Chapter 37: Unity
****
Loisette stared at Clarkent and hid her grin. It was the day of his coronation ceremony, and he was squirming under everyone’s scrutiny. He obviously didn’t feel the part of a king. But he certainly looked it.
He was dressed in blue and gold. In fact, his outfit was very similar to what he had worn at Loisette’s birthday ball, though the gold cape he had on now was much heavier and lined with ermine. Like before, his chest bore a rearing dragon, which he and Loisette had learned was the symbol of Kryptonian royalty. His tunic showed off the broadness of his chest and shoulders, and that in conjunction with his fine clothing and the muscles he’d built up over the years gave his form a powerful look befitting of a king.
She allowed herself to stare at him without any reservations. She studied the line of his jaw, the softness of his eyes, the slight curl of his dark bangs over his forehead . . . . He was a handsome man--deep down, she’d always known that--but to see him here like this really drove the realization home to her. He had such strength of character and body . . . and now he would have the power of the crown to go along with it. He would make a wonderful king.
She glanced beside her at Clarkent’s parents. He’d refused to have the coronation until they were there, though his new Kryptonian advisors had wanted him to be crowned as soon as possible since they didn’t want their kingdom to be kingless for long. Loisette had shaken her head with a smile at his stubbornness, but she hadn’t argued with him. She knew his parents would want to be there.
Marta caught her movement and gave her a warm look. She and Jon had been given a quick explanation of the connection between Loisette and Gawain before the ceremony, and though they had been surprised, they had also seemed strangely glad. “I hadn’t realized my son was so close to royalty,” Marta had whispered with a wink, and Loisette had flushed. But there hadn’t been time to point out that Marta’s son *was* royalty before they were whisked away to the ceremony, so Loisette had been forced to stifle her reply.
After leaving the border between Kryptonia and Metropolita, however, Clarkent had made Loisette go to the stable with him. He had brought out a book from underneath a pile of hay and handed it to her.
“I was going to give you this as part of your birthday present along with the necklace,” he had told her.
She had opened the book and gasped as she realized its subject. “This is about your mother.”
“I know that now,” he had acknowledged with a smile, “though I didn’t when I first got it. I was thinking . . . maybe we could read it together?”
“I’d like that,” she had told him.
They still had yet to crack it open again, but she knew they would. It would be nice for them to learn something about the family he had never known.
The former stableboy’s gaze found Loisette’s across the room, and she smiled at him. He beamed back at her, the traces of discomfort disappearing as their eyes connected. His gaze then shifted from her to his parents, who also smiled at him.
The words of the ceremony were lost to Loisette, who could barely even remember what had been said at her own coronation. She was too lost in thought to pay attention to anything but Clarkent. But when they finally placed the crown on his head, she felt her chest swell with pride. She thought again to herself, <He will make a wonderful king.>
****
The Black Mage stared with no small measure of bitterness as people stepped forward to swear fealty to Kryptonia’s new king.
He had not been able to convince North or his father of their need to imitate their successors and employ a court magician. Though they hadn’t said it explicitly, both North and his father had disliked the idea of having someone around who might be stronger than them. It didn’t look like he’d be getting employed by the new king either--the boy was too friendly with Peregrine the White for that to be a feasible possibility.
If only he had known the stableboy was a king--then he could have really caused some mischief. Maybe he could have even “befriended” him, cultivating good relations for the time when the boy became Kryptonia’s ruler. But that despicable White Mage had kept the boy’s identity under wraps.
He hated White Mages. They were always interfering.
His stint as the reinstated court magician of Metropolita had been short indeed, and it made him feel very sour. The new queen had brought back Peregrine to the position, blasted usurper as he was.
Things just hadn’t worked out as he had planned. He had thought that creating some mischief with Princess Loisette would work as suitable revenge on King Samuel for replacing *him*, the Mystical Sorcerer. His “deals” with people had been disliked by King Samuel, who had jumped at the opportunity to employ Peregrine the White in his stead.
After that, he had wanted vengeance. And he had thought the best way to achieve that was to toy with the king’s daughter.
Even after the king died, he figured he could at least make the dead man roll over in his grave by ruining his only child. But the spell surrounding the clothing had been broken--and not by him. He had privately hoped to at last find a good opportunity to reveal to Tempos that Loisette had been running around as a boy, but then Tempos had to go and get himself killed, and the clothing spell had been broken before there was really a chance for the Black Mage to bring his plans to fruition.
He wanted to lash out one more time at this group of people who had foiled all his mischief. He had bided his time--hoping he could still one day become absolute ruler of absolutely everything--to no avail. They needed to pay. They had torn everything he had worked for to pieces, making his patience worthless.
