The Royal Two

Chapter 15

The king Jackson Song was the last person to arrive at the church, as he made his way down the aisle. On his aged face a smile that showed not only happiness, but it gave the prince a sense of safety.  He walked straight up to Ryde, his hands brushed across his son's shoulders.
“My boy, today is the day you get one hell of a lady and a kingdom. Smile, remember, she is also marrying you… That is enough misfortune for anyone if that have to stand through the ceremony with that glum face looking at them.”
Jackson chuckled, his old hand patting his son as Ryde faked his smile.

The king shook his head and moved away, sliding into the seat beside his wife on the front row.

Everyone was sat, waiting for the music to start, every kingdom in attendance waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle.
Ryde stood at the top, his hands fiddling away as his sad eyes fell upon the crowd around him.
His dull grassy eyes fell upon Victoria’s face, she wore a pink dress patterned with floral designs and a white shawl, her body was close and almost intertwined with John's.
In his mind flashed an image of Izzy, one were she was running around those Cornfields. The young woman's arms out wide and her smile was wider than anything he had seen, like a child on Christmas day.

Suddenly the music started up, the wedding march filled the silent church.

A woman stood at the end of the aisle, her long white veil covering her face and hair, her dress was short and white,decorated with a little bit of lace. The fabric almost seemed to twirl as the young lady took her steps down the aisle. 
Her white shoes tapped along the wooden flooring as the audience had stood up and watched her.
She carried in her pale hands a bouquet of white and red flowers.

She turned to Ryde upon reaching the steps, he held out his hand and helped her up to his level, her felt soft and comfortable, as if he had held it once before in a dream. The touch of Lady Julienne’s hand was filled with nostalgia.

Ryde turned his head to the Priest, as he held the lady’s hands. With a nod of Ryde head, the priest began;
“We gather here to unite these two people in marriage. Their decision
to marry has not been entered into lightly and today they publicly
declare their private devotion to each other. The essence of this
commitment is the acceptance of each other in entirety, as lover,
companion, and friend. A good and balanced relationship is one in
which neither person is overpowered nor absorbed by the other, one
in which neither person is possessive of the other, one in which both give their love freely and without jealousy.
Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes, and dreams.
It takes a special effort to grow together, survive hard times, and be
loving and unselfish.”

Ryde somewhere along the way, stopped paying so much attention, his thoughts returned to Isabella, although he couldn’t keep that blonde out of his head, John had pushed her upon him, his heart pounding with pain as he stood through the ceremony.
“Do you both pledge to share your lives openly with one another, and
to speak the truth in love? Do you promise to honor and tenderly
care for one another, cherish and encourage each other, stand
together, through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs for all
the days of your lives?”

“We do.” Ryde spoke up, his voice louder than the females, even if she did speak, his mind was in another place as the old man continued to rattle on.

Ryde repeated his lines, given to him by the priest, and saying the important “I do” followed by the exchanging of the rings.
He drifted away from reality and zoned out, her voice not heard by his ears as his emerald eyes glanced around the church, he could see John and Victoria smiling, his parents too.

Ryde had turned his head completely, staring at them all for a moment before the old man beside him coughed gently. The prince turned his head back and whispered an apology to the lady.

“Go now in peace and live in love, sharing the most precious gifts you have-
the gifts of your lives united. And may your days be long on this earth.” The priest finally said, the old man took a few steps back and closed the book in his hands.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Ryde took a deep breath, kiss the woman, were the words rotating around his head, but Izzy kept popping back into mind.
The prince lowered his head slightly, his eyes watching his hands as he lifted the veil over her face and pressed it back against the back of her head, acting as loving as he could.

Then he saw it, as his eyes bare witness to the presence before him, time seemed to stop.

The rose red lips.
The pale complexion,
The ocean blue eyes,
A blonde fringe with short blonde curls falling down around her face,
The button nose.

Isabella.

Ryde scanned that beautiful face, his hands moving slowly as his fingers touched her smooth silky skin. His emerald eyes began to sparkle.
“Am I dreaming? Is fate that cruel to me?” He whispered as he brought his face to hers, her sweet breath brushed against his lips.
He pressed his lips to hers, the warmth she gave him, filled his with such joy and love.
“Even if this is a dream, I wish never to be awoken from it.” His eyes shone softly as they filled with tears of happiness.

“Ryde… Even if I was no one, would you still take me?” The kind voice whispered, her lips so close to his that they were almost touching his still.

“I would.” A tear streamed down his face, only to be caught by her own hand as she overlapped his arm.

“Fate maybe cruel--” She couldn’t finish as his lips were forced upon hers, his right hand moved and grabbed the woman around her waist as the prince pressed their bodies together.
Time began again, the fast applause from the church echoed as they kissed.

When Ryde pulled away, he laughed, as did she.

Ryde picked her up, his arms going around her back and under her legs as he carried her down the first set of steps.
The man then sprinted down the aisle, the blonde holding onto him with her arms wrapped around his neck tightly.

“Isabella… I couldn’t help falling in love with you~” Ryde pressed his lips to hers once more as he kicked open the church doors.

“A little corny, but it’ll do.” She laughed, as she pulled herself up in his arms and returned his kiss, her love being thrown out and given to the man she found held a special place in her heart. 

Ryde carried her over to the royal carriage, he helped the blonde in before climbing in himself.

***
The people left the church and headed to the Albon palace for the next event of the day.
The queen of Albon, Christina, rode with Isabella’s parents while Victoria and John rode with Baker and Elizabet.

The king was the last to leave, he was saying his thanks to the priest  as he stepped out of the large doors of the church.

Just on the over side of the doors,sobbing away was a woman with long red hair, her dress white and her veil covering her face, the sun shone down on her as she fell to her knees.

“Why couldn't he love me?” She cried softly.

The king had over headed the crying and had gone to investigate. He knelt himself beside the lady and replied to her as nicely as he could, “Because he fell in love with a woman who has and would still risk her name, title and life for him. He saved her from the dragon's keep accidentally and then she saved him. I'm sorry Lady Julienne, but I think that's hard to beat.” Jackson spoke softly, his hand stretched out and touched her back.

“No! If I can't have him… NO ONE CAN!” Her veil lifted up in the summer breeze as she spun herself round.
Her tanned face stained with mascara and tears whilst in her left hand was a small dagger. 

As she moved, the king of Albon jerked back but unfortunately, not enough. The blade managed to slice through the skin on his neck.
He couldn't make a noise,  his voice silenced as his throat filled with that crimson liquid.
The blood sprayed and decorated the woman's once white dress in a murderous fashion.

The woman's eyes showed her rage and her madness, she seemed to be spinning out of control as she ran, her dress tearing on the material on the gates outside the church as she ran through.