Again, Ajax dreamed. This time, he knew that he dreamed. It was in the courtyard of the Palace of the High Queen Prunus. He sat on the edge of a raised pool, strumming a guitar. Beside him sat a slim woman with reddish-brown hair, wearing the large-bustled dress that tradition and good form called for. She sang as he played, "Some days the phone don't ring at all; and some days I wish it would stop; and some days I wish for just one ring; but today could be the day."

He stopped and gazed at her. "It is a good song," she said. "Morrie says you helped him with it."

"Just a few ideas," Ajax said. "Mostly what I could remember of the song as I heard it."

"You know, my sister is really nervous about being in the wedding," Pruna said. "She says it would be easier if she had an escort. I think Hector would be just right for her. We really should have set them up a while ago."

"Nah," Ajax said. "Sure, they would be a good match for the wedding, but Daffy is just a kid. Hector's even more of a kid, in his own way. She's the last person for him. What my brother needs is a lady who's bossy enough to straighten him out."

"Oh, Daffy can be bossy," Pruna said. "You haven't seen her ordering dinner…"

They laughed together. Pruna took his hand. "I love you," she said. She promptly laughed again. "It still feels strange to say that, doesn't it? Everyone thinks we're supposed to be in love. I'm the Princess, you're my rescuer, how many stories are there where we don't fall in love? But the stories never really talk about that part. They make it sound like love just happens. It wasn't like that at all. First you rescued me. Then you showed me who you really are." She kissed him. "Now, come and help me choose a dress…"

Ajax awoke with a start. It was before sunrise, again. He showed no surprise to find that he was not alone in the bed, at least until he saw who it was. Nopalina lay beside him, in a tank top and gym shorts. "It looked like you were having some trouble there," she said. "All in all, you pulled through."

Ajax ran through the events of the preceding night. It felt hazy, though he was and had been quite sober. "I talked to her," he said. "We really talked."

"Yeah, we were impressed," Nopalina said. "Queen Meliboia told me to keep an eye on you, do an intervention if I had to. All I really had to do was get you to bed before you stayed up all night."

"I see," Ajax said. "Yes. She… would have approved. You know she thinks quite well of you." He looked at Nopalina. "There are still things we have not discussed."

"Don't worry about it," the Maiden said. "I haven't decided if I want to bear Fruit with my own man. I definitely don't need an extra donor in the mix."

"I appreciate that," the King said. "You have never been afraid to speak your mind with me. I would still consider keeping you as my permanent Attendant, if you do not choose to go your own way."

"Trust me, I've thought about it," Nopalina said. "I'll tell you when I decide."

"Nopalina," Ajax said, "what really happened between us?"

"Your Majesty," Nopalina said preemptively, "it is before dawn on your wedding day."

"I know," he said. "These are the times when a man thinks."

"I have been clear about my feelings, my Lord," Nopalina said. "I know you would not hide your feelings from me."

"Of course not," Ajax said. "I only wonder… How would it have been, if we had been more?"

The Maiden looked at him. "You know what? Fine," she said. "If this is the way you want to go, then don't talk. Do. I know what you have done with the other Maidens, and the Queen. She has forbidden you nothing when it comes to me. She would have let me do a lot more if it kept you from running after her. So if there's something you want to find out, just try." He started to speak. "I know, your wedding day. Even so. The one thing that won't work is talk." Ajax rolled on his side to face her.

Bare moments later, she cried out, "My Lord!" In a few moments more, she hustled out, fully sheathed by her reddish-orange dress.

Ajax followed her. "Nopalina," he said, "I am sorry. It should not have been."

She looked back at him. "You know something?" she said. "You know how I really feel about you? I hate you. I really do. I always have." Then she hustled away.

The wedding was held at midday in an amphitheater in the Palace Garden. The space gave seating and shade for a few hundred guests. Others were moved to bleachers in the adjacent space. The many guards were placed in a perimeter, where they mostly eyed each other warily. Naam and Pruna were allowed to sit with an Elite Guard on either side, in the third row of seats for the Groom's side. On Mel's side were Amyclas and Autolycos, Xaja and Cerasa, Kiv and his copilot, plus Ultra and Skarff. Also present were two burly fighters who looked mortified in their suits. The rest was filled out with dignitaries from beyond the Mushroom Realms, including Biaku and Lemmia. The latter sat with an elderly creature who could just manage a semblance of the humanoid form, which Ajax knew to be her mother Hama.

Ajax stood before the crowd, with Hector and old Morrie as his Groomsmen. Daffy stood at Hector's side, holding Robert. The little Prince was too enthralled by the splendor and the attention to fuss. Bell, not so little, walked down the center aisle, scattering seed grain. The guests rose as Nopalina, Infra and a lady of the Myrmidons named Marpessa entered. When the Maiden met the King's eye, he pointedly looked away. The pair took their places, and Daffy joined them.