But he couldn’t decide what to do. A blazing fire at the coronation? A gift of a cursed shield? Or perhaps a cursed hairbrush?
He stared at the Metropolitan queen. She was utterly oblivious to his presence, too caught up with staring at her one true love, who seemed just as intent on giving her goo-goo eyes across the room.
Dragon’s bones, how he hated lovers.
****
Peregrine frowned to himself. He had been watching the room carefully, fearing some of North’s followers would be present and bent on revenging his death by killing Kallel. He could sense some sort of malicious presence, but he was having difficulty pinpointing its location.
Finally, he found it. Though the man was in a black cloak that covered his face, Peri realized who it was immediately. And he saw that the man was staring at Queen Loisette.
As inconspicuously as he could, Peri went over to stand by Loisette. She glanced at him briefly in surprise.
“I have a question for you, Your Majesty,” he murmured, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead.
“All right,” she whispered back, looking nervous.
“Did you make a deal with the Mystical Sorcerer?”
There was a pause before she answered. “I did make a deal with a magician,” she said slowly. “But I broke the spell--nothing bad came out of it.”
Peri heaved a sigh of relief. That was one of the best things she could have said. Though the Mystical Sorcerer was a powerful magician, someone who had broken one of his spells would have a measure of control over him if they knew one vital thing. “I am glad to hear that,” he told her. “Please, come with me.”
She looked at Kallel with a frown, obviously loath to leave since the coronation ceremony was not finished, but then she nodded. She excused herself from Marta and Jon and went with Peri.
The Mystical Sorcerer was standing at the back of the room. Upon seeing them, he slipped out, but they followed him.
“Stop,” Peri said in a firm but low voice.
The Black Mage did as he said and turned, pulling down his hood and revealing his perturbed expression. “What do you want, *White Mage*?”
“I told you not to make any more of your ‘deals’ with people,” Peri said, his tone harsh.
“You are not the boss of me,” the man said, crossing his arms. “I can do whatever I want.”
“I will not let you run around ruining people’s lives like a child whose toy was taken away,” Peri told him.
“Oh, really? And how are you going to stop me?” challenged the Mystical Sorcerer.
Peri leaned down next to Loisette and whispered in her ear.
She nodded, and a small smile spread across her face. “I command you to leave . . . Mxyzptlk.” The last word was said slowly but properly.
The man’s eyes widened. “How did you know my true name?” His whined question sounded strangely pathetic. He knew, as Peri did, that he had no choice but to leave. Part of his strength was tied up in the fact that his name was rarely spoken--but now Loisette had said it aloud. His game was up.
“I have my ways,” Peri returned. “Now, you must go.”
Mxyzptlk sighed. “You really have ruined my fun. But I guess I’ll go. Perhaps I can find another lonely princess to fool.”
Peri gazed at him sternly and watched as the magician left. Finally, he turned to Loisette. “You should have nothing more to worry about from him, Your Majesty.”
“Thanks, Peri,” she said with a smile. “I had worried a little bit after I broke the spell. I wasn’t sure if he would know about it.”
“Well, it’s over now,” he said. “Perhaps one day you can tell me more about what that spell actually was, Your Majesty. But for now, let us return to Kallel’s coronation.” It was so nice to be able to speak the name the young man had been given at birth. Peri had barely even let himself think it for years.
****
After the ceremony, Clarkent went and hugged his parents. Loisette watched him, her heart bursting with joy for how things had turned out for them all. Clarkent would never have to worry about his parents’ situation again.
“We’re so proud of you,” Marta told him, tears in her eyes. “You deserve to be happy.”
“I’m just glad I’ll finally be able to really help you,” he returned with a grin. “You’ll be living here from now on. And I’ll be able to see you as much as I want!”
Jon laughed. “We’ll enjoy seeing you more often, too, son.”
Clarkent embraced his parents once more and then turned to Loisette. “Hi,” he said softly.
“Hi,” she replied, smiling at him. When he had spoken to her, something inside her had jumped. It was as if there was something charged in the air between them. A warm look from him was enough to make her weak, nervous, and happy all at once. She wasn’t sure how he managed to do that to her. But she liked it.
Without another word, he offered her his arm, which she took, and he led her outside to the courtyard. It was more secluded there, so she was glad. She had wanted to be away from all those people.
He sat her down on the bench and then lowered himself to sit beside her. So much had happened in such a short time--it was nice that they could have this time alone. They needed to unwind a little.
“You’re wearing the necklace I gave you,” he noted, a happy grin tugging at his lips.
“I am,” she said warmly, reaching up to slide a thumb across the pegasus. A part of her never wanted to take the necklace off.
“Why did you leave during the ceremony?” he asked abruptly, sounding a little worried. “Is everything all right?”
