Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Thirty-Two)
Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.
Chapter Thirty-Two: A Wedding in Roma
After resolving their business in Nepoli, Aeneas and the crew of the Lepanto flew straight to Roma.
At the Papal capital, Aeneas talked with the Pope while the others spent their time in the city. Much as he wanted to enjoy the view with Galatea, the Inquisitor knew that time was of the essence with the Grey Globe still moving towards Earth.
A quick discussion at the Basilica of St. Peter allowed the Inquisitor to ascertain the situation at hand. Unfortunately, things did not look good.
Aeneas’ falling out with Lavinia had led to a shaky diplomatic situation within the Holy League. At the moment, Duke Caius had yet to respond to Aeneas’ message which informed him of what had just transpired in the Lepanto. The Inquisitor knew that he took a huge risk in informing this ahead of Lavinia’s arrival to the Duchy, but he hoped to be transparent with his ‘uncle’ and ‘ally’.
Regardless, Aeneas knew that he could no longer rely on the Duchy and their Proletarian faction to help against the Grey Globe.
It may change in the future, but for now Aeneas knew that he needed to make do with the four factions who had remained.
His Holiness had told Aeneas the importance of maintaining unity, especially with Lavinia’s banishment. The Pope clearly feared further fracturing of the Holy League. When asked for ideas to ensure Holy League unity, Aeneas put out one idea.
A really crazy idea.
But one that His Holiness approved. Either he saw it as genius, or he was really desperate.
Either way, it was up to Aeneas to convince the members of his inner circle to go along with it.
“You want a mass wedding?!” Giulia cried. Her face betrayed utter shock.
“A dual wedding,” Aeneas clarified. “After all, you and Pep are betrothed to one another. And the same is true for Lord Nikolai and Princess Omaha. Instead of waiting until we defeat the Grey Globe, the four of you can get married right here in Roma.”
“That’s an interesting proposition,” Nikolai said, chuckling. “Pep and Giulia, The Princess and I. Married by His Holiness at the same time. Count me in on this jolly festivity!”
“I would have preferred for our wedding to be in Texarkana, but Roma will do just fine,” Omaha said.
Nikolai laughed. “Excellent, darling.”
Aeneas smiled as he saw Nikolai and Omaha clearly onboard with the plan. “What about you, Pep? Giulia?”
Giulia sighed, still taking in the idea. “I won’t lie, this idea seemed a little tacky to me.” She then turned to her beloved. “But if Pep is fine with it, then I am.”
All eyes turned to Pep, who was deep in thought.
“My father will not be pleased with me bringing home a wife without his approval. Especially one who is not a bih’roe.”
Aeneas raised his eyes in confusion. “But then, why did you ask Giulia to wed?”
But Pep chuckled in response. “I did not say I refuse. I accept your proposal.”
“But…”
“I can deal with my father’s hurt feelings,” Pep said nonchalantly. “Don’t you worry.”
The Inquisitor couldn’t help but worry. The idea of callously defying the wishes of one’s father seemed insane to him. But realizing that he was ignorant of the Archon’s family situation, Aeneas chose to let it go.
“Then it’s settled,” Aeneas said. “I’ll let His Holiness know.”
But before Aeneas could do so, Kunoichi stepped up. Thus far, she had remained at the back with Shaka and Galatea.
“Wait!” she spoke up. “I want to be married too.”
“What?” Aeneas said in confusion. “With whom?”
“I think I know,” Omaha commented, a smile was on her face.
“Shaka, of course,” Kunoichi said flatly.
“Me?” Shaka said in surprise.
“Wait a minute, Kunoichi,” Aeneas said as he moved closer to the felinid girl. “I know that the two of you are close friends. But marriage is different than a friendship, even one between a man and a woman.”
“That’s not true. Friendship between man and woman is how you get marriage,” Kunoichi said adamantly.
At this point, Nikolai stepped in. “I don’t think it’s wise to keep arguing with her, Sir Aeneas.”
Aeneas nodded. “You’re right, Lord Nikolai. We should ask Shaka what he thinks of all this.”
Upon hearing his name mentioned once more, Shaka couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably. “Um…”
Filled with excitement, Kunoichi brought herself towards Shaka. She took both of his hands on hers. “Please, Shaka. Will you take me as your wife?”
