I Do
The cloudless night sky was a midnight blue above the plaza in Bellezza, its countless stars twinkling and sparkling in the heavens above, with the angelic face of the full moon watching over the peaceful scene; a sure sign and good omen of a beautiful day tomorrow. A light wind weaved its way through the maze-like alleyways and streets of the canal riddled city, swirling up a sheet of paper that someone had carelessly left on the otherwise perfect paving. High above the streets, a young man sighed, his dark curls swinging loosely from his head with the breeze, whilst his hands lay rested on a wooden support upon a balcony.
Tomorrow he was getting married. After weeks of planning, celebration (mainly due to the citizens of Bellezza) and practice, the day was almost upon them. Luciano had never before realised just how many traditions and customs one little city could hold. There was the proper way to walk, how to speak, how not to offend anyone whilst speaking, the correct way to eat, dancing lessons, how to act when upon the altar, not to slouch to much or you'll give the appearance of not wanting to be there, not to stand up to straight or you'll come across as arrogant, and people will feel your bride doesn't want to be there. Luciano's mind whirled as he still struggled to remember everything. He just hoped that he wouldn't slip up on the big day. Arianna, (his bride) being the Duchessa and used to this sort of thing, as well as being Arianna, simply took it in her stride.
Luciano smiled at the thought of his wife-to-be. His mind was still trying to grasp the fact that she'd said yes to him! In only his wildest dreams he'd ever thought she'd return what he felt so strongly for her. He was sorry that none of his friends could come for his wedding, but when he'd Stravagated to Islington, they'd all been strangely reluctant about going. Besides, they'd reasoned, there was no way any of them were going to get to Bellezza in one day, and their parents were all annoyingly watchful ever since the incident in Devon.
Abruptly, the thought of his old world brought with it the painful realisation that his parents would not be there; his parents would not be with him to witness the most important day of his life. His heart gave an almighty lurch, as he realised just how much of his life they would be missing. Sure they had Nicholas now, and he had Gigliemo (William) and Lenora, but it just wasn't the same. Unwillingly he felt tears spring up in his eyes, but brushed them away angrily. He'd known the consequences when he'd translated, and besides, he thought with a small smile, fingering the silver wedding ring that was placed on his finger, if he hadn't, he would never have been able to marry Arianna in the first place.
Still, it would have been nice just for his Parents to know at least…
Luciano jumped off the balcony quickly, struck by a sudden thought and placed his talisman round his neck. He walked quickly towards the armchair that rested just beside the balcony in his room. Just for 10 minutes or so… he thought, as he relaxed his mind into a state of sleep. He needed to see his parents before tomorrow.
0oOo0
Vicky Mulholland was sitting in her favorite armchair, a magazine flung dejectedly on her lap. Something had been bothering her all day, but she just couldn't figure out what. She stared absently outside her living room window, wondering about her peculiar behavior when all of a sudden she found herself waiting for someone. She blinked in confusion. Nicholas was at school, and David was upstairs… who was she waiting for?
Then he appeared.
Lucien was outside her window smiling at her in the sunny sub-urban streets where he had lived until just a few years ago.
Vicky just stared, wide eyed and shocked; just as she had done all those other times she thought she had seen him. She still couldn't believe what her eyes were always telling her whenever he turned up, but yet turn up he did, clear as he was when she had last seen him, before he'd fallen into that fateful coma.
He looked older, more grown up than last time, yet still dressed in old fashioned clothes. He suddenly heard the soft padding of footsteps that signified her husband coming down the stairs, and she quietly called him into the room.
"What is it?" he said, opening the door.
"It's him." She replied softly, her eyes never leaving the window, and David looked out the windowpane to his son.
"Lucien…" he croaked, disbelief in his eyes.
Lucien had spotted his father. He beamed at the two of them, his face radiating happiness. Then he held up his hand. Something glinted in the sunlight, something on his ring finger, something silver.
"It's a ring…" Vicky whispered, tears starting to glisten in her eyes, realizing what it meant.
"It's a wedding ring…" David added quietly, his own threatening to overspill.
Slowly, Lucien's parents nodded to him, and in their son's face they saw his own tears streaming down towards his nose. He lowered his hand, smiled longingly at his shocked parents, and mouthed 3 words: "Until next time." Then vanished.
"Until next time…" Victoria Mulholland whispered. Their son wasn't with them, and they weren't entirely sure if he was dead, but he was happy, and that's all they could ask.
0oOo0
Arianna was woken softly by her maid on the day of her wedding. She blearily opened her eyes as Barbara set about drawing apart the curtains, and preparing a light breakfast.
"Barbara? Why am I up so early? The suns barely risen for goodness sake!" She bustled over to the young Duchessa, a small plate of buttered flat bread in her hands.
"Don't you remember m'am? Today's the day you get married to Mr Luciano. I've been instructed to wake you up early to so you'll have time to prepare for your wedding!" Barbara smiled to her self as Arianna gave a start and bolted up out of her bed, looking around wildly. She gently sat her mistress back down on the bed and helped her get dressed.
