"It's us now, huh?" Finney said as he put his tunic on. Raven-black, for the tradition.
"I guess it is," Donna said. Wearing a pure-white dress. She was very excited yet also very nervous.
Finney looked at her, sensing something was wrong. "Hey, Donnie." He said in a loving tone.
He closed the distance between them and she looked up at him. "Yeah?"
"Are you nervous? You sound nervous." He took her face in his hands.
"I'm fine, Finn." She tried to reassure him.
"You're lying. I know because you're curling your fingers."
She looked down to see her fingers still curled.
"Look, the worst thing that could happen is the food being bad. Or someone getting horribly drunk."
She laughed, which helped ease her mood.
He kissed her on the forehead. Not wanting her to crane his neck just to kiss him. (Since the two were five inches apart in height) "C'mon now, let's go show those folks how a Blake wedding is done."
...
She walked down that aisle. As confident as she could be. Wearing her shoulder-length hair completely down. Wearing the white dress with her family's cloak, light green in colour. With three white hearts in a triangle pattern. Finney wore his raven-black tunic with a white cloak. Her father, Lord Joseph, an old man with greying hair, was walking with her.
And once they got there, he took the D'Amato cloak off her shoulders. And Finney put the Blake cloak on, white, just like her dress. But with a red-lined diamond shape and an 'X' through it. The two looked at the priest in front of them. Monotheistic, just like the religion the couple were both a part of.
"Your Majesty, Your Highnesses, Your Graces, my lords, my ladies; We gather here in the sight of men and God. To witness the union between husband and wife."
He then got out a ribbon while the two held hands. He wrapped it around them.
"Two souls, two hearts, two bodies, bound into one. Now and forever."
"May God bless and protect this union until the end of their days. And may they also be reunited in the afterlife."
The two kissed to seal the union. A quick and sweet peck. Both still too shy to indulge. She went on her toes to kiss him. Having a big height difference.
...
"Oh, Lord Shaw!" Finney said as he and Donna sat together. He was sitting in the very middle. All of their family were sitting on either side. Lord Terrence Blake and Gwen were next to Finney. While Donna's parents and their other eight children. Who were all older than her. The eldest of whom was Crown Lady Bernardina, twin of Lady Cecilia. Meanwhile, the royal family sat with the guests. Because there wasn't enough room at the table.
"Hello, Finney and Lady Donna. I just wanted to say congratulations on your wedding." He said, raising his golden cup to them. (Which had wine in it due to Lord Terrence Blake's request). Lord Maxwell Shaw was wearing a turquoise tunic. The main color of his house. He was dark-haired with a mustache.
"Thank you, I'm awfully sorry for what happened to your brother," Donna said, trying to be sympathetic.
He only laughed and dismissed it, "Oh please, it's better that creep is dead."
"Wait, creep?" Finney asked, his heart racing.
"Oh yeah, everybody knew. He would stare at the pages or squires for too long. That's why we went through them so quickly. Why do you think he tried to get the Prince's hand?"
Finney's jaw dropped as he realized. He looked at Billy. Who noticed and stared back, awkwardly. He quickly averted his gaze.
"Holy shit." He muttered under his breath.
Donna cleared her throat and said politely, "Well, it's good that you're the Lord of Galesburg Rock and not him."
"Damn right," he said before walking out.
"Hi!" A young lord said. He was older than them by a couple of years. He had dark, fluffy hair that spiked up along with big, brown eyes. His face was splattered with freckles. "I'm Thomas Hagan but everyone calls me Tommy."
"Nice to meet you. Your family rules over the Hayde Islands, right?"
"Yes, just east of the Bronze Coast. We're one of the vassals to the Lunarians."
"I see, well hopefully you and your family are having fun."
"We definitely are. We're all so excited that there's actually multiple love matches this season."
"I would say we all are."
"I'm going to go celebrate now."
