Part Four – Moving Forward

I stood on the ramparts of Castello Aragonese, just back from the actual wall, running a hand up and down the bronzed rigging of Vincenzo; this was a grim reminder of the fact that she gave her life for mine not that long ago. Admittedly I was using this place as a hideout right now to try and gather my wits about me, after a moment I move over to the wall and look down at the rows and rows of cars and people gathering, flags of the empire in their hands, and their faces painted in support of the empire. I understood why, today was a big day after all. I mean after facing two coup d'etat attempts, the death of a popular Emperor, an unknown having the crown placed on their head, a wedding, a royal wedding seemed to give the people something to look forward to.

I love Zara, that's not in question, I'm just feeling nervous, I'm all of twenty-seven and about to pledge the rest of my life to her. No, I think the thing that I was most nervous about was actually being in front of more than just friends and family for this. Something close to two-thirds of the guests were people I didn't even know, mostly from different nations but here to pay respects to a rare event. I had at least one guest I wanted to meet personally, a Prince James, the Duke of Sussex. I wanted a chance to get to know the boy that Pola was to be introduced to, I didn't want to send her into a situation that wouldn't be to her liking, I owed that to Zara.

The sound of clicking heels on stone cause me to turn to see a tall woman with silver hair exiting the castle, a smile on her face and in her blue eyes. She had put on a deep blue dress that oozed class and sophistication, as she got closer to me she opened her arms wide and said to me, "I'm so proud of you."

I smile at her and go over to enjoy the embrace for a moment, feeling safe and secure in this embrace. After I lean out of the embrace she gives me a sad smile as she says, "Zara is a lucky woman."

I nod at her as I say, "I'm lucky I got to meet Zara, Mom."

Yorktown steps back and opens her clutch to take out a handkerchief and dabs part of it with her tongue before rubbing the fabric on my right cheek as she scolds me a little, "How did you manage to get grease on your cheek up here?"

I shrug as I move back over to the bronze rigging and say, "Maybe when I touched this."

Yorktown comes over and looks at it before putting a hand on it as she says in really rough Italian, "Thank you for protecting my boy."

I look down and then back out to the ocean as I say, "I'm sorry, Mom, I wish there was something I could do about the asylum thing, but apparently my hands are tied about it."

I feel her put a hand on my shoulder as she says, "It's alright, I know you tried at least, it's in the hands of someone else right now. At least I haven't been told I need to leave your waters yet."

I nod and move to the ramparts, putting my hands on them, and ask, "If that does happen, do you know where you'll go?"

Yorktown moves over to stand beside me and looks out over the water as she says, "If I have to leave, I'll try the Iris next if that fails, the English, then the Iron Blood, then the Northern parliament, and so on, until I have a place to go."

I reach over and rub her shoulder as I say to her, "Well, let's hope you can stay here."

"I'd like to, I'd like to see my grand-kids when they happen." She responded with a light laugh.

I hang my head and shake it slowly from side to side as I say, "You and Mamma are on me about that."

Yorktown winks at me as she says, "Call it a mother's prerogative." She pauses before pushing herself off of the wall and starting to walk away as she says over her shoulder, "Come along, we need to get you down there now."

XXXX

As I was following Yorktown through the castle I spotted the English Prince sweet-talking Pola and I sigh inwardly before tapping Yorktown on the shoulder and whispering to her, "I need five minutes."

Yorktown looked up ahead and spotted the Prince and Pola before nodding and whispering back, "Five minutes."

Once she was gone I walked over to Pola and the Prince, clearing my throat and making the two of them jump a little, and said, "Pola, could you go and check on Zara?"

She curtsied and said to me, "Si, Your Imperial Majesty."

As she hurried away I turned my attention to the Prince, he looked to be in his late teens or early twenties, ahh to be that young again. I notice the slight look of panic in his eyes before he covers it up and squares his shoulders and bows as he says, "Congratulations on your wedding day, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Thank you, but right now I want to get a feel for you, Pola seems to have taken a liking to you." I say to him as I take off my cap and roll it around in my hands

His cheeks get hot and he nods before saying to me, "She is quite a woman."

I nod and look down the hall as I ask, "How do you feel about being asked to seriously consider her as a bride?"

He shifts a little from one foot to the other as he says to me, "It is to be expected of me. Oh, speaking of that, my grandmother extends her regret that she was unable to offer someone of a higher station than Lady Hood to you, but the Sea Lord wouldn't hear it."

I nod and move to lean against the wall of the passage as I look the other way and say, "To be expected, The Crown has limited power from what I've been learning."

He moves to stand beside me as he confirms, "It does, but having limited power is for the best. True it may restrict what a good monarch can do, but it also limits what a bad one can do as well."

I bob my head up and down as I agree with him and ask, "What are the odds of good relations between our two nations, with Pola being there?"

He smiles a shy smile at me as he says, "Pretty good, I think."

I reach over and pat his shoulder as I say to him before starting to move on to the chapel, "Be good to Pola, she's a good girl."

