A/N- For those who were confused about why Caroline refers to herself as 'We', it is known as the majestic plural.


Caroline awakes to the sound of music and a choir of young girls singing outside of her window.

Her beautiful water clock- a gift from her betrothed, in the shape of a ship- barely taps out the hour before there is a brisk knock at her door and the Lady Rebekah pokes her pretty little face in,

"Have you woken…Your Majesty?" her voice is sweet and loving, with only the hint of pause before addressing Caroline by her title.

Caroline stretches her arms above her head and sits up with a languorous smile,

"Mayhap," she sighs as she stretches her toes under the covers,

"Yet I cannot trust that this is reality and not some glorious dream."

Rebekah turns her head back to the army of women waiting outside,

"The Queen shall summon you all momentarily." She announced in an important, haughty tone, before slipping into the bed chamber, closing the door and running across the room to leap onto the bed,

"Today is your wedding day," she breathed excitedly, "Is that not wonderful?"

Caroline laughed at the young girl's bright smile, truly Niklaus had given her a gift bringing his sister to her rooms. Rebekah was a pretty young maid with a loving heart and kind nature, who had been so thrilled to be away from her boring brother Finn that she had brimmed over with energy and happiness, invigorating Caroline's ladies.

The first morning she had served the queen, she had brought her a posy of fresh flowers, something which was rarely seen at court yet had been much treasured. By the end of the first evening, Caroline and Niklaus had realised that if they handed sealed letters to Rebekah and told her they were naval reports, that she would carry them without thought from one to the other and back again without breaking the seal or holding the parchment up to light. She had been the unwitting carrier of many a long love letter between the two of them before she had come to the Chancellor's attention and he had intercepted a note, truly believing that it was a naval matter and therefore his concern until Caroline's poetic yearning for Niklaus' lips upon her breasts once more had made him aware of the situation.

Fortunately, he had burnt the letter, told Rebekah it was a very secret document and walked her back to the queen's presence chamber where he had drawn Caroline aside and warned her not to put such scandalous words to parchment, until she was married.

A marriage that he assured her had his full support as her chancellor and with his efforts had the full support of parliament as well.

Niklaus, it was declared, was as close to a suitable match as could be found for the Queen of England without turning to a foreign prince.

He was a hero, beloved by the people, yet his family was new blood so he would not bring legions of cousins to snatch up every last privilege in the land, nor would his family bring back the royal rivalries of the York, Plantagenet, Howard, or Seymour families, those who had never been able to forget that they had once had the throne and would give their eternal lives for the chance to have it back in their ambitious hands.

Nor did it hurt that the only family he did possess were his siblings, all from the same mother, and his eldest sister Freya, married to a German lord, had already born four children in five years, so he was clearly of fertile stock.

A matter of great concern for those of the land who had anxiously watched the union of Caroline's parents for twenty years and seen only one child survive to adulthood.

At the heart of it, the great lords of the kingdom saw a queen of two years on an unsteady throne with only a cousin in Scotland to succeed should she die heirless. They saw a young, healthy Englishman who she was clearly enamoured with and thus would happily go to bed with him until he got her with child, hopefully more than one for the security of the nation.

Niklaus Mikaelson might be an upstart, a third son, however he was an Englishman and better an Englishman for the queen's husband than a foreign prince who would make England a vassal state and bring his own countrymen, strangers to be given every place of honour at Court.

So, with their own interests at the forefront of their mind, the Parliament readily agreed that Queen Caroline had been most wise in her choice of husband and wished to see her married as speedily as possible.

Rebekah had been much more selfless in her excitement, when Caroline had returned to Whitehall, going straight to her privy chamber where she had asked Niklaus to wait for her, the young girl had forgot herself and thrown her arms around Caroline, hugging her tightly and calling her sister. In her mind, the union between her brother and the Queen was a fairy tale romance, the most wondrous thing. She refused to even consider the possibility that there were any political merits to Caroline and Niklaus' marriage, utterly certain that it had been love at first sight when Caroline had first commissioned him, fresh off his victory against the Scots, into her navy.

In truth, neither of them clearly remembered the first time that they had met, Caroline had been busy worrying about food shortages in the North and Niklaus had been recovering from a leg wound which he had taken a great many tonics for; however neither of them had the cold heart necessary to reveal this to Rebekah, so they let her dream.

Caroline had a small breakfast of sweet ale, bread and some fruit, too excited to eat properly, she kept looking to the door, waiting impatiently for her wedding gown to be brought in so that she might begin dressing.

It was a beautiful gown, cloth of gold with ermine trimmed sleeves and hundreds upon hundreds of white pearls stitched into the fabric, some even shaped to resemble waves. She would wear her hair down and flowing in the fashion of unmarried women and maids, with a silver coronet atop her head. Her shift and stockings were the purest white but her garter ribbons would be blue for the colour of Niklaus' eyes.

She swears that her women are hesitating as they dress her, lacing her into the gown and she taps her foot with impatience before Rebekah traps it into her gold heels and glances up at her,

"You look beautiful." she declares and Caroline cups her face and kisses her,

"Thank-you little one, go see to your brother and ask him if he is ready."

She darts off and Lady Elena checks the clock with confusion,

"Do we not yet have time, Your Majesty?" she asks with confusion, "I thought the ceremony was for midday?"

