Chapter Four
The wedding was finally here. After six long months of paparazzi, it was finally going to die down. Cinder was so ready for everything to be over, unlike Iko, who was savoring the moments that came along.
"No! I repeat, I AM NOT STAYING IN THAT DRESS FOR THE NEXT TWELVE HOURS!" Cinder yelled. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT ANYBODY THINKS! THIS IS MY WEDDING, AND I, WILL MAKE MY OWN DANG DECISIONS!"
Tashmi-jie came out of the dressing room looking flustered. "Perhaps you could help me?" she whispered to Iko.
"I don't know, but I can try my best," Iko responded, walking into the dressing room. "If I need help, though, you'll need to summon the matron of honor and the other bridesmaid to help me!"
Through half an hour of dramatic arguing, Iko, with the help of Scarlet and Cress, managed to get a compromise out of Cinder. They managed to bring it up to six hours, which made both groups seem remotely happy. Tashmi-jie was still rather scared of Cinder, though, with her loud voice and very stubborn ideas. It wasn't every day that you'd see such a personality.
"Can we get anywhere with this? Not only can her face not interact with makeup very well, she also doesn't want it," Iko complained.
"Did you not already know that?" Cress asked.
"Yes, but I'd thought I could convince her. It's been a while since she'd been this stubborn," Iko replied.
"Well, we've got a long afternoon and night to go along with this. And, careful, she could be ordering to chop off your head as early as by tomorrow afternoon if you don't cooperate!"
"Smile!" the photographer shouted to the Imperial couple. "Act like you enjoy taking pictures even if you really don't!"
"I've always hated taking pictures. It's always so boring," Cinder complained.
"Too bad, because you have to," Kai replied. "It'll be even worse the second paparazzi starts coming."
"I started hating pictures even more after I started being a Lunar fugitive." Cinder continued.
"I heard Thorne mentioning that a few years ago." Kai commented.
It was 3:45. The guests were starting to file in. Cinder had sent Cress to go and take a look for her. Palace security had been upped to the finest standards, so Cinder wasn't too nervous. In fact, she was definitely more nervous about getting married. She had felt rather guilty at how she had acted towards Tashmi-jie and her best friends. Perhaps it was her nerve getting active, she thought.
She took a look at the mirror. I'm ready, she said to herself. I'm ready to soon be Empress of the Eastern Commonwealth.
Cinder walked down the aisle, willing herself to walk and breathe, completely ignoring the wedding march. She was so nervous she had almost thrown up. I will make it, she thought to herself.
Prime Minister Kamin stood at the altar. Cinder and Kai had chosen her to be the officiant, since she was most fit for the job.
"Please rise for His Majesty Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth and Ambassador Selene Blackburn of Luna," a voice carried through the crowd. The people stood.
Cinder started shaking. She was so nervous she thought she'd get sick over the entire crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Earthens and Lunars, we are gathered today to witness the true historical union of Earth and Luna, one that will forever bind the countries together. This event will be part of our history, symbolizing enduring relationships between people of both Luna and Earth," Kamin said serenely.
Cinder continued shaking.
"We are here today to witness the marriage of former Lunar queen Selene Blackburn of Luna and His Majesty Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth," Kamin continued. The people cheered.
"The groom will now take his ribbon and tie it three times around his bride's left wrist, to symbolize their forever binding matrimony, with love, honor, and respect," Kamin said, all while trying to cut two different ribbons with a bad pair of scissors. Cinder could see Thorne trying really hard not to laugh. It was pretty funny, though, she thought to herself.
Cinder had taken her own sweet time with hers, considering the fact that she hated tying ribbons, and also because she had been shaking a good amount. This had reminded her too many times of her aunt already.
Kai took his ribbon and wrapped it around Cinder's wrist, going gently and gracefully, tying with extreme precision.
"I will now knot the two ribbons together. This will symbolize the unity of both the bride and the groom and the unity of Earth and Luna, on the thirteenth day of December in the 128th year of the third era." Kamin tied the two ribbons together, between her fingers.
Kamin took up her portscreen. "We will now begin our exchange of vows, with the groom beginning first. Please repeat after me..."
"I, Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth of Earth, take as my wife and the future empress of the Eastern Commonwealth, Ambassador Selene Blackburn of Luna, to rule at my side with grace and justice, and to honor the Earthen Union's laws as laid out by our forefathers," Kai recited with perfect clarity. Continuing, he spoke,"From this day forward she will forever be my sun at daylight and my moon at night. I vow to cherish and love her for all of our days."
"Now for the bride," Kamin said.
"I, as Ambassador Selene Blackburn of Luna, take as my husband and emperor of the Eastern Commonwealth, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Kaito, for us to rule together with grace and justice, and honor the laws laid out in Luna by our forefathers," Cinder spoke. "From this day on, he will forever be my sun at dawn and my moon at twilight. I vow to love and cherish him for all of our days."
"Ambassador Selene, do you hereby accept the terms of marriage set forth before you on this day as both the rules of matrimony between two beings and also the continuous bond that will be held between the Earthen Union and Luna? If you accept, say 'I do'."
"I do."
"Your Imperial Majesty, do you hereby accept the terms of marriage set forth before you on this day as both the rules of matrimony between two beings and also the continuous bond that will be held between the Earthen Union and Luna? If you accept, say 'I do'."
"I do."
"By the power given to me by the people of Earth, I now pronounce you husband and wife," Kamin smiled. "Please disconnect all video feeds so the groom may kiss his bride."
Kai took a few steps towards Cinder. Then, he kissed her, and the people cheered.
Hey Lunartics! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter! Thank you so much for the amazing reviews and inspirations given to me! I really appreciate you guys' support. And don't worry, this story will be continued for a long time...I have a lot to write about! Like, a lot.
For all of those who are probably wondering about the title of the story, the conflict of the story, and why oh so many details, this is going to be a rather long fanfic, so it'll come into play soon. Well, I hope...
If you're on FictionPress, I'm Kennedy O'Malley on the site, so if you'd like to read the prologue of my story, enjoy! I haven't had as much time to post on there since it's so much fun to write on here, and there is currently nothing happening I could talk about, so wait a bit and I might post something...
This chapter was especially interesting and hard to write, especially since I haven't attended a wedding since I was four...but it was really fun to write anyways. I did quite the good amount of research on this, so much my classmates thought I was planning for a wedding :)
Please do keep in mind that all of my statements are really from my brain. Honestly, I am that weird quirky person you see in all of the characters that appear in my fanfics. I do take certain details from The Lunar Chronicles for absolute truth of the story. I also do try to keep the entire thing as true to the series as possible. And I also really enjoy picking things like dates for certain reasons, whether it is for enjoyment or for truth of the facts (ie. December 13th is whose birthday? think celebrity... and when is Kai married to Levana for the second time? looking at Winter...). You guys'll probably find March 3rd somewhere in the mix there, too, and you'll find the reason on FictionPress later, when I post more of my own story...
There's going to be more to come later... I'll try to post one of these editorial sections in my chapters from now on! Until next time, this is theannahsu!