“Boy, calm down. A metal rod would look crooked next to your spine right now.” Leandro remarked.

  David turned his head toward the large man while his sister-in-law, Martha, finished tugging a few corners of his off-white wedding suit into place.

  “Leandro. I'm getting married. I'm going to be a husband. To Niala. I can't screw this up like I usually do.”

  Martha spoke up as she finished fussing over his suit. “David, dear, you're one of the most reliable men I know.” She stepped back, taking in the whole of her work and nodding approvingly, before looking up at him. “Whatever do you mean, screwing up?”

  He reached up to his collar with a hand, angling to pull at it, only for his hand to be slapped away by Martha. He looked at her. “You don't get it, Martha. I failed to find Samuel's antidote, going around with an incomplete one. I failed to find a way to contain the beast at the moon chapel. I got deathly sick when I went to retrieve an ingredient for her. I almost died to another beast. I let her get kidnapped, twice. Almost every time, if Niala hadn't been there, I would have failed.”

  Martha blinked, David's despairing tone giving her pause. She looked at the Azure Knight, who met her gaze before turning his eyes to the young man and shaking his head.

  He took a few steps forward, gently gripping David's shoulder and looking straight at him. “Boy, those are the nerves talking. You know as well as I do that, in every situation you described, you did all you could, fought tooth and nail, all the way to the end. Nobody can do everything by themselves.”

  He then smiled, giving David's shoulder a friendly shake. “But, today, you are lucky. You are marrying the one person with whom you succeeded at all those tasks.”

  David kept his eyes on Leandro for some time, eventually letting out a long breath. “You think you're helping, but you're not.”

  The large man let his hand slip off David's shoulder, frowning, his stare turning critical. His next words were spoken with his trainer's voice. “Boy, suck it up. Be the man that girl expects you to be.”

  David blinked, and then smirked. “That helped. Thanks.”

  Leandro grumbled and walked out of the room, passing Luke as he stepped in. The Wayman brother glanced at the departing mini-giant before turning his sight to David. “Everything alright? The Wardenfel autocar is up front and waiting to bring us to the church. Niala's already gone with the All Brews.” He stopped, running back what he'd just said in his head. “Two names worth more than all of Bellharbour combined. Still hard to believe, it's like I'm in one of those high-profile weddings between powerful scions you read about in the newspaper.”

  Martha walked up to her husband and fussed over his suit, picking off lint and pulling at creases. “That's because it is, dear husband. Our David turning out to be a noble was quite the shock, and Niala being the daughter of the All Brew...”

  She shook her head. “It's a story I'm going to be retelling at my tea parties for the rest of my life.”

  David looked between the two of them. “Martha, Luke... me being a noble, it's not-”

  His sister-in-law waved his concern away. “Oh, David, dear, don't worry about it. You're still my husband's baby brother, and a Wayman for all I care.” She said, giving him a warm smile, mirrored on Luke's face.

  David stared for a moment before smiling back. “Thank you, Martha.” He swallowed. “Now, huh, autocar?”

  Luke's eyes widened. “Right! Come now! Your other brother, Isaac, was it? He kept asking me what was taking so long and giving me the stink eye each time!”

  David half-smiled. Isaac was probably trying to be polite and asking Luke to go find out instead of just ordering him to, and getting annoyed that the man wasn't catching on.

  They went downstairs and to the front of the shop, where the Wardenfel autocar, brought in by the family airship, waited. Isaac rolled his eyes as his older brother finally showed up, and got everyone to mount in.

  Thankfully, this was the primary Wardenfel autocar, which was about as long as a transport car, and could seat twelve comfortably, so both the Waymans and Wardenfels found room.

  At each end of the cabin. Warily looking at each other.

  David sighed and sat in the middle, facing Leandro, who appeared oblivious to the divide. He hoped this wasn't going to be a thing.

  They arrived at the Order of All Saints chapel, where one of the priests accompanied him and his mother to a side entrance leading to a waiting room. The rest of the guests went in through the front door to take a seat within.

  David was asked to wait until the gong was rung twice, at which point the door would open, and to then walk straight to the podium, where the officiant would then perform the wedding ceremony under the watch of the town hall official. His bride was waiting in a similar room on the other side of the chapel and was given the same instructions.

  Muffled words soon began filtering through the door, indicating that the officiant had begun addressing the guests.

  He stared at the door, muscles tensed, straining his ears to make sure he wouldn't miss the gong.

  He didn't even register his mother's reassuring words, nor her following chuckle as she realized he hadn't heard her at all.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Any second now, the gong would ring, and he'd reach for the door, step through and go to the podium. Easy. He just had to-

  The gong rang. His hand flew to the door handle before the reverberations had finished. Before it had been rung a second time.

  He shoved the door open and stepped through, only to freeze as everyone in the chapel stopped whatever they were doing and stared at him.

  For a tense moment, he was there, mid-step, looking in turn at the gong-ringer who had aborted his second swing at the brass disc, at the officiant who had looked up from his book, at the priest next to him who was supposed to open the door, and at everyone else sitting on the pews.

  Leandro let out a giant, full-hearted laugh, breaking the spell and sending everybody else into a chuckle. The officiant warmly smiled as he shook his head, before addressing David directly. “Son, I've seen many grooms come out running or tripping, but you're the first to slam open the door as soon as the gong rang.”

