Chapter 47 I don't own Merlin. Finally, the day has come. Owaine and Cassie's wedding! Many time breaks in this chapter, but it's all the same day: the Ides of November, also known as November the 13th. The music is modern-ish tango. I have no idea what lullabies are actually from medieval times, so I'm just sticking to the ones I know. And think of them as the older recordings of them, not like super produced modern ones. Hope you like it, read, review, favorite-or not. Without Further ado:
"Ow, Morgana! What is this; torture?" Cassie asked, moving her face away from the tweezers.
"No. It's to make you look perfect today. Now hold still! I just have a few more to pluck." she said, using the tweezers to pluck them out quickly.
"Still don't know why. It's not like I have very hairy eyebrows. And even if I did, they're blonde, they won't show ugly." Cassie said, rubbing her eyebrows gingerly.
"I still can't believe you've never plucked your eyebrows before." Gwen giggled.
"Different customs. We don't pluck." Cassie said, giving her friends the stink-eye. "Our eyebrows, at least."
"Well, that's changed. We finished plucking your face, now get ready for the really painful plucking." Gwen said, an evil glint in her eye.
"What are you talk-No! I put my foot down!" Cassie cried, standing up and backing away from them, looking at them dangerously.
"Someone's no good with pain." Morgana said, passing the tweezers off to the servant who was barely suppressing her smile. "We'll just wait till you fall asleep. Do it then."
"Who said I'm falling asleep?" Cassie argued back, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll just stay up all night."
"And have bags under your eyes tomorrow. No. We won't let that happen." Morgana said. "Besides, it's only a little bit of pain. And the customs cannot be that much different."
"Okay, they're not. I just don't like pain, and that is too much pain!" Cassie whined, comically stomping her foot on the floor.
"So you have plucked before?" Gwen asked, trying really hard not to giggle.
"A few times. At my mother's insistence, but she stopped insisting when it was perfectly clear I wouldn't do it."
"It doesn't hurt that much." Morgana observed.
"Do I have to?" Cassie whined, doing her best pouty face.
"Great look, Cassie. But that pout won't work on us." Morgana told her with a smirk. "Arms." she said.
"Ugh!" Cassie groaned, going back and lifting her arms for the servant girl to pluck.
"You're taking a calming bath next, Cassie. Stop whining." Morgana said, perfectly used to plucking by then.
"Prefiero encontrar un hechizo para depilar que dejarme torturar con esas benditas pinzas." Cassie muttered to herself in spanish, giving her the idea to do just that.
"What?" Gwen asked, stoking the flame.
"I said, just the arms. No more of that torture, I'll take a bath and be done with it." Cassie said, wincing in pain.
"You're such a big baby, Cassie." Morgana said, having her nails filed by the window.
"Whatever, 'Gana. I'll be the first to torture you on your wedding eve." Cassie said flippantly, going over to undress behind the screen and wrap a dressing gown about herself. "Come back in a half an hour, I'll just be sitting in the tub for that time."
"Yes, my Lady." the servant girl said, curtsying quickly and backing out to leave.
"Fetch some wine, too, please." Morgana called out before the girl closed the door.
"Yes, my Lady."
"Trying to get me to sleep are you, Morgana?" Cassie said with a tinkling laugh.
"Looks and brains. Sir Owaine certainly has found an exceptional woman to marry. Shame you're not any taller, don't even reach my head. And you barely reach his shoulders." Morgana said, a teasing glint shining bright behind her green eyes.
"You wound me, Morgana." Cassie said jokingly.
"He is very lucky, though. To have found you." Gwen said sincerely, putting away her sewing kits and declaring the dress complete.
"Can I see it now?"
"No. You, my dear Cassie, will have to wait for tomorrow. We'll wait for you at Sext here, get you ready to be wed!" Gwen told her, grinning excitedly.
"Finally! I thought this day would never come!" Morgana said, shoving Cassie's shoulder playfully.
"As did I. I am counting the seconds until I call him 'husband' and officially be his!" Cassie said with a wistful sigh and a smile.
"I thought you were already his." Gwen commented with a sly grin.
"My Lady. Cassie. Time for you to go to your chambers. Remember, you can't see Owaine tonight. Urien is making sure he's in his chambers." Morrigan said a few hours later.
"Good night, sister." Morgana said softly, kissing her cheek and hugging her tightly.
"Good night, Cassie." Gwen said, parroting Morgana's actions and beaming excitedly.
"Come, darling. We must not waste time in the preparations for tomorrow." Morrigan said kindly, hooking her arm through Cassie's and leading her through the halls. "Nervous, dear?"
