Mr Rikkard Ambrose stood atop the deck of the ship, surveying the crowd as if he were going to murderise the first person to snicker.

"Dearly beloved," he stated in a voice that promised violence to anyone who dared to take that literally, "we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this..."

His voice trailed off, icy eyes searing into Captain James Carter as he searched for an appropriate word to use to describe the individual in front of him.

"...man," he finally decided, somehow making it sound like a worse insult than 'contagious cockroach'. "—and this woman—" Cold eyes zeroed in on his sister, who was grinning from ear to ear despite, or perhaps because of, her brother's death-glare. "—in Holy Matrimony; which is an honourable estate—" His gaze flicked back to Captain Carter again, threatening death and dissection if he forgot the meaning of that word. "—instituted of God in the time of man's innocency—"

The corners of my mouth twitched. It was truly amazing how much emphasis my dear husband could put on a word without crushing it.

"—signifying unto us a lot of things I shall not waste time on—"

I blinked. Had I just heard that correctly?

No. No, surely my husband had not just shortened the wedding ceremony from the book of common prayer to save time.

Probably.

"—and therefore is not by any to be enterprised, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly, or wantonly—"

His eyes, only somewhat frosty before, suddenly became as arctic as an ice-giant's spear as they pinned Captain Carter to the spot. Apparently, my dear husband had reached a part of the speech that, to him, was very, very important.

"—or to satisfy men's carnal lusts and appetites, like brute beasts that have no understanding; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God and myself, lest the bridegroom die in an unfortunate accident."

All right, he was definitely meddling with the text. I was not an expert on ecclesiastical matters, but I was pretty sure that last part wasn't in the original ceremony.

"Hence," my dear husband continued, his eyes chilling further until they finally reached absolute zero, "let us also duly consider the causes for which matrimony was ordained. First, it was ordained for...for the..."

His teeth ground for a moment or two, and his little finger started twitching fast enough I started getting worried it was having a seizure.

"Are you all right, Dicky Darling?" I leaned over and whispered.

"...for the procreation of children," he continued, staring at Captain Carter in a don't-you-dare-lay-a-hand-on-my-baby-sister kind of way, "to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord and myself, and to be a better man than their useless father."

"You know," I whispered, "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to make this many changes to the wedding ceremony prescribed by the Church of England on the fly."

He completely ignored me. That was the husband I knew and loved!

"Secondly," he continued, his voice firming as he seemed to reach a far more pleasant part of the procedure, "it was ordained as a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, and keep themselves undefiled members of Christ's body."

He sent a meaningful look at Adaira, making sure she had registered the word "undefiled". In answer, she rolled her eyes and gestured for him to hurry the heck up.

"Thirdly," he continued in a suddenly much softer voice, "it was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity."

At that, I couldn't help but smile. Especially when I saw the eyes of brother and sister meet, and a silent understanding seemed to pass between the two. I could almost hear his unspoken words: I'm doing this, no matter how much I don't want to. I'm doing this for you, because he is the one you chose.

She smiled, and leaned her head against Captain Carter's shoulder.

"...into which holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined." Mr Ambrose took a deep breath. Somehow, I got the feeling he was about to come to the most important part of the procedure. When he spoke next, he exuded an aura of utmost seriousness.

"Therefore, if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace."

Ah, scratch that. It wasn't the most important part. Just the most important part to him.

No one spoke.

"I repeat, if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak!"

Silence.

"One last time," he ground out, and I could tell the strain it was putting him under to have to waste time repeating himself not just once, but twice in a row. Poor man. "If any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak."

Once again, utter silence. Well, apart from the mewing of a few gulls in the background. Sadly for Mr Rikkard Ambrose, this did not constitute legal grounds to cancel the wedding.

But there was one last ray of hope for him left.

Taking a deep breath, he once more focused his icy eyes on the couple in front of him, trying to scare them off by the sheer force of his gaze. Unfortunately, they seemed too blissful to notice.

"I require and charge you both," he ordered, "as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgement when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, ye do now confess it."

Silence.

"I said ye do now confess it!"

"Oh, darling." I patted his shoulder commiseratingly. "I think they heard you the first time."

A muscle in his cheek twitched. He dragged in another deep breath and, resigning himself to his fate, he spoke the words I knew he least wanted to utter.

"James Carter, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour, and keep her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live, lest you be hanged, drawn, quartered and castrated?"

The captain of the British Army gazed at his bride for a long, long moment, then turned to face Mr Rikkard Ambrose with the same determination he would a firing squad. Probably a good idea, since the danger most likely was about the same.

"I will."

When my dear husband turned towards his sister, for the first time ever, she saw something like a hint of pleading in his eyes. They were still icy and commanding, but icy and commanding in a slightly pleading way.

Don't do this, they seemed to signal. I forbid it! I am your older brother, and you must listen to me!

Not that she appeared to notice.

My dear husband's little finger twitched spasmodically, and, after a long moment, he opened his mouth, forced to continue.

"Adaira Louise Jannet Melanie Georgette Ambrose, wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love, honour, and keep him, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?"

I blinked. Leaning over, I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, "What about obeying him and serving him?"