“Interesting. In Terran society, it is the women who propose marriage.” Pep commented.
“We don’t,” Giulia responded. “Shaka’s just so focused on his job that he doesn’t know a girl’s in love with him until she proposes marriage to him.”
“Perhaps the same could be said for all men,” Nikolai said heartily.
Shaka looked to the girl in front of him. More focused on serving the Inquisitor in his journey to defeat the Grey Globe, Shaka had not even thought of marriage. But he realized that he loved Kunoichi. He had loved her ever since she asked him to be her friend.
“Okay, Kunoichi. Let’s get married,” Shaka said.
Aeneas couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. “Are you sure, Shaka?”
Shaka nodded. “I am, sir.”
The Inquisitor then turned towards Kunoichi. “And your father would approve of this?”
“Yes,” Kunoichi said. “Believe it or not, papa had talked with Shaka.”
“This is true,” Shaka added.
This was a relief for Aeneas. It was one thing for them to upset some Lektros chieftain. Quite another to do so against one of the Holy League’s faction leaders.
“Then a triple wedding it is,” Aeneas declared as he clapped.
The Inquisitor was happy that things were settled. Everyone else seemed happy too.
Everyone except for Galatea. The lady knight was the first to leave the room that the party were in. She left as quickly as she could and slammed the door behind her.
“Galatea?” Aeneas asked in concern. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Obviously, she’s upset,” Giulia said sharply.
“I can see that. But she didn’t say anything,” Aeneas said defensively.
“Are you thick, Captain?!” Giulia snapped. She looked ready to slap the Inquisitor.
At this point, Nikolai intervened. “Giulia, may I?”
Giulia shook her head in disgust, but she relented.
With the Venetian Lieutenant backing down, Nikolai stepped forward. The Tsar put his hand gently on Aeneas’ shoulder.
“Aeneas. Surely you know that Lady Galatea is the type who doesn’t want to trouble others, least of all you,” Nikolai said in a fatherly tone.
The Inquisitor considered his interlocutor’s words, the Tsar certainly made a lot of sense. Even so, this was still puzzling.
“I know that. But what exactly is the problem?” Aeneas asked.
Nikolai gave Aeneas a look of disappointment and shook his head. “Aeneas, Aeneas, Aeneas… I expected better from you.”
Aeneas winced as he heard Nikolai’s words. It reminded him of how his father usually acted when he was chastising him.
“Let’s break this down logically, I know how much you love facts and logic,” Nikolai said. “Here you have a woman. There were talks of marriages. Except her own.”
Aeneas’ eyed widened as he realized his mistake. “Oh no! I’m going to talk to her.”
“You better,” Giulia said under her breath.
Aeneas ran as quickly as he could. He asked everyone he ran across if they had seen his beloved. Leaving the inn that his group had stayed in, he turned to the right. He could see the Basilica of St. Peter looming over him. Beautiful, but the ornate church building did not concern the Inquisitor at the moment.
Eventually, Aeneas reached St. Peter’s Square. He could see so many people walking around, most of them tourists. Amongst the crowd, the Inquisitor looked around desperately for Galatea. Finally, he found her.
Sitting alone on one of the benches. Aeneas could tell by her posture that she was not happy. He quickly approached her.
“Lady Galatea,” Aeneas greeted. He sat down next to her.
“My lord!” Galatea said. “What are you doing here?”
“I should ask you the same thing. You really left in a hurry,” Aeneas answered.
“Oh that,” Galatea chuckled insincerely. “It’s just…”
“Don’t lie, Galatea!” Aeneas interrupted.
“But Lord Aeneas…”
“A lie sullies your beautiful face.”
There was a brief silence between the two. Aeneas studied his beloved and knew that he had her attention. He had to press on.
“I’m sorry, Galatea. I should’ve told you what I had in mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“I would love to marry you as soon as possible…”
“Then why don’t you!?” Galatea snapped. She caught herself quickly and looked to Aeneas in shame. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to snap.”
But Aeneas smiled as he took no offense. “No worries. I want you to be the bridesmaid in the wedding while I am to be their best man. As I said, I should have started with that. I’m sorry.”