"Rather, yes." Cassie admitted.
"Don't be. Tomorrow, you will truly be a blushing bride and you will certainly look it. After the ceremony, the festivities and the consummation, you and Owaine will be wed, husband and wife, and I do hope you will be happy for the rest of your lives." Morrigan said, stopping just in front of her door and turning to face her. "You are prepared to be his wife? And all that that means?"
"I am, Morrigan." Cassie replied.
"Good. Rest, now. Tomorrow will be a new day. A happy one. A servant will wake you at Prime to break fast, and then the Ladies Eleanor, Alys, Katherine, and I will come to take the stroll through the gardens."
"My last before I am married." Cassie said in realization.
"Yes. Now, the Lady Morgana has requested she be the one to help you prepare, so at Sext after your lunch you are to go to her chambers and get ready. The ceremony will be on the eighth hour and the festivities will last until Compline where you and Owaine will each go to the separate antechambers of the marital quarters to prepare for the consummation ceremony."
"Yes, Morrigan." Cassie said after she paused, surveying her future daughter's reaction.
"Good night, Cassie." Morrigan said with a wide smile, "Get some rest, we don't want you to look too tired tomorrow."
"Good night, Morrigan." Cassie said, returning the smile and entering her rooms, heading straight for the screen to change into her nightdress and then going to sleep.
"Enter!" Cassie called out, sitting up in her bed and smoothing her hair down before standing up to get ready for the first part of her day excitedly.
"Your breakfast, my Lady."
"Thank you, Sara." Cassie said, walking over gracefully and sitting down at the small table in the corner.
"If that will be all, Your Highness." she said tersely, curtsying halfheartedly before turning and leaving.
"I am not your Highness, Sara. That would be Prince Arthur as this is his Kingdom." Cassie replied in the same tone.
"Yes, my Lady."
"And I will not have you tell anyone who I am. You were not there. You didn't see the horrors that I did, or face the fear of being killed in the same manner." Cassie continued, her previous gaiety being replaced by a haunted expression. "I ran as a coward would, and I abandoned my kingdom. I gave up any right to be called their leader when I did that. In my heart, they are still present, but I cannot be who you think I am. And I don't know what I did to deserve your animosity, but I apologize sincerely for it. Whatever 'it' is." Cassie told her sincerely, tears swimming in her eyes.
"Then I must apologize as well, my Lady. For my behavior." Sara replied, a stray tear falling down her cheek. "I wish you best, today." she said, turning around and leaving without waiting for Cassie's reply.
"Suppose I should put that from my mind now." Cassie said to herself, looking to the door and calling her magic forward. "Behæpse fæst." Cassie whispered under her breath, locking the doors and reaching up to unfasten her necklace.
She placed it on the floor and took the knife from the table, running her thumb along the edge long enough to draw blood before she felt her magic rise through her veins to do her bidding. "Be min æðeling, geopene ond forþgelæde" she said softly, running her thumb along the small trunk and placing it on the floor to watch it grow back to normal size. She went through it carefully, moving things aside to find what she was truly looking for; her mother's gold necklace with the family crest stamped on it.
"Te extraño, mamá. Como quisiera tenerte aqui a mi lado hoy. Y a mis hermanos y mis hermanas. Los quiero aquí." Cassie cried, letting her tears fall freely for the time being, clutching the chain to her breast. She stayed there kneeling in front of the trunk with the necklace in her clutches before she remembered herself and wiped her tears away, whispering the spell to close the trunk and take it back to normal size, clasping both her mother's crest and her trunk around her neck once more and standing up to fix herself at the mirror.
"Did you sleep well, Cassie." Morrigan asked once they stepped outside.
"Like I was in Morpheus' embrace, my Lady." Cassie replied with a smile. "Is that not a saying here?" Cassie asked quickly, judging by their reactions.
"Not quite the translation, Cassie. You meant 'in the arms of Morpheus,' I'm sure." Alys said, giggling slightly.
"Oh. It translates the same, no?" Cassie asked nervously.
"It could be said that way, yes. It's just unusual, is all." Katherine agreed with a hearty laugh. "Forgive my intrusion, but have you been crying?" Katherine asked as they stopped to admire a goldfinch flying by.
"I suppose I miss my family. Especially my mother." Cassie said softly, looking wistfully up at the sky. "But I have a new family now. Sisters and brothers and a mother and father."
"Lovely sentiments, Cassie. By this time tomorrow, you will be my daughter. And I already think of you as one." Morrigan said, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Come, we have more of the garden left to tour, and more to speak. We will be family now, why not learn more about you?"
