Chapter 7: The Royal Wedding

"Mikayla, five minutes!"

Today is the day. Today is the day I am married and crowned the newest queen of Kinkow. Today is the day I have been dreading. All of the preparations and lessons with Kaira hadn't prepared me for all of the emotions I am feeling right now.

"I'll be out soon," I call to the voice behind my door. My room was finally empty after the palace attendants were done fixing me up for the ceremony.

I look in the mirror and barely recognize the girl I see. My hair is stylishly folded into a low bun. The makeup artist spent close to an hour using my face as her canvas. The tips of both my fingernails and toenails have been painted neatly. But my attention is more focused on the dress I wear. I have seen the dress countless of times since I had been fitted for it the week before. Everyday since that fitting, the royal seamstress had come into my room for tailoring alterations. I should have known the dress like the back of my machete, but I am still in awe by it. Kinkowan wedding dresses are of vivid colors, but because this is a royal marriage, my dress is a regal shade of purple. Gold accents and trimmings make the garment stand out even more. My dress sleeves begin and end at the sides of my arm revealing my bare shoulders. The floor length gown is a sight of its own with a ridiculously long train in the back.

The dress is to die for, but even a garment this beautiful cannot put a genuine smile on my face. I pull a few pieces of hair to frame my face and I take one last look at the mirror before heading out of my room. Two palace attendants walk me out of my living quarters, and another two follow behind carrying the train of my dress. The day is going to begin with a number of small ritual proceedings. A typical Kinkowan royal marriage traditionally requires a number of ceremonies before the actual vow exchange. And because it is the twenty-first century, everything will be televised for the entire Kaluki Island Chain.

None of my closest friends are here today. Only those who were exclusively invited will be in attendance. I don't know any of the guests, which saddens me. I don't feel the time-bomb anger that I had felt the past few days. I feel melancholy. How was I supposed to glow with happiness, when I am officially leaving my old life behind for this new royal life that I wanted no part in? All I wanted to do was run to my dad and cry in his arms like a child. I hadn't realized how bottled up I kept my emotions and now, I feel them trying to escape and explode like Mt. Spew.

I head to the living room where the royal wedding planner stands excitedly. I follow his lead out the door and the show begins.

"Okay Mikayla, I want you to walk slowly down the aisle with a big smile on your face. The photographers are going to capture every frame of you walking," The wedding planner tells me. "When you get to the end and meet King Brady, I want to see your eyes light up!"

I nod with a forced smile. He hands me a small bouquet of tropical flowers and calls for the attendants to fix my dress. I had spent the last three hours performing all of the small ceremonies. The first ceremony was simple, riding around the entire island of Kinkow on zebra-drawn rickshaw. Brady and I took separate rickshaws without so much as seeing one another. Islanders lined up and greeted us with waves and smiles, while others taunted and booed. The parading lasted for about an hour before we both headed back to the castle plaza to perform the Kinkowan island traditions. There, Brady and I finally saw one another, but most of the rituals were independent tasks, with very limited interaction. Throughout the entire ceremony so far, cameras had documented our every action, but the real million dollar shot would be this upcoming part of the ceremony.

Suddenly, the doors open and I see everyone seated turn around and all eyes focus on me. I feel a small push on the small of my back and I begin to walk. I turn around and see the wedding planner signing for me to smile. I instantly draw my lips to a large grin. There is a collective "ah" by the guests who watch me. I have no idea who these people are and I find it slightly irritating that they are so happy for me. As I am halfway through the aisle, my smile becomes bigger at the sight of my dad. Luckily, nobody knows what I am thinking. They are hopefully assuming that I am ecstatic to see my future husband.

I shift my gaze to Brady who stands in dignified fashion. He must be an expert at acting because I am starting to believe the bright look on his face. Although he does not smile with his teeth, his half-grin is warm and his eyes are looking straight at me. His dark brown hair is neatly styled beneath his ornate crown. His matching purple robes accentuate his lean figure. Everything about him makes him look so… attractive. I cannot deny that he looks absolutely handsome and that something is clouding my judgment, making me forget about his pompous attitude.

