Chapter Four: St. Valentine's Favour
February 14, 1890
A faintly sunny winter morning played host to the wedding of Coco Adel and Fox Alistair the following week. It was quite fitting that they decided to get married on St. Valentine's Day. Though Dust itself had irreparably changed many facets of life in Europe, a number of traditions and institutions still persevered in the face of this. One of these was the humble neighbourhood church, which still proved to be a cornerstone of social life and an anchor to communities in an age where all other aspects of "the village lifestyle" had fallen by the wayside. Of course, the All Saints Church in Fulham wasn't "humble", but it had anchored the community since 1524 with no signs of slowing down.
The priest himself, a rather elderly man who spoke like a Dutch uncle, looked younger than his eighty-one years in the full regalia of an Anglican priest. After spotting a nod from the usher at the front door, he called the wedding to order.
"Welcome, everyone," he said as loudly as he could manage. "Today, we come to celebrate a wedding between Fox Alistair and Coco Adel under the watch of our Lord. First off, I'll introduce the groom and his party. Fox Alistair is the groom, Jaune Arc is the best man, and the groomsmen are Rory Alistair and Rowan Alistair, brothers of the groom."
The four walked out of the vestry in single file. Fox's brothers came first, standing to the right of the congregation. Jaune came next, positioning himself between Rory and the priest. And Fox strode towards his spot between Jaune and the priest. He stood tall and proud at the altar, as did his groomsmen. All four dressed in black tie, with matching patent black shoes and red peonies in their lapels.
"And now," the priest continued, "I shall introduce the bridesmaids; Nora Valkyrie and Pyrrha Nikos."
The bridesmaids had colour-coordinated for the occasion, meaning that Nora didn't wear a trace of pink on this day, and Pyrrha wasn't seen in red or brown. Instead, their dresses were white and floor length, with both women having their hair swept into buns. Even though it was unusual for Nora, the sight of a certain butler's amazement put her at ease. At least I'm still bewitching my paramour, Nora realised happily.
Ren, meanwhile, was in tranquil bliss at the thought that just entered his mind. I can't believe how incredible she looks in white, he thought peacefully. This will be what I see at the altar someday; I know that now. It's just … unreal to behold this vista so soon. Ren's state of being had changed considerably over the last month; whilst the butler had always been a calm and content figure, he'd always repressed any and all extreme emotions to the best of his ability, for the sake of his occupational duties. "He's bloody married to the job," Mercury Black had always said about him. But with an Irish blacksmith swiftly proving to be the love of his life, Ren felt a different version of contentment now. It was warm, inviting, and subtly cloying; this was quite unlike the contentment he'd always known, which was indifferent and cold, but all too constant and familiar to the man.
"Next, we have the maid of honour; Audrey Adel."
Coco's younger sister looked content in her dress, which was white as well. The only difference was a garland of daisies in her hair, marking her out as different from the bridal party.
"And finally, the bride: Coco Adel."
As the organist played Mendelssohn's Wedding March on the pipe organ, Coco slowly minced towards the altar with her father Enrico at her side. The former housekeeper went all out for her dress; like the others, it was white. Unlike the others, it had a train adorned with roses. Additionally, her head had a veil over it, with a floral headdress of roses and peonies holding it together. When she came to her spot on the stage, Fox pulled back the veil to see his beloved. Coco had forgone her polarised glasses and let her hair fall naturally, which was an odd look for a woman who almost always wore a beret.
"Welcome everyone," the priest spoke softly. "Today, we're here to mark the union of two people into holy matrimony.
"Today's reading comes from chapter thirteen of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians." The priest fumbled with the holy book as weathered hands flicked the pages to the bookmark he'd set the preceding day.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
"And these two hardy souls before us have endured and overcome many trials, in the hope of improving their lots in life. Fox dealt with and overcame his grey-scale vision, and Coco worked harder than most to survive in a city where she'd known no-one upon arrival. I feel certain, therefore, that their love will be all the stronger for their perseverance forged in the face of these challenges."
Ren nodded approvingly at the message. Even though I'm unsure if there really is any divine being over our heads, he reasoned thoughtfully, that was a fitting message for the occasion. I guess experience and hard graft counts for everything in this life.
"Now, I'd like the best man to come forward with the rings."
