A secret beginning.

[channe]

This was the worst idea I've ever had, thinks Agnieszka Kaczmarek, and I've had quite a few.

But it's not a bad enough idea to stop her.

And so Agnieszka buys some of the last flowers held over from summer from a stall on the edge of the market, ties them into her hair with sword-deft fingers, and sits on the steps to the chapel, waiting for Aleksei, biting her bottom lip and tapping her foot and attempting to look like she's honestly just sitting around enjoying the cool, beautiful autumn day. She'd already sent word to the person she'd need to help her out, and he'd greeted her at the door with his customary businesslike lack of warmth, disappearing into the body of the chapel to prepare; just because she served the Bright Form of the One God now, just because she'd once been given over and couldn't go back in that way, didn't mean that she was going to give up on the traditions of her childhood.

She was ethnically Dauntless, after all, and culturally Myrkenite. The combination had made her stubborn as hell.

And what of her partner in this terrible idea? Oh, Agnie had liked him for a long time; since he'd arrived, really, when her heart wasn't hers, when it was sewn into the Bright itself. And after Glenn had freed her, she still liked him, right through to to the day in late summer when they'd walked around the farm and stared at the clouds and told each other the darkest secrets they could; and once that day passed, once she realized she not only liked but respected him, she'd seen it going the way her last relationship had, right down to the Bright-damned thing inhabiting the dark spaces in Aleksei's mind.

And she wasn't going to allow that to happen. Not this time. Agnieszka Kaczmarek was going to turn it all around.

So it was autumn, and she was waiting, and there were flowers in her hair.

[BetaFlame]

Aleksei was not good at culture. He didn't understand a lot of things. He didn't understand marriage. It was unheard of in Rodel.

But Aleksei understood the important of rituals. Their meangs, and the value they carried. For all that he didn't understand of the whys, he understood he was nervous as hell. He had run around like a fool. He had used his portal room upstairs, one carefully warded against intruders, so that he could go far afield. He had to find something special. Something Agnie. Myrken was just too small. Besides, she would have to hide it for a while and eventually wear it while fighting demons, Baie's and whatever else Myrkenwood had hidden away.

And so he was nearly late, but he gets there on time, somehow.

He's even dressed nice. Formal garb, from Rodel. His dress uniform, as it were. He didn't really have anything else that looked nice. Shining black boots, laced through silver rivets. High collared black shirt, buttoned to his throat. Back pants. It was all trimmed in the brightest silver, the cloth somehow appearing metallic. Over it all was a nicer version of his huge white cloak. The mantle sat on his shoulders just so. Red solar crosses on each shoulder, one on the back. The inside lined in black, with a bright silver solar cross inside. Somehow it looked less funerary. He looked in command. She didn't have a right to complain about the color choices. It was rather last minute.

So the Scholar with an Angel that had taken in a Daemon would show up at the chapel, clutching a ring box and grinning like a madman.

"Well." Well indeed.

[channe]

Agnie had dresses, but they were at the farm. All of her clothing at the boardinghouse was utilitiarian, spare, meant for work -- nevertheless, she's changed, herself, and now she's wearing something nice as well. A green tabard, brown pants -- close to, but not exactly like, her old uniform.

And when he gets there, she scrambles to her feet, and she's grinning from ear-to-ear as well. "... you look," she says, quietly, "you look --" like a Knight. "Great." And then: "So we're really gonna do this."

[BetaFlame]

Her face splitting grin was contagious. He can't help it. He just laughs and offers her an arm, shouldering the fancy cloak aside. "You look like Agnie. Strong and beautiful." He just smiles at her and pauses. "I guess we are. You know.. I have no idea how to do a wedding?" He has no idea what he is doing, really. But he is doing it with Agnie, so it will be all right. Or the church would explode in a shower of demon gore and they would both die. Either way, it should be a party.

"Let's.. go get married?"

[channe]

A pause. Is she reconsidering? "It's all right. I asked --" she pauses, shaking her head. "I asked Kostroma. He doesn't have ties to Glenn like the priests here do. So he'll not say a word, and we can tell everyone on our own time." She slides her arm into his, and makes to open the door for the two of them. "And you don't need to worry. All you have to do is answer the questions." A pause, and a bit of a knowing grin. "They make it easy for scared people."

Inside, the Church of the One God is spare and utilitarian itself. The faith followed by most Myrkenites isn't the showy kind you'd find in Razasan or Ricathair; instead of the gold accents and jewel-encrusted walls there are three or four kinds of native wood, made by local carpenters. The floor is made of simple boards; the ceiling vaulted. Only the stained-glass windows, showing parables and old stories, show some kind of monetary investment.

She'll stop at the bottom of the aisle, moving closer to Aleksei. "Ready?"

[BetaFlame]

He smiles at her and shrugs a little. "Are we scared then?" A light teasing. He really isn't so worried about people finding out right now. He reaches over and lays his hand over top of hers on his arm, so he can escort her properly. He walks in with her, eyes scanning the inside of the church, giving her hand a soft squeeze.

He is not a religious man. Religion where he is from is a tool of oppression in Rodel. But he can admire the workmanship of the place. The way the stained glass shines in the room, the placement of the altar in the room so that the light would fall upon it. He just smiles at her and nods. He steps in toward her a little as well and takes a deep breath.

"Ready."

[channe]

Agnie herself was religious, but never overtly so; had he ever seen the symbol of the One God she wore time and again, or the way she made the symbol of the Bright with her fingers when she's frightened? Oh, but she's never frightened anymore, is she?

Well, maybe right now -- "A little," she confesses. But there's his hand, and that makes it okay, doesn't it?

Doesn't it?

