Jane, yet again, found herself standing in front of her mother's mirror as she got dressed for the wedding. Jane was relieved that Pepper was there with her as well, for her nerves were getting the best of her. The chef had taken the day off of work to attend the ceremony, and being Jane's best female friend, she had invited her along for the pre-wedding prep. Pepper had apologized profusely about her absence in Jane's life recently but assured her it was for a good cause. Jane could tell the girl was bursting at the seams as she struggled to keep whatever secret she was sworn to. Although Jane felt bad pestering her about it, she was able to find out it at least had something to do with the surprise Gunther was planning for her. As her mind drifted back to him, her nerves returned. Jane didn't feel like she was nervous about the wedding itself anymore. She was instead nervous about her inevitable conversation with her soon-to-be husband. She hadn't seen him since their fight. She was partially relieved to learn he was spending time with her friends. Which at the very least meant things weren't beyond repairable. However, Jane still felt she deserved an apology from him. One she feared she wouldn't get.
Her mother brought her attention back to reality as she placed her hands on Jane's shoulders from behind and told her how beautiful she looked. Jane had thought about not wearing her golden armor for the wedding. Because she felt more comfortable in just the dress than she had before for the ball. She had spent so much time worrying how other people would perceive her if they ever saw her in a fancy gown. Especially Gunther. After the ball, Jane realized that no one seemed to care about her wearing a dress as much as she thought they would. Although the revelation was initially dis-arming, Jane now felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Nevertheless, she still liked the armor, and she knew she probably wouldn't have many other chances to wear it. Considering how soft and useless gold was for actual combat. So wearing it was a must. After another once-over, Jane was ready. She looked almost identical to how she did at the ball. Braided hair and all. With the only difference being the lack of makeup, which was far too scandalous for a wedding. She twirled her ouroboros ring around her finger. Which had become a nervous habit over the past few days. "Oh, you won't be needing that until later," her mother said as she took her daughter's hand and removed the ring from her finger.
"What? Why not?" Jane found herself saddened by it's lose.
"Why? Gunther has to give this to you during the ceremony," Adeline laughed as she handed the ring over to Pepper. "See to it he gets this," she ordered her.
Pepper nodded and held it closely, "oh Jane, you look so stunning. I never did get to see you all made-up for the ball."
Jane returned her gaze to the mirror. For once, she did feel beautiful. Yet also still brave and strong. After all that had happened, she was still Jane. She smiled. Nervousness aside, she felt like today was going to be a good day.

As they exited the castle to head to the church, Dragon was the first to greet them, "there she is! The very first 'bride knight.' How ya feeling?"
"Surprisingly, alright. At least for now," Jane gave Dragon a hug on his snout, "thanks for being here."
Her mother rushed over and parted them quickly, "Jane, mind your dress!"
Jane rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Dragon is not dirty."
The group waved goodbye to Dragon as the carriage they hired pulled away. Unfortunately, Dragon wouldn't be present for the ceremony itself. Since the church was directly in the middle of the village. Not only would he be too large to fit without damaging a building, but the peasants may panic having him so close. Luckily, he would be there for the party in the garden afterward. He promised he would make sure everything was perfect for their return. Although Jane could only hope he didn't accidently destroy anything in his attempt to "help."
The whole ride over, Adeline drawled on about proper poise and etiquette that Jane should display for the villagers as a lady of nobility. However, Jane did not listen. Looking "poised and proper" had not been a priority in Jane's life for a long time. Afterall, she was a knight. Not a lady in waiting. This would probably be the first and only time the general public would see her in such a gown, and she was already upset at the thought of giving the people the wrong impression of her. As her mind wandered, Jane wistfully looked out the carriage window and appreciated how beautiful the day was. Pepper took her hand and rested her head on Jane's shoulder, to which Jane precipitated the motion. It was a little awkward with the armor but they made it work. Jane had always been a good friend with Pepper but this whole experience had really brought them closer together. Jane never truly knew the value of a female friendship until all this started. Yet Pepper had been there for her through it all, and Jane would probably continue to go to Pepper first for any problems that may arise in the future. She gave Pepper's hand a squeeze and Jane interpreted Pepper's return squeeze to mean she felt the same.