Caroline catches the eye of Lady Katherine, who is looking at her cousin with a mixture of exasperation and pity,

"Shall I check on the readiness of the Bishop, Your Majesty?" she asks and is sent away with a stifled laughter and murmured thanks.


The people of London had been most ardently wooed by Niklaus in preparation for the wedding. Since his investiture as Earl of Leicester, he had taken to visiting the families of the men who'd died under his command during his various battles, thanking the widows or mothers and gifting them small bags of coin, along with the promise that he would hear them if they ever came to him for help. When people had offered to pray for him, he had instead humbly asked them to pray for England's beautiful Queen, his eyes dropping down and a small smile playing on his face.

It hadn't taken long for the people to decide that their heroic and generous Earl must surely be in love with the Queen and when it had been announced that the two were to be married, there had been many a joyful toast to their happiness in the taverns. Especially as they were to be married in London, which meant a holiday for the people, during which wine would flow in the fountains, there would be much entertainment and gold coins would be thrown by the royal procession to the crowds as they left the abbey.

Which was why Caroline could hear the raucous cheers for Niklaus from the courtyard at Whitehall Palace as she waited impatiently for her mare to be brought out.

Niklaus stands waiting for her at the doors of the abbey, bowing gallantly when she reaches him, he offers her his arm and they make their way to the altar where the priest stands ready to marry them,

"I am the luckiest man in the world." he whispers as they kneel and she squeezes his hand.


The wedding feast is magnificent, the entire court claps as Caroline and her new husband, Prince Niklaus enter the great hall. He is seated on her left in the place of honour but his throne will be slightly lower than hers, to signify that she is still the ruling monarch. When they are settled, he also discovers that the position of the seats gives him the ability to lean over with ease and put his mouth to her ear,

"You look beautiful my Queen" he murmurs and she blushes as the feast begins.

Thirty courses are brought out from the kitchens on golden plates while jugglers perform and musicians play. Caroline and Niklaus taste each dish and send it out to their favourites and friends, or in Niklaus' case, his true family- his siblings- and then those he'd counted as his friends before his rise to greatness.

They dine and then mummers come in to perform a masque, a re-enactment of Niklaus' victory over the Spanish and this is followed by confectioners coming in from the kitchen with sugar ships to be devoured by the court.

Caroline and Niklaus are given the largest ship and he breaks off a piece of the mast, holding it out to her and she takes it in her mouth, her lips closing around his fingers.

"My heart yearns to be a dutiful husband" he whispers in her ear, his hand dropping down and settling on her thigh, patting and squeezing it through the gown and she bites her lip and links their fingers together.

She knows that she is not being very regal in that moment, but it is her wedding night to her handsome husband who made her heart skip when he smiled and who'd courted her so sweetly.

She clears her throat and looks to her Chancellor, summoning him with a crook of her finger,

"Your Majesty" he bows to her and then her husband, "Your highness"

"When should we close the court for the evening?" she asks him, keeping her voice formal and aloof, lest he read the truth in the hitch of her breath or the flash of her eyes.

"After all, we have other ceremonial duties to see to tonight."

"Your Majesty," the Chancellor frowned, "I don't under…"

"When can Caroline and I go to bed?" Niklaus demands, leaning over her to speak to the man, lacking the same concern she felt for decorum.

"This marriage has to be consummated to be legitimate after all."

The Chancellor stammered and glanced at the new Prince in a very disapproving manner,

"There are foreign dignitaries here to witness the wedding," he sniffs,

"We have to make an impressive show."

Niklaus sits back in his throne with a slump, "We also have to consummate the marriage" he points out again and Caroline lifts his hand to her lips to kiss it,

"We shall close the court at midnight" she promises and he uses her hand to tug her close and press his lips to hers.

His tongue swipes across her bottom lip and nudges her mouth open, slipping his tongue in and rubbing it gently against hers, ignoring the watching courtiers and she squirms in delight as his hand returns to her thigh,

"I doubt I have the strength to wait that long for my Queen."


She finds that her own strength is severely tested as well, especially when they lead the court in dancing and her new husband's hands are constantly at her waist or during the Volta when he picks her up and they're pressed together when she returns to the ground.

"Is it midnight yet?" she asks her chancellor as he dances beside her with Lady Elena,

"There is still an hour to go, Your Majesty." he informs her with the merest hint of irritation, he's been playing the messenger for them all night and is most disapproving of their antics and continued kissing in front of the court.

Caroline sighs woefully as Niklaus releases her and takes Alaric by the arm, drawing him away from the dances and whispering in his ear, the chancellor pales and turns to him with a violent glance yet her husband only smiles and shrugs,

"Good news, my queen," her husband tells her as he bounds over and steals a kiss from her lips,

"It is time to close the court."

Caroline looks up at him suspiciously, "You did not threaten our chancellor's life we hope?"

His eyes are wide with faked innocence, "Never, my Queen, I simply told him that if another half hour came and we were still not abed, I would sit you on the table, lift your skirts and consummate the marriage there."

She glanced up at the table before her throne and frowned,
"How could we consummate a marriage on a table?"

Niklaus puts his hands on her waist and draws her close for a loving kiss, "One day, mayhap you shall find out."