45 The wedding

When Iris and the two others first returned, Natalie had to go take care of the hungover Jack, and Iris went to talk to Leo. She left out elder grandmas plan to make him a king, and focused only on the items she received from her. Iris originally tried to give Leo one of the daggers, but he refused saying that it would benefit her more since he trained bare handed, and she distance. He figured that if she had to fight up close, the daggers would help her more than him. She then explained about the mirror, and how they could use it to communicate with elder grandma after leaving. Leo wasn't as fascinated though since he used to have a cell phone. After this, the last few days before the wedding passed.

"Out out out! The groom needs to leave so that we can do our work! The men will get you ready, so get out!" And with those words, Leo was kicked out of his and iris's house the morning of the wedding. He didn't go far however, before the village men lead by Jack grabbed him. They dragged him to a house on the other side of the village, in order to separate him and Iris. Leo had learned that instead of just the bride like on earth, neither partner were to see each other before the wedding on Aletera.

After "detaining" leo, he was approached by Austin who was holding a pair of sheers. Austin then attacked Leo's head with them, resulting in his overgrown hair being cut to about two inches long. Though men usually weren't as fussy as women, weddings were held with gods/goddesses as witnesses. The God/goddess invoked usually depended on the couple. In this case they were swearing their vows in the name of Aine, goddess of love, summer, and possibly most importantly in this case, sovereignty. The gods/goddess sworn to was usually related to the couples intentions somehow, those sworn to a divine related to fertility would prioritize having lots of kids, for example. Aine was usually sworn under by nobles, or royalty. Since the hope was for Leo to become a king, she was the being chosen for his wedding.

As such, they were trying to make Leo more presentable to better appeal to the goddess. Leo on the other hand was mostly just going with the flow, since no one explained to him in detail how weddings on Aletera worked. And so, Leo's hair was sheared off, he was dunked in a tub of boiling water, and he was being dressed in different outfits that belonged to various village men to find the best one for him. Finally they settled on a dark brown outfit, that while not being able to compete with other people's wedding outfits, was a lot nicer than the usual leathers they wore. By the time the preparations were done, it was only a couple hours till sundown.

Those that weren't working with Leo or Iris, were setting up for the wedding under elder grandmas instructions. Under her watch, the helpers made sure everything was absolutely perfect, no one wanted to be the one to mess up iris's wedding under her watch. And so, finishing just in time with Leo's and iris's preparations finishing, the wedding began. Everyone quickly ran to their seats, while Leo and Iris saw each other for the first time.

He walked up to the back of the isle, and when Iris did the same, he felt like his were going to pop out. Iris was dressed in a pure white gown, with mild golden accents at the edges to complement her eyes. On her head was a tiara of white flowers, and her hair was pulled back to show off her beautiful golden eyes. Compared to the dresses on earth, it was quite plain but Leo preferred this one over any of those any day. When she saw Leo's reaction, she blushed slightly while also admiring how handsome he looked in his outfit.

"How beautiful." Of all the things he could of said at that moment, that's all leo said. Leo felt it was most appropriate because it was also the first thing he ever said to her when they met. When they met at the back of the isle, Leo and Iris linked arms and started to walk down it. Directly after them, Natalie and Jack followed them as well. Leo got a quick rundown of what was going to happen while getting ready; and he knew that during a wedding, the mans mother followed directly after him, and the girls father followed her. After they reached the front of the isle, they would then "hand over" their child the their new husband/wife. Since neither of them had their parents there, Natalie and Jack were filling in.

When they reached the front, elder grandma was there waiting for them. In the small towns and villages, it was always the role of the village leader/elder to wed the couple, instead of a priest like on earth. As Leo and Iris stood next to each other in front of her, Natalie and Jack moved behind the two of them respectively. Elder grandma made sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, then started talking.

"Today, we are gathered here to watch as these two join their hands, and houses in marriage. We plead to the goddess Aine to witness these twos vows, and bless their future together. May they always be happy, and may their children be plenty. Do you Leo, take Iris to be your wife, from now until your death?" Leo's arm had been linked with iris's while the small speech was going on. He then turned towards her and took both of her hands into his.

"I do. From now, until the day death himself takes my soul, she will always be in my heart." Elder grandma nodded at his words and turned to Iris and said,

"And do you Iris, take Leo to become your husband? To share his burdens, and support his family?" Iris looked deep into Leo's eyes as she said,

"I do. From this day forward, he will never shoulder a burden alone; and no matter how far he goes, I will always watch over our children, and welcome him home with open arms." Elder grandma nodded in satisfaction at her words, and continued.

"Then may Aine look down, and bless this couple to be happy until their end of days, and may it be many years from now!" At that moment, light showered down on the two, a confirmation that the goddess herself had indeed heard elder grandmas places and blessed them. Such a situation was rare in weddings, and usually only happened to royalty. This was elder grandmas hope, because receiving a blessing from Aine during their wedding not only showed that their marriage was approved by her, but that she approved of Leo as potential ruler in the future. Elder grandma looked noticeably pleased, and continued.

"And now, the ring bearer may step forward!" At that moment one of the villages children, a little girl, step forward with a pillow holding two rings. They were the same two rings that elder grandma kept from Asdarge, and she had endlessly worked to polish them and ensured their enchantments were still in effect.

As she stepped forward, Leo took the two plain golden bands, and placed one on iris's ring finger before placing the other on his. Seeing this done, elder grandma then finished the ceremony part of the wedding.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now seal your marriage!" Hearing her words, Leo pulled Iris towards him and planted his lips on hers. When he did so the whole audience containing the entire village cheered.