It wasn't a surprise that wedding preparations took so much time, but Natasha hadn't been completely prepared for just how much time it would take. Having maids and being able to hire professional planners made it a lot easier, but she was still asked for her opinion on everything. Her mother was super helpful and understanding, but she still didn't let Natasha take a break from other things like lessons or royal meetings she and Tony were required to be at. Sometimes, Natasha really envied Steve and how he got out of everything to go to lessons. Sure, he wasn't going to be the king when they married (that would be Tony's responsibility as he was the Crown Prince), but he still needed the same basic knowledge as all royals. Considering he hadn't grown up with the lessons, he had a lot of catching up to do.

"Turn," the tailor demanded. Natasha sighed and turned to face a new wall, arms still raised at her sides so the tailor could pin fabric wherever he wanted or needed to. The tailor had been poking at her, pricking her with pins for almost two hours now and Natasha's arms were getting tired. No matter how often she'd had to stand in a similar position growing up, holding her arms up for two hours straight was tiring. It felt like at any minute, her arms were going to fall off and hopefully hit the tailor on the head.

An eternity later, the tailor finally stepped back and nodded, seeming satisfied with his work. Natasha dropped her arms back to her sides in relief and he immediately yelled at her to raise them back up or risk ruining his hard work. Begrudgingly, Natasha did as demanded and let him carefully pull the fabric off of her. It was another eternity before she was standing in just her underwear and the white fabric was far enough away she could pull her clothes back on. Thankful her mother didn't force her to wear frilly dresses all the time, Natasha pulled on her black slacks and white blouse. She picked up her black heels and walked out of the room barefoot.

"Hey, Natasha!" Tony yelled jogging down the long hall toward her. Natasha raised an eyebrow at him as he approached and grabbed her arm, jerking her around the other way.

"Tony!" she yelped, being forced to jog beside him as he pulled her down the hall and toward the back stairway.

"You'll thank me later, trust me," he said, shoving her into the dark stairwell and pulling the door shut behind them. "Climb." Natasha did as she was told, grumbling about Tony kidnapping her.

"What's this about?" she asked as Tony pulled her through a door and onto an empty hall. She didn't immediately recognise this wing of the castle and turned to look at Tony in confusion.

"The Witch was coming for you," Tony explained, "I was hoping I could save you before she appeared and I'd like to think I completed my mission. You're welcome."

"Thanks, Tony," Natasha breathed. The last thing she'd wanted to deal with after two hours with their probing tailor was the wedding planner. She was so horrible Tony and Natasha had taken to calling her the Witch when their mother wasn't around. The Witch looked normal enough, but as soon as she started talking about Natasha and Steve's wedding, she became a whole new person. A whole new, terrible person.

"We're in the west wing, by the way," Tony told her, motioning around them. It was more of a bridge-way then a hall, Natasha supposed. It was open to the air and made entirely of stone. The west wing was the oldest part of the castle that hadn't been redone recently. She'd never actually been up here before and decided she rather liked it. She couldn't see anyone around and knew there probably wouldn't be anyone to run into as nothing happened on this side of the castle.

As Tony expertly wove through the halls and navigated around the west wing, Natasha realised he'd been up here before. She felt a little left out at not having been brought up here earlier, but she supposed she didn't exactly need Tony's permission to come up and could have just as easily come up by herself.

"Right in there," Tony said, pushing open a door for Natasha. She looked at him skeptically but walked through the door. Tony didn't follow her in, but she hardly noticed as she saw Steve on the floor. He was pulling food out of a basket and arranging it out in front of him, only looking up when the door shut with a heavy thud.

"Oh, hey," he smiled, getting to his feet to greet her. Natasha smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a hug. He kissed her forehead then said, "I figured you could use a break after your morning with the tailor."

"You're the absolute best," Natasha said, looking at the sandwiches he'd set out. "I love you and don't deserve you," she told him seriously, letting him go and walking over to the food.

"Please, you've been working your butt off these past few weeks," Steve reminded her, joining her on the floor. He handed her the sandwich he'd made sure her and grabbed for his own. "You deserve so much more than just a sandwich."

"Yeah?" she prompted, biting into her sandwich happily. She'd quickly discovered Steve made the best sandwiches ever and was not going to pass on eating one just because he thought she deserved more.

"Yeah," Steve replied. She smiled.

"How about after my sandwich, you show me just what I deserve?" she suggested. Steve smirked and set down his sandwich. "No! You have to wait until I'm done!" she complained, barely setting down her sandwich before Steve had picked her up. She laughed as he hastily unbuttoned her blouse, making sure to carefully lay it on the floor so it wouldn't wrinkle, then returned to quickly undressing both of them.

