Their wedding was held the next day. While the people supported the match with as much excitement as if it was a royal wedding, they likewise mourned, with mounting desperation, that His Majesty was once again distancing himself from the only girl he had ever been close to, even if it had been for only a few scant months. But never mind about them. The squires, all the knights from the 18th platoon, Fie’s various acquaintances, and Queen’s relatives all showed up to watch what turned out to be quite a lovely ceremony.
Fie wore a lovely white wedding dress, one from the many she had tried on earlier. Queen’s nervousness showed on his face, but he cleaned up well enough for the ceremony.
“You look gorgeous, Fie!” Fielle gushed.
“I still don’t approve of this...” muttered Lynette as she took her seat with a stubborn scowl on her face.
Queen and Fie exchanged rings amid hearty applause. Fie wore a bandage tied around her right wrist. Queen gave it a worried look, but Fie only giggled. With nervous fingers, Queen took Fie’s left hand and slid the wedding ring onto her finger.
“You may now kiss the bride,” said the officiant.
Their faces met in front of the audience, and the crowd let out an enormous cheer.
The ceremony was followed by a fantastic reception, and then the castle once more fell silent. Zorace continued his work, as industrious as ever, when he heard a knock on the door of his office.
“Who is it?” he called.
“Me, Lord Uncle.”
Zorace jolted in surprise when he heard Roy’s voice from the other side of the door. The door opened, and Roy walked in with a bottle of wine clutched in his arms.
“Will you share a drink with me?” he asked.
Zorace immediately made to refuse—a king simply did not drink with his subjects—before he felt a sudden change of heart and stopped himself. Roy took his silence as acceptance and, setting the bottle and a pair of glasses down on the table, took a seat across from Zorace. Zorace let out a small sigh but nevertheless moved his papers out of the way.
“Shall I serve?” he offered.
“No, let me.”
Roy poured a glass for each of them, and they clinked their glasses together.
“It was a lovely wedding,” Zorace said. Then, he frowned and added, “Although I do wish the girl had stayed as queen.”
Roy chuckled. “You’re going to oppose this decision until the end, aren’t you?” Zorace had, after all, been the most persistent of those unwilling to let Fie give up her post. It had taken a combination of Roy’s wheedling and Fie’s begging to break him.
This, Zorace realized, was his first time ever sharing a drink with his nephew as family. The conversation paused as he slowly carried the glass to his lips.
Then, he whispered, “Why did you never ask me how I came to know the information about the duke?” He felt he could ignore the issue no longer. “Shouldn’t all traitors be punished so that our kingdom can have a better future?” Zorace had been prepared for the other shoe to drop since the moment he passed over the information; to turn the papers in was to implicitly confess his actions to the king.
However, Roy only took another sip and said, “I permitted it because you did it as my ally.” The words, I knew what you intended went unspoken between them. Come to think of it, Roy pondered, he had always been too conscious of his position as a king (that, and the wall of formality Zorace built in between them) to speak his mind this frankly.
Zorace met Roy’s admission with silence. Then, he switched tracks and said, “Frankly speaking, I regret my decision. I rather think we’ve let the finest young woman I’ve ever met slip through our fingers.”
Roy was momentarily taken aback, but as the meaning registered, he broke out into a smile.
“You’re right,” he said. “I think you’re absolutely right. She’ll be a tough act to follow.” He gave his uncle a triumphant grin that had never shown anyone else before.
“Am I not always telling you? You must be kinder to women. If you don’t make it a habit, then you’re liable to wind up in situations like this.”
“Yes, my lord uncle. You are absolutely correct. If it hadn’t been for that, I would never have lost the opportunity to marry such an incredible, once in a lifetime woman, and I wouldn’t be drowning my sorrows in this.” He indicated his glass with a grin. “From now on, I will resolve to treat all women more kindly.”
“You’d do well to remember that promise,” Zorace advised.
Roy nodded. “And you’d best keep a close eye on me, uncle, for I am still your immature and inexperienced nephew. Please continue to lend me your guidance.”
Zorace smiled back—not as a subject smiles before his king, but as a man smiles to his own family.
“You leave me no choice,” he said. “Very well. These weary old bones shall have to keep going just a little longer.”