Jaune fished the two rings out of his breast pocket; the ring intended for Fox bore a cushion-cut ruby, while Coco's featured an onyx cut in the same fashion. Both of these jewels were set upon a band of 24-carat gold, tuned specifically to their intended recipients. Once Jaune walked back to his place, the priest put down his bible and spoke again.
"These rings are the symbols of the vows here taken. They mark the beginning of a long journey together, filled with wonder, surprise, laughter, tears, celebrations, grief and joy. May these rings reflect the warmth of the lives that flow through them today. Two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go, may they always return to one another. May they grow in understanding and compassion. May the home that they establish be a place of peace, comfort and sanctuary. As I invite Fox and Coco to make their marriage vows I remind everyone here that this is the heart of the ceremony. The vows they make before us are sincere and binding promises that are intended to keep them together for the rest of their lives."
Fox spoke his vows first. "I, Redmond Fox Alistair, take thee, Coco Jacqueline Adel, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth."
Coco responded in kind. "I, Coco Jacqueline Adel, take thee, Redmond Fox Alistair, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I give thee my troth."
At this point, Fox placed his ring on his beloved's finger, Coco doing the same, and completed the vows.
"With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."
The priest smiled, then delivered his last sentence for the day. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Fox took Coco's hands in his own, leaned down slightly and enveloped her lips with his own. The congregation applauded and cheered, with eager jubilation written upon their faces. Jaune and Pyrrha in particular looked pleased, each imagining what their nuptials would be like on their day. And as the bride and groom signed the marriage certificate with Jaune and Audrey as witnesses, Nora and Ren shared a calm, but incredibly romantic glance. They knew that Jaune and Pyrrha's love had developed fairly quickly, but they were both content to let things play out more naturally – and their eyes seemed to convey that message, as though it were solidifying their position as soul-mate to one another.
As the congregation filed outside in the cool air with the married couple and their attendants, Ren and Nora sidled up to one another subtly and held hands as they walked towards the Golden Lion, a pub that dated back to 1455 that lay further north on Fulham High Street.
Once within the place, everyone outside the couple's immediate family was stunned to see that the main room had been transformed dutifully by the owners into a dining room, with an impressive spread provided by the mothers of the bride and groom. The fact that Fox was a moderately well-off accountant may have had some say in why this happened.
As the beers began to be poured and food dished up to the guests, Ren and Nora sat opposite one another with their plates. Much to Ren's amusement, both of them had gone for the salmon along with cucumbers and lettuce, and both had a glass of Riesling with them. The only difference was that Nora also had a beefsteak, whilst Ren had opted for a pile of mashed potatoes.
The first thing Nora decided to do, surprised that she would be so desirous to take this course of action, was to remove both her shoes quietly and leave them on the floor. Once that was done, her short legs reached forward and stroked Ren's outstretched left leg; despite the risk of scandal this sort of flirtation was liable to incur, Nora found it exhilarating. She couldn't suppress a soft giggle when Ren looked down to the floor and blanched at her actions. When his eyes met hers, though, his expression wasn't embarrassed like she expected; instead, he looked somewhat amused.
"Nora, please stop it!", Ren playfully, yet softly complained while holding his fork aloft. "All your teasing will make me lose my grip on this and send things flying everywhere."
"Said the butler to the huntress," Nora replied calmly, before the pair broke into laughter.
A/N: And there we have it. Making the Shopkeep a priest in this world was the best last-minute decision I've had in some time.
I must confess that I've enjoyed writing this one the most out of my fics thus far. Goodbellas will always be special as the first good fic I've written; Aeneus Idola was the result of the longest creative frenzy I've ever had (the first five chapters came out over 14 days of non-stop writing, along with the plans for the other six), and has the largest number of views (over 5000, last I checked).
But this one was always a pleasure to write.
Anyway, I'll talk for a minute about my future plans. I'll still finish Goodbellas (and I'm close to finishing chapter 14 at the time of writing) this year; after that, I hope to be able to write two fics. One will be the fifth installment to this AU, and I've already made chapter titles and jotted down the basic plots for each of them - though the title is still drawing a blank at the moment. The second will be either a medieval adventure setting akin to WoW and DnD and other similar things, or a fic that has RWBY and JNPR star as the gods of Remnant - it's meant to be a blend of Greek mythology, "The Silmarillion", and "The Planets" by Holst. Time will tell which one I write first; the other one will be written at some point.
Thanks to all of you who favourited, followed, and enjoyed this fourth addition to the wonderful Belladonna Lilies AU.