Title: Crowning Tristan
Author: Sedri
Rating: PG-13 / T
Summary: We've seen Tristan grow from a boy to a man, but how does that man become a king? A gapfiller between the end of the battle and the coronation. Movieverse, with elements from the book. Canon pairings. Discontinued; final chapters summarised.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stardust in any way. This is just for fun.

Act Five: Untitled

(summary)

Act Five is about Tristan reconciling his past and his future, bringing the villagers of Wall and the pirates into his new life, and preparing to be king. This is the time when all worries about what might happen come to light. This act covers significantly less time than the last (maybe two or three weeks of Stormhold time), and involves a lot less politics – the biggest issues are the preparations for the wedding and coronation, and everyone's feelings regarding that.

I considered naming this act "Ceremonies", but it didn't fit with the place-names theme of previous acts. Originally, it was going to end on the night before the wedding and coronation, putting those two in a sixth act, but that would have made for two absurdly short acts with no more merit to the break than a big chapter finale, so I meshed them into one.

This act has much less structure than the last, and is mostly about explaining how the superstitious, semi-paranoid villagers of Wall as well as the entire criminal crew of the Caspartine could have come to be sitting in front-row seats for the coronation, as well as tying off all the sub-plots I started in earlier parts of the story.

The first major plot point comes a little while after the end of the prisoner-sentencing sequence, when Tristan is more comfortable in his role. The issue of lightning piracy comes up, along with several economic issues, particularly about how much money is actually being lost to piracy as opposed to being generated by the state-owned harvesting ships. Tristan has also been doing some research on Captain Shakespeare, trying to find exactly what crimes he is guilty of – and there quite are few, some of them surprising, but none of them cruel enough to change Tristan's mind about his conviction that the Captain is a good man. The short of it is, he decides he wants to offer Shakespeare a pardon on the condition that he work for the crown instead.

Una, as you might imagine, is not thrilled with this. She repeatedly cautions her son not to let his personal feelings get in the way of what is best for the country, but whether right or wrong, he's decided to do this. Officially, the pardon is granted on the grounds that the Captain saved his life and Yvaine's, and it is extended to the entire crew. Both the bride and groom insist that they come to the wedding/coronation, and dismiss the worries of their soldiers and the ministers. This seems, to be frank, rather unlikely (and I never did come up with a sub-plot that could flesh out the situation to make it more plausible), but it was in the movie, in canon, so I can get away with it.

As for the villagers of Wall, both Tristan and Dunstan want to invite them; these people have been their friends all their lives, and they miss them. If nothing else, Tristan wants Frank to be there, but he can't just swoop in and ask his friend over for the day – there would be too many consequences, both for Frank personally (because the village council would be angry) and regarding the chance for Tristan to ever reconcile his two homes.

This is where the sub-plot about letters and the Wall Guard from Act Four come in; the foundation for trust has been built, and the idea that the people on the other side might not be quite such a threat has been planted. Tristan can now play this as a diplomatic gesture (it is something of an honour to be invited to the coronation of a king, even if he was the shopboy who scrubbed floors when you knew him), which is how he excuses it to any minister who frowns on the notion.

A formal letter is sent to Wall, and it does not outright say that Tristan is the crown prince, despite that being the expectation of any 'diplomatic gesture'. Instead it's a very fancy wedding invitation, with no titles, but has the names "Tristan Thorn" and "Yvaine Star" (as they couldn't very well write "Yvaine the Star") on it. The Wall council displays it in the village square and there are lots of discussions on the matter. By this time, the villagers in general are less afraid, and a large number of them, including all of Tristan and Dunstan's direct friends, cautiously accept and sign a reply.

When the time comes, of course, they need a way to get there, and so Tristan asks Captain Shakespeare if he'd like to visit England. Of course, he very eagerly accepts, and the Caspartine flies out to Market Town – but not over the wall, because there are many magical items on board that could be ruined. Shakespeare will absolutely love being there, and I'll give him a little time to enjoy it. Tristan goes along, obviously, but I never decided whether or not to bring Dunstan; he probably would come, since it's not like he'd have a lot of work to do in the city. Dunstan meeting Shakespeare would be interesting.