"It's true. I've known you nearly as long as Owaine and I don't know that much about you." Ellie said, looking at her curiously.
"I am an open book, my Ladies." Cassie said with a wide smile, letting them steer her around the garden.
"Do you have a second name?"
"Flavia. It's my father's praenomen, so it's my nomen. There still remains much Roman influence among our people. The naming being part of such an influence. But it's quickly changing. The Basques and Castilians have their own way of naming; Fernanditz is son of Fernando, Gonzales is 'son of Gonzalo', something like that." Cassie explained.
"Interesting. Casiopea Flavia or Flavia Casiopea?" Alys asked.
"Casiopea Flavia."
"What were your parents like?" Katherine asked, leaning forward curiously after they found a shady place to sit down.
"Where to begin? I never met my father, he died before I was born, an uprising in Toledo. But my sisters and brothers always told of his courage and bravery in battle and conflicts and his level head. And his valour. My mother, she was…very beautiful, and very wise. And I loved her dearly. She could cow even the greatest of men with a single look, silence a room with a phrase. A strong woman, a good mother. Some compared her favourably with the King's first wife, the one who bore his first three children. I wouldn't know, they are all-they were all so much older than me, I never met her." Cassie said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"She sounds lovely." Alys said.
"She's a lot like you, believe it or not. In your wit and humor, it's very similar." Cassie said with a fond smile.
"Oh, well that's all I need to know." Alys said, a teasing smile playing on her lips.
"Yes, well her 'broker no nonsense' attitude rivals that of Morrigan." Cassie replied playfully.
"What of your brothers? What were they like?"
"I loved them so. They were Generals in the Royal Guard. There was no knightdom there, rather each duchy had its own soldiers. Excellent swordsmen, handsome, they loved their children to bits and pieces. I remember just watching them training when I was younger, and then I trained alongside them. Well, I trained alone but in a field beside where they trained so I'd be able to watch what they were doing. Whenever they caught me sneaking there to train, they'd train with me, teach me how to wield a dagger, a longsword, I even learned how to fight with a lance and a pike, although I'm not the best, they're too long and I'm too short. Something about the momentum of the swing carrying me with it. My eldest brother tried explaining to me one time why I fell flat on my face after swinging one. He was very good with the maths and astronomy. Would have made a wonderful intellectual if he weren't meant to be Ki- anyways they were soldiers, Generals. Sadly they weren't needed anywhere else when… It doesn't matter." Cassie said, cutting herself off before she would start crying hard.
"I knew you were skilled with daggers, but I had no clue you could fight with a sword." Ellie said.
"Longsword, and the way they fight is different than how the knights do. I am terrible at the broadsword, but I am learning. Never know when I might have to save my knight again." Cassie said with twinkling eyes, choosing to not let her memories dampen this day, or make her eyes look any more puffy than they already were from the morning.
"It's nearly lunchtime." Alys said, looking up at the sky.
"Shall we have lunch out here, or shall we go inside?" Morrigan asked Cassie with a sweet smile.
"Inside. I'm afraid I tend to spend most of my time in the shade and the sun is quite bright right now, it's giving me a headache." Cassie answered apologetically.
"That headache will soon pass once we get you inside. Don't want a cranky bride, do we?" Alys said jokingly, standing up and falling back down
"I don't get cranky!" Cassie said defensively, looking worriedly at Alys but noticing the subtle shake of her head and not commenting.
"You do get a little cranky. Especially when you haven't eaten."
"Okay, maybe I'm slightly not myself when I haven't eaten. But that's all I'm giving you." Cassie said, standing up and hooking her arm through Alys' making sure she was right there should anything happen.
"Gwen!" Morrigan said when they ran into her near the stairs.
"My Lady." she said with a curtsy, quickly hiding what she was carrying behind her back.
"Go fetch Lady Morgana and join us for lunch." Morrigan told her gaily, a wide smile gracing her elegant features.
"Yes, my Lady. We'll be right down." Gwen replied with a smile, waiting for Cassie to look away before turning and running up the stairs and down the corridor.
"She almost caught me!" Gwen panted against the door.
"She didn't see it though, did she?" Morgana asked, worrying her lower lip.
"No, I don't think so. Come on, we've been invited down to lunch. Best not keep them waiting too long." Gwen said, opening the door and going down the stairs behind Morgana.
"What's for lunch?" Morgana asked when they entered the smaller dining hall-the bigger dining hall was adjacent to the Great Hall where the feast was to be held.
"Something light. We will have more than our fill later today."
"Oh, that looks yummy! Basil, rosemary, tomato and cheese, yeah?" Cassie asked, looking at them curiously.
