For any regular royal couple, it would have taken much longer to summon friends from their disparate locations around mainland Greece when Hercules and Megara made their midmorning appearance at the Palace of Thebes to announce and claim their wedding, which had been waiting for them, Menoikeus and Creon were busily admitting and arranging guests.
Haemon caught sight of them and jogged over with Megarion behind him. "What're the two of you doing here together?" Haemon asked.
"Ismene thought we'd escort Meg back to your house after the ceremony," Megarion added.
"I'm not taking any chances," Hercules said. "We're sticking together, and tradition will accommodate us."
Haemon and Megarion raised their brows at Hercules's confidence while Megara patted his arm. "He's gotten a bit more decisive recently."
"Good," Haemoon said, fixing his prospective brother-in-law with a scrutinizing eye.
Megarion nudged Haemo with an elbow and gestured over his shoulder. "Can you help us deal with Icarus? He flew in earlier this morning. After all, he came to commiserate with you 'cause everyone thought Meg was dead. He's having… a lot of feelings."
"Of course," Hercules sighed. "I'll help him out." He gave Megara a cringing smile as he squeezed her hand and took the first few steps away. "I'll come back soon, Meg."
Megara wanted to follow him until she heard the uproarious emotional episode unleashed when Icarus saw him. Then, she decided to give herself some space.
So soon after reacclimating to it, his warm presence left Megara bereft the moment she lost it. She felt so small and exposed she couldn't shake the feeling that something was more wrong than usual.
"What's that face?" Haemon asked. "Is all not well in paradise?"
"Quite the opposite. The two of us are deeply uncomfortable any time we're separated. That's why we're doing this today."
"Well, don't let anyone say you're rushing things. This has been a long time coming," Haemon said. "We should get started soon before some other ridiculous event interrupts us."
"Agreed," Haemon said.
"People are starting to bring in gifts," Megarion commented. "What do you want to do about it?"
"I guess they'll need to be organized," Megara sighed. "I'll have them boxed up by type and whether they're for Herc or me. If we're all assembled, we can invoke the gods." She scanned the crowd.
Cassandra must have foreseen the outpouring of Icarus's many responses to the situation. Thus, she was crouched behind a pile of gifts, looking like a traveler hiding from a snowstorm in a tiny cave.
Theseus and Galatea were present, as was Ismene, who was getting everyone organized for the wedding ceremony. She recognized that many of the other people in attendance resembled recent high school graduates and thus surmised that most of them must be from Prometheus Academy. She would no doubt meet them in the procession or the wedding feast.
In the meantime, she gazed at the gold hanging medallions of thunderbolts framed by purple Tyrian Purple curtains and delicate flowers bound in wreaths. She'd chosen to portray the glory of Olympus well since gods would join them to celebrate.
Lemon and oregano scents wafted from the direction of the royal kitchens, the precursor to a truly magnificent feast. She and Hercules wouldn't spend much time with the food, though. Their hunger for one another would overpower all else.
Hercules had calmed Icarus and leaned to one side with hands on his hips to show off his biceps from how his elbows angled out. He seemed so confident, in his element. He'd soaked in some ambient Thebanness around him, evident in how he smirked across the courtyard at her.
Megara returned the expression. They both knew what they'd do the moment they were finally alone.
"What's that smirk for?" Haemon asked.
"I am Theban. Therefore, I smirk," Megara said with a shrug.
"Mhm," Haemon said, tilting his head at her with his humorous twitch of the lips.
"We should get this thing started before they undress each other in public."
"We're not that uncouth, and we don't share." Megara strode past her brothers with the saunter of a woman about to claim her prize.
Hercules responded to her approach with a sly light in his eyes, leaning in her direction and reaching his hand toward her.
Megara slid her hand into his so he could draw her into his side. "We shouldn't delay much longer. There may never be another perfect moment."
"This isn't a now-or-never," Hercules told her in a soothing voice and kissed the top of her head. "If I have to try again in a day, a week, or three thousand years, life with you will be worth the wait."
"If we wait three thousand years, there'll be nothing left of us," Megara snickered. "Let's just stick to today."
"Future Mrs. Hercules, allow me to be the first to bestow a gift!" Icarus bowed in front of Megara and presented her with a golden apple. "I intended it for my mellifluous Cassandra, but she has eluded my every attempt to present it to her."
"A golden apple?" Hercules took it from his friend's hand. "Are you trying to steal my fiancee?"
"Try way harder," Megara said.
While he was still holding it, the top of the golden apple popped open. It began to spin, and the leaf flapped up and down like a wing, and a small chiming melody escaped. A series of little birds flew around the apple's core, and Megara noticed with amusement that the birds had made crude additions of small horse figures to make them relevant to Hercules.
