Chapter 17: Chapter 17

As Eleanor stepped into the chapel, the first thing she saw was Michael waiting for her at the foot of the altar. This was the first time she had seen him in almost three years, and in that time, he hadn't changed that much. His face was a little more mature, but that was it. He was dressed in his commander's uniform, which he looked dashing in. He had turned his attention to her as soon as the doors had opened and was smiling at her.

While Eleanor walked down the aisle, she took in the people there. At the altar was a priest with a white stole, and off to the right of him was a priest with a purple stole. Which Eleanor thought was weird, since for weddings priests were only supposed to wear a white stole, but she brushed that out of her thoughts as she took in the others in the chapel. In the front row sat Lucas, and others whom she assumed were members of the family. As the rows moved further back, she assumed they were the more prominent vassals and some of the knights.

When she reached the foot of the altar, Michael took her hand with a smile. Together they walked up the three steps to the altar and stood in front of the priest. With that, the priest started the ceremony, which went on for quite some time. As they neared the end, Eleanor could feel her feet starting to hurt. At last, they made it to the vows, the part that Eleanor had been dreading for fear of not being able to get the two words out.

"Do you, Duke Michael Kent, take Lady Eleanor Valen to be your wife?" asked the priest.

"I do."

"And do you, Lady Eleanor Valen, take Duke Michael Kent to be your husband?"

"…I …do," Eleanor quietly rasped out.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Michael stepped closer to Eleanor, lifted her veil, then kissed her. As he kissed her, she could feel her body heating up. All she could focus on was his lips touching hers, to the point that she barely could hear the applause. When he released her lips, she felt a slight sadness. Though it quickly disappeared when he grabbed her hand, and they headed out of the chapel. Once they were in the garden, Michael turned to her with a large smile on his face.

"It's good to see you again, Eleanor."

She smiled back at him. He pulled her close and kissed her again, causing her to blush. As he pulled away, he whispered, "I think you'll enjoy tonight if you're already blushing at a mere kiss from me."

She looked up at him in surprise. 'How can he say such things when we're not in our bedchamber!'

He smiled at her mischievously, a smile that was very similar to the one Lucas wore.

"Let's go, my Duchess. We have more guests waiting for us at our wedding feast."

Michael pulled her along, back into the castle. This time she was led towards the front of the castle, to a part she hadn't seen yet. Michael pushed open a door and pulled her into what appeared to be a reception room. Eleanor glanced up him curiously.

"We'll wait here until Lucas comes to get us. The guests should be seated before we enter."

Eleanor nodded.

"Come, sit down. Your feet must be tired."

Michael pulled her to one of the couches and sat her down next to him.

"I've missed you."

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"It's true. I couldn't get you out of my head over all these years. I've been waiting for this day for so long. Have you missed me?"

She nodded shyly.

"Good," he said with a smile.

They sat in silence for the next couple minutes, though Michael was stroking the top of her hand that he was clasping in his lap. There was a knock at the door.

"Enter."

Lucas entered and smiled at the two of them.

"The guests are all seated. My lord. My lady."

"Wonderful. Come, Eleanor."

Lucas led them through the halls to another set of double doors. Lucas then walked through.

"Announcing his Lordship and her Ladyship, the Duke and Duchess of Kent."

Eleanor and Michael stepped through the doorway into the banquet hall to thunderous applause. Michael held her hand as they walked between the tables up to the dais. Once there, two servants pulled out their chairs so they could stand in front of them.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate this wonderous occasion. Please enjoy the feast!" exclaimed Michael to the room.

There was more applause at his words, as he and Eleanor sat down. Moments later the servants started serving the food and drink. Eleanor sat there waiting for Michael to start eating, when she realized that the seat on her right was empty.

"Go ahead and eat, Eleanor," said Michael who was seated to her left.

Eleanor nodded and started eating. She ate slowly, so that she could take in what was going on in the room. She noticed there was more than twice the number of people in the banquet hall than there had been at the wedding. Most of them she figured to be the rest of the vassals and knights, though some didn't look to be either. As she was getting close to finishing her first plate, someone pulled out the empty seat on her right. She looked up and saw Lucas who was smiling down at her.

"My lord. My lady."

"Lucas, I was wondering what was taking you so long to get here. I didn't want you to miss the feast," said Michael from beside Eleanor.

"My apologizes. There were some things that I needed to take care of before I joined the feast," explained Lucas as he sat down.

A servant came forward and filled his goblet. After about thirty more minutes, some of the vassals started to approach the table to offer their congratulations and wedding gifts to the couple. This went on for quite some time, but as the last group left Misha approached Eleanor. With a curtsy to both her and Michael, Misha bent down and whispered to her:

"My lady, it's time for you to head up."

Eleanor glanced at Michael who nodded his approval of her leaving.

As she stood up, Michael grabbed her hand and whispered, "I'll be up shortly."

Eleanor nodded and followed Misha out of the banquet hall. They headed up to the bedchamber, and Misha helped her out of the wedding dress. As Eleanor stood there for a moment, naked, she saw Misha pull out a dressing gown of black and purple. Eleanor looked at Misha in confusion. 'Normally dressing gowns on wedding nights are white or slightly off-white. Why is it purple and black?'

Eleanor didn't resist as Misha helped her into the dressing gown. When she was done, Eleanor sat at the foot of the bed as Misha cleared the clothes. Soon there was a knock at the door.

"Enter," said Misha.

The door opened and Michael entered. Misha quickly left the room as Michael made his way to Eleanor.

"Hello, my lovely Eleanor. I'm glad to see you again," whispered Michael as he placed his hand on her cheek.

There wass another knock at the door.

"This part might confuse you, Eleanor, but everything will be okay," whispered Michael as he started stroking her cheek. "Come in."

The door opened, and in walked the man she saw at the wedding with the purple stole, followed by Lucas and the three women who had helped her get ready for the wedding earlier in the day.

"Now, let us begin the most important wedding taking place today."

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