It would probably be hard for Tristan to keep hiding the details of his new position from the villagers, given that he has much fancier clothes and bodyguards and whatnot now. I'm not sure at what point he'd want to tell them; he's not the dramatic type to want to make a grand entrance at the city, so he'd probably want tell them the first time they meet in person. However, there may be some reason or another to wait until they reach the city. I never decided which choice to go with, as I had ideas I liked for both.

Judging by the map in the Visual Companion, the journey from Market Town to Mount Huon would probably take about two days by air, give or take a bit if they stopped to harvest a lightning storm. Somewhere during this time, Tristan and Victoria talk, and those little scenes tie off their relationship as much as possible given her rather less-than-generous feelings towards him – particularly given that she's about to meet Yvaine.

Victoria and Yvaine never get along. Victoria is jealous of this woman for who, Tristan rejected her, and considering what she's been through, Yvaine isn't exactly inclined to be kind, either. Poor Tristan gets stuck in the middle.

If Tristan didn't tell the English folk about his mother's ancestry before, he does so when they arrive at the palace. The wedding and coronation are just under two days away, so there's a bit of time for these country farmers to take in the 'fairy land' and react in different ways – some with awe and eagerness, some with wary hesitance, some with panic and fear. Dunstan probably spends this time trying to reassure those people and talk with his old friends.

Hatha and her family are also invited to the ceremonies, and arrive just in time.

On the last day before the wedding and coronation, everyone is nervous, especially Tristan and Yvaine. When it comes to marrying her, Tristan is totally sure that it's the right thing to do, and it's the crown that scares him. In contrast, Yvaine isn't worried about things going terribly wrong for the country (she's seen so many such things and they all get resolved eventually), but doubts herself. Her fears about her future with Tristan and his immortality have been piling up for months and now wind her into a panic, and she knows she can't wait any longer to talk to him.

They talk. Unlike the day he first learned about it and blithely brushed off her fears with optimistic promises, this time he takes it more seriously. It's true that they can never know what's going to happen, and that he just doesn't have the perspective to understand what it's like to live forever. He can't imagine ever wanting to die and leave her, but says the same thing she once said to Selena; they know in advance, so it won't be the same as with her and Talmor. He's making a choice to accept everlasting life, and promises that he won't ever be so hypocritical as to resent her for a choice that he made. And if for some reason he does, someday, want to die, they'll find a way to part peacefully.

It's a very delicate scene, emotionally, and the climax of the romance subplot. I wanted to make sure that it would come across as a happily ever after without ignoring the fact that people don't stop growing and changing when they marry and ride off into the sunset, and it's important to know that if things don't work out, everyone's going to be okay anyway. I hoped to write it as a sweet scene with enough emotional resonance for real life to not feel like a fairytale. Rather daunting, that.

That was going to be the end of Act Five. Either just after Yvaine's confession scene or right at the beginning of the next chapter is a scene where she goes outside to talk to her mother and Selena, and can finally say, with confidence, that everything's going to be all right.

The wedding and coronation both take place on the summer solstice, and may involve magical rituals. The wedding is scheduled for dusk and the coronation for night-time, more or less directly after, so the day passes in an excited, frantic, crazy last-minute rush. I can see Shakespeare happily fussing over Yvaine's hair and clothes and maybe clashing with Una over it, on a domestic level, which would be quite fun.

The wedding is beautiful; it takes place in the same stadium-like courtyard that the coronation will be, except that the wide aisle leading to the royal platform has a long white carpet spread over it, down which Yvaine walks, glowing enough to make several people squint; she's so happy, there's no helping it. When the last vows are done, she shines so brightly that no one can see their kiss.

Then the coronation; because we already know this scene from the movie, it would be written more reflectively, looking back on the story and the now-filled gap between the end of the battle, and how they got to be where they are. That would be Tristan's running thought, probably – How did I get here? Yvaine sits beside him, now his wife, and on his other side his parents sit hand-in-hand, so proud of him. In the crowd before him are the English friends he grew up with, the pirate friends he has since made, and all the people he is now responsible for. It's overwhelming, but has a sense of triumph to it.

