After a couple days, Locke regained his equilibrium and his usual cheerful outlook. Prince John was so relieved to have his sweet Sherlock back.  He was inordinately worried to have his love so unhappy. Locke returned to himself just in time. John needed him to help entertain the royal company that just arrived.

The two young ladies, the Princesses Jillian of North Ridings and Lydia of Grimmshaw arrived to celebrate Prince John's birthday and perhaps collect a husband for one of them. John did his best to be a good host and keep the girls occupied.  He was amazed to discover that Jillian was only fifteen and that Lydia was not yet fifteen.  

He considered himself twice lucky to have avoided having to wed either of these children. Little did John know that they were as happy that he was marrying Sherlock. They eagerly volunteered to be bridesmaids in Prince John's wedding.  Queen Alicia was also most pleased. She wasn't sure how she could gather two young women under the age of sixteen to stand up with John or with Sherlock or with whomever it was decided was the "bride."

While the boy's were getting back to their naturally warm selves, Queen Alicia was busy putting together all the many details required for the royal wedding.  This was new territory in more ways than one.  With one thing crossed off her list in the matter of the bridesmaids, she set to work on the myriad details left still undetermined.

The first thing she must now do is write a proclamation giving her consent and blessing to the betrothed couple.  This was read into law by a former queen.  She sought one of her Ladies, her Second, who had the prettiest hand at calligraphy, sat with her and dictated the appropriate words.  Selecting a beautiful piece of parchment with the royal seal embossed boldly at the top. When it was finished, it would be rolled, tied with a red ribbon (for love), and presented to the presiding Cardinal before the service. 

Having expected to do this for her son and a new princess, she knew pretty much what she wanted to say, but she added additional sentimental prose when it came to the "loving" part. She thought St. John might have some affection for his fiance, but never thought he'd be deliriously in love. She and the Second Lady in Waiting both had to stop a couple times and dab at their eyes with a tiny piece of lace that passed for a handkerchief.  

She had already advised her boys that they both must wear white, a standard tradition for a bride. Somewhat chagrined, she couldn't tell who was the bride. Therefore she decided to incorporate customs expected for both the groom and the bride. Although they would both be in white, they must also wear a full dress uniform including royal emblems as jewel accessories. Th bride must also wear a tiara. The boys both balked at tiaras and agreed to wear thin platinum crowns to rest on their foreheads. They would give the appearance of a tiara but would not be quite so feminine.

The boys decided between themselves that Prince John would march the processional up the aisle, with Sherlock waiting at the altar. Sherlock insisted that his Johnny have a long train of some kind.  It was decided that he'd wear a twelve-foot white cape with ermine trim. Enlisting Adrian, a pageboy who was in training to be a Personal Guardian, to carry the train behind the prince, they decided that the Princesses would not have to march but would stand with Sherlock at the altar.  With these details confirmed the queen experienced a moment of relief.

But, "Oh, dear!"  She thought about needing to send invitations to scads of important people. How could she ever write out hundreds of invitations in so short a time?  The poor queen took out at a run across the Great Hall calling for all her Ladies and then also, remembering their calligraphy training, she summoned a number of pageboys.  There was no time to lose! ... And she must indicate the dress requirements for attendees.  Ladies must wear dressy dresses and elaborate hats, and the gentlemen must all wear uniforms if they have them or formal evening wear black.  She was trying to think of a tactful way to demand a certain dress code , without makiung it a "royal decree."

One thing she gratefully was able to delegate!  Traditionally, the father of the bride took care of flowers for everything and everyone, so King Eric got his finger in the pie by arranging for all floral arrangements. For St. John to carry in lieu of a bouquet, he ordered a platinum cruciger orb festooned with a fall of white roses and white myrtle to satisfy tradition and reflect the boy's innocence.

The king also arranged to have the entire chapel bedecked with red roses raised in Watson Hold Castle's own hothouses, interspersed with baby's breath secured from one of the only local florists that offered it, and Watson's own English ivy harvested from the external of the bailey curtain wall. Watching his Royal Guard out climbing around on the outer wall, picking long connected stems of ivy brought a rusty smile to the king's regal face.  Sherlock thought that it was a beautiful sight.

The decision for the bouquet for the Maid of Honor was taken out of everyone's hands. Since Darwinia would be standing up with Prince John, she selected a cascading "waterfall" of Amaranthus "Love lies Bleeding" as her "green" bouquet. She told Sherlock that she would not lead the bride's processional. John was not sure that he was happy that no one wanted to walk with him.  