I nearly trip on a step when I reach the end of the walk. My eyes make their way to the island official who will be performing our ceremony. My heart skips a beat when I feel a pair of hands take hold of my left hand. I look at King Brady who still wears the same grin on his face. He was a good actor.

"People of Kinkow," says the elder in a loud voice. "You are all witnesses to the marriage of King Brady Parker and Mikayla Makoola."

The elder begins to speak, but my eyes are glued on Brady. He has shifted his attention to the elder, but still holds my left hand. The elder's voice drowns into a white noise. I know he is speaking, but all I can hear now is my heart beating. The reality of my new life is here. I am no longer Mikayla, the future palace guard. I am no longer a Makoola. All week, I had gone through practices, lessons, and rehearsals without so much as a complaint about the whole ordeal. I had obediently followed orders and completed my normal routine as expected. Now, with an entire island chain is watching me, this is the moment where I feel like breaking down? I impulsively want to run away from the ceremony and take the small path toward the beach.

"Mikayla? Mikayla?" I am shaken out of my daze and the island elder is glaring at me. Brady squares his eyes at me with a pleading look.

At his request, I begin to recite the prewritten vows I was asked to memorize.

"I, Mikayla Makoola, cannot even describe the emotions stirring within me. To not only become the future queen of Kinkow, but to become the wife of King Brady. I promise to provide compassion, support, and…" I take a moment to gather my composure before narrating the next word. "…Love my king from now until the end of time."

A collective sigh emanates from the crowd. My eyes turn to Brady and he still wears the signature grin on his face. He's doing a good job of pretending to be an excitable groom because I can see sincerity in his eyes. The expression on his face causes a weird stirring in my chest and a weakness in my knees. Before I can get even more lost in his eyes, he begins to recite his vow, also prewritten by the palace's royal writer.

"Mikayla. Just the sound of her name just brings a permanent smile on my face. I don't know how I got so lucky to marry a woman so beautiful, inside and out. As the king of Kinkow I will not only continue to serve the people purposefully, but to serve my wife as a loving husband. With our union, we will lead this great island hand in hand, exuding continuous adoration for one another. She will make me a better king and a better person. So I promise you, Mikayla, that I will do my best to make you the happy each and every day of my life." Brady proclaimed.

I stood in awe of his delivered words. I had heard him recite the speech a couple of time during rehearsals, but with the help of flash cards and the speechwriter. This time, however, he had conveyed his vows with so much passion and definitely no shakiness in my voice like me. Again, the guests sigh with awe. He grabs a hold of both of my hands. I never really noticed the first time, but Brady's hands are incredibly soft.

This is all an act. Don't believe a word he says. He's putting on a show.

My clouded mind begins to focus on the words spoken by the official conducting the marriage.

"Do you, King Brady, take Mikayla to be your lawful wedded wife?" The elder asks.

Brady nods his head with a smile. "I do."

"Do you, Mikayla, take Brady to be your lawful wedded husband?" The elder asks me.

"I –I do." My voice is shaky. He nods at me and chants an incoherent Kinkowan mantra. He begins to walk in between King Brady and I and we let go of hands. The elder holds my right hand and he holds Brady's left hand as he stands in the middle. We face the audience, some are smiling and applauding and others wipe tears from their eyes. I almost roll my eyes when flashes of lights remind me that people are watching me live on television right now. I put on my now perfected fake smile and begin to wave. Brady does the same as we both look on as husband and wife.

Immediately following our wedding ceremony was my coronation. It was simple ceremony with all of the elders in the plaza. It was too much of a blur to recount the details, but before I knew it, I wore a gold tiara on top of my head. The guests erupted in screams and jeering as I waved to my new subjects. Following the events, Brady and I were escorted to the royal dining hall for our final part of the ceremony. The table we sit at is filled with dish after dish. I sit quietly with an empty plate. The cameras have all left and the guests celebrate in the plaza with the rest of the palace staff.

"You should eat, Mikayla," Brady says as he takes a bite of his large pizza. "They made all of our favorite dishes."