Galatea nodded. “You are forgiven, my lord. But is this really necessary? Can’t we be part of the mass wedding. It’ll be a quadruple wedding.”
“A fair point,” Aeneas conceded. “This might be selfish of me, but I do want to marry you back home. Virtually all of House Aquilanus Patriarchs had done so. I can put on one hand those who didn’t, and I know a lot of them. I want us to be united where my fathers have slept.”
“That is kind of romantic,” Galatea mused.
Aeneas was glad that Galatea was at least open to the idea. But he knew that she was not convinced quite yet.
“Galatea, I know that you want us to be married as soon as possible. I do too. But I would like for us to wait.”
“But Lord Aeneas,” Galatea protested. “Each day I wait, my desire for you gets more unbearable.”
“I know. I feel the same way. But you must know that I take you to wife not because of lust, but for a noble purpose,” Aeneas declared.
“Lord Aeneas…”
The Inquisitor watched his beloved with intent. She looked deep in thought, but he was confident that she would accept his proposal. That same phrase had worked for her mother, after all.
As expected, Galatea nodded in approval. “I understand. I trust you, Lord Aeneas.”
Like mother like daughter.
With everything settled, the triple wedding was held at the Basilica of St. Peter a week later. Somewhat last minute, but just enough time for the faction leaders to witness their respective daughter’s marriage.
The wedding was a grand occasion with both locals and tourists flooding to both the Basilica and the Square to witness the occasion.
Security, of course, was very tight. No one wanted a repeat of the Castle Aquila Incident.
Aeneas found himself in front of the main altar of the Basilica. But he wasn’t the only one. He was actually at the right hand of the eight people group. At the left hand was Galatea, she was smiling joyfully. Aeneas was glad that his beloved had accepted his proposal for their own wedding to wait.
At the center of the three couple-group was Nikolai and Omaha. This made sense since the bride was the daughter of Emperor Hannegan. Aeneas knew that any other arrangement would be unacceptable for His Majesty. But Aeneas fully agree with the Emperor; this marriage would be the first step towards the Holy Empire’s restoration.
At the right side of the group was Pep and Giulia. This was to be the unification of both the Earth and the Moon. Aeneas had worried about how Doge Norberto would receive having a Lektros as a son-in-law, but such fears were misplaced. The Doge of Veneto respected strength and he was more than happy to approve of someone who was strong enough to protect his ‘darling bambina’. In the end, the real concern was how Pep’s father would receive this marriage. But the Inquisitor could worry about that later.
At the left side of the group was Shaka and Kunoichi. This was a bit of a curve ball for the Inquisitor, but he was glad that it had worked out the way it did. It had forced Aeneas to run a check on Shaka’s family history. He found out that Shaka’s father Christiaan was the Chieftain of the Boer Kraal, a position that was traditionally held by Inquisitors. Very much like being the Fief Holder of Prochyta. But Shaka’s father was murdered by his greedy brother and his surviving family fled to Roma.
Aeneas spotted said family members at the pews. An older woman, two younger women, and a small boy: Shaka’s mother and three siblings.
An interesting tidbit to all this was that Christiaan de Boer’s murder was done with the tacit support of the Zaibatsu. After all, they had an interest in a local mining venture. One that would require the use of slave labor that the Church had opposed. For Shaka to be able to keep his personal feelings hidden throughout it all was remarkable, to say the least.
But that was then. Now, the Zaibatsu had been freed of the Cabal’s influence. For his part, Aeneas was glad that this marriage was going to mend those wounds.
Of course, Shaka’s wicked uncle was still the Chieftain of the Boer Kraal. But that was petty politics. Hopefully something that Aeneas wouldn’t have to worry about.
Standing at the altar was His Holiness Pope Peter III. The man had a solemn look on his face. The Mass had been grand and beautiful, as expected.
This was followed by the nuptials which included the exchanging of vows and rings.
Aeneas smiled with joy as His Holiness finally proclaimed the three couples to be man and wife. He was happy for them, of course. But he was also happy to have united the Holy League as he had promised his father. It may not happen the way he planned, Lavinia’s absence being a painful reminder, but human plans often go awry.
A promise fulfilled.
It's a happy part two ending, save for poor Lavinia. I can't fault you for what you wrote, It's really really good.