Avoiding War // Vol. 1

Chapter 5: To-Be-Crowned

On the morning of the third day of their wedding ceremony, Nightmare had dressed himself in his best suit, knowing that he'd be returning home that day and that he had to be presentable for the masses that would be surrounding and inside his parents palace for his and Fredbear's coronation. Fixing his bow, the dark-furred prince looked to his fiancé. He was wondering if he should wake him up or let him sleep in.
Fredbear was asleep on the soft bed when Nightmare came into the room, the young prince having barely slept at all the night before. The moment Nightmare entered the room, Fredbear's eyes opened and the young man yawned deeply, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes as he did for a moment. Fredbear turned his head towards his fiance and gave him a small smile, feeling a little relieved in seeing that Nightmare was up. "Hello... you look quite nice today." Fredbear spoke softly, feeling a bit self conscious in his own choice in clothing.
"Thank you... Are you... Ready for today? Most of the attendants have returned to our kingdoms, and today you'll return with me to mine. You'll see some new faces today when we go to leave." Nightmare asked, tilting his head slightly as he walked further into the room, shutting the door behind him. "My parents aren't aware, but a good deal of them are friends of mine, despite most of them coming from non-noble and poorer families. I hope to end the shunning of the common folk in a few years. It isn't fair to them that they have to deal with it, as it isn't their fault."
Fredbear nodded, his face lighting up when the older prince spoke of the improvements that he wished to make for the civilians of his kingdom. "You truly are compassionate, you know that? I believe in you and look forward to the way our countries will change due to our reigns." He replied softly, feeling a blush spread across his face when Nightmare spoke about the new attendants appearing as well. "I am ready for today... as ready as I feel that I can be, anyways. Are you as well?" He asked softly.
"As ready as I can be... I personally hadn't prepared myself to take the throne before my father and mother passed away. Before this week, I was under the impression that I would remain a prince even after marriage until my parents passed away." Nightmare sighed, thinking for a few moments. "Oh, and my mother sent me to fetch you. She and your parents want you to wear one of my kingdom's traditional dresses. It's meant to bring good luck to a newly wed couple if they walk over fertile soil before their marriage is official."
Fredbear was silent for a moment or two when Nightmare spoke. He was surprised that his fiance had never expected to take the throne until his parents had passed due to the way he had spoken about the position. The young man was also confused as to why Nightmare's mother had wanted him to wear one of the dresses from his Kingdom, but kept those thoughts to himself for the moment as he spoke. "Do you think the dress might look stupid on me?" He asked softly, feeling his blush return.
"Before I answer that, I want to ask you for your opinion. Do you think you look good in red dresses? Because the traditional dress my mother wants you to wear is a long red dress with gold accents and jewels sewn into it." Nightmare responded, not wanting to give Fredbear his opinion on something he wasn't sure himself about.
"I personally think I look more elegant in blue and white, but if your mother insists that I wear red then I suppose I shall wear red." Fredbear responded, feeling his blush grow even more when he spoke about the dress that Nightmare's mother had insisted on him wearing.
"I believe the only reason she chose red is because of your golden blonde fur. I believe she thinks you look best in Autumn Colors. I do agree with you, that cool and darker colors like blue seem to match your fur and skin better. There is a Blue version of the dress she wants you to wear, but I'm not sure about White." Nightmare thought for a minute. "A traditional white dress in my kingdom is typically reserved for funerals. They're usually simple and less extravagent than the rest, to pay respects to the deceased."
Fredbear slowly nodded, feeling a bit relieved when Nightmare mentioned there might be a blue version of the dress. If possible, he would choose blue over red any day of the week. The young prince felt that he suited the color better, despite how he did admit that his fiance's mother may be right with his fur and the way red compliments it. As Nightmare spoke about white suits, he felt himself frown. "Funerals? Is... Is that the only occasion they are to be worn?" Fredbear inquired, feeling curious.
"Funerals and mourning are the most common places for white dresses and veils to be worn. I caught one of my kingdom's nobles commenting about how your wedding dress looked like you had just come from a funeral. I cannot express how much I wanted to tell him off for it. Our kingdoms have different traditions, that's all. He didn't have to be rude about it." Nightmare crossed his arms in thought. "I think Blue or Purple would be the best fit for Coronation. While Red is common among the entire kingdom, Blue and Purple are seen as colors of Royalty and Noble status."
Fredbear nodded, feeling disgusted as Nightmare told him what the noble had said about his wedding dress. The young man had thought about it for a moment and thought he knew the correct way to respond. "It would be fitting that I wear blue because I'm royalty to you, and also a bit of a noble with the way my family is regarded as a high-class household. Red would also be okay." He replied softly, not wanting to say anything that would make his fiance's mother more upset with him than she may be currently.