* * * * *

Even though there was still a week until the wedding, Natasha wasn't allowed to see Steve. She was barely let anywhere except the throne room to make sure all the decorations were to her approval or her mother's room where she was endlessly poked and prodded with the excuse that they needed to make sure her wedding dress fit perfectly (Natasha was pretty sure it was just an excuse to keep her away from Steve or busy for the day). By the time she was let to her room, the sun had been down for hours and everyone else was fast asleep. It took her two nights of falling carelessly into bed before she realised Steve hadn't been staying in her room like usual. The last thing she wanted to do was ask her mother about this, so she had Tony investigate instead.

"Yeah, they're keeping him just as busy," he reported during lunch a day later. She'd managed to sneak away and into Tony's room so they could talk alone and was pleasantly surprised with sandwiches Steve had made earlier that day.

"Why? Isn't it just the night before we aren't supposed to see each other?" Natasha whined, biting into her sandwich aggressively. Tony raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"I think it's because some of the townspeople aren't happy with the arrangement and the rebels are gaining more members by hour," Tony told her. Natasha blinked. She hadn't heard anything about that before, why was she only just hearing about it now? Tony seemed to realise she hadn't known this a second later because he said, "Wait, you didn't know that?"

"No!" she exclaimed, nearly throwing her sandwich at his face. "How am I supposed to know anything that's going on when I'm trapped inside with wedding planners and tailors all day?" The realisation that was the exact reason she was being kept so busy suddenly hit her very hard in the face. "I swear to god, I'm gonna kill them all," she said calmly, setting her sandwich down and getting up from the floor. Tony barely had time to scramble to his feet and grab her arm before she could reach the door.

"Tasha, they're working on it right now," he assured her, not letting go of her arm as she tried to pull away. She scowled as he said, "Mother thinks it's best to just keep you both out of the public eye until the wedding so they can get things to calm down. It's not even that bad; just a few uprisings here and there."

"I should have been told about this, though," Natasha objected, finally freeing herself from Tony's grip. He tried to grab her again but she evaded him. "It's my wedding and the last thing I should be having to worry about is if my fiancee doesn't love me anymore because I haven't seen him in days."

"Hey, it's not like that," Tony said softly. Natasha didn't back down and Tony sighed. "You know I agree with you, I'm just not allowed to say so."

"You just did."

"Yeah, and now I'm going to be hanged for my treason," Tony deadpanned. Natasha cracked a small smile and Tony counted it as a win. "Here, I'll figure out a way to convince Mother to let you two at least see each other."

"Thank you," Natasha said. She reached back for her sandwich and finished it quickly. She stood up and moved towards the door saying, "Now, I believe I'm late for my third wedding gown fitting. I expect to see Steve tonight."

"You're welcome!" Tony grumbled, frowning when his door was slammed shut and he was left alone to finish his lunch.

* * * * *

Two days before the wedding and Tony decided he wanted to disrupt the entire galaxy with a brief announcement. Apparently, their mother had known as she'd been the one to pull Natasha and Steve aside to tell them while someone prepared a TV crew for them to air the announcement. It took both Steve and Natasha a full minute to process what Queen Maria had told them before it registered.

"What? Why?" Natasha exclaimed, looking past her mother at Tony. He just shrugged and gave a weak smile.

"I never wanted to be Crown Prince anyway," he told her. That wasn't a surprise to Natasha; he'd complained about it enough in their youth it was just a fact to her. "Besides, you've always been better at the politics and whatnot of ruling a kingdom. Steve seems to be picking it up pretty quickly too."

"That's why I've been taking lessons?" Steve asked. Tony shrugged again. "Not that this is my place or anything, but I honestly don't think you can just hand over the title of Crown Prince, Tony."

"Too late," he replied, nodding resolutely. "Already have. The paperwork has been signed by everyone necessary but you."

"I don't think this is a good idea," Steve said hesitantly, glancing at Queen Maria. She'd been extremely nice to him, telling him to call her Maria and treat her as normal, but some habits were just too hard to break. He also really didn't want to risk upsetting her and risk his engagement to Natasha.

"Please," Tony said, looking at Natasha in hopes she would understand him and convince Steve to accept. "I really just want to work on my own projects; continue improving the kingdom's technology and working towards more green tech. I can't do that if I'm ruling the kingdom." He looked back at Steve. "You were lined up to be Captain of the Guard before you became Natasha's bodyguard. You're a born leader, Steve. Besides, it's not like you'll be doing it alone."

