Time passed

Lucan and Duva grew closer.

The council made all the arrangements for Lucan to be a combat instructor focused on agility.

Graduation day came.

Lucan, his brother and sister all came through with high marks.

When councilmember Kai-Tai called Lucan's name, announced his new rank and assignment the young beetle was certain all the swelling feelings of his heart would burst through his shell.

Duva was asked to perform at the celebration following the ceremony. While she never considered it to be her strongest skill Duva worked hard day and night composing a special song for the occasion. The words and heart of the song echoed the genuine dedication to king and kingdom she never failed to recognize whenever Lucan spoke of what it meant to serve.

After her performance and the excited congratulations for all had eased some, Lucan pulled Duva from the festivities. Her wings fluttered with joy. He'd done it! A life of study was over. A life of active service was about to begin. Duva hugged him again and again she was so proud.

"You have a new rank and an important new position, every dream you've ever had is coming true!"

"Almost,"

Lucan stepped back and knelt before her the way he might have before the Pale King himself. Duva froze. Lucan had never seen her hold her beautiful wings so still.

"All my life I have been a soldier. Now I am a second lieutenant. Now I will soon be an instructor. Should I do well on that path, everything I ever wanted for myself in the name of the king could happen. That is still not enough for me. There is more that I want. But whether or not I get what I want is up to you,"

Lucan produced a lightly embellished ring of pink crystal.

"I want to be your husband,"

It wasn't easy not laughing at the adorable series of astonished squeaks and partial words Duva tried to utter in response to the proposal. But eventually slipped out the most important one: yes. Once her happy tears were dried and glittering ring snug on her finger the pair returned to the party.

Of course the ring drew gazes both at the celebration and after. It dredged up some of the same opinions when they first began courting. The closest friends of Lucan and Duva however no longer had anything other than encouragement. Even the ones who once called the whole thing a mistake the loudest had been won over. Lucan's classmates had gotten to know Duva and how she drew out the best in him.

Duva sent messages and messengers all over Hallownest with the hope one of them would cross paths with her family or Marissa's. Each letter explained everything and expressed how badly she wanted them there for the wedding. It took a while but replies came from her parents and Marissa. Both were positive with promises to soon travel back to share the moment with her.

In the meantime it was time to plan a wedding!

The lovebugs were ecstatic to get to work. Understandably it was a crazy and busy time. Lucan refused to let Duva work it all out on her own. However, he still had to refine the lesson plans he had been working on before academy courses resumed. To that end, Duva also made sure to assist wherever she could. After all, she was the reason he had this opportunity, or so she would tease.

Going out on the town to prepare for a wedding was met with mixed responses. So it wasn't a rumor. The beetle was going to marry the butterfly. Some treated them like pariahs. Some refused to serve them. Some friends backed off to acquaintances. The friends who had stayed, the ones who had seen their unusual love was real, did not hesitate to help out whenever asked (and more than once told the naysayers to stuff it). Besides, those were the people they wanted by their side anyway.

Quite possibly the greatest challenge of the process was finding someone who would officiate. They couldn't have a friend to ask on their behalf. If the bug took issue with a biracial couple they were going to find out sooner or later and say no.

By great fortune Lucan and Duva finally stumbled upon Clarence. He was a kindly old worm with a long mustache and massive glasses that made his beady eyes look huge. Clarence could perform a legally binding marriage. Their request delighted him because no one had asked him in a long while. Some folks didn't care for someone his age uniting bright young faces or thought him too old-fashioned for a changing world. The more they talked about their plans with him Lucan and Duva were positive he was exactly what they needed.

Plans progressed, both the wedding and Lucan's lessons. The latter had been reviewed by the academy and were being incorporated into the syllabus.

Duva's cousin, Marissa, arrived before anyone else. After catching up the songstress demanded to know every detail of what decisions had been made and what was left to do. From her excitement one might have thought she was the one getting married. Marissa brought her cousin to delighted tears when she insisted she pay for the dress as her wedding gift. With all the help they had at hand, Lucan and Duva were confident everything would progress quickly once Duva's family arrived.

Some of Lucan's family were still unsure about the union. They had met Duva several times. Whether they were willing to admit it, only a blind bug couldn't see the change she brought out of Lucan. Nacus, along with the disapproving brother, Ervus had positions at the Palace. Even Nacus, Lucan's second-oldest brother, who had never met Duva, gave his blessing. Lucan and Nacus kept in contact via written correspondence and he wasn't such a fool not to notice how his brothers' tone changed when he spoke about Duva. If Lucan loved her and she respected him then he had nothing else to say other than 'best wishes'.

Parents and clutchmate, Ynast, had mostly gotten over the beetle and butterfly part. They still questioned how well an artist and performer could happily fit in with a family of soldiers, warriors, officers and weaponsmiths. So Lucan decided it was time to sit them down and tell them the whole story. Years ago on his training squadrons' first field mission he met and became enchanted by Duva. Ynast and Olypha knew this. What they hadn't been told was how the grace of her dance inspired him and from that day forward to teach himself new ways to evade and move quickly. Everyone thought it natural a beetle from a military family to be talented that way. No. He'd been mimicking how he once saw a butterfly dance. For the most part they took the explanation gracefully.

Only Olypha had supported their relationship from the start. Privately she confided in Lucan the main reason why: she also had an interest in a non-beetle. He was a dragonfly. Like her he was an aerial archer. Olypha was pretty sure he had a deeper interest in her too but social acceptance prevented them from pursuing it. But since Lucan had found his true love to the point of marriage, maybe she could too.

Then there was Ervus.

He visited the family right in the middle of the wedding plans. He openly and fiercely opposed the whole thing. Now, his views on interspecies relationships aside, Ervus was a bug for whom stubborn was a weak and feeble description. In his mind, proper service and devotion to the king only took a few forms, military servitude being one of them. Ervus was a high-ranking officer and training instructor in his own right. He didn't believe in second chances unless they were earned. His classes were brutal, meant to winnow away the weak in short order. The king needed and deserved the best. Ervus believed his way was the best way to see that happen. So when Lucan told him he was going to marry a singing, dancing, butterfly poet, Ervus was furious. And he laid into Lucan about it hard.

"She's not a beetle. She's not in any way military. What does she even do? Write poems about the greatness of the Pale King? How is that doing one's part to make sure his majesty's vision of an eternal kingdom a lasting reality? I always had concerns you didn't have what it takes to go as far as you could for king and kingdom. Skilled with a nail but soft at heart. You plan on staying on the career path with someone who doesn't understand what true loyalty looks like? This so-called romance will ruin your military career. Going through with this will soften you and make you weak. You can't expect to advance while entertaining domestic notions with a carnie!"

To which Lucan fired back,

"And you'll be singing a different tune when I' m getting promoted, making a lasting difference in the name of his majesty and am the best husband in Hallownest!"

The rage that had been sizzling beneath his shell at his brothers words washed away at once. Describing himself as a husband shifted Lucan's focus from offended and defensive to where it always should have been: Duva. Yes, Lucan wanted all his family and friends to be okay with the union and be happy for him, but that wasn't a requirement for him to be happy with his butterfly.

"You have spoken your mind. Fine. But I don't need your permission or approval. I offered an invitation to share my wedding day with you. Invitations do not have to be accepted. If you disapprove that strongly, cannot be supportive or behave accordingly at the ceremony...then you don't have to come."

Lucan saluted his brother, addressed him by his rank and dismissed himself. Ervus, needless to say, did not attend the wedding. His relationship with Lucan became distant and stand-offish from then on.