"This is incredible," Megara said without reservation. It was remarkable that someone with as disorganized a mind as Icarus was capable of such brilliance, but she didn't want to hover a curse-shadow over her wedding day.
"I'm sure our children will love it," Hercules said when the mechanism quit its song.
Megara shot a smirk at him. Speaking with such casual assurance of their future multiple children had a surprising effect on her interest. His confidence had multiplied since the morning, giving him a mantle of regal authority that she was eager to explore further.
By contrast, Icarus himself had taken on a sour expression. "This isn't a children's toy!" he protested.
"It would help us soothe our children to sleep," Megara assured him. "That's incredibly important." Her eyes flickered in Hercules's direction. "And since we'll have so many children, it'll be even more important that we have ways of helping them sleep."
The two of them shared a moment in the glow of anticipation before Hercules squeezed her hand. "For us to have those kids, it's time we made this official."
Somewhere in the midst of all the wedding commotion, Menoikeus found them and took his sister's hand.
"Permit me, brother," the king of Thebes told the hero. "This will be the last time, I promise." He led Megara to an open area on the palace balcony overlooking the city. "Aphrodite, goddess of love who binds us all, please join us on this sacred day to bless my sister and the hero, Hercules."
A golden spotlight Megara was surprised to discover was now familiar to her appeared, and the voices that sang the goddess's name.
Before the goddess could appear, another light emerged from the clouds. Hera descended, tall as a building.
The two goddesses' pink faces and blue eyes squared off as if only one pink-skinned blonde was allowed on the balcony.
"I'll be officiating this one," Hera said while Aphrodite folded her arms and pouted.
"You can be in charge of the next part," Megara assured the junior goddess with a wink. "Just because Hera pulled rank doesn't mean we don't need you for important process elements."
Aphrodite smirked. "Perfect. I'll give my gift right now, then!" She raised a hand, and in a flash of rosy light, a red scroll appeared midair under her hand. "You two are officially ready to graduate from the pink scroll to the red one!" She handed it to Megara, who saucily tucked it into Hercules's armor. "Hold onto that for me," she purred.
Hercules's face reddened to the same shade as the scroll. "Uh… yeah."
This amused Megara until she noticed her eldest brother approaching in place of their father. She only had time to open her questioning mouth before he shook his head.
Menoikeus took his sister's hand, then shook one of Hercules's. "I give her to you," he said, putting Megara's hand in his. "Be good to her. I know you will, but I still have to say it."
"I'm glad you did," Hercules replied warmly, squeezing Megara's hand.
"Father wouldn't do it, huh?" Megara asked.
"I thought he would give you the evil eye while he did it, so I didn't want to take the risk," he sighed. He kissed his sister's temple. "Have an excellent life, little sister."
"That was lovely," Hera crooned in her gentle lilting voice. "We will proceed so your procession to your new home may begin," Hera said. "Hercules, do you swear to protect and care for your new wife with all your might so long as she lives?"
"Of course! I mean, uh, I do!" Hercules glanced sheepishly at Megara. "Why am I so nervous? We say this stuff all the time," he whispered.
"People are watching, and this is your mother," Megara reminded him.
Hera sent a dainty pink hand on Megara's back. "From now on, you are a hero's wife, a blessed destiny. You will be the mother of future heroes and serve him with humility and… Dear, take this seriously!" she scolded Hercules, whose smile twitched on the verge of laughter.
"Meg's not gonna serve me, Mother, but that's a nice thought." He squeezed Megara's hand. "Don't worry, she's not going to fight me either, but we're a bit different than the usual couples."
"I could'a told you that," Aphrodite huffed. "Meg, do you take him?"
"Definitely," Megara agreed. "And I'll let him take me, too," she added in a whisper that made Hercules blush.
Hera's hand quickly departed from her shoulders. "Well, I'm glad the two of you have something figured out."
With a mere nod to his mother, Hercules pulled Megara closer. "We'll have all we need, Mother. We have each other."
"Isn't that a lovely sentiment?" Hera seemed amused but elegantly so—the perfect queen.
In contrast to the glittering queen, Megara felt underdressed at her wedding. The whole thing had been so slapdash and hurried since her fiance had been in a greater than anticipated demand. At least there were decorations and food. She would have to be happy that she was married and not fixate on her lack of finery.
Perhaps she ought to stop thinking of herself as a princess and feel about herself instead as the wife of a hero. That's what she was now and would always be.
She had no reason at the moment to doubt her convictions.