Steve was still very uncertain, so Queen Maria stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on his arm.

"It will not be easy, Steve," she said. She glanced at Natasha then to Steve and said, "I know you will do well, though. You have the determination and courage to rule a kingdom well. I will be there to help and so will all our advisors. Natasha will rule beside you and you will have her help if you ever need it."

"I just..." Steve trailed off. He felt Natasha grab his hand gently and squeeze it. "It's a lot to process."

"And I'm sorry to spring this on you so suddenly," Queen Maria said kindly. "It was not my intention, but we wanted all the advisors' approval before approaching you two about the subject."

"So I'm not just going to be prince," Steve clarified, "I'm going to be Crown Prince and we will take over the kingdom once you step down?"

"Yes," Queen Maria affirmed. Steve looked at Natasha and she could immediately tell he wasn't comfortable with the idea. "I will not make you be there for the announcement. In fact, I recommend you both take the rest of the evening to process. If you really feel like you cannot do this, we will only make Natasha Crown Princess and you will remain Prince even once she becomes Queen."

"Thank you," Steve said. Queen Maria nodded and released his arm.

"Now go," she said, smiling at them. "Before someone tries to wrangle either of you into something else."

* * * * *

The kingdom didn't seem to take the news very well. Of course, the majority of the population had accepted it without too much complaint, but the rebels had rioted all night long, keeping the royal guard busy and Natasha awake. She couldn't hear what was going on, but she could see fires from the valley where the rest of the kingdom lived and knew the riots were because she would be taking the crown instead. The kingdom had never had a problem with her as their princess before, but apparently the idea of her being Queen instead of Tony being King really upset the rebels. She honestly would have thought it would be the other way around based on Tony's obvious dislike of diplomacy and history of sleeping around with the court Ladies and the likes.

Because of the unrest and the urgent need to calm the kingdom down, Natasha and Steve were both left alone for the day. Tomorrow was the wedding and Natasha was a little surprised she'd been let off the hook so easily, but she knew they'd had everything finished last week and up until today, they had just been trying to keep her busy.

"I've been thinking," Steve said quietly. They were curled up on her bed while Natasha read and Steve drew. Natasha's head was tucked against his chest and she could not only hear but also feel the rumble in his chest as he said, "I think I'd like to rule beside you. Obviously, I didn't grow up royal, but I feel like I could get the hang of it pretty easily; especially if you could promise to help me."

"Really?" Natasha asked, sitting up to look at him better. She couldn't help the smile that slowly grew on her face and Steve smiled back.

"Yeah, I mean, it can't be too much more difficult than keeping us a secret from the entire world for two years, right?" Steve teased. Natasha grinned widely and grabbed his face to kiss him. Steve chuckled into the kiss, breaking away to kiss his nose, her cheek, and then her forehead. "You will help me though, right?"

"Of course!" Natasha hugged him tightly, discarding her book in favour of him. Steve set aside his sketchbook and wrapped his arms around her in return. When she didn't let him go for a while, Steve looked down to make sure she was okay. Her eyes were closed and he realised she'd fallen asleep in the short amount of time.

"Oh Nat," he whispered, running a hand over her hair then kissing her head. He knew she hadn't slept well last night so he let her be. Instead of trying to get his sketchbook and risk waking her up, he contented himself with lying on the bed and watching her sleep peacefully. In a couple hours, they'd be separated for the night and he wouldn't be seeing her until the ceremony, so he was going to take advantage of every minute he had before then. Besides, she was rarely ever so relaxed and he enjoyed seeing her at peace. Screw him for wanting to savor the moment.

* * * * *

Natasha awoke to her mother flicking on her bedroom light and maids surrounding her. She groaned, burying her face in her pillow even as each one of them told her to get up and start getting ready. She blinked blearily up at her mother who smiled sweetly at her and pulled her into a sitting position.

"What time is it?" she grumbled, rubbing her eyes as maids fluttered around her room.

"It's 8:30AM," Queen Maria said gently. Natasha's frowned deepened. "I made sure they waited an extra hour; be thankful you got as much sleep as you did."

"Thanks, Mama," Natasha replied. Queen Maria pulled her to her feet then stepped back as she was swept away by maids. Her bath was already drawn and filled with sweet-smelling perfume. A maid pulled off Natasha's nightgown and pushed her into the tub. Natasha sputtered as bubbles covered her face only to be shoved under the water, fully submerged. When she came back up, a maid poured shampoo into her hair and scrubbed her head roughly as a couple others washed the rest of her. As a little girl, this had been a fairly common occurrence. However, she'd been bathing herself for the past fourteen years and forgotten just how invasive it felt to have someone else scrub her clean.