The primary story ends at the same moment the movie does. There is an epilogue, which takes place at least a year later and reflects back on the changes since Tristan was crowned, and hints at the future: See the "Epilogue" section below.

(details)

Tristan's decision to offer Shakespeare and his crew a pardon might very well have been impulsive – something he does on his own and tells his family about later, meaning Una has no chance to stop him. She'd be worried and frustrated; "Why did you do that?"

Much as he learned from the pirates about why they steal lightning and sell it directly rather than through official channels (because they wouldn't make enough money otherwise, due to pay rates and taxes), so Tristan now learns the other side of the story; the big economic picture and why the government does what it does and taxes what it taxes. There is some room for leniency – some things that are there only to make money and which Tristan can lessen – but he has to admit that people in general would be better off if the trade of magical lightning was entirely controlled by the crown (if for no other reason than that it costs a fortune to employ Lightning Marshalls to police the skies).

There is, however, the more philosophical question of who the lightning actually 'belongs' to, and if a natural resource can really belong to anyone.

In any case, Tristan's pardon for the Caspartine crew offers them either just a job as harvesters for the crown, or as harvesters and marshals who would help patrol the sky – it depends on exactly how much Shakespeare values his reputation and if he can make himself seem more fearsome one way or another; being unpredictable is probably worrying, and suddenly working for the king is the last thing any of his enemies would expect. He might have less need for a fearsome reputation when he has the official backing of the king, but the two might not be mutually exclusive. I kind of like the idea that the Ruthless Captain Shakespeare helping Tristan only adds to his (both their!) mystique.

Tristan would be aware that he's asking the Captain to turn against his peers, but considering how he and his crew behaved when on the ship and at Mount Drummond, it's probably fair to say that all of Shakespeare's real friends are already on his crew. He would also be a good judge of who else might be willing to give up piracy willingly rather than be imprisoned, if given the right offer. (Maybe. I see Tristan as very much the type who wants to solve the problem, not punish people, but there are practical limits to this flowers-and-butterflies sort of mentality.)

We don't see much of Bernard, but he is still with the crew (we do see him at the coronation). There may or may not be a way to show it, but Bernard would have told the pirates that he was Septimus' prisoner (and he was, more or less), which would make them more inclined to accept him into their crew – fellow outlaw and all. Also, I would think that Bernard was utterly ashamed of having been turned into a woman, and never told anyone.

Though I never came up with many details for actual scenes, there would need to be quite a bit of time spent showing how the villagers of Wall managed to go from centuries of avoiding the world on the other side of the wall to actually travelling within it to attend Tristan's coronation. How minor characters like Frank Monday and Mrs Harper deal with this would depend quite a bit on how they end up being fleshed out during Act Four.

By the time the invitation arrives, Victoria and Humphrey are married, probably just back from their honeymoon (to Ipswich or Bath or somewhere of that sort, I imagine). One scene I considered writing was a conversation between them, at home, illustrating their relationship in more detail. (They live in Tristan's old home, by the way. Back in chapter one I mentioned that Victoria's grandfather came to look at it as a potential wedding gift; he bought it and gave it to them after the Thorn family left. How exactly Victoria feels about that would be fun to explore. As a side note, I imagine she may have made one room – perhaps Tristan's – into a nursery, although she isn't pregnant yet.)

The guests hesitantly follow Tristan and Shakespeare through the wall, past the Wall Guard, and into the trees along the other side, until they come to a clearing where the Caspartine is tethered to some massive trees. They carefully climb aboard.

When Humphrey or Victoria ask exactly where they're going, where Tristan lives (they assumed it was close-ish, and more or less expected to walk or drive by wagon), Tristan replies with amusement that "It's... a little farther than Ipswich."

Halfway through the trip there's a lightning storm, and that's understandably scary when you're on a massive flying lightning rod. The villagers stay below deck and the first mate (whom I named James) brings them all a nice hot pot of tea.

I'd also like to have a light-hearted daytime scene showing Tristan interacting with people like Humphrey and the crew at the same time; I considered having him practice fencing with Shakespeare, but that was too much like showing off.