As the carriage drew near to the church, Jane was surprised by the amount of people that showed up. An upcoming wedding was always announced by the priest during the sermon the day before a wedding was to take place. From there, people could decide whether they wanted to attend or not... or worse, object. Jane wondered if everyone had shown up in hopes of seeing the "lady-knight" or if they hoped to see the "fearsome dragon." She scanned the crowd for her friends and sure enough, she spotted the blue-outfit of the court jester. Rake and Smithy were close by. As she departed the stopped carriage, she finally saw Gunther. He was standing on the steps of the church next to the priest. Despite resigning from his knighthood, he was in his armor with his sword on his belt. The armor looked freshly polished and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Jane hated how attractive he looked. She seemed to have an affinity for seeing him in different hair styles. She wasn't sure what to do with this newfound information. She was distracted by Pepper, who trotted out in front of her and handed the ring to Gunther. After taking it, he looked up and spotted Jane. Ugh, that smile. She was relieved to see that he was smiling upon seeing her. Not a smirk. A smile. She loved his genuine smiles. She lightly shook her head. What was wrong with her right now? The novelty of the wedding was causing her mind to melt into mush. Gunther still owed her an apology, and he was still a biscuit weevil no matter how attractive he looked. It didn't take long for his expression to return to something she was more familiar with. His eyes got a mischievous glint in them and he subtly mocked a curtsy. Most likely in hopes to rial her up for wearing a dress. She simply huffed and looked away, "don't give him the attention."
Just then, she noticed her father had appeared beside her. He took her arm and begun to guide her through the throng of people and up the steps of the church. She attempted not to look at Gunther on the way over, but inevitably she had to look at him once she was standing right in front of him. His signature smirk had returned. She rolled her eyes and blew a stray hair from her face. As expected, the ceremony was simple and sweet. The priest asked the crowd if anyone objected to the wedding. There were a few on-lookers who voiced concerns that she was secretly a man due to her status as a knight. However, after the priest reassured the crowd she was, in fact, a woman; things proceeded. Although Jane had been more concerned about Jester potentially objecting, she was relieved that he did not. She didn't needthatheadache to deal with, again. The priest then turned to Gunther and instructed him to give her the ring, which he promptly placed back onto her finger. His hands lingered in hers for the rest of the ceremony. The priest then did a prayer and blessed the union. The crowd cheered and Jane came to the realization that was it. The thing she had been worrying about her what felt like ages was over in the blink of an eye. She was married to Gunther Breech. The gravity of the situation was heavy,. She felt like she would need more time to fully process the whole thing later. Despite the chaos of the moment, Gunther kept his eyes on her and she found herself lost in his silver gaze. The thought of kissing him popped into her mind. Should she do so without having an apology yet? She blushed at the thought of kissing in front of so many people. Yet, she found herself squeezing his hands as she stepped closer, leaning in for a hesitant kiss. She stopped herself as an odd expression flashed across his features. It was gone so quickly, she was unsure what emotion it was. Panic? Embarrassment? Gunther broke his gaze and looked around, acting annoyed. Did he not want to kiss her? He was the one who had wronged her last, not the other way around. He had no right to deny her anything. He eventually turned his attention back to her and placed a brief kiss to the corner of her mouth. A flood of mixed emotions washed over her. Surely he didn't already regret the union? Before Jane could press him about it, she found herself ripped from his hands. Her mother was ushering her back toward the carriage, "come on, come on. You'll have plenty of time to spend with each other later. The king and queen are waiting for us at the castle."
Jane took a glance back toward where she last saw Gunther. He had moved over to where a fleet of horses were posted and mounted one. He was followed by other guests on their way to the castle. Although Jane longed to speak to him, her mother distracted her once again by insisting on applying a wimple to Jane's hair. Adeline busied herself with instructing Jane how to properly wear and apply one. Jane probably would have put up more of a fight if her mind wasn't already preoccupied by the events that just unfolded. Her mother ended up wrapping her head in a simple, white, wimple. She had wanted to layer and style it but Jane insisted on keeping it plain. Her mother's pestering was officially beginning to annoy her. How could her mother only think of a wimple at a time like this? Of course, Jane knew her mother had no idea the inner turmoil she was dealing with. Yet she felt it would be useless to bring it up now. It was just another thing she would have to talk to Gunther about later.

Once they arrived back at the castle, the king and queen had welcomed them personally to the party. Feasting and drinking begun immediately and soon everyone was tipsy enough to begin dancing. Despite all these pleasantries, Jane had found very little time to actually spend with her new husband. Not only did it take awhile to even find him after they arrived separately, but he kept himself busy talking to various people about things Jane assumed were business related. Not that Gunther seemed particularly interested in speaking to her. Beside a simple tease involving her wimple being a "huge improvement from her usual carrot-head," she overall felt like he was ignoring her. Now, Jane knew that most marriages were about business. Thus talking to nobles and other possible business partners was inevitably something Gunther was going to do. However, she would be lying to herself if she hadn't hoped for something a bit more romantic. She took a seat on a bench at the outskirts of the party with a sigh. Her mind really had turned to mush if she, "Jane the lady-knight," wanted a romantic evening withGuntherof all people. She tried to convince herself she just wanted to talk with him and air out some of their hanging tension. However, she knew deep down she just wanted his attention. It felt like she had wanted it for a long time. Now that they were married, she had hoped those feelings would have magically gone away. As if that nagging part of her brain that told her that Gunther's attention and opinions were all that matter would be validated once he was "hers." Instead, she longed for it more than ever. She went to pull her hair in frustration but found it blocked by the wimple. She let out a groan. She knew It would not be a good look to rip it off here and now. She was about to get up and find a distraction when she heard a voice calling for her from across the garden,
"Jane! Jane! There you are! I almost didn't recognize you," Princess Lavinia shouted as she ran over to where Jane was seated.