Once the maids were satisfied with her bathing, she was pulled from the bath tub and quickly dried off. She pulled on a robe as two maids pushed her into the chair in front of her vanity and began drying her hair. The warmth felt good on the back of her neck, but after her hair was completely dry, it disappeared and she became cold.

The maids disappeared after her hair had been dried and two hairdressers came flying in. Natasha's eyes widened as they hurried toward her with arms full of supplies. She looked around for her mother only to discover at some point during the rush of maids, she'd disappeared. The hairdressers forced her to look straight into the mirror as they began twisting and braiding her hair into a complicated do that Natasha had no hope of ever doing herself. Once they had finished, her hair was sprayed with three different types of hairspray and the hairdressers disappeared.

Not even a second later, another person was spinning her chair around and poking at her face. It took Natasha a full three seconds to realise this was the make-up artist that had been hired to do her make-up and she barely managed to remind her to keep everything natural, nothing absurd.

"If I have blue eyelids, I will scrub it all off and go without make-up," Natasha warned. The woman nodded and hastily rearranged her make-up pallets to more natural colours. It didn't take nearly as long as the hairstylists before the make-up artist was done. Natasha looked at herself in the mirror, frowning slightly when she could tell she was wearing make-up. Overall, it wasn't unreasonable and Natasha actually liked the way her face looked smoother and shined more than usual, so she dismissed the make-up artist and got up from her chair.

She glanced at the clock and was surprised to find there were only two hours until the wedding would begin and she wasn't even dressed yet. As if reading her mind, the tailor who had designed her dress came flying into her room, followed by a dozen maids. The door was shut and her robe was pulled off, leaving her stark naked in front of twelve women and one man. She flushed, reaching to steal her robe back, but another maid was pulling her away and helping her step into her underwear. Natasha was absolutely positive the lacy white garments had not been in her closet earlier. She didn't own lingerie; especially wedding lingerie.

"Hurry up," the tailor called, waving her over. The maids shuffled her across the room with nothing but the revealing lingerie on and the tailor carefully pulled out her wedding dress. Maids helped her step into it carefully and the tailor made sure she didn't accidentally step on it as it was pulled over her shoulders. A maid zipped up the back then everyone stepped back so she could look at herself in the mirror.

It was ridiculous, really. She had been a princess her whole life, but now was the first time she actually felt like one. With her hair done so meticulously and her make-up almost flawless, she realised she actually could take her mother's place as Queen and she could see herself doing it.

"You look gorgeous." Natasha turned to see her mother standing in the doorway. She had been dressed and styled just as beautifully and Natasha couldn't think of a time her mother had looked more beautiful.

"You do too," she replied, looking back at herself in the mirror. The wedding dress was perfect. It was simple; floor-length with a long train behind her. Lace was draped over the entire thing and the lace sleeves went to her wrists. She couldn't have imagined a more beautiful dress if she had wanted to.

"I think you both look pretty beautiful," Tony said, stepping into view from behind their mother. Natasha grinned and Tony walked over to her. He gently kissed her cheek then offered her his arm. The maids and tailor cleaned up her room while Tony walked both her and her mother to where the rest of the bridal party was waiting until the ceremony began. They still had an hour or so until the wedding would take place, but everyone had to be ready an hour early.

"How's Steve?" Natasha asked as they walked down the hall. Even though maids and servants were rushing past them, Natasha didn't feel panicked in the slightest. She figured it would hit her in about fifteen minutes, but until then, she would revel in the calm that she currently felt.

"A mess," Tony shrugged. Natasha laughed and Queen Maria smiled. "To be fair, this is a pretty big day for him. Not only is he getting married, he's also becoming Crown Prince."

"He'll be fine by the time the ceremony starts," Natasha promised. She knew Steve. Even if he wasn't actually fine by then, no one but her would be able to tell.

"And I suppose by then you'll be a nervous wreck," Tony teased. Natasha rolled her eyes and elbowed Tony. He elbowed her back and when she turned to punch him, their mother stepped up and told them both off.

"We don't need a bruised best man or a bloodied bride," she reminded them, giving them both stern looks. They stopped as they approached the room the rest of the bridal party was waiting in and Tony kissed both of their cheeks before disappearing to go help Steve.

* * * * *

When the time came for the wedding to begin, Tony and all the groomsmen knocked on the door. The wedding party wasn't very big; Steve only had two groomsmen beside Tony. Natasha had met them before and they had become fast friends. Bucky was more reserved while Sam was very blunt. Both had been hesitant in talking to her as casually as Steve did, but after multiple months of seeing and talking to them, they finally seemed to be comfortable with it.

