PART X

Lissa and Chrom fought over wedding dates for months, but in the end Frederick found an obscure Ylissean law that stated older siblings must marry before younger ones. Chrom and Olivia, therefore, were the first to wed nearly a year after the army had disbanded. Maribelle was not in the wedding party, but she helped Lissa change out of her bridesmaid attire after the wedding and was thus privy to another of the royal siblings' arguments. "You're not getting married in a week!" Chrom hollered across the dressing room. Olivia had been escorted away by maids to undo her elaborate wedding gown, leaving Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, Robin, and various helpers behind.

"I am too!" Lissa yelled back, holding her arms up so Maribelle could untie her sash. "The chapel is already decorated and it would be ridiculous to tear it all down just to put it back up later!"

"Olivia and I will be gone for a week to visit her family in Regna Ferox!"

"Then you'll get back just in time!"

Chrom ducked around Frederick, who was unbuttoning the elaborate groom's coat. "I have to have time to prepare for this, you know!"

"THEN YOU BETTER START PREPARING!"

The new ruler of Ylisse turned to Robin, who was standing nearby. "How do you deal with her?"

Robin smiled. "A happy wife is a happy life," he said cheerfully. "Now there's a strategy to live by."

"Come on, this is ridiculous, right?" Chrom implored Maribelle, looking desperately at her as if she were his last hope.

"I support my darling Lissa, of course," Maribelle replied, earning a beaming grin from her best friend.

"Frederick…?"

The tall knight shook his head. "This is one battle in which I can not shield you, Milord."

Chrom deflated.

oOoOo

A week later, Maribelle stood at Lissa's side as her maid of honor, desperately blinking tears out of her eyes. Across from her, Chrom sobbed openly into his sleeves. Frederick, who was also standing on Robin's side, surreptitiously passed the leaking prince handkerchiefs embroidered with the Brand. The wedding was beautiful; Lissa was resplendent in royal wedding finery and Robin was positively dashing in his suit. Maribelle was pleased that her best friend had been kind in her choice of the bridesmaids' attire; she, Sumia, Nowi, and Olivia were all draped in soft lavender chiffon. This was partly due to her outright rejection of Lissa's first idea to have them all wear petal-gowns in the most garish shade of yellow she could possibly have found. "You'll look like a row of sunflowers!" Lissa had explained.

Even if it was Lissa's special day, Maribelle had no intention of looking like a sunflower, especially when…ice flooded her stomach. Donnel had been invited to the wedding and had responded that he would be coming and bringing his mother with him. That meant…somewhere in the audience, he could be looking at her right this minute. The thought made her nauseated. She'd purposely kept her eyes straight ahead so she wouldn't accidentally see him as she walked in the bridal procession down the aisle, clinging onto Chrom's arm.

The priest was droning on about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of chastity and Maribelle was starting to feel fidgety. She looked at her best friend, who was lost to the world and making dopey eyes at her fiancé. Feeling full of nervous energy, she shot a glance out at the audience in the chapel pews. She recognized the majority of the faces—the Shepherds had all been invited as well as many of the noble families of Ylisse—but she didn't see him. She found Ricken, who had grown a few inches over the past year. He grinned at her shyly when their eyes met.

Maybe he didn't come? She wondered, right before her eyes passed over a head of curly plum-colored hair. She immediately recognized it and flipped her eyes back to staring at the bride and groom. Moments passed and the priest was still talking in his slow, soporific voice. Nagging curiosity burned in her mind and she flicked her eyes back to where he was sitting. There he was, just like in her memories, though he'd clearly done some growing of his own in her absence. An older woman with graying hair sat beside him, smiling. Maribelle examined her with interest. Donnel had clearly inherited her eyes and the way she held her mouth. So this was the woman she'd wanted to meet so badly…?

She glanced over at Donnel and almost dropped her bouquet when she realized he was staring at her. Blood rose in her cheeks and she jerked her eyes forward again. Excellent, she thought, embarrassed and bitter. She wouldn't be surprised if her make up melted off with the heat she was putting out. A trickle of sweat ran down her back. Ridiculous. This was ridiculous.

oOoOo

After the wedding was finished, heavy gowns were discarded, and Lissa was safely tucked beside Robin in a coach to head to their honeymoon, Maribelle decided to take a walk in Ylisstol to cool down. The air was soft and sleepy in the streets of the city, though the shops were still alight and thriving off of the festive atmosphere created by the second royal wedding. Maribelle smiled at the shopkeepers as she passed each store. This city was full of good memories—memories of Lissa and the carefree way they used to play on the rare occasions when Emmeryn and Frederick let the princess out of the castle. She always felt safe on these streets.

A familiar figure caught her eye and she looked down the way to see Donnel's mother chatting animatedly with the owner of a dairy stall. Her heart stuttered and she twisted around to see if Donnel was nearby, but he was nowhere to be seen. A nostalgic curiosity propelled Maribelle forward until she was in front of the older woman. "Ah, hello," She said, almost uncharacteristically tripping over her words. "Are you…Donnel's mother?"