So they'll begin to walk, then. Slowly, purposefully, with nervous acid in Agnie's throat but a smile on her face. The building is small; the aisle is short, and soon, they're near the front. At the end of the aisle, Kostroma waits. He's in his mid-forties, wearing his Razasani blacks and a tight face, barely smiling. He carries no book and no sword; no weapons are allowed inside the One God's sanctuary, and he is enough of a religious man himself to follow whatever rules are necessary. And when they're at the top of the aisle, he looks from one to another, and seems to wait for them to say something.

[BetaFlame]

Walks very purposely with Agnie, back straight, but easy and not stressed. He seems fairly relaxed now. Its started, so there is no point stressing about it. He gives her hand a little squeeze and glances at Kostroma. Part of his mind wonders what this man knows about him. He just gives him a smile and glances at Agnie.

Well. They are clearly waiting on him to do something. He opens his mouth and considers for a moment. Rituals. He has no idea what he is going to say, but he just says.. "Good Ser, we have come to be joined in marriage."

Well he hopes that is correct. He just glances at Agnie to see if he has messed up. Again.

[channe]

Kostroma smiles thinly. "I understand that this is a... hasty decision that the two of you have made." He pauses, quiet eyes looking first at Agnie, then at Aleksei. "But even a hasty decision can be a true one, given hard work and commitment. We don't need long speeches here today about love and marriage; you already know what you are doing and what it means." Hopefully. "What we do need are true words and true intentions stated by you to be witnessed by the Bright and by the One God of this house. So. Agnieszka Magdalena, is it your intention to enter into marriage with Aleksei, and to live with him in faith and truth until your death?"

Agnieszka pauses. She suddenly looks like a deer in the headlights, frightened -- but then closes her eyes, swallows, and smiles. "Yeah," she says.

Kostroma turns to Aleksei. "And you, Aleksei River. Is it your intention to enter into marriage with Agnieszka, and to live with her in faith and truth until your death?"

[BetaFlame]

The oath echoes what he has heard before.

He kneels before the Knight. The FIrst Knight. "Aleksei River, will you serve Rodel as Third Knight - The Holder of the Holy Fire, Slayer of the Dark and its Harbingers?" "I will"

He takes a deep breath, and looks at Agnie, then at Kostroma, then back at Agnie again. Oaths are heavy things, and he takes them seriously. He had broken one in his life, though now he served that purpose here in Myrken, he did not intend to break this one, ever. His hand squeezes on hers and he looks right into her eyes.

"Yes, it is. Till death." Then he just smiles at her.

[channe]

And Agnie? The closest to an oath Agnie's ever made was just a few months ago, above a wind-swept bell-tower, in front of none other than Glenn Burnie.

But before that, there was the blissful moment she'd been united with the Bright, above the ocean, in Razasan, and the meaning of that, and she'd been searching for it ever since --

"In our faith, Aleksei," says Kostroma, "the circle signifies infinity, just as the vows you make here today are infinite." Does Agnieszka look a little green? No -- it's a trick of the light. Definitely a trick of the light. "You have made your vow; the exchange of rings seals that vow for all time in the court of the Bright One. Once you exchange rings, you will never be alone; you swear to always protect one another, to be there for one another, and to stand together as one in the face of all that would come between you. And so: if you wish to seal your vow, exchange rings now."

Agnie bites her bottom lip, grins at Aleksei, frees her hand from his and holds out her hand for the ring.

[BetaFlame]

His mind works. Interesting, in the Rodel faith the circle was the same. The never ending rotation of time.

Then his hand his free and he is looking at her hand. He takes a deep breath and smiles a little, reaching inside the overlarge cloak he wears and producing the small ring box. He opens it, so she can't see yet, folds the ring in his hand and puts the box away. Then he puts the ring in her hand.

The ring had to be made for this. Or he had made it. A shaped bit of the same white crystal that had made her sword was set in the center. It was small, and set directly into the ring, visible from both sides. It was set in a band of white gold. He had done the best he could with her finger measurements in that short moment he had. He looks up in her eyes and smiles.

If she doesn't stop him, he will fully pull the glove off her hand and carefully slide the ring on her finger.

There hand been a mention of exchanging.. so he waits to see if she will offer him one.

[channe]

She loves it. It's obvious; the way she lifts her hand, the way she simply stares at it for a few seconds -- and then, as if reminded by something whispering in her ear, she jumps and digs around in her pocket. The ring she presents to him is simple, wooden, carved to resemble a braid. She makes to push it carefully onto his finger, avoiding contact. "I, uh --" she says, blushing -- "I didn't have the money for metal. Maybe we can buy something together."

[BetaFlame]

He just smiles at her and shakes his head slowly. His eyes lift to hers and he grins, tilting his head. "No. Its perfect. Completely unorthodox, just like you."

He looks down at the wooden ring his hand and the grin gets wider before he looks up at her again. They are really doing this aren't they? Them being a couple was a bad idea, they both agreed, and here they were getting married. Who would think that one summer day at her farm would lead to her and him joining together in a permanent way. This was a bad idea, but he loved it. He wouldn't trade this for this world.

"Is this the part where we kiss, or am I skipping ahead?"

[channe]

"... no, that's it," she says, and her smile is quiet and bright. "He has to say something, but --"

-- and then she'll reach forward with her bare hand, reach behind him to place her hand on his neck and draw him close. She knows what's coming. Both of them do. The rush of awful, blood-redeemed Rodel, of pain, of the moon-drenched Flagellant's Tower, of dirt and death and responsibility. Of running away. And now -- of running to, and the calm that comes after.

And after a time that seems like forever, Kostroma clears his throat.