Chapter Twenty-Seven Part Two

"If you are certain I will make a good wife for you, and a fit queen for the people," Charlotte said, unable to deny her love for him any longer. "Then, yes, Your Highness. I will."

"Oh, Charlotte, how I love you," He kissed her again, and then smiled at her broadly. "No one is more certain you are fit to be queen than I am... and my mother is going to love you."

"I certainly like her already," Charlotte whispered, as Julien kissed up and down her neck, nuzzling her ivory skin. "Oh, my parents!" she exclaimed at last. "What will they say?"

"I've already asked your father's permission, in fact..." Julien admitted, color rising to his face.

"He gave it?" Charlotte exclaimed, shaking her head. "You two were busy while I was gone."

Julien laughed softly. "His exact words were that I could have your hand, and your heart, if I could catch them." There was one last question Julien had to be certain of the answer to before they could go on. "Have I, Charlotte?"

"Through all and in all, my darling," Charlotte whispered, taking his face tenderly into her hands. For the first time, she risked to brush the tips of her fingers over the scars on the left side.

Julien's emotions were plain as he realized this was the woman who would only ever look at him and see a whole man; not a remnant of the man he once had been.

This was the night of his life, and he knew how he wanted it to end.

"Help me, please, slip the ring off my hand?"

She took the signet ring off of him, huge though it was, and handed it to him. "Temporary," he whispered, as he slid the enormous thing onto her hand. They both laughed as it barely dangled there. She took it and placed it upon her thumb instead, and then she kissed him deeply.

"Charlotte... Charlotte... Charlotte..." he whispered. "Stay with me tonight. Don't leave."

"I must, Julien," she sighed in pleasure as his kisses upon her neck and shoulders deepened. She didn't want to leave at all. "We are not married yet."

"Then marry me tonight," he asked. "I cannot bear to sleep another night without your heart beating beside mine."

She backed up and looked at him in surprise. "You're not serious."

"Entirely. Was that not a Friar, traveling among the men with Etienne?"

"Yes, he is outside in the yard, enjoying a bottle of wine with my father."

"Then fetch the Friar, and let us be wed tonight, here, in secret, with only your family and Etienne as witness. Then, when all is arranged, I will stand upon my new leg and await you at the end of a cathedral aisle, to take you before our entire kingdom as my wife and rightful Queen."

"You are serious!" Charlotte glanced at the glass on the wall and appraised herself: her dirty face, stained dress, matted hair, and smelling of battle and horses...

"I am, and I won't stop asking until you say yes."

Her face fell, and for a moment she considered someone else's feelings. Someone she wished to cause no more pain than she already had, and would, in the days ahead.

"Thomas cannot know. Not until later."

"Thomas already knows, Charlotte. What matter is it when his heart breaks, sooner or later? If I were he, I would prefer for it to be sooner. He is a knight now; he will behave as one."

Charlotte looked at him and tears fell silently down her cheeks. "Then I suppose I shall fetch the Friar."

"Before you do, my bride," Julien caught hold of her hand and, as he had done before, pulled her gently back towards him. "Let us swear vows to each other now, in private, before anyone else in the world hears or sees. Then we will be wed in the eyes of Heaven, and all else is but legality."

The idea took Charlotte by surprise. She had never felt so many emotions in her life as she did in this moment. She returned to his side, sat upon the bed, and kissed his forehead softly before he grasped her closer again.

"By God, how I love you," he declared. "Charlotte Rose Rousseau, I make you this vow; that I will be your true and faithful husband, from this night until the moment I draw my last breath and death takes me from you. Until then, I shall never leave your side. And if you will stand by mine, I will give you everything I have, and everything I am, in all: my love, my wife, my Princess, and future Queen."

"Tristan David Julien Georges," Charlotte whispered, "I make this vow to you; that I will be your true and faithful wife, from this night until the moment that death takes me from your side. Until then, I shall remain steadfast and dedicated to you, so long as I draw breath. My love, my husband, my Prince."

"Then we are married," he whispered, his hand gently stroking her cheek. "You are mine, I am yours, and may God have mercy upon anyone who should ever try to come between us."

"Almost." She shivered as his hand slid from her neck down over her shoulder and arm. "I'd better go get the Friar."

* * *

Thomas returned, with Etienne and the cart they'd borrowed from Rowan, but took his leave before the short wedding ceremony took place. He did so with a promise from the Prince that his training for the knighthood under the tutelage of Sir Etienne was assured; and with a promise from Charlotte that if she ever needed him, she would send for him at any time, knowing he would be at her side as quickly as he could get there.

Making that promise nearly broke Charlotte's heart. She hoped, in time, he would understand, and he would find his own way to a love that would fill his heart as he wished hers would.

Etienne served as best man at the ceremony, and Charlotte's own mother acted as matron of honor. It grieved Charlotte to know that by the time she was installed as Queen, her mother may not be well enough to attend their proper wedding in the church. She only hoped that somehow, with care from physicians from the castle and nothing to do but rest in the meantime, she might be there, still.

As the Prince was congratulated by all present and a toast was given, the bride slipped away to bathe and to put on a fresh slip and one of her mother's dressing gowns; since she had nothing else but her normal workday dresses to wear.

It was with perfumed hair hanging loosely in a braid at her back that she stood before her new husband, in the room that was hers but that, even after leaving home in the morning for her new life at the palace, she would always think of as theirs.

After Julien was again settled into bed, he looked upon his bride with desire. "Come near, my wife, and let me hold you to my heart."

She nodded, and Julien pulled back the blanket. Charlotte slid beneath it and moved close beside him, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. There was no awkwardness, no shyness; she felt like she finally was where she had always belonged.

She thought back to the night of the ball, and how disappointed she'd been, deep down, feeling sorrow over a life she couldn't possibly imagine. Now she was living a life that she never could have dreamed of, with the future king in her arms, in her heart, and in her bed.

"I never would have believed my life would turn out this way," said Julien, as he reached over and began to unbraid her hair. "Still, for as much as I have bitterly lost, I cannot think of a reward sweeter for my survival than you, Charlotte." He traced a line of kisses across her shoulders and whispered, again, "I love you."

* * *

And so goes the true story of the royal Prince: the one in which Tristan David Julien Georges, as charming as he may have been, had to lose everything in order to find the one thing that would matter to him most.

This was, after all, his story in the end.

What happened then?

Renee built a little house in the town of St. Fleur, where she settled into a quiet life of contented solitude.

Thomas was officially knighted in a grand ceremony at the castle by the Queen herself, and given jurisdiction to guard over St. Fleur as royal liaison to the village as soon as his training at Sir Etienne's side was complete. He devoted his life to his duties, and chose never to marry.

Walter and Marie Rousseau stayed in their home in the village, as they dreamed they would do, but with the aid of a cook and housekeeper sent from the castle. The village also received two healthy young physicians; one for man and one for beast, so Walter could retire and care only for his wife.

As for Julien and Charlotte?

Why, they lived happily ever after, of course.

~*~ THE END ~*~

Thank you so much for reading!  <3 F.G.