too loud. “Anyway, now that you’re here, wanna watch some baseball? It’s the preseason still, but it’s something. There’s also a few movies you’d probably like that we could see.”
“Baseball sounds fine, anyone interesting playing today?”
“Drangleic and Mirrah, that’d probably be a decent one to watch,” Alex opened the doors for Arvid and led him into the palace. “So, how’s Drahokamkulahmo been treating you?”
Arvid shrugged. “Well enough. Truth be told I’d have actually preferred a smaller city, but it’s not actually all that bad.”
“And how’s our beloved Kirsti doing? Still hot headed as ever?” The last time Alex saw Kirsti in person, maybe seven or eight months ago when he went to Drahokamkulahmo to visit Arvid, she had berated Alex for being single while also somehow managing to blame it on Arvid. When she wasn’t yelling at you, she was a rather lovely person.
“She’s doing fine,” Arvid smirked to himself. “Pregnant too, finally.”
Alex clapped him on the shoulder and shook him around a little bit. “Congratulations man, you’ll be a good father. Let’s hope it’s twins, or better yet, triplets.”
“Shit, don’t go saying that or it’ll actually happen. I can’t imagine how ailurines deal with that shit, given that’s basically normal for them, so I don’t even want to think of the possibility that it could be triplets. Twins I’d be fine with, actually, but that’d still be a fucking mess to deal with.”
The pair did not come across Aikka on their way to Alex’s suite.
Stromharad, Asendavia
0019 Hours, March 25th, 3761 AA (2024 AD)
Alex inspected himself in front of a mirror. He’d been in front of this mirror for at least half an hour, going over every tiny detail. He’d thought about slicking his hair back, but Aikka liked his hair how it was. He’d thought about shaving what little beard he had, but Aikka liked that too. The suit he was wearing he’d worn to Hjalmar’s wedding, a rather simple burgundy colored suit with a plain black tie. He thought it went rather well with his eyes, close in color but distinct enough. One, actually two, things he had with him that he hadn’t been able to bring to Hjalmar’s wedding were his shashka and kindjal, whose scabbards were attached to either side of him, the shashka on the left and the kindjal on the right.
He drew his shashka and inspected it closely. He’d never actually used it, so it was in rather decent condition. Compared to the scabbard it rested in, which was inlaid with gold in intricate designs, the hilt of his sword was much more plain, but still fair to look at. Real beauty, however, lay in his kindjal. The scabbard was beautifully ornamented with gold filigree and rubies embedded in it, and the hilt was made of pure ivory. Much like his shashka, he’d never actually used his kindjal either. He only ever wore the both of them for important occasions. Sheathing his shashka, he took one last look at himself in the mirror and then entered the main room of the chapel.
The chapel they were in was one of the smaller ones in the palace, and often went ignored by most of the people within it. Still, its few stained glass windows depicting key moments in the arrival of the Gliat Sheans to Asendavia were a sight to see and would’ve looked beautiful in the daylight. Arvid, who was sitting down waiting for him, stood up as he walked in.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look that good before,” Arvid commented, giving a mock bow.
“And I don’t think you’ll ever get the chance to see me look this good again,” Alex readjusted his tie slightly and looked Arvid in the eye. “You have the crowns ready?”
“I do indeed,” he crouched down and grabbed the crowns from behind the altar to show that they were there before he put them back again. “I’ve also got my mask with me,” Arvid grabbed a plainly ornamented mask from behind the altar to show it off to Alex. Much like the wedding crowns, Arvid’s mask was made from electrum, and though it was plainer in most regards, it still had its own rather unique flare. His mask bore the face of a dragon and had two onyxes where its eyes would be, with two small holes below that so he could actually see with the mask on.
“Taking inspiration from the Cryrians are we?” Alex raised an eyebrow, mask wearing was more a tradition of Cryrian Ademarist priests, something they’d gotten from the natives. “Though I don’t think their priests wear masks quite like that either.”
