Til Death Do Us Part...

Wedding Day 23

The dance floor was overcrowded and Ilva took a sip from her glass of water while watching all those friends and family members mingle as if they knew each other for years already. Her feet started to hurt and slowly she felt the early hours taking their toll on her. But she could not flee from her own wedding, not yet.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" During the evening Margaery had started talking louder and louder. Possibly because of the wine and the alcohol rushing through her veins, but maybe even more because of the alcohol that rushed through the veins of everyone else. "I know that by now we are quite sick of all those stories about the sweet Ilva and the gentleman Jon who married her, but..." She waited until it was almost silent around her. "We have one more speech waiting for us."

Rickon, even though it was way past his usual bedtime by now, bounced on his feet while Bran reached for a piece of paper in the pockets of his jacket.

"And we saved the best for the very last. Sansa, Arya, Rickon and Bran, the stage is all yours." Margaery took the microphone from its stand when Sansa entered the stage, followed by her sister and brothers. "Here you go." She passed the microphone down to the beautiful red haired girl who still looked like the day had only just begun.

Sansa took a deep breath and she let her eyes wander over the crowd until she found Jon and Ilva, next to each other on their wooden chairs. "Four years ago my brother came home with a girlfriend. It was the very first girl he brought actually home and in that moment I knew that I was no longer the favourite woman in his life." She coughed and cleared her throat. "But where I thought I'd lost something, I actually gained something. We all did. A friend, a sister, someone we can trust and confide in, someone who helps us and always has our backs."

A smile spread across Ilva's face and she felt Jon's hand reaching for hers once more.

"We thought knight Robb had found his maiden." Sansa held the microphone for Rickon who clearly concentrated on reciting the text he had memorized, or had been forced to. "But he still had to fight the biggest dragon he would ever encounter. And he lost."

Ilva's smile faded and she swallowed a few times.

But Rickon was so concentrated on his words that he didn't even notice. "But luckily he wasn't the only knight in the family. We didn't know it, but knight Jon had always hidden his fighting skills and was now coming to the rescue."

Arya reached for the microphone and tightened her grip around it. "At first he simply wanted to help the maiden to deal with the loss of her noble knight, but slowly he started to see the maiden for who she truly was. A princess."

Jon and Ilva exchanged a short glance and the smile returned to Ilva's face.

"But the princess was wounded and hurt and needed time to see that the unknown knight who had come to her rescue could be more than just a knight. He could be a prince. Her prince." Arya nodded proudly. "But just like a true knight, Jon never gave up. He didn't give up on the princess and he didn't give up on the happily ever after they could share."

Bran cleared his throat while Arya pressed the microphone in his hands. "And slowly, very slowly, the princess opened her eyes to what could be." He spoke with a certain calm and looked around as if he had done this a million times already. Maybe one day he would not just read stories, but would write them too. "And the colors that had faded when knight Robb died returned to her day. And the broken heart that had shattered when she had lost half of it started to repair."

Jon squeezed Ilva's hand and Ilva squeezed back.

"Ilva and Jon proved us that fairytales do come true." Sansa took the microphone again and she locked her glance with Ilva's. "Fairytales can be harsh and painful. They can be dark and gruesome. But we have to keep believing there is eventually somewhere a happy end waiting." Sansa licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Welcome, Ilva, to the Stark family. Maybe you will not share our name, but just like Jon you share our very soul."

There was a short moment of silence, but then the Stark children all bowed as professional actors and a loud applause broke the silence. Rickon was the first to jump off the stage to hug the bride and groom, closely followed by the other three.

"Thank you, Sansa." Ilva wrapped her arms around her sort of sister in law and kissed her cheek. "For everything, but most of all for being you." She pressed the red haired girl a little tighter to her chest. "I'm not gonna throw the wedding bouquet over my shoulder, but I'm sure you would be the one to catch it. You deserve your happily ever after too, Sansa. Go get it."

Sansa pulled back and nodded and for the first time that day her mascara was smeared all over her face.

"And with that..." Margaery raised her voice to silence the crowd again. "We send our bride and groom home, to their bed to celebrate today and to make sure that the extra bedrooms will soon be extra no longer!"

A loud cheer emerged from the crowd and Ilva shook her head while Jon shrugged his shoulders.

"And in the mean time we will eat and drink some more and send them the bill tomorrow!"

The music started playing again while everyone formed an honor guard towards the exit doors.

Jon offered Ilva his arm and with tears in her eyes she grabbed it. Sansa pressed the wedding bouquet in Ilva's hands. Ilva's father and mother asked her to call tomorrow. Catelyn squeezed her arm while Ilva walked past her.

One last time she greeted all those familiar faces and smiled through her tears. The day was almost over and she had somehow survived and had even enjoyed it. It had truly been the best worst day of her life.

But before Ilva and Jon went home, there was one last thing they had to do.