On the 8099PX, 13th of Shadien, a royal wedding was arranged. This was the wedding between the Phoenix Titan, Lakshman Reddy, and queen of Floria Kingdom, Venezuela Sargold. The wedding was going to be held in the large hall that was located on the ground floor of the castle.
The news of the marriage quickly spread like wildfire within the kingdom and everyone was excited. The marriage between the Phoenix Titan that saved their kingdom twice to soon become their king was exciting for the people. The entire kingdom was buzzing with excitement and noise as they cheered for their marriage.
“The kingdom sure is energetic about the wedding,” Lakshman commented one time during their time together. “I didn’t expect they would be this happy about it.”
“What did you expect? You saved the kingdom twice and even managed to defeat the king of an enemy kingdom. Naturally, the idea of you and me, the queen, marrying is an amazing idea!” Venezuela said with a smile on her face.
“I know, but it’s my first time seeing the people so happy. I doubt they were this happy some five years back when I saved the kingdom then from the Demon Emperor.”
Venezuela chuckled and said, “That’s because people tend to forget, but the war with the Mardana Kingdom was really intense. I doubt the people will forget that easily, especially when it cost them their beloved king.”
“Yes… I’m not happy about his passing, or my inability to deal with that cursed wound…” Lakshman said and he momentarily looked unhappy. “Anyway, I’ve learnt a few things that should ensure cursed wounds would of that level can be healed in my training.”
“That’s good. You can pass on that knowledge to the healers and it would really help us out,” Venezuela said happily.
He nodded and said, “Yes. I already talked about it with Wolfenstine and he suggested a few things to add on. He’s thinking of turning that cursed would into an immune system that protects the body.”
“Is that possible?” she asked eagerly, but he shook his head sadly.
“Sadly, no. Our level of technology has not developed enough to implement such a method into the bodies of living creatures. However, I suppose it is possible in a thousand years or so. I’m only guessing, but there’s a possibility of it becoming a reality in that time.”
“It’s a pity we won’t live long enough to see that day come,” she said with a sigh. “Anyway, help me out with selecting the people whom you and I want to invite to our marriage.”
“Okay, but shouldn’t the girls be here for that?” he asked curiously and he looked around.
“No. They said it’s our marriage and we should deal with everything on our own while they go and prepare the decorations and stuff,” she said with a smile.
Lakshman grinned and said, “Alright then. Let’s make the list.”
The two of them spent hours selecting the people whom they wanted to invite and those that they seriously did not wish to be present. There were many people that Lakshman never met, but he knew he has to make a good impression on them to use their connections in the future. He hated the thought of how dirty politics was, but he had little choice in the manner.
Within the list of people they invited, they had his family as the main priority which was Indra, Lakshmi, Priya, Indira and Mariana. Then, they had Darian Ronald the Sword King and his wife Marilia, Hanuman the Monkey King, Dominic Rutherford the Sword Titan, Temba Trigard the King of Mardana Kingdom and several more that Venezuela wanted to visit their marriage. Only fifteen percent of those invited people they wanted to have there just to make connections.
Once the list was made, Lakshman handed the list over to Felix, who dispatched the Phintex Rajas to go invite those people. As soon they were dispatched, Lakshman was dragged away to test out suits for him to wear. In the two years, he had grown really tall, causing them to make a custom suit to fit him.
“Can’t we just go with what we have instead of going to this extra length of trouble?” Lakshman asked wearily when he saw them taking note of his sizes.
“How foolish, young man! This is a royal wedding and one must make top appearance, especially you the Phoenix Titan!” said the lady in charge of measuring him.
“Right…” he said weakly and resigned himself to the fact he will have to wear their customised suit.
Three days later, the customized suit arrived for him to try out. It was a black neatly knit suit with a stylish white shirt for him to wear on the inside. There was a tie with and its embroidery was quite fascinating. After wearing the clothes, the clothes decider nodded her approval that it really suited him.
“Wow… That was tiring,” he muttered when he let out.
He walked around the castle and saw the many decorations the people were placing using the levitation, summoning and various other magic spells. It was indeed big and he was startled to learn it was not the biggest in the recorded history.
“I believe the biggest marriage ceremony was held around 300 years ago, when the Floria Kingdom had established a peace treaty with the other races,” Felix informed him. “The other kingdoms also followed with that peace treaty between the races and we separated to live our lives peaceful ever since then. Thanks to the efforts of the Phoenix Clan, the world was peaceful once more.”
“Yeah, but when you disappeared, they became slack and that demon invasion started five years ago,” Lakshman said as he eyed Felix through narrow eyes. “W-Well… Without their leader, the function sort of took a tumble.”