When Sherlock reminded him that his father would bring him to the altar and give "his hand" to Locke, the prince was more sanguine about the proceeding.  Leaning into Sherlock, he gave him a watery smile and a soft kiss to the cheek.  Sherlock was a little flustered himself.  The pre-wedding jitters were setting in, and both boys were becoming more nervous than they thought they would.

Taking charge as he often did, Sherlock designed and ordered matching wedding bands from the Watson Hold jeweler who had designed king Eric's and Queen Alicia's rings. The requisite  Dolgellau, North Wales- mined gold was procured and shaped into elaborately carved bands intertwining Sherlock's and St. John's names.  No one other than Sherlock had seen the rings prior to the ceremony. He was smugly proud of the reaction he would experience when he placed his ring on his prince's finger.

The big day approached. All anticipated preparations had been completed, and non-anticipated situations were prayerfully hoped not to occur. 

Dawns the morning of the wedding, and it's a beautiful warm, sunshine-y day. Royal bakers, chefs, and assistant cooks are sweating over stoves and ovens in the royal kitchens. Footmen and handmaidens scurry about in the great hall, decorating the walls and tables, setting places, and putting whatever non-perishable items can be pre-positioned in place. Chairs and tables are festooned with flowers and bows. Vases of various-colored roses are located in the center of each table. The queen's breakfast would soon be upon them.

The crystal coach is parked in front of the castle keep steps, four matched white chargers stomping, pawing, jangling their harnesses, and brandishing their white-feathered headdresses.  The horses, their coachman, and the tiger hanging on the rear of the coach, all eagerly await their regal passengers.

After some few moments, Prince John, dragging an excited pageboy desperately bundling the prince's train in his arms, and Sherlock, dragging his feet, seated themselves in their crystalline conveyance for the short ride to the chapel. John released a huge ragged sigh. Sherlock squeezed John fingers and beamed him his sweetest smile, causing John to blush and lower his eyes. Sherlock decided to keep hold of his prince's hand.

The church front-situated pews, excepting the very front row, are full of gloriously-dressed nobles. The ladies heads balanced elaborate hats, colorful, mostly large, and generally flashy. The gentlemen were decked out in their most medal-adorned uniforms or, in stark contrast, sported the unrelieved black of formal evening dress. The rear of the church is packed as deeply as it could be with commoners who were there with and without those coveted invitations. 

Richard Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" rang through the chapel. Queen Alicia is escorted to the altar and seated in the pew directly adjacent to the aisle on the front row.  A white-clad,and as always, beautiful Sherlock led the parade.  Three very young and very beautiful brides maids followed Locke and who were helped by Sherlock to assume their places on the top level of the Holy Table. After three trips up the stairs almost carrying the young women, Locke had nearly worn out his already overworked heart.

The two newly-assigned Personal Guardians, Geoffrey and Davison, climbed to the top tier of the Holy Table under their own power.  They were justifiably as nervous and excited as most attendees, since they would soon assume their new duty stations as the guardians for the Regent and his Consort.

One tiny ring bearer, and one giggling flower girl, trod the aisle, having chauffeured the nervous groom to his position on the right side of the altar, flounced over an plopped onto the pew just beyond the queen.  As Sherlock reached the altar, he shakily handed the priest a sheaf of ribbon-wrapped papers, followed by a very proper bow from the waist. The priest acknowledged with a slight nod of the head.

Everyone stood and faced the rear of the church as the first strains of Mendelssohn's "The Wedding March" from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to watch Prince John walk down the aisle, his Father, King Eric's arm at the small of his back, lending more assistance than  he had expected. Twice he had to support His son as the boy stumbled and nearly went down.

The pageboy, Personal Guardian-in-training Adrian, struggled manfully to keep the train spread out across the wide space and stretched to its full length. He did an admirable job for which Prince John murmured a heartfelt "thank you." Reaching the altar, John turned an adoring look at Sherlock, who reached out and took his hand from the gentle grasp of his soon-to-be father-in-law.

Lacy hankies and not-so-lacy handkerchiefs dabbed at eyes all over the sanctum. A King and a Queen held hands in the front row of the pews and watched their "boys" become a married couple.

Kneeling before the priest and all of Watson Hold, the boys exchanged their vows and rings. John breathed a soft gasp when he saw his ring. Wrapping his fingers tightly around the ring, he let Sherlock draw him to his feet. The traditional kiss surprised several folks, including Sherlock. Prince John stepped up onto the kneeling cushion, lifted his lips to Sherlock's and bent Sherlock into a rather deep dip back over John's arm. Sherlock's left foot lifted slowly as John pressed a thorough and delightful kiss to his love's lips.