Wedding of Arkadius and Clara

[Hendrik des Vinandy]

Early in the morning of the long-awaited day, ‘s Koningenwaarde awakens. For the first time since the coronation of Arkadius IV as king of Batavia, the city has been pleasantly disrupted. Many heads of state and dignitaries have arrived in the last days and the centre of the city has been closed.

Clara's wedding dress is still unknown, but one can see it when she arrives at the Cathedral of ‘s Koningenwaarde. The sky above the city is clear blue, a few friendly white clouds come from the west and warm sun rays make the flowers open. The beautiful spring day seems like a divine approval for marriage.

The cathedral is already filled with guests. Along the route between the cathedral and the Koninklijk Paleis, hundreds of people are already waiting to catch a glimpse of the bride. The Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition receive the foreign guests.

The Batavians at the Koninklijk Paleis begin to cheer, when a black car with the Batavian flags and the coat of arms of the House of Vinandy drives. The doors of the palace open and the king appears, gets into the car. The car leaves the palace grounds and sets course for the cathedral. The king is dressed in a military uniform of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment of the Batavian Armed Forces. The dark uniform is decorated with the military medals that the king has collected. The decorations of the Duke of Brandenburg and the Grand Duke of Helderbourgh are special. Next to the king is Benjamin Cambernon, the best man.

The king arrives at the cathedral, while a black car also drives up at the Natopian embassy. Only there does the bride get into the car out of sight of the public. That car is equipped with the Natopian flags and the family crest of Waffel-Paine. The Emperor of Natopia sits next to the bride, wondering about the enthusiasm of the Batavians along the route.

While the king is already waiting in the cathedral, with Benjamin Cambernon next to him, the car with the bride arrives at the bottom of the stairs of the cathedral. Cheering rises from the audience when the bride gets out. The wedding ladies fashion the dress and the train. Nathan, the emperor of Natopia, waits a few steps away from the bride until she is ready to enter stages.

Then the emperor approaches to guide his sister to her fiancée. The bride nods and then they climb the stairs of the cathedral. The wedding ladies once again tidy the train before the moment that the cathedral doors open between the porch and the church hall. The music starts to play, the people in the church hall get up and the bride and her brother begin to walk stately. At the request of the bride, the choice of music is not the traditional "here comes the bride", but "more royal" as she said.



The bride hardly dares to look at the guests, but looks ahead at her fiancée, whereby they can look each other in the eye better and better. The moment has arrived when the bride and her companion have arrived at the groom's. Nathan guides the hand of his sister in the hand of the king of Batavia and encloses the hands of the bride and groom with his two hands. He says: "Take good care of my sister". The groom nods and the bride smiles. Then the emperor of Natopia steps aside and sits down at the place reserved for him next to the emperor of Shireroth.

The groom guides his bride to the bench that is ready for them. Again the bride ladies coming fashion dress and train. The bridal bouquet is placed on the table, while the bridal couple still enjoy the last sounds of the entrance music.

The archbishop steps forward, nods at the bridal couple and begins to speak: “Dear groom and bride, your majesty and your imperial highness. Dear Family, Your Majesty and Imperial Highnesses. Dear Guests, Your Highnesses and Excellency’s. Today we have gathered to unite these two people in sacred union. Their love started here in this cathedral, when they saw each other here and today they are here to be connected in marriage. "

"May I ask the bride and groom to get up," the archbishop continues, "and give each other the right hand." The bridal couple accepts that request. The bride and groom look at each other, that moment seems to be infinite, that moment makes nervousness disappear, that moment makes you realize: no matter how beautiful and pompous, whatever positions are held, wherever it is: two people connected in love.

The bridal couple have learned the traditional wedding vows by heart and do not allow themselves to be dictated. The archbishop nods at the king, after which he says: “I, Arkadius Frederik Gustavus des Vinandy, take you, Clara Sundara Waffel-Paine, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for love, honour and cherishing, till death us do part, according to the holy ordinance ”.

Then the bride speaks: “I, Clara Sundara Waffel-Paine, take you, Arkadius Frederik Gustavus des Vinandy, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, for love, honour and cherishing, till death us do part, according to the holy ordinance ”.

The archbishop speaks: "For the law and for the church these two people are connected in holy ordinance." Cheering is heard from outside, which makes people laugh in the cathedral. The bridal couple kiss each other and the guests applaud. Benjamin Cambernon steps forward and hands over the rings. The groom skilfully slides the ring on the right ring finger of his bride. Then the bride slides the ring on the right ring finger of her groom, but it is a bit trickier over the knuckle of his finger. The short but light fiddling with the ring makes the guests laugh. The ring surrenders and moves to the place of destination.

