Now, the big joke for the title is really just getting the adjectives from the well-known Billy Idol song backwards. Though White Day is a Japanese holiday that’s basically the follow-up to Valentine’s Day. Basically, on Valentine’s Day, females give gifts to males and on White Day, the males give reciprocal gifts.
But, again, it’s most just because it sounds funny…
I’m generally inspired for this one by the fact that I went to a wedding a few weeks ago. Also, the fact that Egeria’s speech patterns make her really fun to write.
“Oh, I just love weddins, Cousin Amy,” Egeria says, watching the bride-to-be make her way down the aisle. “Don’t she look gorgeous. Such tasteful make-up. Really brings highlights what a lovely shade of her green Flora is.”
Amara nods as she watches the procession, containing two of her fellow members of the Lyte Brigade. Tancred id the Best Man and Pela is the Maid of Honour.
“And don’t Sir Tancred look quite fetchin’ in that doublet,” Egeria continues. “And Miss Pela really oughta wear her hair down like that more often.”
She sighs dreamily.
“I just love weddins.”
“Bring forth the customary Box of Matrimony,” the officiant says when the Goblin bride reaches the altar.
Being short of stature, when a female Goblin marries a non-Goblin husband, it has become customary for the groom’s family to provide a box for her to stand on to stand as an equal to her husband.
“May I, Miss Flora?” Tancred asks the young Goblin woman, offering his arm carrying out his duties as Best Man to ensure the bride is safely delivered to her groom.
With a smile, the Goblin woman takes Tancred’s arm and steps up onto the box.
“We shall begin, as is customary, with a lengthy exhortation to the bride and groom,” the officiant says. “Let us reflect, therefore, on the very nature marriage. Webstmann’s Dictionary defines marriage…”
With one mind, the congregation promptly stops paying attention.
“And thus,” the officiant concludes many minutes later, “we come together to observe the bonding together of Sir Roderick Nennius Rustichello Ruggiero et cetera, et cetera von Ivanhoe-Hauteburg and Miss Flora Holló in holy matrimony. We shall begin with the presentation of the rings.”
The entire wedding party turns expectantly to Tancred.
“Yes,” Tancred says. “The rings.”
He reaches for his pocket.
Not finding anything, he reaches for his jacket pocket. And then his inner jacket pocket.
“Rings, rings, rings,” he murmurs. “They’re here somewhere. It would be the very height of foolish for me to have forgotten something so important.”
Pela nudges him.
She holds the pouch containing the two rings.
“You said we’d do this as a team, remember?” she asks. “You said the Best Man and the Maid of Honor should work together for something so important, so you gave me the rings.”
“I did do that!” Tancred says. “Of course.”
He chuckles nervously and presents the rings.
“Wait. No,” he notes. “I did that backwards. Miss Flora, this one is yours. And Cousin Roderick, this one is yours.”
The wedding continues incident, without a single interruption or interloper attempting to kidnap the bride, thus relegating Tancred’s role as Best Man to the largely ceremonial. The wedding culminates, as weddings do, with the bride and groom exchanging their first kiss.
Stirred almost to tears, Egeria dabs her eyes with her handkerchief.
“Gosh, Cousin Amy,” she says. “You’re gonna look so pretty when it’s you and Nolan up there.”
“I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about,” Amara mutters.
FYI, my recent job has been reclassified as a purely freelance thing, so I no longer have to treat it as a 9-5 thing, which means I have free time again, so the chances of me reliably producing more new writing have gone up exponentially — exactly the opposite of what happens to Samoa Joe‘s chances of winning at Sacrifice when you add Kurt Angle to the mix.
Ahem.
More short scenes here. Latest chapter here:
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