Natasha's bridal party was just as small. Only three of her closest friends; Lady Virginia (who everyone called Pepper thanks to Tony), Princess Maria, and Princess Wanda. Natasha wasn't terribly close to Wanda, at least not nearly as much as she was with Maria and Pepper, but she was a sweet girl and Natasha liked her more than any of the other Ladies or Princesses. Besides, Wanda's kingdom had just witnessed a brutal war and she was the only one of her family left. Instead of giving the kingdom over to her at such a young age, Queen Maria had offered to adopt Sokovia into their kingdom and help teach Wanda how to rule until she was ready. This, of course, had brought Natasha closer to Wanda as she stayed in the palace more often than not, but she didn't consider Wanda her closest friend.

"Ready?" Tony grinned, offering Natasha his arm. Queen Maria had left only a few minutes earlier to meet with Steve so he could escort her down the aisle himself. Just about the moment her mother had left, Natasha had begun to panic.

"If you can get her to calm down, she'll be ready," Pepper said, smiling softly at Natasha. Tony offered Pepper his other arm and they led the bridal party to the ceremony.

"You're nervous?" Tony asked, glancing at Natasha. She gave him a look and he kissed her cheek. "It'll be okay. At this point, it's too late to back out and Steve has finally relaxed. The minute you have to start walking forward, you'll be fine."

"I feel like that's just a myth," Natasha grumbled. Pepper laughed and Natasha scowled at her. That just made Pepper laugh even harder only to be shushed as they approached the doors to where the ceremony would be held. Natasha stood just out of sight behind the doors as the music began and Tony and Pepper started down the aisle together. Sam and Maria followed, both giving Natasha reassuring smiles and thumbs up. A short while after Bucky and Wanda had walked out together, the two girls that had been brought in as flower girls lined up and started down the aisle. The guards at the door nodded at Natasha when it was her turn and she took a deep breath.

It took everything in her to not turn and run away when she saw the mass of people and reporters waiting for her inside the ballroom. She nearly forgot how to breathe and it was only by pure muscle memory she managed to walk forward. It felt like it had been hours by the time she made it a third of the way down the aisle. The number of people surrounding her and taking photos was overwhelming. In a last-minute attempt to keep herself from running out in a panic, she looked up to where she knew she'd see Steve.

She was absolutely not going to tell Tony she relaxed the second she looked up to see Steve smiling at her softly. He was looking at her with complete admiration and Natasha was pretty sure his eyes were watering. He tried to be discreet as he sniffled and Natasha stifled a laugh. This was ridiculous. Sure, there were more people than she cared to count watching her walk down the aisle, but Steve looked like a dork trying to rub his eyes subtly and not draw attention to the fact he was crying.

As she stopped in front of Steve, she noticed Tony swipe at his eyes. She snorted and her eyes widened. A hand flew to her face as everyone began to laugh and she turned red. She resisted the urge to bury her face in Steve's chest simply by reminding herself it would cause further embarrassment. Fortunately for her, the officiator calmed everyone down and the ceremony began.

"We are gathered here today, so witness the marriage of Her Highness Princess Natasha and Steve Rogers," he began. Steve squeezed her hands in his and she gave him a look. The officiator continued on, but Natasha was too busy making faces at Steve and Tony to really be listening. Tony scrunched up his face back at her, causing the officiator to pause for a moment. After that, they both stopped. Steve managed to stop himself from laughing, but not in time to say 'I do'.

"I do," he said, failing to hide his laughter as he slid the ring onto her finger. Natasha grinned and he just shook his head. They had arranged ahead of time to say their vows in private, something they'd had to fight tooth and nail for but eventually won, so it was as they said 'I do' that they slipped the rings on the other's finger.

"Do you, Princess Natasha, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the officiator asked. Natasha nodded, slightly distracted by the feeling of cool metal now of her left ring finger.

"I do," she replied, sliding a ring onto Steve's left hand. She could feel the cool metal of his ring in her hand and couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the officiator declared, smiling at them. Steve didn't waste any time pulling her toward him and kissing her softly. Not wanting to give the reporters too big of a show, they kept their kiss short and brief. Natasha smiled against his lips as they pulled away and grabbed his left hand in both of hers. The metal ring on his finger pressed against hers and she smiled at the flashing cameras that threatened to blind her. With a loud cheer, they raised their hands above their heads and walked back down the aisle as music played and the audience cheered loudly.