Royal in Hiding

Epilogue

Merlin anxiously stood at the alter in his dress uniform. His kingdom stood, watching happily as their king got married. The officiant stood to Merlins right, waiting for the music to start it seemed like eternity for Merlin before the doors creaked open loudly and the music started playing.

And so the procession began.

Finally, the two flower girls and the ring bearer made their way down the isle, Joetta following behind. Her gown was regal and fitted her beautifully. Then again, considering the amount of time and money spent on it, it had better fit like a glove. With blood-red roses in her hands, she slowly walked down the isle in time woth the music. It was only at the end of the song did she come to stand infront of Merlin.

"Marriage. Is the thing that brings us together today." The Priest started, going on over sacred texts and the expectations of the holy joining of matrimony.

"And now, the groom will share his vows to the bride." He finally said after a long winded, twenty minute speech.

"Joetta, when I first saw you, it was through bars of a prison cell. Then, next I saw you riding freely next to me. And yet, I haven't ever left that cell. Not when I saves you from the noose, nor when I proposed to you at Lake Avalon for the first time. Even after I got everything I could ever want and I once again proposed, those words were whispered through cell bars. You are freedom itself my love. You embody everything I want, and everything I could hope to be. Patience, compassion, and joy paint the woman who is standing before me, ready to be my bride and queen, and I couldn't ask for a better woman to stand at my sode, nor a more responsible woman to care for my people. So, this is me, asking as nothing more than the simple manservant you saved that day, for you to spend the rest of forever with me." Merlin spoke, addressing Joetta and Joetta only. The rest of the people were just listening in.

Joetta laughed slightly and cried tears of joy.

"And now, the bride will share her vows to the groom." The Priest stated, as though no one already knew that.

"Merlin, when I first saw you, it was ina throne room. You were thin, wiry, and not at all who I always imagined my prince in shining armour to be. As we spoke, and ran away together, but not at all in the romantic sense. I got to know you, as a friend. Then, the plan to take over Camelot formed. I was so terrified to let you sacrifice yourself so I did it for you. I didn't understand then why my heart soared at your protective reaction. Then, when you asked me for a picnic, I was shocked to see that instead of the thin servant I had come to know but that a prince had picked me up from my quarters. I had only just started to discover my feelings for you when you proposed the first time, and maybe out of fear, I declined and took our horses. Then, while you were at war, I came to a startling realization. Merlin Ambrose, I love you and I want to spend eternity with you. So it was easy for me to accept the proposal the second time because I almost did the first time. I am ready to stand beside you and support you as you lead your kingdom to greatness. I am proud to say that yes, Merlin, I want to be with you and watch as you become the amazing King you were always meant to be." Joetta finished her vows, somehow with complete composure.

"King Merlin Ambrose of Larcean, do you take Lady Joetta Maleficum to be your wife. To love and to hold, in sickness and through health, till death do you part." The Priest asked.

"I do." Merlin replied with a smile.

"Lady Joetta Maleficum, do you take King Merlin Ambrose of Larcean to be your husband? To love and to hold, in sickness and through health, till death do you part?" The Priest asked Joetta.

"I do." She responded, her eyes studying Merlin through her viel.

"If there be any man who objects to this mareiage, let hin speak now or forever hold his piece." The Priest directed towards the audience.

Silence reigned.

"Then by the power invested in me, I grant thee Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride." The Priest announced happily.

Merlin lifted Joetta's viel, throwing it behind her face. Taking her chin in his hands, he lifted her lips to his, and sealed his love with a kiss.

"I now introduce to you Kinf Merlin amd Joetta Ambrose of Larcean!" The Priest happily exclaimed.

Cheers rang out but they faded to Joetta as she watched a man in the back take out a knife and hurl it towards her. He had a scarred face, not one she would easily forget as she had seen it before, being dragged from her fathers court as his daughter and wife were sentence to death. The knife twirled in the air before it lodged itself in Joetta's heart, the tip piercing it painfully.

In that second, Merlin's hold on Joetta tightened as she went down. Cheers turned to screams as blood poured from the woman's chest. The man who threw the knife took a second from the inside of his coat and promptly slit his own throat. Arthur, Gwen, Morgana, and the knights of both kingdom's rushed to Joetta's aid but there was nothing to be done.

Merlin cried as he watched his newly wed wife fade from this world and the life leave her eyes.

"No! Come back to me please! Please!" Merlin shouted angrily as he shook Joetta's body violently.

She was gone.