  David swallowed, gave an awkward smile, apologized and stepped back through the door, closing it.

  This time, he did hear his mother chuckle as his cheeks flushed red.

  The gong rang a second time. The door was opened for him, at the same time as Niala's, and he finally laid his eyes on his bride, wearing her wedding gown.

  And his legs forgot how to leg.

  The pure white creation was reminiscent of Niala's everyday dresses, with long, flowing fabric brushing against the floor and covering her legs up to her waist, dipping in a V at the front. Going up, every single one of Niala's curves was perfectly exploited by the design. Never exaggerated, never subdued, only displayed and outlined. At the top, just the tiniest bit of cleavage was displayed. Niala's hair appeared to be its usual unruly self, but he could tell it had been coiffed that way.

  To anyone else watching, it simply looked like an exquisite, masterfully tailored dress, worn by a beautiful, curvy and physically fit woman.

  To David, Niala had ascended and become an angel.

  She was staring at him, eventually squinting, waiting for him to do something, like, maybe, take a step forward.

  David felt something shove him forward, and remembered he had legs. He let them carry him forward as he kept his gaze upon her, while she matched his pace.

  The Order of All Saints priests had an undisclosed belief, which they kept to themselves to avoid complications. When the gong was rung twice, and the bride and groom left their room to meet at the podium, they would swear that the timing with which the pair met in the middle was an indication of how well the marriage would go.

  If either were four or more steps apart, the couple was at risk of an early separation. Even if they managed to hold on, happiness would be fleeting, leaving them miserable more often than not.

  Three steps, and fights would be frequent, though there would be islands of peace, few and far apart as they might be.

  Two steps meant it was a reasonably stable marriage, with the occasional bouts of sadness and strife, though the good times would outweigh them in the long run.

  A single step was a very good marriage, one where love would endure and bloom as the years progressed.

  The best they had ever seen was a half-step.

  And so, many had their eyes pop out of their orbit when the current pair arrived at exactly the same time, their last step touching the floor in sync, turning to face the podium as if they were a mirror reflection.

  The officiant betrayed the slightest of surprise himself, before continuing with the ceremony.

  He called upon the saints to bless this union, and reminded them of the sacred vows of marriage; to trust in each other, to help each other, and to keep their hearts open to love.

  After a few more words, he called for the couple to exchange vows, having them repeat after him, before asking them to present their wedding weaves; lengths of coloured strings woven into necklaces, earrings, hair ornaments, or, more commonly, wristbands. One white string was always present, but the rest of the colours, and how many strings, were to be chosen according to what best reflected their partner.

  David and Niala had gone for wristbands. He had chosen six colours: violet, four shades of red, going from pink to deep red, and a bright yellow. She had selected three shades of blue, a fiery orange, and a steel-grey.

  They twisted and knotted the weaves to each other's wrists, the groom first, followed by the bride, then holding hands and turning toward the podium one last time.

  The officiant dipped his head. “And so, under the benevolent gaze of the saints, messengers of the founding gods, and with the power vested in me, I declare these two souls bound under the sacred vows of marriage. May your lives be long, fruitful, and overflowing with love for each other. With your lips, now seal the bond.”

  David and Niala turned to face each other, their mouth stuck in a smile they could do nothing about, and gazed into each other's eyes.

  They bent forward, bringing their lips closer, pressing them together. They both leaned into the kiss, their first as husband and wife, but only one of many to come.

  The gong was struck, and the assembled guests rejoiced, each in their own way. The Wardenfels clapped their hands. The Waymans whistled. Linzy whooped and shouted about when the first baby was popping out.

  Niala turned red when she heard the question.

  Leandro laughed.

  A slap echoed throughout the chapel as Fimmzy slapped Linzy.

  More people laughed.

  David and Niala finished their kiss and stared at each other. The rest of the world faded away.

  There was only him and her, now. Together.

  With the ceremony done, everyone piled back into the autocars and went back to the shop, where Jordo and Papo were waiting.

  The two golems had spent the previous night cleaning and buffing each other's bodies to a shine, and had elected to wear small bow ties. They greeted everyone, directing them to the garden where a few tables with refreshments and entrees had been set up under a pavilion tent, along with several benches and chairs. A music box played orchestral pieces in the background as the guests mingled and offered their gifts and best wishes to the newlyweds, before moving on to sample the food.

  David then called everyone to attention, stating that one guest was missing, and brought out a horse-sized Leviathan, to the near-panic-turning-to-amazement of those who had not yet met David's aspect.

  At first, Leviathan's presence put a damper on the festivities, catching everyone's eyes and instilling some wariness in those who weren't too familiar with him. Then, Annabelle walked up to the blue serpent and asked for a ride, to which the ever-docile Leviathan agreed with a smile. The little girl's whooping and laughing soon dispelled everyone's apprehension, doubly so when Samuel was added to the ride.

  With the youngest of both families letting go of all pretenses of class separations, David was pleased to see the rest of the Wardenfels and Waymans begin interacting. Timidly, at first, but growing to something earnest as shared interests were discovered, and discussions followed.

  Maybe he'd been too pessimistic.

  And then he saw who was talking with whom, and he winced.

  Finally!