“Fine, but I’ll be taking over if anything happens,” Lakshman told him firmly.
“Suits me just fine,” Felix said in a relieved voice. “I’d be happy if you take over later—!”
“No thanks!” Lakshman said quickly. “I’ll be busy with my rulership as king, I don’t want you adding more to my plate. You do your job and I’ll do mine.”’
“Right,” Felix said in understanding and did not speak about it again.
Finally, the day of the marriage arrived and the morning sun was bright as anything. Lakshman, who had slept alone for the entire week, was woken up by maids early in the morning. He was surprised that it was only six in the morning by the Crystal Clock by his bedside. When he grumbled why he was woken so early, the head maid told him it was prepare him.
“We start preparing this early?!” he exclaimed in disbelief.
“That’s right. The marriage takes place at ten, so you must get ready before then,” she told him patiently.
“Oh yeah. You’re right, but I want to have my morning bath first…”
“Of course. We will accompany you.”
“Uh…” he said and he instantly became nervous saw the glint in the head maid’s eyes.
He was taken to the large male bathroom in the castle and there, he spent fifteen to twenty minutes being washed by the maids thoroughly. The head maid supervised as the maids spent the time happily wiping his back, front and his legs, which he was not so happy about being almost naked except for the towel wrapping around his waist. They then attempted to wash his middle, but he quickly got them to leave so that he can wash himself.
“Darn head maid…” he muttered unhappily.
Once he was cleaned, he got out and quickly wrapped the towel around him. When he called for the maids, they returned and wrapped him around with a woollen robe that covered him up completely. This allowed him to walk back to his room, where the maids began to dress him up neatly with care.
“Make sure not to cause any creases to appear!” the head maid said as she shifted her glasses.
“Yes, head maid!” the maid replied together as they carefully got him to wear the suit.
For Lakshman, it was an unusual experience to be helped into clothes by somebody else. No amount of knowledge prepared him for the maids to touch all over his exposed part of the body as they slowly and carefully put the suit on. He gritted his teeth as he watched the girls at work to get the suit on him. Once it was on, he walked over to the large mirror and checked himself.
“You look wonderful, your majesty,” the maids said with glittering eyes.
He laughed half-heatedly and said, “Thank you, but you don’t have to call me like that.”
“Don’t be so modest, your majesty. As of today, you are becoming king of Floria Kingdom!” the head maid told him firmly.
“Right…” he said and he realised the maids have begun to see him as their king.
It was an hour before he and Venezuela finally met each other. With one look, he was baffled by the breath taking beauty of Venezuela and the white dress she wore. Which seemed to be increasing the charm of her smile. At first, he was startled and he had taken an uncertain step back in surprise. Finally realising it was really Venezuela and not someone using an illusion magic, he walked forward wearing a dumbfounded smile on his face.
“How do I look?” she asked him politely and she swirled around to give him a 360 look.
For a moment, he was stumped about how he should complement her. Finally giving up, he just sighed and said, “I’m sorry Vena, but my words fail to describe how beautiful you are.”
Hearing that, Venezuela flashed him her charming smile and caused his heart to start beating quickly. Before he could blush, he looked away and spoke to the girls that were staring at them. He was slightly startled to see them making forced smiles, which made him realise he had not been paying them much attention within the one week.
“It can’t be helped that I’ve been busy this whole week doing whatever the peopled needed me to do for the wedding…” he thought unhappily.
He looked at them hesitantly and asked, “Uh… How do I look?”
“You look fine, but I think this rose should do you wonders,” Emilia said and she walked forward to pin the rose onto his suit.
For a moment, he thought he would experience pain from her pinning it tightly due to her and the girl’s anger. As it turned out, she gently placed her hands on him and easily attached the rose to his suit. He was startled because he no longer sensed the anger radiating from her or the girls using Elemental Sense.
“You’re not upset or anything?” he asked them curiously.
Emilia looked up at him in surprise and then looked back at the girls. It was Tetra who realised by what he meant and he chuckled happily.
“Master, we’re not angry at you or anything that you didn’t pay attention to us this whole week,” said Tetra with a smiling face. “Rather, we did leave you and Venezuela alone to let you prepare for the wedding after all.”
“Oh… But, I sensed danger just now… Did I imagine it…?” he said uncertainly.
The girls all smiled and shook their head as Erza said, “No, we’re not angry actually, but we were upset. We got up early today to get you ready, but the head maid said that wasn’t needed and told us to get Venezuela ready.”
“Actually, I tried insisting they help you out since you’d feel pretty uncomfortable around other women,” Venezuela said. “However, the head maid is stubborn and won’t allow her duties to get take away from her.”
