Star and Marco vs Evil Book 2

VIII

The time for Marco's Accolade, the celebration at which Marco's promised formal knighting ceremony would take place, had come. At the start of Meteora's War, as it was now called, Moon had asked Marco to choose the timing of the ceremony. His choice was any time after the war was over and Star had returned. That both happened simultaneously was wonderfully serendipitous.

Representatives from all the allied kingdoms and dimensions, including the Monster Kingdom, in their best dress, stood expectantly in Butterfly Castle's huge formal reception hall. All the surviving heirs apparent were in attendance, with two empty seats placed discreetly in memory of Queen Lilacia Ponyhead and Crown Prince Richard Pigeon.

StarcoFan1 stood off to the side, videoing the proceedings, wearing a specially made Starco outfit created for her by the royal tailors. Although she still preferred her "StarcoFan1" nickname, her fans on u-Tewb had given her a second, "Queen Dweeb." When the tailors heard this, they designed a Starco outfit fit for the queen of the dweebs. It included a tiara, which they deliberately made more ornate than the Butterfly crown, with Star's horns and just a touch of dweebish styling.

Three rows from the front, in the section reserved for military personnel, stood Sir Reggie, Sir Darryl and Sir Yvgeny, in their best dress uniforms. To the shock of all who knew of their combative history, not only was Dame Higgs also standing in attendance, she was wearing a feminine likeness of Marco's armor, complete with the actual gold command aiguilette braid Marco had worn. With Marco's resignation accepted, Higgs' battlefield promotion to Commander General and command of the LDG had been confirmed. Though they'd never be close friends, Higgs nonetheless credited Marco's wakeup call for changing her attitude, and having enough faith in her to place her in command of the LDG during the final battle, for allowing her to earn the promotion.

Two rows from the front, in the section reserved for close friends of the honoree, Kelly stood misty-eyed in her ceremonial armor, while Jorby, also in ceremonial armor but too big to fit into the hall, watched through a window. Janna stood beside Kelly in her regular armor, declining to contribute to the "image of the bourgeoisies" by wearing ceremonial armor, but did unbend enough to repair and clean it. Eclipsa stood, smiling broadly, wearing her finest ceremonial outfit, looking all the world like a princess of Egypt. Finally, Jackie and Chloe, in formal gowns, also made specially by the royal tailors, rounded out the friends section save for one.

Tom had the choice to stand as a friend, but had decided to stand instead with his delegation, hinting he might still be working through the emotional baggage aired in "the box."

In the first row, reserved for family, stood Angie in a formal gown, and Rafael in a formal suit of a military cut, with touches of the styles of both Earth and Mewni; the royal tailors had been quite busy. Deciding the ceremony would be too much for Mariposa to sit through without fussing, Angie had left Mariposa on Earth with neighbors.

At the front of the hall on a dais, stood Moon and River in front of three thrones. The queen, king, and crown princess, by tradition, would dress in royal or military regalia. In honor of Marco and his egalitarianism, they chose to do both and switch the traditional human gender roles, River wearing his King's royal suit, while Moon wore her armor. Scabbarded at her side was the ceremonial Butterfly family sword.

In a breach of protocol, Star refused to stand as crown princess, standing instead in the second row as Marco's friend. Like her mother, she chose to wear her armor, polished to a dazzling shine. Outside her armor she wore her locket prominently and proudly.

A portion of one of the hall's long walls, the windowless one with the paintings, busts, and other honorifics of Butterfly Kingdom and Mewmin heroes, was covered by curtains.