The orchestra in the cathedral starts to play, a gift from the groom to his bride: "Romance for Clara".
The bridal couple take a seat on the bench while they listen to the music. When the music ends, Clara whispers "thank you" to her husband. And he nods happily at her. The archbishop steps forward and invites the bridal couple to come to the large oak table to sign the marriage contract. The wedding ladies rush forward to help the bride with the train.

The groom takes a seat on the chair behind the table, while his bride stands diagonally behind him. The marriage contract is ahead of him and the quill pen is handed to him. The groom signs the contract with an agile swing. Then the groom stands up and makes way for his bride. While the groom stands diagonally behind her, the bride signs the contract. Then the bride and groom make room for the witnesses, diagonally behind the chair, to see the signature. Benjamin Cambernon makes a slight bow, also taking a seat on the chair. He signs the contract with the quill pen, looks satisfied at the contract and stands up. Then Nathan Anders Aharsi Waffel-Paine of Drak comes forward, smiles at the bridal couple and takes a seat in the chair. He is the last to sign the contract with the quill pen.

The music starts while the bridal couple are listening in the middle of the cathedral. Clara proudly looks at her husband as the words sound “God save the King! Long live the King! ”. The king realizes that Clara looks at him and blinks satisfied. Together they begin to walk to the exit of the cathedral.



When the bride and groom walk out of the cathedral, the Batavians begin to cheer. At the top of the stairs, the bridal couple stands still and wave to the audience. The soldiers on the stairs salute the king and the queen consort. In the meantime, guests leave the cathedral via a side entrance and are driven via a short route to the Koninklijk Paleis.

The golden carriage is driven in front, pulled by eight horses. Then the royal bridal couple descends the stairs, steps in the golden carriage. The Band of the Royal Navy goes before the golden carriage. Along the route, Batavian rows of people are cheering exuberantly for their king and new queen consort.



Arriving at the Koninklijk Paleis, the bridal couple get out and disappear behind the palace doors. While the public are waiting impatiently in front of the palace gates, the bride and groom are received by the prime minister, the leader of the largest party in the Lagerhuis and the leader of the opposition. They all congratulate the bridal couple and greet their new queen consort. Then the bridal couple climbs the stairs to head towards the balcony. In the room in front of the balcony, they have a short meeting with their immediate family.

Then the doors on the balcony swing open and the bride and groom enter the balcony. The Batavians almost cheer the lungs out of their bodies when the royal bridal couple appears. They wave at the Batavians, while the national anthem is sung spontaneously. The brand new queen consort is moved by the warm welcome by the Batavians. The king stands proudly next to his bride and after the national anthem is sung, they kiss each other. The Batavians cheer even harder when they see the kiss.

A few moments later the closest family members also come to the balcony. The emperor of Natopia, the emperor of Shireroth, the king of Arcadia and the queen of the Beneluccas, a true collection of heads of state. They are all treated to a fly-past from the Royal Air Force of the Batavian Armed Forces.



The Batavians can hardly get enough of their royal bridal couple, but the moment has come for them to go inside again. When all the family is back inside, the balcony doors close. The bride and groom pose on the steps of the palace for an official portrait, after which a portrait with the family is also made. The company is received in the Edelenzaal, while the bridal couple still take some pictures in the palace garden. Afterwards the bridal couple makes an entrance in the Edelenzaal under the applause of the guests. Then a reception follows, where all guests personally congratulate the wedding couple. An orchestra is playing in the background.



Afterwards everyone goes to dinner in the Blauwe Zaal. All kinds of Batavian dishes appear on the table and that makes everyone taste. Suddenly a glass is tapped and it becomes quiet. The best man, Benjamin Cambernon, stands and takes the floor: “Dear bride and groom, it is a real pleasure for me to be able to witness this marriage between these beautiful people. I am deeply impressed by you, my queen consort, that you have to leave so much in your country. Your groom has repeatedly told me that he is impressed by your work as a chancellor. Thank you for wanting to leave your life there for the love of my king.” The guests begin to applaud, while the bride with tears in her eyes nods gratefully to the guests. “My king, may I compliment you for finding such a beautiful woman.” The guests applaud again, while the king fails to express an attitude, but his bride takes his hand and his nervousness disappears when he looks at his bride. “It is customary for the best man to make fun of the groom,” continues Benjamin Cambernon, “But I will not do that. I have too much respect for you as my king, but even more so, as my good friend. We have studied together at the University of Goldshire, we have worked together to restore the Kingdom of Batavia and we are working together on the future of this beautiful nation. So let's toast to this beautiful wedding couple!” Everyone stands up and raises the glass.