“Ah…” Lakshman said as he finally understood the reason behind their irritation earlier. “Oh well. I’m glad you’re angry at me specifically.”
“Mmm…” Cantia made a noise with her throat and eyed him shrewdly before saying, “Maybe, we should feel a little irritated?”
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“No!” he said firmly and the girls laughed.
A while later, the people were beginning to gather outside the castle. That was when Lakshman’s family were warped directly into the castle and they landed inside a room where Lakshman was waiting for them. Upon seeing his family, they came forward and hugged each other happily. Both of his parents were impressed by the clothes he wore and his sisters were eying him with stunned faces.
When Felix entered the room, Indra quickly walked forward and the two did a punching thing with each other. It seemed their friendship was strong even though they have not seen each other for a while. Right behind Felix was Rasha and their daughter, Sasha. They greeted each other happily and began talking cheerfully to each other as they sat down on the summoned chairs.
Lakshman wanted to talk more to them, but the head maid forced him to go back and sit down on the high chair.
“We don’t want you moving unnecessarily until it’s time,” she told him sternly and he groaned unhappily.
It was an hour later that it was finally time for the wedding to take place. Lakshman and the maids were the only ones to remain in that room as his family and Felix’s family left to attend the beginning part of the wedding on the ground floor. The procedure to the wedding was for the groom to walk hand in hand with the bride.
“It’s time,” the head maid said and the maid moved forward to do their last attempts at cleaning him up.
Once he was ready, he got up and walked out of the door. At the stairs, he stopped and waited for the bride to arrive, who arrived a few minutes later. Venezuela was carrying a bokay of flowers and she was smiling happily. Lakshman, for his part, felt pretty calm even though he thought there was the chance of him feeling nervous. At the stairs to the bottom floor, Venezuela stood to his left while he stood to her right, as per the traditions of the marriage ceremony. Finally, with all preparations done, the head maid gave them a push and made them walk slowly and carefully down the stairs.
When they arrived downstairs, a hush fell over the crowd as people stood around to look. There were people wearing strange looking rectangular metallic blocks that appeared to be flashing light in their direction. Lakshman instantly recognised them as the Magic Cameras, which seemed to have been gaining popularity. The bride and groom smiled at each other as they held hands together as they walked slow and steady towards the hall.
Once they arrived at the hall, he was stunned by how many people were packed inside. Standing in front of the hall to greet them was none other than the Sword Titan, Dominic Rutherford. He smiled and nodded at the both of them before stepping aside and letting them through. After letting the bride and groom walk first, he followed right behind them with the crowd watching with wide smiles on their faces.
Lakshman and Venezuela reached the stage platform, which was constructed for the wedding. They were met with a man wearing white robes with a cool expression on his face. He was a sage, man who would conduct the marriage ceremony and will announce them married with their consent.
The girls, who had been following right behind them, took seats near the front where the seats were spared for their sitting. Dominic did not sit down and instead, took his place behind Lakshman and filled in the role, which was the Knight of Justice.
In a flashy movement, Dominic pulled out the Destiny Sword and spun it several times before holding it up vertically.
“Dominic Rutherford. Ready!” he said in a firm voice.
The Destiny Sword flashed and several swords materialised around the bride, groom and the sage. They quickly flipped to hover vertically and remained stationary in mid-air. The watching crowd of people let out voices of amazement and began clapping at this spectacular display of knighthood. Dominic simply turned his head slightly and nodded at them.
The sage raised his hand high above and waved it, causing silence to slowly cleanse the room. Then, he told the bride and groom to release their hands, to which they did before flexing their hands to ease their muscles.
“Now, I wish for everyone to stand as I read the Prayer of Life,” he said in a loud carrying voice.
Lakshman surmised that he was using Wordless Incantation to use amplification magic to increase the volume of his voice. Upon his request, the hall was filled with sounds of people standing up and shuffling their feed on the floor. As soon as silence fell, the sage began reading the prayer out loud for them to all hear clearly.
“To our creators of the world, we give thanks on this special day when two lives are going to be bound. People are born and people die, but in between that time, they prosper by the laws that govern this world. As such, we try out best to live happily while fulfilling our wishes and dreams. That is why, we give thanks to the God of Freedom for letting us have freedom, we give thanks to the God of Justice for creating laws of the world, we give thanks to the God of Wisdom for lending us knowledge, we give thanks to the God of Fertility for giving us forms and we give thanks to the God of Life for creating life. Amen.”
Everyone either put their hands together or crossed them in front of them. For a minute, there was only silence within the hall and once it was over, the sage gestured for them to take their seats. After yet more loud noises were made from them sitting down, silence fell again for the sage to commence the wedding.