"You're so lucky m'am. Luciano seems like such a nice man, and so handsome too!" She grinned at Arianna as she went crimson. "It just makes me want to go and get married!"
Arianna stopped blushing and turned slyly at her maid, who had started combing the Duchessa's hair to hide her smirk.
"How is that going anyway? Back in Giglia, if I seem to recall, you mentioned a certain someone?" It was Barbara's turn to go red now.
"Well…" She hesitated.
"Go on." Arianna prompted.
"We're seeing each other, and I believe he want to propose, but…"
"But what?"
Barbara sighed, and fetched a jug of water from the windowsill.
"We both love each other, but his family is not particularly fortunate money wise, and… well m'am it's my father." She paused again to pour out a glass of water and handed it to the young woman. "He wants me to marry into a rich family, someone who can take care of me, and to support our children." Arianna drank out of the glass and gave it back to Barbara.
"Well, have you told your father about the two of you?" the young woman shook her head. "Well there you go then. You'll never know until you try will you? He could give you both his blessings, once he sees what a fine young gentleman you've got yourself."
"But what if he doesn't?" Arianna turned and faced her maid, whose face was etched with worry. It was obvious this was the first time she'd talked to anyone about this.
"Then talk to him. Convince your father that he is a kind and honest man, and you wouldn't care if he was begging on the street, you would still love him. They lap up stuff like that. Besides," She added, thinking of her own foster-father back on the island of Torrone. "Fathers can never refuse their little girls if they pester long enough." The two women laughed, worries temporarily forgotten and Barbara continued combing her mistress's hair.
A minute or so later, there was a sharp knock on the door. Arianna sighed, and placed a simple white mask on her face. She wasn't married yet.
A tall hand-servant appeared at the door. He bowed deeply.
"I am sorry to interrupt, your Grace, but your presence is required by Mrs Silvia, Mrs Leorna and several maids down in the private chambers." Arianna nodded, apprehension filling her once again. She was going to get married…
0oOo0
Luciano stood at the altar in the grand Palazzo beside the main canal, sweat beading his forehead. It was almost time for Arianna to arrive.
He shifted awkwardly in his place. The clothes he had had to wear were uncomfortable, tight, and itchy. Probably the Talian equivalent to tuxedos, he thought wirily.
Sighing heavily he glanced around the lavishly decorated courtyard, and took in the sights yet again to calm himself. Yet again.
The balconies above were filled with armed guards, just visible behind the extravagant vines of flowering ivy and honeysuckle that had been draped there, yet ready to spring at a moments notice. Nobody anticipated any trouble; there were no rival families in Bellezza after all, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Luciano smiled to himself, remembering how adamantly Arianna had argued that she wanted to have the wedding in the Cathedral on the Island of Torrone. He had seen why, and personally had no objections, feeling that either where he had first met Arianna, or where she felt was her home would be fine, but she had been overruled by politics yet again. Roderigo and Silvia had said it would be inconvenient for the many citizens of Belezza, who would all doubtless want to see their Duchessa be married. Reluctantly, she'd agreed.
His eyes moved along. The main guests sat in chairs in rows, with a long aisle down the middle beginning at an impressive marble archway. That was where Arianna was going to walk along any minute now. He cast his eyes past the large orchestra that Rodolfo had hired and towards the guests themselves. There were his foster Parents, smiling up at him, which brought back the painful twang of who could not be here. Paola, Teresa and Ceaser, were sitting there also, much to many's surprise. But others reasoned it was because they were the Horsemasters family who won the Stellata. They weren't far off from the truth.
Luciano's eyes sought out Gaetano and his new wife, Francesca. He caught his eye and they grinned at each other. There had been a bit of a hiccup about what to do with the Di Chimici. Nobody really wanted the whole family there when most of them where after Luciano's blood. In the end, they'd asked for Gaetano to appear as a "representative" for the Di Chimici family. He'd whole heartedly agreed, and talked it over with his sibling's, which most had grudgingly accepted, to everyone's intense relief.
He scanned past other familiar faces, Giuditta, from Giglia, various politicians, Arianna's older brothers, and a few other not-so familiar faces.
He then looked towards the edge of the guests area, where it looked like all of Bellezza had turned up to watch. Every nook and cranny had been filled up with the populace of the city, all the windows facing the palazzo on the opposite side of the canal were crammed till breaking point, filled with those who were carpenters to butchers, women and children, poor and wealthy, and also, he noted with surprise, the Manoush. Aureho and Rafella caught his eyes and nodded, smiling their mysterious smiles. It was much like the old Duchessa's Funeral, only instead of somber, quiet faces, there was excited, cheering ones.
Then, suddenly the orchestra struck up and every face in the city turned towards the archway, holding its breath as one.