My version of Mr Monday is interested in goods and commerce and such, so once he gets over his wariness he gets into lively conversations about trade with the ex-pirates.

In the book we're told that the villagers of Wall were "told by their grandparents, who got it from their grandparents, that it was deeply, utterly wrong to eat fairy food, to eat fairy fruit, to drink fairy water and sip fairy wine." Considering they're in the country for at least a week, that's something they'd have to be talked out of. On the other hand, Tristan didn't have any such issues and he had every reason to believe this is fairy land, so perhaps that would have to be left out. Could be fun, though.

This is the only time we really get a good look into Victoria's head. She doesn't know what to think of or expect from Tristan anymore; he constantly surprises her. First he was serious about marrying her, then he managed to cross the wall, then turned her down, and now she finds out he's a prince... It's surreal. There are a few touches that flesh out her character a little – not much, as she is very shallow, but things like the fact that she felt a bit guilty when finding out that he'd lost his job over her; she hadn't considered what might happen to him when she asked to be walked home, she was just fixing her own problems.

(For the record, I placed the film as taking place somewhere in March or early April, given that we can see snow on lower hills, though not as low as Wall. The coronation being at the summer solstice puts it somewhere between the nineteenth and twenty-third of June, so only about three months have passed since then.)

Anyway, at dusk, just before they reach the city, Victoria finds Tristan leaning over the rail at the bow of the ship, looking at the sunset and emerging stars. They talk. Victoria accuses him of lying to her, of giving the star to someone else and making fun of her with that 'stardust', though if she were honest, she saw his reaction and knows he wasn't. Tristan replies that he was honestly in love with her and meant to give her the star, but couldn't. Victoria asks (indirectly) about Yvaine, and says to Tristan (something along the lines of), "Did it ever occur to you that she just wanted the star for herself?"

Tristan laughs. "I didn't give her the star, Victoria."

She pauses. "Oh. Well then where is it?" Why can't I have it?

"Victoria, Yvaine is the star. The stars are people – sisters. Thousands and thousands of sisters. That shooting star we saw was Yvaine falling out of the sky."

Victoria doesn't believe him. But, by this point they are flying over the mountains and approaching on Mount Huon. There are some clouds in the way and as they fly out of the last, there is a most picturesque and breathtaking view of the city. They fly towards the palace and after a few minutes, a twinkle can be seen on the topmost spire – Yvaine, glowing in the dusky light. Victoria (and the other villagers, who have been told it's time and come out, bags in hand) don't believe it until they're up close and actually see the glowing woman.

Now Yvaine knew, before Tristan left, that she would be meeting the 'famous' Victoria. She's waiting on the platform where people disembark, and after greeting Tristan more warmly than strictly necessary, she turns to Victoria and introduces herself in a tone that gives Tristan just enough time to think, Oh no... before the two women face each other.

If it's at this point that they find out about Tristan's royal blood, Victoria scoffs and accuses them of making it up, to which Yvaine replies, "Oh yes, we borrowed the city and bribed half the population just to make fun of you."

Victoria brushes off her hurt feelings (from his rejection) by being snobby. Yvaine is dry-witted and snarky. Nothing Tristan can do will make both women happy, and any acceptance or forgiveness Victoria might have managed since he left dissolves back into resentment. Let's just say it's good that the visit will only last a few days.

One little thing in the movie that always interested me was exactly how the old guard (Mr Edwards) could beat the hell out of a boy seventy-nine years younger than he. An idea that occurred to me was that, since the wall itself is magical, maybe sitting by it for years on end trying to do the same job allowed the magic to seep into him, giving him strength and agility and a longer life – and would mean that Dunstan got through only by sheer chance of taking him by surprise, as the movie indicates.

However, I think Mr Edwards would refuse to accept that possibility. This next section is a piece of dialogue I wrote for the scene in Wall where Mr Edwards comes to see Dunstan while he and Una are packing. I cut it because it was too theoretical for that part of the story, but it could be adapted for when they're in the city. Here's the original version – either Dunstan or Mr Edwards just made a comment about his age:

Una, who had been quiet but not in the least forgotten, tilted her head and asked, "How long to people here usually live?"