Then a skirling fanfare sounded for the Chief and the Bride. Aeacus wore red finery and a gold belt. Mel wore a dress that was for her almost mockingly conventional, complete with a bell-shaped bustle and flowing train. The cloth, however, irridesced in the sun, and her veil hung from a tiara of pearl and platinum. She still managed a scandalous strut, which Aeacus had to march to match. As she reached the altar, a High Mage of the Lavender Realm stepped forward.

The Mage entered a benediction to the Powers of the World and the unseen One who directed them. That was followed by a speech about the strength of love and the duties of Royalty. Long before the end, Mel was tapping her foot with what Ajax knew to be impatience. For a moment, he did not realize the time had come to speak his vow. "Before the One Who Is, I, King Ajax, pledge my love to Lady Meliboia, Honored Khloritia of Niobides," he said. "I promise to serve her in sickness and health, to stand with her in war and in peace, to honor you in life or in death, and to reign with her as King and Queen, from now until I find the Furthest Shore from which none return."

Mel drew back her veil. "Before the One, I pledge my love to Lord Alexander of Papadopoulos, King Ajax of the Red Realm," she said. "I promise to return kindness with devotion, humility with honor, sacrifice with sacrifice, and to be your Queen as you are my King, to walk hand in hand in this world, to follow you or wait for you even unto the Furthest Shore."

"Having witnessed these vows," the Mage declared, "I declare these two wed by the laws of men and nature and the Law that is above all laws. May the rains fall timely on your gardens and may the wind be at your backs, from now until your departing, that you might meet again on the Shore where all journeys begin. You may now kiss the bride… Ah. That will do." Mel grabbed Ajax and kissed him, long and fiercely. Naam rose first, and the crowd followed in applause.

"So," Mel said as they retired to the waiting rooms, "we had our wedding without anyone trying to kill you. Or some idiot trying to ruin it. How does it feel?"

"I am glad just to have you," Ajax said. Then he heard a familiar squeal.

"Ohmygosh that was so beautiful!" Daffy said. She threw her arms around Ajax, if anything with unusual restraint. She embraced Mel in turn. An Attendant exchanged her seahorse purse for the frog. "The kids are so happy to have a new aunt!"

Indeed, little Robert ran up to Mel, evading Hector. Mel snatched him up and tossed him in the air before drawing him in for an embrace. "You're lucky you're cute, kid," she said in a stage whisper. She turned as another entered. "Daddy!" She managed to give Aeacus a one-armed hug without putting down Robert.

"It was a beautiful ceremony," the Chieftain said. "We Myrmidons are informal, but we always appreciate sincere spectacle." He waved in the direction of the guest chambers. "Now, why don't we take a look at your wedding present?"

They went to the chamber. Dozens if not hundreds of gifts were stacked, piled or strewn about. Most of those that had been opened had clearly received no more than a perfunctory inspection. In the midst of it all, the box remained untouched, without so much as a lesser item set on top of it. The box had a keypad to open. Mel punched in a code without hesitation. One side of the box swung open with a hiss and a puff of vapor. Even as she stooped to look inside, she asked warily, "What is it?"

"Only what is already yours," Aeacus answered. She reached inside and pulled out the first item. It was clearly a case for some kind of instrument. It proved to be an electronic instrument that Ajax still thought looked like a hurdy-gurdy more than anything else.

"My symphonia!" Mel exclaimed. "That I could never play…"

"You were better than you always said," Aeacus assured her. "Perhaps you can do better now. In any case, it is but a little thing. Look at the rest."

She brought out more, and more. There were toys, such as a doll and a building set, and spare parts for the ship. Finally, she pulled out three boxes that together filled half the crate. Ajax had seen enough similar items to recognize the carton for a Lorica. "You shouldn't have," she said. She opened the carton and held up a helmet that seemed made of gold.

"It was always yours, if you chose to accept it," Aeacus said. "Another could have claimed it, of course, but no one wished to take it. In any case, it was already fitted."

"I'm as tall as most of the men," Mel said.

"But you aren't built like them," Ajax said. "I would guess that it would be more of an embarrassment for it to fit." He waved to Nopalina. "Call the Stewards. I want this box repacked and taken to the Clipper." He looked to Aeacus. "No offense, but we may be leaving a little early."

"That is the Myrmidon way," the Chieftain said. "I must take leave myself, to speak to my own entourage."

He unlimbered a communicator as he stepped out. He followed the curving corridor inerrantly, even as he spoke instructions. He paused belatedly as someone called out. He looked back. It was High Queen Daffodil. "Well met, my Lady," he said. "I suppose you are my daughter, in a fashion." He smiled. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course not," she said. "But you are going the wrong way, if you are coming back for the Feast. This is the way to your ship."

"So it is," Aeacus said. "Ah, as it happens, there are a few things I may have need of."

"Well, I can send an Attendant, if none of your own are handy," Daffy said. "At least let me lend you a power cart. If you walk all the way there and back, you might not be in time for the Feast."

"I suppose you are right," Aeacus said. "I am not as fast as I used to be." Daffy smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes. As she turned, Aeacus shifted. A small pistol was already in hand. There was no sound, except the rustle of a slowly slumping body… and a plaintive call as little Robert toddled into view.