"Our mothers picked out that style and color of dress together before they had someone tailor a dress that'd fit you, so really he had no excuse to be talking like that. I think I'm going to bring it up with my parents before we leave. Even if it's forced upon us, if you're going to be Queen of my kingdom, he'll need to respect you as such, and that was certainly not respectful." Nightmare sighed softly. "I'll go speak with my mother about your wishes to wear the Blue dress instead of Red, and your reasoning. I'm sure she'll understand."
Fredbear nodded, feeling hopeful that Nightmare's mother would understand his reasoning in his choice for the color. "I also think it'll be for the best... and thank you for speaking with her about the issue." He replied softly, still a bit annoyed that the noble had made such a rude and insulting comment about his wedding dress. "May I ask something?"
"Of course," Nightmare replied, looking up from the floor and glancing at Fredbear.
The younger prince was silent for a moment as he thought about the correct way to ask the question, feeling slightly hesitant as he took a deep breath and spoke. "This may be a bit childish to ask... but can I cling to you while we walk through the crowd? I don't want people staring at me... they're all going to have their eyes on me and... I've just never really liked having so many people watching me." Fredbear softly inquired, hoping that his fiance would understand his reasoning and allow him to cling to him as he took him through it.
"You don't have to ask me to do something for your own comfort," Nightmare said softly, coming up to Fredbear and taking his hand in his. "If it'll help you get through today, then you do as you need to." He told him, squeezing his hand for reassurance.
Fredbear's eyes were filled with relief and affection once he saw Nightmare take his hand, feeling his tension slowly subside as he felt a bit more at ease with the possibility of clinging to his fiance during the walk through to leave. "T-Thank you, Nightmare..." The young man replied softly, squeezing his fiance's hand back.
"Of course." Nightmare replied, giving Fredbear a quick hug before standing back up and turning to leave the room. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He promised, opening the door.
Fredbear nodded, feeling his smile widen as Nightmare gave him a quick hug. "Take your time." He spoke softly, feeling a lot more at ease now that he knew he didn't have to be by himself while walking through the crowds. As Nightmare left the room, something crossed through his mind. He was now Queen to Nightmare's kingdom, which meant that he would be referred to as Nightmare's Queen. That term made Fredbear's heart hurt and even a little bit sick just to think about as he didn't really know if he was mentally prepared for that just yet. Fredbear gently rubbed his arm in a reassuring manner while he waited for his fiance to return.
After ten minutes had passed, Nightmare came back in with the dress, dark blue in coloration with a long back and long sleeves. Instead of gold being integrated into the dress, this dress had silver, and several precious and semi-precious jewels sewn into the seams and around the skirt of the dress. "What do you think of this one? Just remember that you'll have to either wear this one or your wedding dress during the carriage ride back to my kingdom for our coronation, and that'll take most of the day to get there."
Fredbear's eyes widened a lot when Nightmare walked back in with the dress. He had expected a simple dress, but what he had seen was beyond what he had anticipated in terms of design. The way that the precious and semi-precious jewels were sewn into every part of the dress made it seem even more stunning to him. Despite the fact that his wedding dress was nice, this blue dress in his eyes was far more breathtaking. "It's beautiful..." He replied softly, not feeling at all nervous about having to wear it after he had seen it up close.
"My mother has saved the red dress for another occasion." Nightmare said softly, handing the dress to Fredbear. "And I need to let you know; They're getting the carriages ready now. We have about 20 minutes before we have to leave. Since it takes so long to travel to my kingdom, we have to leave earlier in the day, and they take longer to prepare the carriages, to make sure they'll be comfortable for us and that we'll have everything we need on the way back."
Fredbear nodded, his eyes scanning the details of the dress one last time before he spoke. "So we don't have much more time... Is that how long the coronation is going to take? I thought that it would have been shorter since it's only for us two." He softly inquired, feeling his eyes scanning the clock upon the nightstand. "I'm ready to leave, though... I'm a bit nervous, but I really want to get this coronation over with." He spoke softly, smiling a bit despite everything that he was feeling.
"The coronation will be held before the people of my kingdom, and not here. And it'll take much longer than 20 minutes. That's why we're leaving so soon." Nightmare replied, nudging Fredbear gently in a silent way of saying 'I think you should change into your dress now'.
Fredbear nodded softly, now understanding why they needed to leave so soon. Despite the lack of time for them to leave, the young man felt somewhat relieved that the coronation wasn't going to be held at his parents' kingdom. It made things seem easier to deal with and not as embarrassing.
"Right, right... I need to get into my dress now. Sorry, it just wasn't quite clicking in my head at first." He spoke softly, taking the dress from Nightmare and turning towards the bed to get changed.
"I'll be in the main hall. Your parents want to say goodbye to you before we leave." Nightmare spoke gently, leaving the room once more to give Fredbear privacy.