She nodded reassuringly. “I’ll tell you more about it later.” She didn’t want to waste their time together by talking about something negative. The explanation could wait.
“All right,” he said, perhaps thinking along the same lines. He picked up one of her hands and lightly slid his fingers back and forth across it, causing goose bumps to spread all over her arm. Then he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on it. “Lois,” he whispered, the name causing her breath to catch in her throat, “I’ve loved you for so long. I tried to fool myself into believing otherwise, but I never really succeeded. You don’t know how I’ve ached to tell you how I feel, but a stableboy has no right to utter such words to a princess. I love you so much.”
Loisette gave him a crooked smile. “What about the boy part of me?”
He chuckled. “I love every bit of you, Your Majesty, from your head down to your toes.”
“Please,” she murmured, “call me ‘Lois.’”
“Lois,” he said, his voice husky and his eyes dark with passion. Her gaze was fixed on him, and she couldn’t have looked away even if she’d wanted to. “My brave adventurer. My wonderful friend. My spirited filly.”
That last phrase broke the reverie Loisette had slipped into, and she shook her head in disbelief. “You *would* compare me to a horse--”
“My beautiful young lady,” he continued, narrowing his eyes slightly at her interruption. “My . . . ” He frowned, having run out of descriptions.
Loisette laughed at him and patted his leg. “You are obviously not a writer.”
“Hey!” he said, looking hurt. “I could be one if I wanted to. I would just need a little practice.”
“A *lot* of practice,” Loisette corrected, sounding skeptical.
“I think you would be impressed with me despite yourself, *Your Majesty*,” he stated in a serious tone. But he was obviously trying to hide his smile.
She tilted her head, looking at him. “You know, I can call *you* that now, too, *Your Majesty*.”
“No, I’m just a simple stableboy,” he denied. He lifted his hands in the air for emphasis.
“Then what’s that thing on your head?” she asked him, reaching up to tug at his crown. He brought his arm up and lowered her hand, engulfing it in his.
“That’s just a decoration,” he told her. He was staring into her eyes again. They had been oscillating between seriousness and play, both of them nervous about what was happening between them, but now it had turned to pure seriousness. For a moment, she felt as if they were frozen in time. It was just him and her and their insurmountable and titanic feelings for each other. Before, they’d had to fight against those feelings. Now, there was nothing to hold them back. There was no need to fight them.
“I love you,” he whispered, choked with emotion.
“I love you,” she returned, melting under the intensity of his gaze.
“Lois--I have to ask you something. Some may see me as a king; others knew me only as the Black Knight. But deep down, I’ll always be a stableboy. I’m not sophisticated like a Metropolitan Noble, and I’ll probably never be a great dancer. But I know how I feel . . . and I know that I need you to do me--a stableboy-turned-king--a tremendous favor.”
“And what is that?” she murmured, caught in his eyes and the emotion of his voice.
“Will you marry me?” he asked, sounding almost desperate as he brought one of her hands up and pressed it against his chest. The gentle throbbing beneath her fingers was slightly faster than normal.
She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, she couldn’t simply say “yes.” She knew it was the answer she intended to give. But there was a part of her that just wanted to be certain about something. So she said, “Why--to be your little queen?”
He looked startled. “No,” he proclaimed firmly, shaking his head with vehemence. “To be my equal, Lois. You will never be inferior to me. *Never*. Both Princess Loisette and Gawain were my good friends--pieces of my soul. I would never wish to rule you. But with you as my equal, we could do great things together--we could unite our kingdoms back into Solaria. We could heal that break.”
She’d known his reply would be something like that, but it was reassuring to hear it. After being viewed of late as a marriageable item rather than a person, she had wanted a little assurance. She smirked at Clarkent and said teasingly, “Are you going to force me to ride sidesaddle?”
He laughed at her question and shook his head. “No, Lois, no. Not if you don’t want to. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. You get that, don’t you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “What about our people?”
“Them, too,” he returned with a grin. He pushed her hand harder against his chest. “This heart inside me--it beats only for you. You make it--you make it gallop . . . like a whole herd of High Flyers.”
Loisette held back a snort. “You’re not very good at being romantic, are you?”
“Remember--I’m a stableboy at heart, my queen,” he replied, bemused.
“And that’s just how I like you,” she told him. “Of course I’ll marry you. I never could have married anyone but you.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” he murmured. And then he crushed her against him and claimed her lips for his own.
****
The marriage of a king and queen was not an easy affair. There was a contract to sign--how many days out of the year were they required at each castle? what would the dowry be? how would heirs be handled? what power would they hold in each other’s kingdoms?--and though Loisette and Clarkent believed much of it would become meaningless when they finally drew up the new Solarian government, their royal advisors insisted on following protocol, and neither monarch had wanted to fight against them for long.
