Somehow, they managed to communicate without speaking. Her sparkling blue eyes flitted one direction as a perfectly shaped eyebrow lifted slightly. He'd never noticed someone's eyebrows before, but he'd never studied his wife's face as he married her.
He raised an eyebrow of his own, making sure it was the one closer to the officiant rather than the one those in the view of the guests.
The corners of her mouth twitched making it impossible for Frederick to stop a grin from crossing his face.
Before they could connect further, the time came to make their vows, real ones this time.
Love. Honor. Cherish.
"Will you take this woman to be your wife, to keep yourself only unto her, until death do you part?"
Until death.
Should the worst happen, especially while they were relatively young, there was no expectation that either one of them would remain alone.
Frederick didn't let the implications sink in. Instead, he continued to look straight into Elise's eyes. "I will."
The same question was asked of Elise.
A tear spilled from those sparkling eyes. "I will."
There could be no "all my worldly goods I endow" - not when one was king, but he slid a gold band next to the engagement ring.
"With this ring, I thee wed. As a symbol of my love and commitment, I give you this ring, a circle unbroken, a token of my everlasting trust and devotion. Wear it as a sign of what we have promised this day."
Elise slid a ring on his finger and repeated the same words.
As a local children's choir sang a hymn, they were led to a small room off to the side. While there, they signed the formal marriage certificate and had their clothes straightened and Elise’s hair and make-up touched up.
Once they finished the paperwork, they returned to the nave where the officiant made the announcement.
"Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honored Guests... it's my great honor to introduce for the first time... King Frederick and Queen Elise."
Those gathered stood up and cheered, though they weren't overly rambunctious as they did so. As they walked up the aisle with her hand securely tucked inside his elbow, those gathered bowed or curtsied.
When they emerged outside of the cathedral, the volume of the cheers from the crowds gathered increased. They stopped and waved before going down the steps and into the waiting carriage.
Twenty minutes later, they were on the balcony of the palace waving at the thousands outside the gates.
As the chants for a kiss increased, Frederick turned to Elise and did as requested.
He kissed his wife.
Elise wasno stranger to the spotlight, but standing on the balcony of the palace with half the country cheering for her and Frederick was a whole different kind of attention.
She didn’t know exactly how they were arriving, but their guests should be entering the palace for the reception dinner and dancing that would go well into the night.
After a few more minutes, they turned and went back inside.
Frederick’s family had joined them - at least his mother and brothers. She knew it bothered him that his sister hadn’t been there.
Elise had spent a fair bit of time with her new mother-in-law the last few days. The Queen Mother seemed like a lovely lady, which matched everything Elise had heard about her. Frederick had told her that his mum wasn’t around often, but he wondered if that would change once they had children.
Elise pushed the thought of children out of her mind.
When they returned inside the palace, she found herself whisked away to the room set aside as her dressing room for the day. Once there, the stylist she’d been working with as well as the designer of her dress helped her change into a different gown for the reception. Though still a white evening gown, this one was less cumbersome but full enough it would be fun and look fantastic on the dance floor.
After her hair and make-up were checked, Elise met Frederick outside the room.