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!" he calls out as I walk down the passage.

XXXX

I stood in the chapel of the castle right at the altar, the Pope himself came all the way from the Vatican for this, I had offered for him to avoid doing it as I wasn't catholic, but he had insisted saying that he had wed my grandfather and told me that he had worked out what was going to be a secret wedding for my mother and father, but he never got the chance to perform it.

Taking a moment to look around the room, I noticed fully half of the people in attendance here were kansen, and not just kansen of my navy, it made sense today was the day that one of their own would ascend to such a high station, Empress Consort, just thinking about that sent my stomach into knots. Adjusting my coat for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, taking a breath to center myself seconds before the music starts to play and I jump a little turning to see the big double doors open and my breath is stolen away from the sight before my eyes.

Zara was dressed in a nearly see-through dress, it hugged her upper curves, lace leaves covering key bits, the gown billowing out at her hips, the pattern of lace leaves playing against her skin that was visible through the fabric. As my eyes moved up to her veiled face I could see her golden eyes locked on me, I could hear people murmuring around and gasping at the dress, but at this moment I didn't care, all I saw was her. As she started to walk forward, as Maestrale and her sister Libeccio darted out from behind Zara to spread rose petals in her path before breaking off to take front row seats. Just before Zara joins me, she hands the flowers in her hands to my mother, then takes her spot across from me, placing her hands out and I bring mine up palms out, just as our hands' touch I see Zara wink at me and I feel slightly more relaxed.

I'm kind of glad we had practiced this as when the actual event occurred I ran on autopilot since my eyes were locked on hers and I wasn't paying attention to anything else until I heard those words, "You may kiss your bride."

I take my hands from under hers and lift her veil, leaning in and closing my eyes just before contact. I hear Zara make a noise of pleasure just as I hear clapping come from behind the two of us.

As we step out of the castle, hand in hand, the crowd of people outside cheer, waving their flags as they start to throw rice at the two of us and we dash for the car.

XXXX

XXXX

I drop our bags into the honeymoon suite at the same resort on Isola di Capri that we had stayed at not so long ago. As I go over to the balcony doors and open them I take in the warm late summer air of the Med and smile as I say, "We did it, sandy beaches to just sit back and relax on for a few days and ignore the world."

Zara for her part during the trip out here had been distracted and honestly I had no idea why, but as soon as we got up to our room, she had ducked off to go to the bathroom, after I hear the toilet flush and the water run I hear the bathroom door open. I twist slowly to see Zara sitting on the bed, looking at something in her hand, one hand covering her mouth, her golden eyes wide. Crossing the room, I half expected her to see something on juustagram on her mobile, but what I saw was a little white stick with two pink lines in a display window on it. Tilting my head to the side I ask, "Zara?"

That seems to snap her out of her own headspace for a moment as tears start to build in her eyes and she gets off of the bed to press herself against me, sobbing the entire time. Placing my hands around her I ask again, "Zara, what's wrong?"

She nuzzles my neck as she says, "Nothing, and everything."

"I don't get it?" I ask in a puzzled tone.

She laughs a little before saying, "No, no, you did get it."

After a second it hits me and I say, "Oh! Does that mean what I think it's going to mean?"

She leans out of the embrace, tears still rolling down her face as she says in a happy-sounding tone, "Si."

My hands slide to her hips and I lift her off the ground a little to twirl her around the room as I say, "Everything will be fine."

Once her feet touch the ground again she pats my chest as she says, "I know, I just didn't expect it to happen this fast."

"Neither did I, but, well, I'm happy for it and we've got a few months to get ready for them when they arrive." I say to her with a smile on my face.

Zara smiles and turns to lean her back against me and look out the balcony doors at the water as she says, "I wonder if they will be a son or a daughter?"

Sliding my hands to her belly I kiss Zara's neck and whisper in her ear, "So long as they are healthy and happy, that's what matters to me."

Zara's hands move down to touch mine before she turns to kiss me and say, "I love you."

When the kiss breaks I respond in kind, "I love you too."

XXXX

XXXX

When morning rolled around, both I and Zara were still awake, our fingers laced together her back pressed against my chest, a light sheet around the two of us, last night had felt so different, more emotional. Zara was the first of us to speak, her voice sounding a little hoarse, no surprise really, she had been really vocal last night, "When do you think we should announce the good news?"

I lift our right hands to kiss her fingers before I say, "After we've managed to figure out how far along you are, you should be at least twelve weeks or so before anything get's said."

Zara adjusts her hips against me and asks, "Do you think last night was dangerous for them?"

I take my right hand out of hers and brush some of her long red hair as I say, "Not in the slightest."

"Will it ever be dangerous to them?" she asks next as she rocks and rolls her hips against me.

I laugh and slip my right hand under the covers to rub her belly as I say, "When you're due or close to it, that can help get things started."

Zara rolls over to face me, placing her hands on my cheeks as she smiles at me and says, "Good."

I take my right hand back out from under the covers and place it on her left hand as I tease, "Why? Did you get enough last night?"