"Yes, that's exactly what it is. Wine?"
"Thank you." Cassie said, thanking the servant behind her as well.
"So, to continue our conversation: tell us some of your likes and dislikes." Katherine said, being the one who knew her least.
"I do enjoy art. I've seen some beautiful paintings and exquisite sculptures in Hispania. The bronzework was truly something else. And reading, I enjoy a good romance. Morgana introduced me to the tale of Tristram and Iseult last week. I haven't finished it, but what I've heard thus far is very good."
"Oh, it's an amazing story!" Katherine said, gushing at the romance and chivalry of it all.
"And your dislikes?"
"Plucking." Morgana said before Cassie could even open her mouth, hiding her giggles behind her cup.
"I don't like plucking either, but it's a must. Other than that, Cassie?"
"Cleaning. Never liked it very much. And getting dirty." Cassie said, shaking her head.
"Weren't you a servant?"
"Hairdresser." Morgana corrected.
"Camping for extended periods of time. I did plenty of that for many moons on my travels north to Brittany." Cassie told her, still thinking of her likes and dislikes.
"Cassie loves babies. Everything to do with them, from being made to being born to growing." Gwen piped in happily, making Cassie blush.
"Gwen!"
"Oh, she still blushes at such innuendoes?"
"Now, Katherine, don't tease. She looks absolutely fetching when she blushes. A beautiful maiden if ever there was one." Morrigan said kindly, remembering a time when she too was quick to blush.
"Do you sing? Or dance?" Alys asked, moving onto another topic.
"I-I sing a little. But I'm better at dancing."
"Cassie has the best singing voice I have heard in a long time. This one time a few months ago I had a nightmare and Cassie was there and she sang this beautiful song in her native tongue." Morgana said, looking at her friend with a wide smile.
"Can we hear it? The song. When Lady Morgana recommends something, it's usually because it's good." Ellie said.
"I-it's a lullaby my mother used to sing me when I had bad dreams." Cassie said, trying to get out of it.
"Good thing I have a babe in my arms who's due for her nap. And Katherine too."
"M-may I?" Cassie asked, looking at baby Ellie who was closest.
"Please do." Ellie said, handing the baby girl over to her friend and sitting back.
"...Muñequita linda, de cabellos de oro, de dientes de perla, labios de rubí. Dime si me quieres, como yo te adoro. Si de mi te acuerdas, como yo de ti…" Cassie sang, gently rocking the baby back and forth while she fell asleep and singing just loud enough for them to hear her.
"My Lady. I'll take her to the nursery to sleep." Sara said quietly, holding her arms out to take the baby. "You have a beautiful voice, my Lady." she whispered before bowing to the room and going out the door quietly.
"That's not the one you sang the other night, and I didn't think there could be anything more beautiful." Morgana said,
"Which one did I sing to you?" Cassie asked, not remembering which one it was and smiling when Gwen hummed the tune. "Oh, that one. Yes, well, no nightmares, so I sang the other lullaby she sang me. There's a lot. I remember them well because my mother made it a habit of singing to all my nieces and nephews." Cassie told them.
"Well can you sing it?" Alys asked.
"I think both babies are asleep by now, but I can certainly try and put you all to sleep ." Cassie joked, clearing her throat and started: "Sueña...Sueña mientras yo te arrullaré… Con el hechizo de esta canción que para ti forje… Duerme, duerme tranquila mi dulce bien… Que contemplándote con pasión...la noche pasare…Duerme, duerme mientras yo te arrullaré, con el hechizo de esta canción que para ti cante."
"You have a truly beautiful voice, my Lady." Katherine said with tears in her eyes as she handed her baby off to the nearest servant and told her to take her to the nursery as well.
"Thank you, Katherine. I'm afraid I'm only good for lulling babies."
"And bringing tears to our eyes." Morrigan said, delicately dabbing at her eyes.
"Oh." Cassie said, blushing deeply.
"Needlepoint or Cross-stitching?" Ellie asked.
"Both. And embroidery. But only when the sun's too bright for me to go out or there's nothing left to do." Cassie said.
"So none of them?" Morgana challenged.
"No, I like all of them, but I was the youngest by six years of the second youngest. Everyone was always older than me so I played by myself. And when I finally did learn how to needlepoint and stitch and all, they spoke of boys and boys and more boys, and I didn't really want to talk boys, I was eight. So I played outside until the sun got too intense and then I went inside and did my needlepoint then. My sisters all did it in the gardens and such. It's part of the reason why I don't like the sun too much, since a little girl I was accustomed to go inside whenever I started to feel my face burn, so I do just that." Cassie said with a shrug,
"Okay, now for the really important question." Morrigan said, making Cassie hold her breath. "What's your favorite animal?"