“You’re not wrong. I got the idea from the Cryrians, yes, but I put my own flair to it. Plus, dragons are holy creatures after all, so why not wear the face of one? It, uh, definitely gets a bit heavy though after a while, but I don’t wear it for every occasion either, only certain ones,” Arvid put the mask back with the crowns and stood up. “Is the bride ready to be consulted with?”
“Last I checked, yes. Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite, hard, at least,” he gave Arvid a pat on the back and pointed at a room next to the one Alex had come out.
“Please stop, I’d rather not imagine anything that I don’t want to,” Arvid walked up to the room and gave three quick knocks on the door.
“Enter,” Aikka called out.
He opened the door and closed it quickly behind him.
Like Alex had been earlier, Aikka was examining herself in the mirror, perfecting every last detail. She was brushing herself as Arvid came in, glancing at him as he stood at the door.
“So, you’re the friend that Alex has told me about,” she maintained a level tone as she spoke.
“And you’re the woman who stole his heart,” Arvid nodded.
“That’s a bit of a cliche way of putting it, but I suppose it’s not entirely inaccurate. He was the one to approach me first, though.”
“I’ll freely admit, I don’t really understand why he chose you. He could’ve had any else, but now he has to keep this hidden for God knows how long.”
“He says that the two of you have been friends since you were teenagers. Has he actually displayed any real interest in anyone before?”
“No,” Arvid admitted. “He only really put the bare minimum into all of his previous relationships, but he’d never expressed interest in non-humans before either.”
Aikka put down her brush and started reapplying her mascara. “He likes to say it was my eyes that drew him in. Whether or not that was the entirety of his reasoning I don’t know, but he does compliment my eyes a lot. I’m certainly not as endowed as many human women, so it wasn’t that. Maybe he sought to rebel against what society told him he must do. I’m just speculating. All I know and really care about is that he loves me, that’s all that matters to me. I don’t particularly care that we have to keep it secret, though it does make it inconvenient at times, and there are many things that I yearn to do with him that we simply can’t.”
Arvid watched her closely. “I don’t truly hold any ill will against you, just concerns.”
“Concerns that we all share, then. We both know what would happen if this were to get out, we’ve accepted the risks, and we’re prepared for the consequences if that does happen.”
Arvid left the safety of the door and walked closer. “I don’t doubt that you two will make a good couple.”
Aikka finally turned away from the mirror to focus on Arvid. “Thank you. Alex trusts you with this, so I shall place my trust in you as well. Besides, I was the one who asked him to marry me, so I’d be a shitty wife if I didn’t trust the priest he chose to conduct it.”
“Did you now?” Arvid was amused. That was something else he might be able to rib Alex about.
“I kind of put him on the spot while we were laying in bed. I’m not sure guilt tripping would be quite the right word to use, but I did something akin to that,” Aikka admitted. She got off the stool she was sitting on and stretched. “What kind of ceremony can I expect? I haven’t actually been to a wedding in ages and it was just my aunt and uncle getting married last time I went to one.”
“Well, royal weddings are decently different in procedure, but also since we’re really going off the books here, I’m kinda just winging it really and going with what feels right,” Arvid offered his hand out to Aikka. “If you’re ready, then we should probably get started”
Aikka graciously accepted his hand. “I’d rather not die an unmarried hag.”
Arvid chuckled softly and opened the door, leading her into the main room of the chapel. In silence, he led her to where Alex was standing beneath the altar and he took his own place behind the altar, bending down to grab and put on his mask first before beginning.
“Great Progenitor, bear witness over this humble ceremony and guide my hand in linking the Blood of Ademar to that of the Vahtaralja. Let Ademar bear witness to the marriage of his son.”
Arvid walked down from the altar with a bit of cloth in hand and bid the both of them to hold their partner’s hands. Once they had done so, he tied their hands together with the cloth and stepped back.
“Now that you are tied together, you have been inextricably linked to one another. You shall move as one until the ceremony is over,” Arvid went back to the altar and grabbed a pitcher of water, a small jar of honey, and a spoon. Coming back to them, he dipped the spoon into the jar. Already knowing what to expect, Alex opened his mouth, and Arvid slowly drizzled a bit of the honey into his mouth. Aikka opened her mouth next and he did likewise for her. Next, he took the pitcher of water and put it to Alex’s mouth, and then Aikka’s.
