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Thank you.
Odette.
I could stand and watch her walk to me all day.
It made me want to dance.
It made me want to run down the pews and shake everyone’s hands.
We had chosen this day because, to us, it really was our wedding day. It also happened to be so many other things, but the only thing that mattered to me right now was this part. I’d care about the other parts in a moment, but this one was for all the world to see that Odette was my wife. It was my favorite.
We weren’t supposed to talk.
However, when she reached me and put her hand in mine, I couldn’t help but say, “You are more than what beauty can describe.”
Her eyes watered, and her lips wavered, but she held back and only said, “Cheesy.”
Oh, how I wanted to laugh. But again, I had been warned many times. Be composed. So I held back my laugh and stepped forward with her.
The archbishop talked and talked in front of us. There was something about the power of sacred marriage or such. But I barely heard anything else. My heart was drumming too loud in my chest. It was wrong, but I wanted to tell him to hurry it up. All I could do was wait and wait until he finally said—
“Prince Galahad, please repeat these words...”
Facing Odette, I squeezed her hands. “I, Galahad, take you, Odette, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. In the presence of God, I make this vow. For the good and the glory of Ersovia.”
“Miss Wyntor, please repeat these words...”
She squeezed my hands back. “I, Odette, take you, Galahad, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law. In the presence of God, I make this vow. For the good and the glory of Ersovia.”
“The rings.”
They were presented to us both, and as we slipped the ring on each other’s hands, we both said, “I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body, I honor you. All that I am, I give to you, and all that I have, I share with you within the love of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
“You are now man and wife before God, man, and country,” the archbishop said, but it felt strange. Normally, I would kiss her to roaring applause. But we had only finished step one, as he proved by saying, “Now, you both shall kneel and rise as King and Queen of Ersovia.”
I helped her to the kneeling pads laid out for us in front of the cross. My mother stepped in front of us both, the archbishop, and now a dozen other priests at her side.
The archbishop asked me, “Prince Galahad Fitzhugh Cornelius Edgar of the House of Monterey, is Your Highness willing to take the oath?”
“I am willing,” I said, and he brought me a Bible for one hand and a cross for my other.
“Prince Galahad, do you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of Ersovia according to their respective laws and customs?”
“I solemnly promise to do so.”
“Will you use your power to cause law and justice, in mercy and in heart, to be executed in all your judgments?”
“I will.”
“Will you, to the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the gospel?”
“I will.”
“Will you defend your people, your family, and this nation at all costs?”
“I will.”
“How will you?”