"Dogs, definitely. Then horses, then dolphins, then elephants."
"Good list." Alys said thoughtfully.
"My Ladies, I'm afraid the hour is Sext. Lady Morgana, Guinevere, she's all yours." Morrigan said, standing up and curtsying at Cassie, her daughter and her daughters-in-law following suit.
"Thank you for such a lovely morning, Morrigan. You and your daughters will soon be my family officially. I am glad we have less ground to cover in getting to know each other better." Cassie said, curtsying before leaving the room with Gwen and Morgana giggling excitedly.
"Can I finally see the dress?" Cassie asked with excitement.
"No, first we do your hair and makeup." Morgana said.
"We were thinking of doing a braid like the one you showed us that first day in Camelot. I'm going to heat up this rod to curl your hair first, so try not to move, unless you want to get burnt."
"I don't really want to get burnt, Gwen. I'll try and stay as still as possible." Cassie said with a wide smile, throwing her long, golden hair over the back of the chair and closing her eyes.
"Hey! We never said you could go to sleep." Morgana said, giggling.
"I'm not asleep, I'm relaxing." Cassie replied, her lips turning up in the corners as she tried not to laugh.
"Well, as long as you're 'relaxing' let's talk makeup. I think you'd look beautiful with this teal and gold shadow and dark lined eyes. I've brought some of the eyelash paint since yours are so blonde. We'll have you looking like Cleopatra in no time."
"I'm not as deadly as she is." Cassie said, starting to move her head but stopping mid movement when she remembered the hot rod curling her hair.
"Lady Alys sent a perfume, Lady Eleanor a hair comb, Lady Katherine sent these earrings, and Lady Morrigan sent this belt" Morgana continued, placing each on the dressing table in front of her as she spoke of them. "Do you have something you would like to wear, Cassie?"
"My mother's necklace, and my trunk." Cassie said, bringing her fingers up to her neck and showing Morgana each.
"I didn't know you had this, you always wear the trunk." Morgana said, gently turning the pendant in her fingers.
"I usually keep it safe, stored away."
"Well, it's beautiful. And it matches the earrings Katherine sent. Same color." Morgana said, bringing one of the earrings closer to examine them together.
"Can I smell the perfume?" Cassie asked, relaxing when Gwen declared her hair curled and put the hot rod in some water, the sizzling audible throughout the room.
"Give your hair some time to cool down, I'll get the hair oil ready." Gwen said as Cassie leaned forward slightly to smell the perfume.
"It smells delicious! I have to ask Alys where she got it from."
"I did, she said it was from a small port town on the Isle of Mora near Nemeth."
"It reminds me of the smell of myrrh." Cassie said, looking at it thoughtfully.
"Alys said they told her it had resins in it as well as many flowers and fruits and spices."
"Well, it smells delicious."
"It does, I'm tempted to wear it myself, but Alys had clear instructions: No one is to smell as you do today, we can wear perfume, but none that smell like this one. And she made sure, all of the guests have different smelling perfumes and they are nothing like this one. Plenty will smell of flowers, though."
"After spending all morning in the gardens, I'm sure I do as well."
"Not quite." Gwen said, rubbing the hair oil through Cassie's hair and avoiding her scalp. "Now your curls will last at least three days. That is unless you and Owaine decided to take a few baths, together." Gwen said with a knowing look, her fingers weaving her hair back into loose lace braids at the crown, folding her hair into a rose on either side of her head and leaving the rest down to curtain her soft shoulders, a few tendrils left untouched to frame her face. "Done!" Gwen declared happily, holding up a handheld mirror for Cassie to see the reflection of her hair.
"Gwen, this is beautiful!"
"I made a few adjustments to the one you did for Morgana." Gwen said with a kind smile, "Now it's Morgana's turn, makeup."
"Close your eyes, Cassie. And no crying."
"Yes, Morgana." Cassie said, her lips quirked up in a half-smirk.
"Look up while I line your eyes and paint your lashes." Morgana commanded after a few minutes of lightly dusting her eyelids.
"Will I be able to see any of the progress?" Cassie asked excitedly.
"Not until I have finished with your eyes, now sush. You're distracting me." Morgana said, smiling lightly.
"Am not." Cassie sang.
"You are too." Morgana sang back. "Okay, you can look now." she said, watching her closely for her reaction.
