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Cap. 14 A farmers wedding

A farmer's wedding

Festively decorated carts had pulled up in front of the village church. The whole village of Les Ornielles was on its feet. Even the old and infirm did not want to miss this event - some had been driven, others had been carried. Fortunately, there were no terminally ill or dying villagers at the moment, otherwise they would have been dragged along too.

Everyone was wearing festive clothing. Today all work was suspended - only the cattle in the stables had been fed and watered. Since the church was in the center of the small village, the population had gathered on the village green. Only the most honorable people had lined up in the church courtyard - the mayor, the village elders, the innkeeper. The miller and his two journeymen were still in the background. Millers were generally not well-liked - their trade caused noise, which was particularly disturbing at night. But what could it help! You had to grind when the wind blew, and if it was at night, then that was just the way it was! The miller was also suspected of not being completely honest in his accounts - so many sacks of grain, so many sacks of flour... It was never quite true. But no one had ever seen carts pull up to the mill to take flour away. Moreover, the journeymen were tough guys who would have responded to such accusations with their fists.

There was a noise in the distance - two carts were approaching from the farm. One was a landau in which the bridegroom and the bride were sitting, as well as other people. The other was the carriage, which was known to belong to the feudal lord. The horse that pulled it was supposedly not alive at all, but a golem.

Both carts pulled up to the church and stopped. Three women and a man got out of the carriage. One of the women was heavily pregnant.

Meanwhile, the passengers of the landau had also got out. The groom helped his bride down from the running board, and the others joined them. Early in the morning it had been announced that the marriage would not be performed by the village priest, but by a real Flamem  - just imagine! He had come to the church after sunrise and was preparing the ceremony with the village priest.

The three women and the man from the carriage had now approached and entered the forecourt. Two were known - the young liege lord and his wife. But the other two...?

The mayor stepped forward and bowed to the landowner and his wife. "Welcome to this festive occasion, my lord. And of course you too, madam. But who are the other two ladies, sir?"

Saito grinned broadly. He suspected what was coming next...

"The two ladies will be the couple's witnesses. May I introduce you: Queen Charlotte, the Queen of Gallia. And the other lady is our highest liege lord: Queen Henrietta." Saito saw that the Prince Consort had come up from the landau and was now standing next to his wife. "And the Prince Consort, Prince Karl."

It was a close call and the mayor would have been struck by a heart attack! He immediately fell to one knee in front of the royal highnesses and bowed his head. "Your Highnesses... Your Highnesses... You do us great honor by visiting our poor little village. You are welcome! I... I..."

"It's fine," Henrietta replied with a friendly smile. "It was meant to be a little surprise, and I think we managed it. But please stand up, Mr. Mayor. You're getting your lovely breeches all dirty."