"I do not think I would recognize myself either," she let out a breathy laugh.
"Jane, why are you sad again? This party is for you!" Lavinia pouted.
Jane sighed as she tried to think of a clever response, "I suppose it's because my husband is too busy to dance with me. Will you do the honors, Princess?"
"Oh yes!" The girl cheered as she took Jane's hand and led her toward the dance floor, which had congregated around the center fountain.
Dancing was exactly what Jane needed to get her mind off things. Despite being a more feminine hobby, dancing was one of Jane's favorite things in the whole world. The music combined with the laughter and movement were exhilarating. Not to mention, the ability to throw ones arms and legs around wildly was a great stress-relief. The tempo was fast-paced and joyous and Jane was sure to keep pace. Many people were dancing hand in hand and it didn't take long for Jane and the Princess to get swept away in the crowd. After a while, she had completely lost sight of the Princess but she decided to keep dancing anyway. She leapt and twirled through the crowd, taking turns dancing with whoever appeared in front of her. She even found herself dancing with Pepper and Smithy at random points throughout the evening. Jane wasn't sure how long she danced but it must have been hours. The crowd had slowly begun to thin as the night dragged on. There would inevitably be people present until the dawn, but although Jane loved parties, she still appreciated a good night's rest. She slowed her pace and swayed her way to the edge of the dancefloor. As she came to a stop, she could feel just how tired she was. Her lungs fought for breath and her body felt like a sweaty mess. Nevertheless, Jane was happy. More happy than she had been in a while. After she caught her breath, she made a round to say goodnight to the guests. Most were so drunk that they barely knew who she was, which was okay, because she barely knew who they were either. Those who did know who she was, congratulated her and insisted that she stay longer. However, she stood her ground as she gradually made her way to the edge of the party toward her tower.
"And where are you running off to?"
Jane was startled by Gunther's voice. She turned to see him resting against the stairs of the castle gardens. "G-Gunther? What are you doing over here? You startled me!"
Gunther looked stunned, "what am I doing here? I've been waiting for you. Do you have any idea how long you've been dancing?"
Jane didn't know why she was being scolded, "so what if I was dancing? It is a party, is it not?"
Gunther seemed tired but, luckily, not drunk. Unlike the last time. Although he seemed too tired to argue with her, "whatever, can we just go?"
Jane felt her heart drop from that simple question. Of course. She wouldn't be sleeping in her own bed in her tower. She was going somewhere else with Gunther tonight. How could she have forgotten in all of the chaos? She didn't like the sudden feeling of helplessness that crept over her. She racked her brain for a excuse to stay longer, "well... I am not going anywhere until you apologize!"
At this point, he had already made his way down the stairs to where she stood "Great, what did I do this time?" he groaned.
Jane's mouth hung agape, "what do you mean? Last time I saw you, you had tried to make a fool out of me in front of my friend!"
"Oh... um, right. That feels like such a long time ago..." he mumbled.
"Not to me! I would like an apology, right now!"
He ran his hand through his ponytail and let out a disgruntled sigh. It took him a while to say anything, "I am... sorry."
"For...?"
He gave her a dirty look, "for embarrassing you in front of the court fool."
She groaned. It wasn't a pretty apology but it would have to do, "alright. I forgive you. However, you have to promise it will not happen again."
Gunther waved her off and begun to walk away, "I only promised to apologize. You get nothing more from me until we are home."
Jane stayed where she stood, "and home would be...?"
Gunther looked over his shoulder at her and extended his hand, "come with me and find out."
Jane hesitated. This moment felt significant. She knew there would be no turning back if she accepted. Yet curiosity picked away at her mind. She wanted to know what he and her friends had been up to all this time. There was another feeling she had as well but she refused to entertain it at this time. The moment felt like it stretched on forever. He must have sensed her hesitation, for his features softened slightly, "what if I promise you will like it?" She steeled her nerves and took his hand.