"M-Morgana, this is beautiful. Art, truly." Cassie said, trying hard not to tear up at the soft gold dusting along the inner lid gradually becoming a deeper gold, and the subtle change to teal through the edge, ending in a twist up at the outer V.
"I warned you about the tears, Cassie."
"You weren't lying when you said you'd make me look like Cleopatra."
"Except much less severe looking. For some reason, I don't think it would suit you, making the lines so severe and dark." Morgana said, closing the lid on the powders dutifully before opening the rouge beads and grabbing the brush and sweeping the blush along her cheeks.
"Pick a color." Gwen said, holding a few of the lip paints out for her to choose.
"Ooh! I really like this light red!" Cassie said, picking it out as Morgana finished applying the blush.
"Pucker your lips. And we're done!" Morgana declared, holding up the mirror Gwen had used for Cassie to admire herself in.
"Morgana, Gwen. You two have magic hands." Cassie said, not looking away from her reflection. "Also, I've become Narcissus, I no longer want to look away from my reflection." she joked, smiling widely.
"That would make poor Owaine Echo. Maybe we can do his makeup as well."
"Can I see the dress now?" Cassie asked excitedly as she put the mirror on the dressing table, smiling widely and looking at Gwen pleadingly.
"Turn around, Cass." Gwen said, stepping aside and letting her see the dress for herself.
"Gwen, it's beautiful!" Cassie said after her initial gasp.
"Only the best for you, my dear friend." Gwen said with a proud smile as Cassie ran her hands through the silky material.
"Okay, enough admiring, change out of those clothes!" Gwen said, blushing slightly at the praise and ushering her over to the screen while Morgana sat down and began applying her own makeup.
"I'm starting to get nervous, you know?" Cassie said with a trembling breath after she donned the undergarments and the slip and appeared from behind the screen.
"Imagine how Owaine's feeling." Morgana joked as she lined her eyes.
"'Gana! She's really nervous." Gwen chastised, walking over and taking Cassie's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Take a deep breath, Cass."
"I don't know why I'm so nervous! I have been looking forward to this practically my whole life." Cassie breathed out, her hands shaking as she reached for the dress.
"Cassie, it's perfectly normal to feel this way. Besides, it's probably more excitement than it is nerves. You two love each other. More than I have seen in a long time. And that man would give anything to be by your side for the rest of his life. As would you." Morgana said kindly, kissing her cheek once before going back to the dressing table and continuing with her makeup.
"She's right, you know. Owaine looks at you like you're his whole world. I only hope someday a man might look at me like that." Gwen said wistfully, helping Cassie into the dress and lacing it up quickly. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks Gwen. And someday, Merlin will wake up and see you." Cassie said with a sweet smile.
"Perhaps it's even closer than you think." Morgana agreed with a smirk from where she was sitting. "I doubt he's ever been to a noble wedding or partook in the feast that follows. The wine might go to his head, he might even wake up and remember you're a woman and not just a friend."
"I've had the drunk night before, I want something substantial, like Cassie and Owaine."
"Substantial doesn't equal sober every day. It could be the beginning of something beautiful." Morgana argued back.
"Enough of that, let's get you two ready now!" Cassie said, taking deep breaths and regaining her composure, making sure both her best friends looked beautiful as well.
"Gwen, get Arthur and Merlin please?" Cassie asked, starting to feel her nerves rising once more.
"Merlin and Arthur? Why w-"
"Please?" Cassie asked, accepting the cup of wine Morgana handed to her and downing its contents.
"Yeah, sure. Don't give her any more wine, Morgana. We don't want her ending up in horse poo." Gwen said, eyeing her friend worriedly.
"Gwen!" Cassie cried, setting the cup down with trembling hands while Morgana rubbed circles on her back.
"Talk to me, Cassie. Why're you so nervous? Is it the people? What is it?" she asked gently.
"I um. It's-I was hoping to ask Arthur to walk me up and give me away, but if it's stupid I won't say anything. I can ask Merlin if it's inappropriate to ask Arthur." Cassie said quickly, her nerves making her accent hard to decipher.
"It's not foolish. He might even say yes." Morgana said, trying to assuage her nerves. "And if he doesn't, I'm sure Merlin would be more than happy to. You both see Gaius as a father figure, he would be more than happy."
"Cassie? What's wrong? Gwen said tha-"
"Would you give me away?" Cassie asked quickly before she could chicken out.
"Would I…give you away?" Arthur repeated slowly, making sure that's what she had said.
"Yes." Cassie said breathlessly, her hands shaking with nerves.
"Cassie. I would love to give you away. But alas, I cannot. Not as Prince of Camelot or Arthur Pendragon. It wouldn't be-" Arthur told her sadly as he knelt before her with her hands in his, hating the propriety and how he was expected to behave.