"Not nearly as long as I have," Mr Edwards chuckled. "I'm ninety-seven, madam, and most everyone I grew up with are long in their graves. Keeping all those youngsters away from the gap keeps me fit."

"And you spend most of your time guarding the wall?"

The humour subsided into faintly troubled curiosity. Dunstan asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know everything about the wall," she confessed, "but we were taught that it will try to keep people out, almost as though it can think. I'm only guessing, but maybe it's helping you to do it's job."

"No, no, I don't think so."

Dunstan frowned, but was interested enough to keep going despite the unease. "Then why did it let me through – or you, or Tristan?"

"Tristan and I belong there by blood. I suppose you just managed to trick it," she smiled. "It just makes sense to me that a magical barrier would seek out a living guardian and–"

"I keep myself healthy," Mr Edwards said stubbornly. "There's no magic in me. Good day to you," he said curtly.

(He leaves.)

Una winced. "I'm sorry," she said to Dunstan.

Hatha, from Act Two, arrives at the palace the day before the ceremonies, and has some trouble getting in since she's clearly lower-class. Yvaine greets her, having been afraid she wouldn't make it. Hatha doesn't have much of a role here, I just didn't want to forget her. She tells Yvaine she and her husband are thinking of changing the name of their inn from The Slaughtered Prince to something more pleasant, like The Missing Princess or The Star Queen.

Speaking of names, at some point (probably before Tristan goes to pick up the English villagers), Una tells Tristan that (someone – maybe the ministers or bishop) are trying to decide on a title to affix to Tristan's name, because it's tradition for all kings nowadays to have a special title. They're saying it should cite his unusual upbringing and 'heroic' defeat of the Lilim witches – Yvaine is miffed that she doesn't get much credit despite their speech at the presentation.

Una tells them that of course, he can turn down any suggestions he likes, and says that at the moment the options are, "King Tristan the First", "King Tristan the Witch Slayer" (he shoots that one down right away), "King Tristan the Just", "King Tristan–"

"The Mouse," said Yvaine.

Eventually they agree to allow "King Tristan the Benevolent". In later scenes, Yvaine affectionately teases him with "King Tristan the Moron".

Yvaine might get a title, too – probably just "the Star", although "Queen Yvaine the Sarcastic" might be more accurate. Queens generally don't get titles, but it would be fun to see her make a fuss over it, depending on whether it comes out as in-character for her.

Similarly, if you look at the royal crest hanging behind Yvaine and Tristan at the coronation, you'll see that the banner underneath it reads "Tristan", and there is a large star in the centre. I can't find any pictures of the royal crest before Tristan's coronation, so I'd like to think that the imagery was changed along with the banner. That would be mentioned about here; a design symbolising both of them.

There are other more practical things that need to be done in preparation for the ceremonies – the clothes, for instance. Wedding clothes are all white (maybe with gold or silver), but the coronation requires an excess of dark blue, symbolising royal blood. I can see Tristan looking at the heavy, furred cloak warily at his test fitting. He and Yvaine are also told they will have to sit for a portrait at some point (perhaps after the wedding).

Also, when they try on the crown, it would be interesting to find that it's too big for him, and constantly slipping down his forehead. I don't want to have him feel that it's too heavy – that's a cliché symbol of burden. Being too big implies that he is too young or inexperienced, which wouldn't help his nerves much.

About the bishop, and religion in Stormhold:

I imagine that that the people of Stormhold don't believe in much beyond some sort of afterlife (as Septimus mentioned); this seems logical to me, given that magic is so practical to them – the only thing they really don't understand and can't control is death. So in my little world here, the bishop is the leader of a small priestly order that is really only concerned with the afterlife, which explains why the bodies of the dead are treated with great respect, entombed or burned with a combination of social ritual and magic. Though this is basically being a glorified undertaker, it would also be a position of high respect and the bishop would have the honour of crowning the king not because he is 'ordained by God' (somehow I can't see even Una's father being so hypocritical as to make such a claim over the bodies of his brothers), but because it symbolises the king's responsibility for the lives (and, therefore, deaths) of his people. Perhaps he's also responsible for watching over the king's coffin until the burial (and maybe that of princes, too, so all this may well be said when Septimus is buried early in Act Four).