“Now, I will ask the bride and groom to openly confess in the presence of people, spirits and our makers,” the sage said in a loud clear voice. He turned to Venezuela and asked, “Venezuela Sargold… Do you wish to be together with the Lakshman Reddy for life?”
“Uh…” Venezuela hesitated due to feeling nervous. Then, she smiled and nodded before firmly saying, “I do.”
The sage nodded at her once and turned his attention to Lakshman before asking, “Lakshman Reddy. Do you wish to be together with Venezuela Sargold for life?”
Lakshman did not say anything, but that was because he was feeling nervous. Before coming down here, he was feeling calm and relaxed, but suddenly being in the spot light of everyone watching him, it was somehow making him feel really nervous.
As the people began muttering, the sage narrowed his eyes and calmly said, “Do not fear, for it is fear that one must conquer. Be brave and proudly come out in the open with your confession.”
Lakshman began to chuckle and grinned broadly as he firmly said, “Yes… I do!”
The sage nodded once and straightened up to look at the two people in front of him. He opened his eyes in a flash and in a loud voice, he announced, “Very well! I and the gods have heard their confessions and have decided them to be a couple form this day forward! Now… Kiss to form the bond of your future.”
Lakshman and Venezuela looked startled for a moment and they turned to look at each other. She blushed brightly while Lakshman looked really surprised by what he had to do next. He received a slight nudge from behind as Dominic encouraged him to go ahead. While that was happening, the swords began to move around them in a rotational circle.
“Oh…! Fine! I’ll do it!” Lakshman thought firmly.
He took one step forward and had to bed down slightly due to the difference in his and her height. With their faces coming closer to each other, they looked into each other’s eyes before finally kissing. As they kissed, the people began clapping loudly and there were others who cheered loudly.
“I conclude this wedding by confirming that Lakshman and Venezuela are bound for life as partners of love!” the sage finally said as he clapped his hands together to close the wedding ceremony.
When he finished speaking, there was the sudden sounds of bells ringing high above from somewhere close by. The vertically hovering swords flew high and clashed, causing a rain of confetti to fall down on their heads.
After that, they had an early lunch with the guests out in the backyard of the castle. The previous day, Lakshman recalled Draga the Spirit Dragon and Phylex the Eternal Phoenix back to their dimensions. Phylex wished them a happy married life before leaving while Draga left without saying anything. During lunch, Lakshman met up with Darian, Marilia and Rumble, who were delighted to see him married and they got the chance to meet Venezuela.
After lunch, Lakshman and Venezuela stood at the entrance of the castle. Large tables were laid out in front of them with clothing and money, which the pair began giving away to the people of their kingdom. This was something that had never been done within the recorded history of Floria Kingdom nor was it practiced in the other kingdoms.
It was Lakshman’s idea as he said, “I want to give things away freely to let the people know I’m not going to be king that will force his subjects to do his bidding.”
The first principle of a king was to show his compassion for his people, earning himself great respect in the process. Venezuela happily agreed, although she was unhappy that he was using the money he had saved up to give up clothes and money freely. He did not care since it was for the greater good of his people and his position as king.
Once that was done, there was three hours of rest and it was back to the hall. This time, only the invited were allowed in as a wedding part was held that night. The hall was changed slightly with two chairs seated on the stage, which was where Lakshman and Venezuela sat to observe the dance program that was planned.
Lakshman watched the dancing of the ladies that played according to the music, which was quite nice. The beat and the rhythm gave the music a life of its own and the girls dancing to it gave a comfortable feeling. He liked the dance and the music, making him want to learn more things to increase its popularity.
Once the dancing was over, they stood up to receive many congratulations from many of the visitors. With Venezuela’s help, Lakshman met many of the officials that they invited. He also met up with the King of Mardana Kingdom, Temba Trigard, whom he was impressed by. The man was once a soldier, but the firmness and the air of a king that he carried with him really put him on a different plane compared to Adebola.
It was midnight by the time the party came to an end He and everyone said goodbye. With the help of Phintex Rajas, all invited guests were warped out of the Floria Kingdom and back to their homes. Lakshman and Venezuela were really tired by the end of the day, but they were pleased with the day’s progress. Finally, they were able to sleep together that night without problems and no interruptions.
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Author's Note
Next up: "Special Marriage: Lakshman & Destiny Queens"
I could've written the second part out, but I wanted to complete the half-complete Chapter 2 of Phoenix Rising: The Rising Guardians, sequel to this story.
My plan is to turn Phoenix Rising into a SAGA of multiple stories. Well, the main story itself is massive, so I'll focus on finishing that first before I go onto doing anything else.