Finney and Donna nodded and smiled as he left. But something had caught the young lord's eyes. Or should I say, ears? The musicians had started playing quite the somber song. Called the "The Sun is a Star Too", about The Eclipsing War. An old house was dethroned by one of their own vassals...
Crown Prince Aaron was next to Lord Kellen Kennedy. A dark-haired man with a permanent stern look on his face. And a vassal to the Blakes. The man held his arm out. Which was strangely covered. He looked right in his eyes and uncovered the cloth to find chainmail underneath. He found armor. But why would he need armor on such a joyous occasion?
He only found out the answer when suddenly, "Lord Neil sends his regards." A knife was held to his neck and his throat split. His corpse fell to the ground.
Samuel kept throwing knives on him almost constantly. Ever since the war, where he was almost killed in his own bed. He threw one of them in his left eye. It pierced his skull so far, making him drop to the ground. Killing him minutes later.
Terrence had successfully gotten his children and his daughter-in-law out the door. But he had been shot with a crossbow. Some of the D'Amato children along with their mother had been killed themselves after their youngest sister escaped.
Matty escaped with Lord Max Shaw. While his relatives came to blows with Samuel.
Meanwhile, the Yamadas had sheltered Vance. And Robin grabbed Billy's wrist and ran for it. Who was upset to leave his family behind. He ran away from the castle entirely and got on his horse.
"I have to go back!" He fought back and smacked his hand away.
"I won't let you."
"Why not?"
"Because you are my husband!" He got off the horse and picked Billy up to put him on it. Robin himself rode like the wind once he got on it. Billy's arms wrapped around Robin's waist. His head leaned on his back.
"Do you intend to ride for Harper?"
"Of course."
"It's half a day's ride from here. And it's nighttime."
"I'll stop if we find a tavern. They'd surely let the Prince in."
"It's Crown Prince now," he solemnly replied.
But that fact alone is what made him start to cry. Robin's heart broke just hearing it. And not being able to properly comfort him. But he'd hoped he'd at least keep him safe from harm's way.
...
"I can't believe that my own father died at our wedding," Finney said, leaning over the bed. Donna rubbed his back, leaning on his shoulder.
"Same with my mother."
His little sister, Gwen, had been there with them. And she paced around the room.
Just then, one of the D'Amatos had opened the door.
"Hey, Don, hey Finney, want me to take Gwendolyn?"
"Teo!" Donna said, hugging her. The woman was considerably taller. With tanner skin and very dark hair, much like the youngest sister. Although she was paler.
"I was worried about you, sis. I wondered if you even made it out alive. What about the rest of our family?" Donna asked.
Teodora sighed and put Donna's hair over her ear. "Mamma is dead, which makes Bernardina Lady D'Amato now. But almost all of the Kennedys are dead. Due to the King's fury."
"What about Billy, Robin, Vance, and all of the others?" Gwen asked.
"I saw Robin take Billy. I presume they're heading to Harper. Vance escaped with the Yamadas, probably back to Wrangler."
"I saw Matty leave with Lord Shaw," Donna reassured her.
"Anyway, to tell the complete truth, I was ordered by Dina to take all of you to safety. But I feared you would protest leaving."
"No, it's smart to leave while we still can. Would we go to Irienne?"
"Yes, I already ordered one of our bannermen to take your father's body back for proper burial."
"Thank you, that means a lot."
"Of course, Finney. I think we should leave now. We'll stop at a tavern if we need to."
"Teo, thank you. For not only protecting me but also my new family." She sat down with Finney and put her hand over his. He smiled at her and then at his sister-in-law.
"Yes, you have all of our gratitude."
She nodded and smiled. The four rode for a quiet inn to stay at. At the same time, Finney thought about the betrayal of his vassals. He almost wondered what people in the future would call this incident. To him, "The Betrayal of the Blakes" sounded fitting. Since it was his vassals that committed such atrocities at his wedding. Now, his special day was ruined with bloodshed by greedy men.