"I understand." Cassie said quietly, deflating slightly before turning to Merlin. "Will you?"
"It would be my greatest honor, Cass." he said with a wide smile.
"Thank you, Merlin." Cassie said with a small smile, giving him a quick hug that seemed to relax her nerves exponentially.
"I'll wait for you outside, shall I?" he asked.
"Someone's meant to come get me when the ceremony should start." Cassie said.
"I'll wait for you in the garden, then." he said, bowing to her and leaving the roomwith a wide smile.
"You look beautiful, Cassie. A vision that rivals the beauty of Aphrodite herself." Arthur said, giving her a quick kiss on both cheeks and following Merlin out the door.
"See, no need to be worried. Today will be the happiest day of your life." Morgana said, smiling brightly and leading her over to the window, opening it. "All you need is some fresh air."
"Better?" Gwen asked kindly, pouring some water in a cup and taking it to her.
"Much. Thank you. I think the nerves are finally ebbing away. Being replaced by excitement." Cassie said, sighing and trying hard not to smile.
"Good. Sit down so that Gwen can put the hair comb in and dab some perfume on. We're due out any moment." Morgana said, handing her the small bottle of perfume.
"Thanks." Cassie said, dabbing the perfume behind her ears and on her wrists.
"If I may?" Gwen said when Cassie stoppered the bottle again.
"Yes, Gwen?"
"Put some on your breasts. It'll make Owaine go mad later." Gwen said, mirroring Morgana's knowing smile.
"On my…" Cassie clarified.
"Breasts, yes. It's not overkill, you won't be using too much perfume. And by the time Owiane makes his way towards them, enough time will have passed."
"Ah, good to know." Cassie said, blushing profusely as she reopened the bottle and put some on her breasts as well.
"My Ladies, it's time." a servant said after he knocked on the door.
"Deep breaths, Cassie." Gwen said, hooking her arm through Cassie's as Morgana did the same on her other side.
As they wound their way through the manor, Cassie's nervous jitters went away, and her smile grew. They walked outside and made their way through the hedges and arches of flowers, each step they took brought more and more colors to focus, the flowers blooming in deep shades of purple and red and orange and light shades of pink and yellow and blue. The myriad of colors extended out through the background, their heady scent making all present lose themselves in the moment.
"My Lady." Merlin said with a bow, nodding to Gwen and Morgana as they broke off and went to find their seats, and hooking his arm through where Gwen's had previously been. "He's anxious to see you." Merlin whispered in her ear.
"As am I." Cassie whispered back, smiling wider than she ever had before as she caught sight of Owaine's wide eyed gaze.
He watched her walking down slowly with Merlin at her side, the white material of her train flowing behind her as he held his breath, feeling his smile grow wider with every step she took. His eyes roamed her face, drinking in every inch of the lip paint and eyeshadow and every small movement of her face; her bright blue eyes crinkling and squinting against the sun, her wide, ecstatic smile. And when he had his fill of her face he let his eyes roam down her body, admiring how the dress clung to her curves gently, how her breasts were pushed up just enough to tease at what was beneath the cloth. The golden belt that outlined her waist and the flower embroidery that shimmered all down her skirt. The sheer cloak that fell off her milky shoulders and flowed behind her in the light wind, its delicate lace patterns casting shadows on her dress. He didn't notice until she was next to him that she was wearing her signet ring, her eyes wide with happiness and hope, her smile bright and excited.
"Your bride, my Lord." Merlin said, taking her hand and placing it in Owaine's, stepping back and going to sit next to Arthur and Morgana.
"Hello lambkin." Owaine said softly, ignoring everyone around them.
"Hello, my Knight." Cassie replied, making their own little bubble and barely registering what was being said to them for the ceremony.
"I take thee, Casiopea Flavia, to be my wife. My everything. Until death do us part." Owaine said when it was his turn."
"I take thee, Sir Owaine of Rheged, to be my husband. My everything. Until death us do part-I mean death do us part." Cassie said with a wide smile on her face, correcting herself with a quick shake of her head at the end.
Amid the cheering of the guests, Owaine leant down and gave Cassie a chaste, but passionate kiss. One filled with all the love and happiness he felt, picking her up and twirling her once before setting her down and releasing the kiss. They walked excitedly through the gardens, everyone following after them, and walked into the Great Hall, ready for the festivities to commence.