Finally, however, the wedding day came.
Much to the frustration of royal advisors from both kingdoms, they held the ceremony in one of the courtyards at Loisette’s castle. Even more exasperating to said advisors was the fact that the royal bride and groom wished to be wed while riding horses.
Clarkent, who was riding Esroh Repus, wore a red cape and a blue tunic, and his chest bore in gold the future symbol of the united kingdom of Solaria. On the front of his tunic was a rearing Pegasus facing a similarly upright dragon, combining both the palette and symbols of both kingdoms. The pegasus was known for its flight and speed, whereas dragons were known for their strength and endurance. Both Clarkent and Loisette had felt it a solid union of meanings for the Solarian royal symbol, and it was a way to revert back to what the united kingdom’s symbol had once been. Peri he told them that a pair of twin brothers had once ruled Solaria, which was why there were two symbols. When Solaria split, each kingdom had simply taken one of the brothers’ symbols as a crest.
Loisette was also in the united royal colors, with a blue cape and a red and gold dress. At her neck was the pegasus necklace, but she hadn’t forgotten Kryptonia’s royal symbol--her wedding ring had a tiny dragon engraved on it.
As the Metropolitan queen approached on High Flyer, Clarkent merely stared. Even when she was beside him and when Peri, who was administering the service, began talking--asking if anyone knew why the two should not be married--Clarkent couldn’t do anything but watch her. She was beautiful, radiant, happy . . . . And she was marrying him.
Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that he could truly and honestly and without any regrets be marring Loisette. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he had brought her any disgrace by marrying her. He hadn’t known that he was a prince of the *Barbarian Kingdom*.
He finally began paying attention to Peri, who was talking specifically to him: “Kallel, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health, as a husband should his wife, forsaking all others, keeping yourself only unto her . . . for as long as you both shall live?”
Clarkent gave her a wide smile. “I will,” he promised.
Then Peri turned to Loisette and asked her if she would take Clarkent as her husband. Her lips pulled upward as she gazed at Clarkent. “I will,” she answered.
Clarkent grinned. He was so happy. He hadn’t realized he could experience such joy. The love of his life was becoming his wife, and his parents would be taken care of for the rest of their lives. He couldn’t ask for anything more.
He was lost in Loisette’s eyes when a slight nudge from Peri caused him to look up and flush. He’d apparently missed his cue. But he knew what he was supposed to say next.
“I, Kallel,” he began, using his Kryptonian name since he was being married as a Kryptonian king, “take you, Loisette, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish . . . until death shall us part. This I pledge to you.”
And then it was Loisette’s turn, and she had a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I, Loisette,” she said, “take you, Kallel, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish--until death or *adventure* shall us part.” Her smile widened, and it was all he could to keep from laughing at her for being so pleased with herself. “This I pledge to you,” she finished.
The rest of the ceremony was a blur for Clarkent. He was too far gone in love to think about anything but Loisette.
****
At the wedding feast, Peri and Aliss gazed with no small amount of pleasure at the happy couple. The young queen and king were radiating their joy so intensely that it was somewhat infectious. There was not a dour face to be seen in the crowd. Everyone was glad to see the two kingdoms uniting, for it meant the on-again and off-again war between the two Metropolita and Kryptonia was truly over at last. The two monarchs had a lot of work ahead of them--one of the easier steps of their unity was having a castle made on the border between the two kingdoms, but there were more difficult steps to attend to such as drawing up plans for a government that advisors from both kingdoms would accept--but they also had a lifetime of bliss to look forward to. The hardest part of their lives was over.
“Now that our charges have a happy ending,” Aliss finally said, “might we have one, too?” She was looking up at the wizard with a ghost of a smile on her lips.
“You sure know how to make a wizard’s heart dance,” he told her with a chuckle. “I suppose since the King’s son and King Samuel’s daughter are now working on their happily ever after, we can start as well.” He put an arm around her, pressing her against him, and then he lovingly kissed the top of her head. “I’m just glad you’re still interested in an old sorcerer like me.”
She hit his chest lightly. “I’m no young lamb myself. But I’d say we both have a lot of life left in us yet.”
“That we do, Aliss. That we do.” Peri gazed across the room once more at the newly married couple. “But somehow I don’t think we’ve seen an end of the adventures of Loisette and ‘Clarkent.’”
Aliss laughed. “I have the feeling you’re right, Peri. If trouble doesn’t find them, then the queen will find it. And we know that wherever the queen goes, the king will follow.”
Peri shook his head with a smile. “I fear you’re only too right about that.”