Therefore I also imagine that the priests are connected with the afterlife and nothing else; no one dictates morality among the people – and especially the royalty – of Stormhold. Considering that soothsayers and witches and warlocks are just about everywhere too, I'm guessing these men (and maybe women) are entirely non-magical, and live scattered across the kingdom as ritual undertakers who recite prayers meant to guide the dead to the afterlife.

Dunstan and Tristan would both have been raised as Christians, but as my lovely beta Anna pointed out, they probably wouldn't have too much trouble with "pagan" traditions, given that the Victorian era was a time when people reinvented old traditions. Also, I get the feeling (and stated outright in an earlier chapter) that they only really paid lip service in Wall; Dunstan was a very scientific young man who probably wouldn't think much of the church after being in Market Town, and he raised Tristan, who didn't have any particularly culture-shocked reactions in the film.

One last thing I would like to include is that of giving the bride / queen a gift – it seemed odd to me that Una would give Yvaine the box with the candle in the middle of the ceremony (or, at least, in front of a big, cheering audience) if it weren't tradition. That she gives a candle, though, is interesting, and here it ties it in to her knowing that because of Yvaine, her son may very well be immortal. I wanted it to be her way of showing that she accepts it, accepts that someday he will abdicate and go off into the sky. It might even tie into religion, given that it means Tristan will never go to the afterlife she believes in.

Or it might just be her sense of humour; as we saw in the prologue, she does have one, and can be rather playful when she's comfortable, so perhaps it would be a bit of a joke, set up by a conversation a few days earlier in which she and Yvaine and Tristan talk about how those candles (or the lack of them) were the means by which their lives turned out the way they have.

On the day of the ceremonies, Yvaine and Tristan's belongings are packed up by servants and moved up to the king's chamber on the top level.

At this time there would also be some sort of set-up for the (ex-)pirates failing to dress properly and trying, unsuccessfully, to fit in with the high-class crowd. Yvaine and Tristan would talk (or maybe even bet) good-naturedly on whether or not their friends could manage to get through the entire ceremony without making a scene. As we know, they fail.

Though the last few scenes are critical, there aren't many details which I haven't already covered in the summary above – just a few scattered bits and pieces:

When Yvaine is starting to worry and panic about Tristan and immortality, she suddenly hurries out of her room, in blue silk dressing gown, and bangs on Tristan's door. A tailor is there, doing the last adjustments made on his ceremonial clothes; Yvaine wasn't expecting anyone else to be there and what she'd nervously rehearsed is wrecked. "Out," she commands, pointing.

About the shared immortality: All the film says is, "no man may live forever, except he who possesses the heart of a star", so from that I extrapolated the story of Selena and Talmor and the idea that eating a star's heart consumes it entirely, but leaves no way to replenish energy, so it eventually wears off, resulting in ageing. My extended theory is that earning a star's heart means that its immortalising energy is shared between the two people, star and human, and in the process enhanced. Therefore the effects don't wear off.

For the human to die, that sharing process has to be broken; in Selena and Lilith's cases, by one of the two not loving the other anymore – not returning the energy. I toyed with the idea that they could make a conscious choice to let go, to make peace, and therefore let Tristan age peacefully anyway, but that seemed too convenient. I also had the idea that there would need to be some sort of proximity as well as the emotion, so that if the two spent years and years apart the energy couldn't be exchanged, but that would mean that Tristan would always depend on Yvaine for his life, which doesn't work too well. The best option is really just to have the situation stay the same as with Selena and her husband, as that leaves the characters with emotional choices.

Not, of course, that any of that's relevant, since we know they go to the sky together after eighty years and eight children, but hey, forgive me; I love coming up with theories.

In any case, as we know, Tristan and Yvaine work it out, accepting that good things don't have to last forever to be good, and that as long as they accept each other's choices without resentment or malice, everything will be all right.

