The Kidnapped Prince

Epilogue-The Wedding

"Stand still," Lady Rhoslyn tells her sister as she laces up the back of Lady Alys's dress. The light blue colour is a change from her usual red or green. But the young lady wears it beautifully.

"I am,"

"You are not," Lady Rhoslyn condescends, jerking on her sister's laces—a warning.

But Lady Alys is ready. She braced herself with her feet and didn't move an inch. The young lady is used to being knocked around by people, usually men much larger than herself. Her sister's attempt at making her stand still is futile. She almost laughs at the absurdity of it. But she refrains from doing so.

Lady Alys looks back at her sister, "I am too,"

"You certainly—"

"Ladies, Lady Alys does not need to start her day with an argument," Lady Maisie, the wife of Sir Bedivere, states.

The lady gets enough of this with her own children, even if they are all grown and mostly married. She doesn't need this now. She only agreed to help Lady Alys dress for her wedding at the behest of her husband.

Lady Maisie thought this would be easy, at least easier than marrying off her children. She knows Lady Alys knows her mind, hence why she thought it would be easy. But no. It turns out the young lady takes joy in prodding her sister. And vice versa.

Lady Rhoslyn snorts.

"We are not arguing. We are having a debate," Lady Alys states, stilling her body as best she can. She knows she's about two seconds away from being whacked over the head by her sister's staff. The younger twin knows the crystal hurts and can inflict damage when it makes contact with a person's head.

Lady Maisie chuckles softly to herself as she lays out the predetermined jewellery for Lady Alys. "To an outsider, you sound ready to kill one another,"

"Good thing you're not an outsider," Lady Rhoslyn chuckles, finishing the laces on her sister's dress.

In the barracks, Sir Percival is helping Sir Gawain prepare for his big day. Sir Gawain's brothers have also been elected to "help." Help in the loosest way possible. Not one of the older knights' siblings has been any help from when they arrived—at least today.

"How do I look?" Sir Gawain asks, gesturing to his new tunic and jacket. A present from his Mother, Anna of Orkney. His brother, Sir Agravain, brought it down when he heard his older brother was getting married. He would have come empty-handed if his mother hadn't stopped him.

"Lady Alys is going to be over the moon," Sir Percival smiles, handing his friend a brush.

"I still can't believe you couldn't find the knife," Gareth sighs, picking at his nails and glaring at Sir Agravain. The young squire was looking forward to seeing all the knives together again.

Gareth knew his brother intended to present his Lady Alys with the knife as a wedding present, but in case his brother couldn't find it in Orkney, where his mother resides, he had one made. The new knife is a beautiful blade. Made for a noblewoman or a knight...or both.

"I looked everywhere, Gareth," Sir Agravain growls, not wanting to make this day a sour one.

"Didn't look hard enough,"

"Don't you two start," Gaheris groans, stopping his sharpening of Sir Gawain's sword.

"Do you want in Gaheris? We'll gladly include you in our debate," Sir Agravain states with a crooked smile. His distaste for his younger brother is evident on his face.

"Do not ruin this Agaravain. I am getting married in an hour,"

"Of course, brother," Sir Agravain nods, willing to curb the anger he holds for at least an hour. Sir Gawain hopes for more time, if only for Lady Alys's sake.

The knight would rather not hold back his wife from killing her new brother.

Back in the Du Lac household Lady Alys smooths her dress. She's ready. She waits for Lady Maisie announces her presence to her Father standing downstairs.

Sir Lancelot glances up at his daughter standing on the terrace. He smiles softly as his daughter makes her way down the stairs and to him. Sir Lancelot offers her his arm as a knock at the door sounds. Lady Maisie rushes over as Sir Lancelot steps in front of his daughter to keep her hidden from sight.

All in attendance sigh when Lady Maisie announces it's only Sir Percival here for Lady Rhoslyn. Sir Lancelot nods and allows Sir Percival to enter. The young knight steps in and waits for Lady Rhoslyn to make her entrance. 

Lady Rhoslyn announces her presence by wicking the candlelight away and replacing it with light blue flames. All eyes turn to the young lady standing in the doorway of her room downstairs. 

Sir Percival gapes at the older young lady. 

"Come, daughter, let's get you onto your next stage of life," Sir Lancelot smiles, offering his younger daughter his arm once again. 

Lady Alys smiles at her Father and accepts his arm. Together they walk to the courtyard. Lady Rhoslyn and Sir Percival go first, followed by Lady Maisie and, finally, Sir Lancelot and Lady Alys. As they reach the courtyard, music begins to play. 

Lady Maisie swiftly ducks to the side and joins her husband, along with the rest of the knights, near the front of the crowd. The crowd was carefully cultivated, from the lowest squire to the highest-ranking official and everyone in between. 

Sir Percival lets go of Lady Rhoslyn's arm as they reach Sir Gawain and King Arthur. As King and Sir Gawain's cousin, he wished to oversee their ceremony, say a few words and wish the couple well. It was something the King insisted upon, that, and them being able to choose where the ceremony was held. 

After much deliberation, they decided on the courtyard where they met many years ago. Back when Sir Gawain was only a squire, and Lady Alys was a scrappy young lady. 

When Lady Alys and Sir Lancelot reach, the knight releases his daughter to Sir Gawain. The young lady smiles and drinks in the sight of her fiancee, unaware Sir Gawain is doing the same. 

Then the ceremony begins. 

King Arthur begins by saying a few words about Lady Alys, then Sir Gawain. Then the King moves on to the small speech he wrote years ago when Sir Gawain and Lady Alys first decided to court. A gut feeling told the King that they were the ones to look out for. They would make it to the end.

At the end, he asks if Lady Alys and Sir Gawain will remain faithful to each other. The Knight and lady nod and agree. Then it was their turn to speak. First Sir Gawain, then Lady Alys. In their vows, they spoke to one another as if it was their last day, and they only had so many words.

By the time they finished, the King had to step away to dab his eyes. When he returned, he smiled and told them to take each other's right hand and to repeat after him. "I, Lady Alys Du Lac, take thee Sir Gawain of Orkney to my wedded husband, till death us depart, and thereto I plight thee my troth,"

Then it was Sir Gawain's turn. 

"I, Sir Gawian of Orkney, take thee, Lady Alys Du Lac, to my wedded wife, till death us depart, and thereto I plight thee my troth,"

With the swearing to take one another, Lady Alys and Sir Gawain were pronounced husband and wife. 

As Sir Gawain and Lady Alys kissed, the bell in the guard tower rang out three times. Once for love, once for luck and once more for a healthy baby in the coming months.