"Your family outdid themselves with the decorations!" Cassie said to him, looking around the hall with wide eyes at the flowers hanging from the ceiling, over the arches, and in the corners overflowing with vines filled with colored flowers and greenery. The tables with great bouquets in the middle of every table of delphiniums of varying color and salvia; greenery and liatris on some tables, and bouquets of roses of all colors on others, and even more bouquets of yarrow, aster and ageratum along the bases of the columns which were wrapped in festive ribbons. The pennants and gonfalons hanging proudly on the walls of the main doors.
"Our family, Cassie." Owaine corrected softly, his smile wider than she'd ever seen it.
"Our family." Cassie repeated, standing up on tip toes and kissing him gently while Morrigan and Urien spoke to the guests; though whatever they were saying fell on deaf ears as Owaine and Cassie looked into each other's eyes.
"Think it's time for us to dance now, my Lady." Owaine said, kissing her hand before standing up and leading her onto the dance floor.
"Yes my Lord." Cassie said, a loving smile on her face as he bowed to her and she curstied back, beginning the dance with the song. They stepped to the side, and up on their toes to the rhythm of the music, going back to where they started and repeating it to the other side. Turning on the spot completely, they faced each other and raised an arm, touching their wrists together and side stepping twice, turning gracefully back around and raising their other arm, touching their wrists.
"It's a good thing your brothers taught me. Else I'd be making a fool of myself right now." Cassie joked as they danced.
"My love, you could never make a fool of yourself when you look this beautiful." Owaine corrected, finishing the dance with a deep bow and a gentle kiss of her hand. A new song started playing and everyone joined in, dancing for hours and drinking and eating.
"Compline has arrived!" Urien said, having the musicians stop their song, "And now it is time for the newly wed Sir and Lady to retire." he finished, letting the guests applaud and cheer gaily before the wedding party all followed behind the two.
When they reached the marital corridor, the women disappeared through one door while the men all went through another.
"You've all truly outdone yourselves. The Great Hall looks spectacular, Morrigan, and the garden where the ceremony was held was Eden, Alys." Cassie said with a content sigh when the door closed behind them.
"She's right, my Ladies. It all looked spectacular." Morgana agreed with a wide smile.
"No more so than the center of attention. You two have made her a vision in white." Alys said with a beaming smile.
"Now it's time to prepare her for the consummation." Katherine said, steering her behind the screen with gentle hands on her shoulders. "And as much as it pains me to say, we have to wash the makeup from her face.
"Well, Gwen thought of everything, we bought a design off Lady Gordon and Gwen's sewn it."
"I am sorry, but I will not be wearing that tonight." Cassie said from behind the screen.
"Yes you will!" Gwen called back.
"Not in front of your husbands, I won't. Or Prince Arthur! It's far too revealing!"
"And you are far too fastidious." Morgana argued back. "Besides, you look beautiful in it."
"I'd rather wear this." Cassie said, stepping out from behind the screen and holding up a sheer nightgown with the fastening in the front.
"When did you get that?" Morgana asked while the others looked over it.
"I-I had a seamstress make it. It's what was worn traditionally in Hispania for this part of the wedding." Cassie said, hating herself for lying to them but wanting to wear what her mother gave her to be meant for her wedding night.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't think you'd make this monstrosity for me to wear. Thought it would be up to me." Cassie said with flaming cheeks as she opened up the robe and let the others see.
"Well, it will certainly boil their blood." Alys said with a tinkling laugh.
"Yes, you have far more curves than we could ever dream of. You should use them." Katherine agreed, motioning the exaggerated hourglass figure with her hands.
"How about a compromise. Take off the slip you have on and wear this over it." Eleanor said, holding up the nightgown for them to see.
"I like her idea. Besides, it's not the moment to be considering the witnesses, this is all for your husband." Morrigan said, being the voice of reason.
"My husband!" Cassie replied wistfully, her eyes glazing over in happiness as she glided behind the screen and took off the slip to put on the dressing gown, tying the strings at the front and missing the looks the others all shared with each other.
"I think there can be some adjustments made here." Katherine said, her tongue between her teeth as she untied the top knot and slid part of the sleeve off the shoulder.
"Perfection!" Morrigan said, tears in her eyes. "My youngest son! Married!"
"And to a beautiful bride." Alys agreed fondly, turning her face along with everyone as there was a knock at the door.
"Guess he'll have to wait, we need to clean your face up and brush your hair out." Eleanor said, taking the water bowl and pitcher over to Cassie and helping her sisters wash Cassie's face while Morgana brushed out her hair.
"H-how do I look?" Cassie asked, suddenly nervous at the thought of what lay ahead.
"Like a true Aphrodite." Morrigan said as the others left the room to go to the viewing area where the men were waiting.