The woman turned and beamed at her. "I sure am! Do ya know my Donny?"

"Yes…we were in the Shepherds together." What a sad summation of their relationship. "He talked about you often, Mrs…?"

"Oh, my, just call me Mabel," the woman said. "Any friend of Donny's is a friend of mine! I recognize you…you were in the weddin', weren't ya?"

Maribelle smiled. Mabel's speech patterns were familiar and bittersweet. "I was, indeed." She wrung her hands anxiously in her skirts. "Would you happen to…know…where Donnel is?"

"Well, I'll be durned if he weren't right here just a hot second ago…" Mabel looked around. "That boy…he's probably off lookin' at rings again."

"Rings?" Maribelle asked, unsure that she'd heard properly.

Mabel nodded. "Yes, he's been goin' on an' on about buyin' a ring for his girlfriend but he just won't up and do it! It's gotten to where I can't go shoppin' with him without spendin' half an hour at every jeweler's we come across!"

The night air stilled. "Girlfriend?"

"My, yes. I hope you're not another admirer of his…I hate to disappoint you but his heart is quite set on a gal already."

All the words in Maribelle's head melted and slipped out of reach. She'd just been convenient wartime comfort. How absurd of her to think that he wouldn't have moved on by now. After all, there was almost certainly someone he'd had his eye on back in his village and he was strong now, and handsome…this was only logical. It made perfect sense…so why did it hurt so…so badly?

Mabel sensed the sudden change in atmosphere and immediately went into damage control. "There, there, hon. You're as pretty as a peach blossom; you'll find yer man someday and where you least expect it, too! Why, I found mine at a cow market! He was tryin' to sell me an old heifer for three times what the poor beast was worth and I gave him what for an' then married him!" She patted Maribelle's shoulder warmly.

"You-you're right," Maribelle gasped, trying to hold back tears. "Thank you, Lady Mabel. I should be on my way. It was a pleasure to meet you." She curtsied to the woman and hurried away, almost tripping over her own feet in the process.

Mabel watched her go and frowned. "Poor thing."

It was only minutes until her son, who was clearly pouting, joined her. "I'm about plumb done with jewelry stores in this city, Ma!" He grumbled.

"Couldn't find what ya wanted?" his mother asked sympathetically.

"No! Nothin' was good enough and the ones that were woulda cost half the village! The training corps may be paying my room an' board but they sure don't pay me enough to shake a stick at." He sighed.

Mabel smiled at him, despite his frustration. "You'll find it and when you do it'll be perfect. I just know it." The two turned to walk back toward the castle. "I had to chase off another one of yer admirers while you were gone. I had no idea my little Donny was so popular!"

"Admirer?" Donnel asked skeptically.

"Sure as sugar. She was wonderin' where she could find you and I told her you were off shoppin' for pretty things for yer girlfriend and you'd have thought I'd just told her her favorite pig had been made into sausage!"

Donnel groaned. "Ma! I done told you already that Maribelle ain't my girlfriend."

"If she ain't your gal, why are you trying to buy her a ring?"

"Cuz I love her," Donnel replied. "An' when I finish the program I'm gonna make her mine. There's nothin' I want more in the whole world."

Mabel sighed and gazed at her son fondly. "Your face lights up like summer fireflies when you talk about her. I hope I get to meet her soon."

"You will. That's a promise! I've only got a little longer until I graduate." The soldier put his hands behind his head and wished for a wheat stalk to chew on. "Hang on," he said softly, partly to his mother, partly to himself, and partly to the girl who haunted his dreams at night.

oOoOo

"You're late," Maribelle's mother said disapprovingly when her daughter finally reappeared. "I was about to send Frederick to search for you."

Maribelle closed and locked the door of the posh inn suite in which her family was staying for the wedding. "My apologies, mother. I lost my way."

"Lost your way?"

"Yes, I was…thinking."

"It must have been deep thoughts to make you forget the streets you played in as a girl," her mother said suspiciously. "I hope it was about the proposition the Licht family made nearly a season ago."

Maribelle slowly raised her head. "Actually, yes, I was thinking about it."

"Oh?" Her mother laid down her reading and focused her full attention on the conversation.

"Though I was most averse to it before, I've come to realize my foolishness in delaying the inevitable and…I accept their offer."

Her mother beamed. "Good girl! This will restore the Licht's place in society and, more importantly, secure the bonds between our families! Your father will be delighted."

Maribelle said nothing as she unlaced her street shoes. Finally her mother sighed. "You know, you've known Ricken much longer than I knew your father when I married him. He's a fine young man and he'll treat you like a princess. He's been in love with you for years, after all." She reminded her gently.

"I know," Maribelle replied, turning her head so her mother couldn't see her face. "I'm going to bed now. Tell Father of my decision and let me know when the wedding will be so I can tell Lissa when she returns."

oOoOoOo

My excuse for how long this chapter took is that I got engaged and my mind suddenly filled with everything wedding and I had to drown in it before I could bring myself to write again…sorry!

Thank you, as always, for reading! I took a strange turn this chapter that I wasn't originally planning…I hope it works out!