While everyone sits down again, Nathan stops and takes the floor. "What warm words," Nathan nods at Benjamin. “I stood on the sidelines with great admiration when Arkadius courted Clara. How your love blossomed is really beautiful! Borders, time zones and cultural differences faded in your love for each other. To be honest, I had my doubts about whether my sister could be courted. After all, she is a strong and independent woman. But she fell like a block for Arkadius.” The guests started to laugh, while Clara blushed a bit. "Furthermore, I did not want to make a long speech of this, but wish the bridal couple good luck." The guests applaud.

Then the groom stands up and waits for the applause to pass. “Thank you, witnesses, for your warm words. If I may speak on behalf of my wife,” there is laughter from the audience, “we are grateful that we could celebrate this day with you. In the city of my ancestors there is an old tradition, namely to drink the golden drink. Long tables, large beer mugs and oompa-pa music. While we are sitting here, this old tradition is being revived elsewhere in this country and people hope to repeat it annually. The beer festival on our wedding date. In the Hofbierhuis Vinandy there is a true mug safe in the large hall. Special guests have their own personal beer mug there. On the occasion of this old tradition, I may offer a personal beer mug to some of you here. This is kept in the mug safe and you only get the key.”

The mugs are brought in, at least some of these are handed out to the witnesses. After a thank you to the bridal couple, the keys are released from the beer mugs and given to the recipients, while the beer mugs themselves are taken again. These are brought to the Hofbierhuis Vinandy.

After dinner, guests will go to the Golden Hall of the palace. An orchestra is already playing there, while the bride puts on a different dress. At the top of the stairs she appears again, while the orchestra uses a new piece. The dance is opened by the royal bridal couple.



There is still a lot of dancing that evening and the guests are lured to the terrace when the fireworks were lit. Then a car is driven, the royal bridal couple gets into that car. Guests wave goodbye to the bridal couple while the car leaves the palace grounds. In the car, Clara rested her head on Arkadius' shoulder and said: “What a day! What a beautiful day!” “Indeed, my dear,” replies Arkadius. The car navigates through the city, while a few partying Batavians roam the streets. Then the car turns into the forecourt of the Blackenhof Palace and stops at the entrance. The royal bridal couple gets out and enters the palace. As the bride gazes at the grandiose staircase in the entrance hall, the doors of the palace close behind them.

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The love story of Arkadius and Clara does not end with this. This story could have contained chapters of the conversations between the protagonists, about expectations for the future, about their feelings and so on. But the most important thing is that this story wanted to highlight details of fledgling love, without immediately imagining all kinds of sex scenes according to current standards. It is good to maintain the principle of abstinence until marriage, where the dating period is used to investigate each other’s character.

[Nathan II]

Nathan was immensely proud to be able to walk his sister down the aisle, and 'give her away' to the Batavian king. The two siblings were very close, growing up together they only had each other for their childhood. He was so happy for his sister, to have met such a kind and loving, devoted man. Like any protective older brother, he was skeptical of Arkadius' designs towards his precious little sister, but after getting to know the man, he was confident that he was the only man on Micras who would care for her, respect her, honor her, cherish her, and treat her as a partner. He was pleased to place her hand in the king's hand.

At dinner, Nathan gave a toast to the new couple. He knew he could get Clara to blush at least once, he was glad she had softened and lost her steely demeanor since courting Arkadius.

[Jonas]

While some Batavians in the capital where cheering, in other parts, the people were furious. Pictures of the "Natopian whore" were used in the pubs to throw darts to. Especially the nobles who sought (or pretended) to guard the neutral stance of the country saw the influence of Clara over the king, and the Conservative Monarchist Party as a danger to the existence of Batavia.

Most of the Ultraroyalists - powerless to fight the situation - had refused to enter the Lagerhuis until new elections were called. First letting the Stormarkians, now the Natopians... nitpicking at Shireroth itself... this King's family and his lackeys in the Julius Civilis Complex were blamed to make it a family tradition to let others dictate the country's policies. Not everyone had forgotten how king Harold had abused his marriage ties with the des Vinandy's to claim the Lion Throne.

"And this is how the Kingdom's independence ends: with a roaring applause," said a commenter on the Batavian Broadcasting Company's live broadcast. He was immediately replaced, but the harm had been done.

One could not notice it, while standing in the catodral, but this was certainly not the joyous occasion the dynasty had wanted it to be.