“Ademar, you who saw beyond the veil and glimpsed the workings of the world, bless us now, bless our past, bless our future. Until the sun and moon reunite, until east becomes west and north becomes south, until the world rejoins you, bless us.”
Arvid went over to Alex and drew his shashka from its sheath. He lightly tapped Alex’s head with the flat of it three times and turned and tapped Aikka’s head three times with the flat. Returning it to its sheath, he then drew Alex’s kindjal.
“I am going to have to prick some of your fingers,” he warned Aikka.
“Wait what?”
“Symbolic joining of your blood and all that. I’m gonna have to prick his fingers and my own as well, then I wipe it onto the cloth tying both your hands together, further symbolizing your union, y’know. If you’d like, I’ll just start by pricking my own. Glad I don’t have to do this sort of thing for every fucking wedding I preside over.”
Before Aikka had a chance to respond, Arvid was already drawing his own blood. He wiped the kindjal clean on the cloth joining them, and then he did the same for Alex, and did Aikka last, who hesitantly agreed. Finally he put the kindjal back in its sheath and walked back to the altar yet again to grab the wedding crowns. First he crowned Aikka, whose crown was encrusted with many small indigo tourmalines and white opals surrounding and spreading out from a central emerald. Alex’s crown, in comparison, was encrusted with fewer but larger gems, a trio of red diamonds flanked by an alternating pattern of demantoids and sapphires. Alex knelt to receive his.
“With the joining of your blood and your crowning, your own kingdom has been established. May the God-on-Urth let this kingdom reign forever and let Ademar be its guardian. You two can uh, dance for a bit now. Probably not for too long though, I just need to figure out what parts I’m going to skip over next,” Arvid pulled a piece of paper from a pocket and went and sat on a stool next to the altar, carefully reading it.
Alex sighed. “I’m going to have to get absolutely smashed with him tomorrow to make up for this.”
“It’s definitely been a bit odd so far, but it’s been… interesting too,” Aikka pressed her body close to Alex’s and the two started to dance around the small chapel.
“Believe me, he’s left out a bunch of stuff, both probably to make this go by quickly and because it’s just the three of us in here. Normally the jar of honey and the pitcher of water would’ve been shattered after he gave it to us, but that would’ve made a pretty big mess and a decent bit of noise, so yeah I can see why he didn’t do that. And the pricking of the fingers should’ve also included both sets of parents, he shortened a lot of the prayers, and he didn’t burn any incense over us. Still, I appreciate what he’s doing considering the circumstances.”
Alex and Aikka continued to dance for another ten minutes or so as Arvid looked over the paper and scratched his head. When he finally stood up from his stool, he cleared his throat and approached the couple. “So uh, I think that’s it actually. We can’t do half the shit that I’ve written down and I don’t think you two would want to hear me drone on with more prayers. Congrats on being married now,” he untied their hands and gave the cloth to Alex. “Make sure you keep that somewhere safe, sorry I couldn’t really do more for you.”
“It’s fine Arvid, you did enough. We’ll get blackout drunk tomorrow, I promise you that.”
“Alright, that sounds fair. I’ll let you two be now, I’m probably going to get a headstart on the drinking. You should probably take the crowns off now though and return them. Quickly,” Arvid took his mask off and gathered the things he brought with him before hurrying out of the chapel.
“Yeah he’s got a point, it would be extremely bad if these were to be found missing, so I’ll just go put them back right now,” Arvid took his crown off and tucked it under his arm, and he tucked Aikka’s crown under his other arm.
“I’ll just be waiting for you, then. In bed, “ she said teasingly and lifted her dress for him a bit before scampering out of the room, leaving Alex alone in the chapel.
He looked down at the crowns tucked under his arms. They’d been the ones his parents had worn on their wedding day. He wondered how they had felt.