I look to see a sea bass in front of us next to Brady's version of pizza; only it's much thicker and larger in size and covered with red sauce. Plates of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and all other kinds of food occupy the table space and yet I haven't touched a single thing.

"Wait," I say impulsively. "Did you just call me 'Mikayla'?"

The sound of my name coming from him was not something I was accustomed to.

"Well, if you'd much rather me call you 'Bambi'…." He says.

"No," I reply quickly. "It's just… Never mind. And I'm not too hungry. Getting married at age eighteen to someone you barely know, let alone get along with kind of spoils my appetite."

"You haven't eaten anything all day," Brady said with a mouthful of food. He takes a quick drink from his goblet before speaking again. "Food is supposed to make everything better."

Although I won't admit it out loud, he was right. I dejectedly serve myself a piece of fish. I stare at the delectably prepared meal. It's not enough to make me change my mood.

"I don't get it. This whole week you seemed so calm and cool about everything and when no one's watching except me, you're just broken down." Brady says in between mouthfuls of his dinner.

"I'm sorry I'm not 'Suzy Sunshine' after this whole marriage." I reply sarcastically.

"You think I'm happy about this? The only reason I'm being nicer to you is because you bailed me out even when I was a jerk to you. It's the least I could do." Brady says indignantly.

"Well, let's give you an award for having good manners now!" I say rolling my eyes. "I'm sorry if I'm offending you, but I still cannot accept the fact that I'm now your wife and a queen of a country."

"I don't know why I'm solely to blame! I mean after all, you said 'yes' also!"

"You think I wanted to do this?" I feel myself tense up with agitation.

"You did accept…"

"I accepted this because this was a written law. The elders threatened to fire my dad from his job in the palace and imprison him! I would have lived alone without my father, with no chance to become a palace guard, and I would have disgraced the Makoola name on Kinkow! I was forced to marry you because my family was threatened!"

My voice had risen in volume and I was now yelling at him. I couldn't contain myself anymore. I would have shouted the rest of my feelings, but I notice the blank expression on his face.

"I… I didn't know. I had no clue they did that…"

"Well now you know," I told him apathetically. I glance in his direction and see sincerity in his eyes that I haven't seen before. Granted, I had only known him for less than two weeks. My expression softens.

"I'm sorry, Brady. I assumed you were aware. It's something I'm learning to get over." I try to mend the situation. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel guilty over something he had no control over.

He gave me a small nod and continued to eat his pizza. "So they threatened you into marrying me?"

"Yes," I say quietly as I finally begin to eat. I curiously grab a slice of the pizza dish and put it on my plate.

"I seems like I'll be talking to a few people tomorrow," Brady said. "And since we're now on speaking terms, I would like to thank you again for yesterday."

I almost spit the surprisingly delicious mouthful of food at the mention of the words, "thank you." That was the last thing I was expecting to hear from him.

"You're welcome." I reply in between bites. I still had my questions about his secret meeting and now that we were civilly communicating with one another I was anxious to get the real score on what I had witnessed.

"Regarding yesterday…" I say quietly.

"What about yesterday?" He looks me square in the eyes. I feel a bit of fear build up in my stomach.

"Um," I am careful to ask him the correct question. "Were you being serious about what you said about… divorce?" I knew I wanted to ask him about Sabrina. I wanted to know more about her, but I didn't think the night of our wedding would be the appropriate time to ask about his former girlfriend.

"Oh," Brady's eyes widened. "Well, think about it. You don't want to be married to me nor do you want to be queen. I don't want to be someone's husband, especially at this age. We're both in this situation because we were forced into it. Once we gain the approval of the island as husband and wife, we can abolish the law and we're free to live our lives…"

I am quite intrigued by his plan. This could be really our answer out of this. "Do you think it'd work?"

"I wish I could give you an answer, but it's a possibility for the future." He tells me solemnly. "For now, we will just have to act like husband and wife in front of the cameras and then we can go about our regular lives. Sound good, Bambi?"

"Sure." I agree without so much as a protest. Despite calling me that tacky nickname, I could only hope our union will be temporary.