Then she appeared. She was wearing a fine lace dress, made, he knew, by her grandmother. It was beautiful. It flowed gracefully behind her to where Rodolfo and Gianfranco trailed just behind her delicate figure like her very own entourage. The color was a dazzling white, almost hurting your eyes as you looked at her, but as you looked you realized how beautiful it made her. It fitted her perfectly, clinging to her every curve as if she was poured into it, revealing to the rest of the world how Luciano saw her in his mind every day. A gauze thin veil covered her perfect features, yet her violet eyes still stood out as clearly from behind her pure white mask as if there was no veil at all. The couple's eyes met. Then, where once an entire universe separated them, nothing did, there was just Arianna and Luciano, boy and girl; Each Other. As she slowly walked up the aisle, all fears and hesitant thoughts were driven from his mind. This was what he wanted, nothing else. He'd made his choice back then, and nothing would change that now. She trod up onto the podium, and they shared a smile. He could tell that despite the mask she was as nervous as he was. That helped ease his nerves a little.
Together, they turned and faced Brother Sulien, who had agreed to marry them.
He smiled at the two, and motioned for there to be quiet to the crowds. Silence was instantaneous. He cleared his throat and in a loud, clear voice, began.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Luciano Crinamorte and Arianna Rossi in blessed matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all people; and therefore – is not by any – to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly – but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together – let them speak now or forever hold their peace." Silence. He smiled out at the crowd and continued.
Arianna didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, and from the way Luciano was looking at her, he wasn't either. She grinned in his direction, but found his gaze flicking to behind her. Who was behind her? Only her parents and… oh… How could she have been so stupid? She met his gaze again and tried to be as comforting as possible without actually saying anything. He gave her a little nod and she tuned back into what Brother Sulien was saying, just in time too.
"…We shall now move on to the I do's." He turned towards Luciano. "Do you, Luciano Crinamorte, Cavaliere of Bellezza, assistant of Rodolfo and son of Guglielmo and Leorna Crinamorte, take Arianna Rossi Gasparini to be your lawful wedded wife, to love and to hold in sickness and in health, for as long as you both may live?"
Luciano looked at Arianna, no trace of fear on his face.
"I do." Brother Sulien turned to Arianna now.
"And do you Arianna Rossi Gasparini, Duchessa of Bellezza, daughter of Rodolfo Rossi and the late Duchessa Silvia Bellini, take Luciano Crinamorte to be your lawful wedded husband, to love and to hold in sickness and in health, for as long as you both may live?"
Arianna looked straight into Luciano's eyed.
"I do."
Brother Sulien beamed at the almost wed couple.
"Now, your grace, if you please recite your wedding vows."
Arianna nodded and stared her piercing lilac eyes deep into his soft brown ones. She meant every word of what she was going to say next.
"Luciano… I, Arianna Rossi, Duchessa of the noble city of Belezza, take you, Luciano Crinamorte, to be my friend, my lover, the father of my children and my husband. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and fully intend to stay with you, for all of eternity." Brother Sulien nodded approvingly.
"Mr Crinamorte, if you please…"
Luciano returned her gaze.
"Arianna…I Luciano Crinamorte, take you Arianna Rossi to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad for all of time, regardless of the obstacles we may face, as we shall be facing them together. I give you my hand, my heart, my soul and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live."
Rodolfo presented Luciano with two silver rings, embedded with jewels. He took them out of his hands, stood close to Arianna, and slipped the ring onto her finger, a tender smile never leaving his face. Brother Sulien cleared his throat for the final time.
"And now, with the good citizens of Bellezza, Honored guests, and our Lady as witness, I pronounce you man and wife." The crowds surrounding the Palazzo exploded as all of Belezza shook with its people roaring out to their new Duke and his wife. Arianna took off her mask and held it up, looking upon it for the last time. It seemed to stare back, almost saying goodbye, and then she flung it into the canal, watching it for a moment as it sunk into the murky depths of the water, never to be seen again. Now that the last of the traditions were complete, she abandoned all dignity and flung her arms around her husband and kissed him soundly, to which he gladly complied.
"I'm sorry your parents couldn't be here." She whispered quietly in his ear. She felt him tense up in his arms, but quickly he relaxed.
"Don't worry about it." He said pulling away, and looking into her concern filled eyes. "Let's not worry about unhappy things today, it's meant to be our happiest day." He lowered his voice a fraction. "Anyway, I went to see them last night, and… and I think they understood." He smiled at her anxiety, and brushed a stray lock of her wavy hair back behind her ear. "Don't worry I made my choice, and anyway, if I hadn't, there would be no wedding to go to." That seemed to relieve her and she kissed him again.
Suddenly the Orchestra struck up once more, and the chairs were moved to the sides. Luciano grasped Arianna's hand and led her towards the dance floor. Together they slowly started to revolve in each other arms as Arianna and Luciano, man and woman, Husband and wife.
0oOo0