Zara laughs and takes her hands off of my face to place them on my shoulders as she rolls to her back, pulling me with her as she says, "Never!"

XXXX

XXXX

After our honeymoon, that if you ask me ended far, far too quickly, we returned to Taranto, Zara went off to go and find a doctor to perform the tests needed to find out how far along she was and I went to the Palace. As I entered the main hall, I saw packed bags everywhere, my head tilting to the side as I started to wander up the stairs to try and figure out who's luggage it was.

As I got to the residence I heard Pola grumbling a little, slipping into the room I followed the sound to my bedroom. Pushing the door open I saw Pola standing in front of Zara's closet pulling out dresses and tops, putting some back, and tossing others onto the bed. Making a loud coughing noise to clear my throat, Pola jumped a little turning as she came down and placed a hand on her bust as she said, "Cristiano! You scared me, I thought you were Zara!"

Moving over to the bed I pick up one of the shirts and ask, "What are you doing Pola?"

"Zara won't miss them, she's wore that once. Besides I need to look fashionable in London." She says as she pulls the green shirt from my hands and folds it before putting it in the suitcase.

"So, Prince James seems okay to you then?" I ask as I pick up the dress that Zara had worn on our first date and add, "Not this one, Pola."

She pouts a little before snatching it away and putting it away again, only to come back with a white version of the dress as she says, "Fine. He seems nice enough, but I will reserve my judgment until I've had a chance to observe him more."

I raise an eyebrow and ask, "So, do you think Zara is going to notice her clothing going missing?"

Flicking her hair Pola laughs a little as she says, "I said that already, she won't miss them. When we shared an apartment, she never wore an outfit more than twice if she had to, the only exception to that was our uniforms."

I was about to say something as I thought back over this last year, aside from her uniform and nightwear, I don't think I've seen her in the same clothing more than twice. Pola notices this hitting me and she laughs harder before coming over to pat my cheek as she says, "You got the more expensive one of us."

Giving her a sideways look I ask, "Are you saying I had a chance with you?"

She shrugs and goes back to packing as she says, "Maybe if you hadn't had sex with Zara in the pool that day."

"We didn't. The first time we did, was the night I went on a date with her." I counter.

"Huh." Pola says before putting something else into her bag as she adds, "Then Zara said you did, just to throw me off the trail then."

"Now hang on!" I say as I go over and take out the last thing she put in, a pair of Zara's stockings and I add, "You never gave any indication of that!"

Pola taps the ends of her fingers together as she says, "I'm not as good at expressing myself as Zara is."

I sigh and hang my head before I go over to the balcony and say to her, "Zara is more forward, I'll give you that."

Pola comes over to lean against the railing on the balcony beside me as she asks, "Any suggestions or requests of me before I go?"

I take a tighter hold of the railing before I say to her, "Just that I really want this alliance Pola, but don't compromise yourself for it, alright?"

Pola reaches over and squeezes my shoulder as she says to me, "Si, I'll make him work for it."

I laugh and hang my head again as I tell her, "Both me and Zara are going to miss you."

"I know, so take good care of my sister, alright?" She says letting go of my shoulder and going back to packing.

"I will." I say as I turn and watch her go over to the top drawer and start taking out lingerie and add, "Hey now!"

Pola laughs and takes out my favorite green teddy that Zara wears from time to time as she says, "Calm down, this one is mine, Zara borrowed it from me."

Sitting on the bed I prop myself up with my arms as I ask, "I guess you two really did share a lot, huh?"

Pola holds the green teddy close to her bust as she says, "The only thing we haven't shared has been you."

"I know one more thing." I say to her with a goofy grin on my face.

"Oh?" she asks me, turning around slightly.

I take a deep breath, I know Zara would want to tell her this herself, but it looks like she won't get the chance, I let the breath out slowly and look off to the side as I say, "I know Zara would want to tell you this herself, but..."

Pola comes over and sits beside me on the bed as she says, "But I'm leaving soon." I nod and she asks, "What is it?"

I smile at Pola and say to her with a grin, "You're going to be an aunt. You're the first one that has been told, not even Mamma knows this yet."

Pola squeals in delight before hugging me tightly and asking, "How far along is she?"

Once I can breathe again I answer, "We don't know yet, we only found out after she took a pregnancy test at the resort."

Pola lets go of me and gets off the bed and hops around the room a little before she says to me, "Have her call me as soon as she can!" she pauses and sighs just as her mobile starts going off and she says, "But it's time for me to go now."

I get off the bed and close up the suitcase and walk her to her other luggage as I say to her, "Come on, I'll walk you to your car."

She gives me another hug and says, "Goodbye my brother, be good to Zara and what she is carrying."

Letting her out of the hug I say to her, "I will Pola, have a safe trip."

I watch as she climbs into the limo and the luggage gets loaded just as I feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder and my mother asks, "What is Zara carrying?"

"Hope for the future, Mamma." I answer.

XXXX

XXXX

A/N: There, the wedding is done and things are getting in place for the alliance.