"Good. Thankfully, after this dinner, we are done for the day." Brady announces as he takes another helping of pizza.

I acknowledge his statement with a nod. Fortunately, we didn't have to go through all of the ceremonies planned for a real wedding. We did not have to kiss, since it was not part of any law nor was it necessary to make our marriage official. More importantly, we didn't have to "finish" the marriage ceremony with the honeymoon night. There was no way either of would have agreed to that tradition and thankfully, Kaira had granted us permission to skip the honeymoon on account of our age and the inappropriateness of having two teenagers in that kind of situation. They forced us to get married but there was no way they were going to force that between us.

Brady and I finish dinner quietly. We have a small conversation regarding dinner. I learned the pizza we ate was Chicago deep-dish style, hence its large size and abundance of sauce. He enjoyed the sea bass that was prepared for me. We both eat our wedding cake in silence, still feeling slightly awkward that we are both husband and wife. Shortly after we eat our cake, the guards open the door, indicating that we must bid our guests goodbye.

I follow Brady out of the royal dining room and toward the plaza where the guests enjoy their food and drinks. They are immediately silenced when the doors open, revealing the two of us.

"Friends, family, and to all of our loved ones," Brady proclaims loudly. "Thank you all again for your attendance. While I wish this day could last forever, it must come to an untimely end. And with that, on behalf of Mikayla and I, we bid you farewell."

Cheers and applause emit from the crowd and he and I walk back into palace. Unsurprisingly, Kaira is there to meet us right on time.

"King Brady, Queen Mikayla, I wanted to say what an excellent job you two did today." Kaira says enthusiastically. I cringe at the thought of today's wedding just being nothing more than a televised performance, but I put on a polite smile.

Brady gives a small nod. "Kaira, I want all wedding gifts in my royal chambers by tomorrow morning."

Kaira gives a courteous grin. This was the first time Brady had any power over Kaira. He did fulfill the elders' wishes to abide the law of marriage despite his protests so he was entitled to make his demands.

"Very well, my king." Kaira replied quietly. "By the way, royal lessons will resume in three days time and you two will be back in school next week. Good night King Brady. Good night Queen Mikayla."

Kaira gives us both a hug and heads back to the plaza to tend to the guests. I cannot get her voice out of my head. Queen Mikayla. It sounded like a phrase in a foreign language. Then it hits me. I am a queen. I am one half of the leadership on this island.

"Hey!" I yell toward Brady who is making his way up the stairs to his private tower. I run toward him as he pauses at the edge of the steps with his arms folded.

"Did you need something?" He asks impatiently.

I clear my throat. "Why do you get to keep the gifts in your room? Surely, everything isn't just for you! This was our wedding."

He flashes me a boastful grin, which inadvertently causes me to wrap my mind around his pearly white teeth. I quickly shake the temporary thoughts away and feel irritated.

"Look Bambi, as king of the island, I…" He begins to speak, but I immediately cut him off.

"You are now married to a queen. This means, I have every right to a finalized decision. I demand that I get in on those gifts too!" I say confidently. After getting married, I think I deserve some of the presents as well.

There was no way he was going to have leverage over me, just because he was the king. But, all the bravery I had to stand up to him vanishes when he takes a step toward me. We are now merely inches apart. His smile hasn't left his face, which makes both angry and intrigued.

"Fine, as husband and wife, we can open our gift in my room later on." He says in a low voice.

I feel his breath on my face. Normally, I would have found it disgusting, having someone's air blowing at me, but the way he said those words made me weak in the knees. I am left speechless and cannot think of a clever comeback.

"Good night, Bambi." He says happily as he makes his way towards the stairs.

I curse at myself. He and I are finally on talking terms, and the first thing he does is get under my skin. It looks like he owes me nothing, and it's back to irritating his new wife, only this time, he's annoying be by making me all sorts of uncomfortable with his… flirting? I should have known better than to get tongue tied by his choice of words in that husky voice, but part of me feels the thrill of it all, despite my irritation.

So begins our first moments as husband and wife.

Hm Brady flirting? Is Mikayla falling for it? Hmmmm...

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