Epilogue
As Diana had expected, the initial announcement of the marriage between herself and Orin was received with incredible animosity, with several pundits from the United States urging President Luthor to send the Superman weapon to handle the problem, others calling for an all out nuclear strike.
As the year wore on, and the wedding day approached, however, pundits turned from being decidedly against the union, to what it would mean for the countries of Themyscira and Atlantis.
"Amazon construction crews, working with native Atlantis, have helped rebuild much of the capitol, as well as restored the most basic working needs of life to the rest of the country," the BBC broadcaster spoke in a typically blunt fashion. "When asked for commentary, neither King Orin nor Queen Diana were available; the Amazon Queen's spokesperson, General Philipus, said that the royal couple were busy in Posiedonis, helping rebuild."
"The Royal Couple have announced their plans for the wedding, which will be hosted on the obscure island of Themyscira," E! Entertainment would report. "Every designer on the planet is vying for a chance to garb the royal couple for their magical day, but so far no one has been given the green light."
"Everyone's so stunned about the wedding, and who doesn't like a royal wedding, remember when King William married Kate?" a Fox News personality said. "But Orin of Atlantis isn't a 28 year old British Prince and Diana of Themyscira, so called "Wonder Woman," is no Kate Middleton! These two are war criminals who sunk half of Europe, and people just seem to want to forget about this in favour of what? A pretty wedding? A white dress? This is a fallacy! They make a farce of the whole institution of marriage. And the fact that President Luthor is not only condoning this atrocity, but participating in the ceremony, is insulting to the American forces that died during the war!"
Diana came up behind her soon to be husband, picking the television remote up. "I still don't know why I should have one of these," she whispered to him, leaning over his shoulder to kiss behind his ear.
"I thought it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" he said, letting his eyes close.
"Then keep your eyes closed," she replied, teasing him as she kissed the back of his neck. He had opted to wear his military clothing rather than the tradition robe had worn at their first ceremony, even though the outside world seemed to figure that was a matter of policy, rather than simply a voiced by his soon to be wife. She had requested it;
For her part, Diana wore a very similar dress to the one she was to wear when she was to be wed to him the first time, except her hair was loose, hanging around her shoulders in a wave of ink black hair. "It's almost time, let's not be late," she cooed to him, rubbing his shoulders, giving them a strong squeeze.
He heard her steps as she left the room, taking a deep breath. He was about to get married, for a third time.
He didn't waste time getting to the Alter, looking to the President of the United States, a man by the name of Lex Luthor, who had been arranged to officiate the ceremony. He would have preferred if Philipus, or one of the Amazon priestesses had done it, but Diana had insisted it would lend an international legitimacy to their ceremony; always the political one.
The music struck up and Arthur knew Diana was on her way. The Queen was walked down the aisle who was known to few; an extremely tall, blonde man with dark eyes. While few would recognize the God of War in his human form, Diana felt honoured that he would recognize his child in such a way. Sitting in the front row, where Hippolyta should have been, were two women who looked quite similar to the man holding Diana's hand, Aphrodite and Athena, his sisters and Diana's patrons.
In front of President Luthor, Diana released Ares' arm and took Arthur's outstretched hand.
"You look breath taking," he said softly. It was corny, a piece of déjà vu from a time past.
A coy smile pulled at the Queen's lips as he spoke to her. "From someone who can breathe at the bottom of an ocean trench, I'll take that as a compliment," she whispered to him as he brought her hands to his lips, since he knew he couldn't kiss her lips quite yet.
They shared their private joke as Luthor began to read his lines.
There were comments about commitment, about Themyscira and Atlantis' history, together and separate, and about how the reunion between the Queen and King of these two nations spoke volumes for the potential of other countries to overcome adversity and age old rivalries.
"Do you, Arthur, King Orin of Atlantis, take Diana, Queen of Themyscira, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do," he whispered without a second hesitation, watching the glittering blue eyes of his blushing bride. He didn't wait for Luthor to give him the okay; with the words spoken, he pulled Diana close and pressed his lips to hers, tasting the sweetness of honey clinging to her lips. Their eyes closed as the couple shared a very public, yet incredibly intimate, moment.