Author: drakensis

{oOo}

The wedding had come as a surprise to the imperial family. Invitations had been sent out with calculated speed so that the majority of them would only barely be able to arrive in time, and had been terse to the point of bluntness: the wedding would take place whether they were there or not.

The invitations hadn't even named the bride.

Admittedly, secretiveness was not entirely surprising when coming from Alpharius.

The vast cathedral-like wedding hall was filled with guests from around the galaxy. Perturabo calculated on first entering that at least half were agents of the Alpha Legion in disguise. He had only revised the numbers upwards since that moment and had only been persuaded not to teleport himself and Tekhne back to his flagship when his wife reminded him that with so much of the imperial family in one place the level of security might have some point.

The first ten pews on either side of the aisle were reserved for the imperial family, placements calculated partly on the basis of Legion number and partly on seniority, so Lion El'Jonson and Alta were prominent in the first pew on one side and Serenity and Horus effortlessly dominated the other front pew.

The Emperor had not yet arrived, but a particularly large chair had been set aside from him. He had arrived, among the latest to do so, and had immediately been drawn aside by Alpharius. The rest of the family could only hope firstly that this was in order to meet the bride and that secondly the Emperor would form the desired impression of said bride. Whether the desired impression was favourable or not tended to depend on how fond the individual making the wish was of the youngest Primarch.

The other notable absence (at least among those attending - Guilleman had sent sincere regrets that as he was on the other side of the galaxy he would not be able to arrive until at least a week after the ceremony) was Angron. He was certainly present - his equerry was visible among the other high officers of the World Eaters. Of course, the fact that Kharn was swallowing sedative pills as if they were candy was a touch worrying...

At some unseen signal, the music paused and then segued into a more formal note, signalling the beginning of the ceremony. As those gathered ceased conversations, a side door opened and Alpharius entered, wearing not his armour but a ceremonial uniform in the violet and blue of his Legion. Towering at his side was Angron, wearing a formal white tunic, crimson jacket and a kilt of blue and white tartan. (Thora grabbed her husband's ear just before he was about to unleash a mocking wolf-whistle at the sight of his brother's bare calfs. Whatever she then whispered into his ear had him pale).

When they took positions indicating that Angron was acting as aide (or 'best man' in some traditions) to Alpharius, heads began to turn towards the back of the chamber where the great doors were slowly swinging open.

The Emperor entered, the bride upon his arm. The bride was veiled and wore a long white dress while the Emperor, as majestic as ever, seemed totally unperturbed. Only the more psychically astute - Magnus and Ira for example, could tell his emotions were in tumoil. Horrified disbelief was Magnus' later theory. Ira countered with her own belief that the Emperor was trying not to laugh out loud. Their debate would eventually last all through the night and end, during breakfast, with a negotiated settlement that both theories were probably correct.

Eyes widened as vision keen beyond mortal levels dissected the identity of Alpharius' chosen bride. Reactions varied - Lorgar fainted, Fulgrim tutted disapprovingly and Azmina smugly noted to herself that she'd won a bet with Sanguinius.

The magistrate - a local official visibly emoting utter terror in playing a prominient role in such distinguished company - cleared his throat as the Emperor escorted the bride to the front of the chamber. "If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in matrimony, you are to declare it."

There was a pregnant silence.

A number of the imperial family considered strongly the option of raising objections on various grounds that they were fairly sure would be upheld. For one reason or another, they decided not to.

These reasons were:-

The Emperor was participating, thus at least tacitly approving.

Angron was glaring challengingly at the rest of the room, daring them to object.

Raising an objection would be a terrible, probably irretrivable insult to Alpharius.

For most of them, however, the most driving reason was the tears of happiness and radiated approval of Serenity. The Anima was emoting so much support for the wedding that Alpharius was actually not shooting suspicious glances in her direction, an unprecendented situation.

Lorgar probably would not have been swayed by these factors but he remained unconcious, propped up by Kor Phareon in a pretense that nothing unusual had happened in that pew.

When the silence grew too long (as determined by Angron turning his death glare upon the magistrate and opening his mouth to speak, that unlucky soul spoke swiftly: "Primarch Alpharius of XX Legion, the Alpha Legion, do you take Omegon, also Primarch of the Alpha Legion, to be your spouse...?"

{oOo}