Afterwards, Yvaine stands out on a balcony and address her mother, who until now has steadfastly refused to speak with her errant daughter. Yvaine tells her what's happened, repeats that she is getting married tomorrow and that she is not going to change her mind. She tells the Moon that she loves her, and asks her not to keep being so angry.

At last the Moon speaks, saying that she still doesn't approve of all this.

Yvaine says, "You don't have to. Just accept it, and be happy for me."

The wedding takes place at dusk, at Yvaine's request, so that her mother and sisters can watch, and an added bonus is that the sun isn't there to compete with her glow. Tristan wears the white (and gold) shirt, vest, trousers, and boots as in the coronation, but with a white overcoat and the simpler circlet of a prince. Yvaine is radiant in a white and silver dress with lots of multicoloured streaks or ribbons, flowers in her hair, et cetera. She glows so brightly that some people have to shield their eyes as she walks by.

Afterwards, the royal blue and white-furred robes are brought and Yvaine and Tristan take their seats, holding hands. Yvaine's crown is placed on her head first – haven't thought of a reason why, but it's in the film – and her glow of delight has softened so she's back to being visible to everyone.

Tristan's princely circlet is taken away, and this is the moment we see in the film – when he's not wearing a crown of any sort. The ruby is around his neck, as it has been habitually for months now, and he breathes slowly, trying not to be nervous. He looks to his friends, his wife, and his parents, all of whom are with him and supporting him, and believe in him. The crown is placed on his head, and for the first time, he feels like a king.

And then – well, we know what happens. Gap filled, story complete. But, as I said, there is an epilogue:

Epilogue

On a balcony at the very top of the royal tower, Yvaine stands watching the stars. She is pregnant, and has just been talking to her sisters – Selena, Celeste, and some others. She is about to go to sleep, and has just said goodnight. Tristan is already inside, but partway through the scene he comes and joins her, and the prose changes from a reflective narrative to dialogue.

In the last year, Yvaine and Tristan have settled comfortably into their roles, though at times it still seems absurd that they're ruling a country. Una is slowly stepping back and spending more time with Dunstan; they're very good, close friends now, not romantically involved, but might be again, someday. They have years to find out.

Dunstan and Una are especially delighted at the prospect of being grandparents; Una has never had a chance to raise a baby, and has to restrain herself from practically adopting it. It will be noted that she refuses to have another child so that Tristan will never have competition, no matter how she might want to.

Tristan and Yvaine know this child is going to have magical powers like the Lilim did, and that having a warlock or witch on the throne is going to change Stormhold even more than their unconventional leadership. Still, they're not worried about politics yet; they're taking life one day at a time, and right now their most pressing concern is how to tell Dunstan that the handcrafted oak cradle that's been in his family for years really is falling apart, and they're not sure they want to trust it with their baby. Una has already hunted down and destroyed the royal cradle she and all her brothers slept in – the one with somewhat disturbing images of princes killing each other painted on the insides. Tristan suggests sneaking the oak crib out from under Dunstan's nose and having it magically or manually reinforced; Yvaine laughs and says she'll insist on a long walk with her father-in-law to keep him out of the way. She's never had a father before, and likes it.

Several other things have happened in the past year, some of them good, others less so, and as Tristan and Yvaine keep talking, we hear about them:

Not all the Wall villagers left after the ceremony and never looked back. Though he still doesn't want to move away from home, Frank Monday came back to visit twice, and a few people have gone to visit Market Town sometimes, always with one of the Wall Guard soldiers (at their request, not Tristan's, because they're still nervous), and one or two younger folk have actually written to Tristan saying they're thinking of moving in, if that's all right?

Less happily, there was an attack on Yvaine some months earlier, and though her bodyguards (the Star Guard) were quick to act and she wasn't hurt, one of them – Corvin, the adoring one, eager as a puppy – was killed. Yvaine was deeply shaken.

On the other hand, her love of chocolate has become known almost a nation-wide, and there's a running joke (started by Tristan, though she doesn't know it) that no chocolate is ever served at state dinners because the queen will steal from other people's plates.

Then Tristan goes inside, and Yvaine says she'll be along in a minute. The last line of prose describes her gazing up at the stars. The last line is:

And the stars gazed back.