He very deliberately did not look at me. "I recently found myself with a growing appreciation of feminism."

"How recently, Sir?"

"Since it became clear that my little sister was going to get married, Mrs Ambrose."

I smirked—then quickly morphed my facial expression into a happy, innocent smile and ceased our whispered conversation. Now wasn't the time. Luckily, Adaira didn't seem to have noticed our little exchange. She was busy staring at Captain James Carter with a besotted look on her face that could make any elder brother want to beat up the man responsible.

"I will."

Mr Ambrose's hands twitched—probably itching to wrap around a certain someone's throat—and stilled as he brought them back under control. His icy eyes narrowed ever so slightly, sweeping over the crowd as it daring them to speak.

"Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?"

Silence.

Absolute and utter silence.

And not just because nobody had the guts to step forward under Mr Rikkard Ambrose's icy glare to tell him they would give away his little sister. The organiser of this event seemed to have been a little bit lazy and apparently had neglected to account for this part of the ceremony.

No need to mention that said organiser was me.

Leaning over towards Granny Aatifa, I whispered out of the corner of my mouth: "Um...did we forget something?"

The old lady shot me a look with one eyebrow raised. "How would I know? Do I look like an expert on Christian weddings to you, girl?"

"Err...no."

"Well, who normally does this part? The giving away the bride, I mean."

"Well, normally the bride is given away by the bride's oldest male relative present at the..."

My voice trailed off as everybody's eyes, including mine, moved to Mr Rikkard Ambrose.

Mr Ambrose's left little finger twitched. Then his right one as well.

I cleared my throat. "Oh dear."

The non-expression on his stony face...oh dear oh dear.

"Um...maybe somebody else could do this?" I glanced around at the sailors on the deck that had been roped in as wedding guests with a broad smile on my face. "So, anyone up for giving Mr Rikkard Ambrose's little sister away to another man?"

Never had I seen a ship's deck clear of people so fast.

Still smiling, I turned back to my dear husband. "Oh well. Seems it's up to you, Dicky Darling."

"Mrs Ambrose?"

"Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir?"

"There will be retribution for this."

Images of certain bedroom activities flashed before my inner eye, and my smile couldn't help but widen.

"I can't wait!"

"Rick?"

A small, familiar voice interrupted our banter. When we looked over, we saw Adaira staring up at her brother with big, pleading puppy-dog eyes.

"No!" he stated unequivocally.

"Rick? This is my wedding. The only one I'll ever have. Could you, perhaps..."

"Don't say it!"

"...do two jobs for the price of one?"

A muscle in Mr Ambrose's cheek twitched so hard that, at the end of the day, he was probably going to have a cramp. Raising the book in his hand—which, I was pretty sure, was the ship's log book instead of a book of common prayer—he shoved it under her nose.

"This," he growled, "is already my limit. I will not personally hand you to that useless layabout!"

The useless layabout in question raised his hand. "Ehem...my ears work, you know?"

Everyone ignored him.

Adaira's eyes widened even further, making her look pitiful enough to soften the hardest of hearts. "Are...are you sure you won't do it?"

"Absolutely not!"

Apart from one, apparently.

"For me?"

"...No!"

Somehow, the pleading look in Adaira's eyes intensified further, until no puppy on earth could have compared. A hint of moisture glistened at the corner of her eye.

"Please?"

That muscle in my dear hubby's cheek twitched again. Violently.

"...Fine."

"Yay!" Eye-moisture disappearing instantly, Adaira punched the air! "I knew it! That always works!"

"Do you want me to change my mind?"

"Ehem, I meant thank you, dear brother. Thank you so much."

"Harrumph."

With a grunt, Mr Rikkard Ambrose once more moved to stand in front of the crowd—or what was left of it, now that the sailors had left for bluer oceans.

"Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?"

Then he lowered the book, put it aside and strode forward until he stood next to Adaira, looking towards the spot he had previously occupied. "I do."

Then he grabbed his sister's right hand with his left hand, marched back to his previous position, and placed it in his right hand.

My lips twitched. "Be careful not to tie yourself into knots, darling."

"Mrs Ambrose?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Be silent!"

"Of course, dear."

Taking a deep breath, Mr Ambrose tightened his grip on the hand of his sister. Then, slowly, reluctantly, he moved it forward and, at long last, placed it into the extended hand of Captain James Carter. He held the captain's eyes for a long moment, and Carter didn't blink once. Finally, Mr Ambrose nodded and let go.

Squaring his shoulders, Captain Carter turned towards his bride, and a gentle look appeared in his eyes that made a lump appear in my throat and my eyes drift over to Mr Ambrose. My hand sneaked towards him, and our fingers intertwined.

Then the captain opened his mouth, about to speak the words that would change his and Adaira's lives forever.

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My dear Readers,

I hope you enjoyed part 1 of the wedding. Part 2 coming next week ;-)

Also, sorry for again having a slight delay in posting the chapter last week. There's a bit of nasty weather over here in Europe right now, and I'm rather tired and tend to oversleep now and again. My apologies.

COUNTDOWN: 2 chapters left!

Yours Truly

Sir Rob