Tyranny of Steel

While the war for Granada entered a new stage, Berengar and his host were within Constantinople. Finally, the day had come for his wedding to Princess Honoria. As such, Berengar sat on horseback within the courtyard of the Imperial Palace, where he and Honoria would ride through the streets with a convoy until they reached the Hagia Sophia.

A medieval wedding ceremony was different from the modern ones Berengar had implemented within his Kingdom. As such, he waited patiently until Honoria arrived. After a few minutes had passed, the Princess descended from the staircase with her bridesmaids and family in tow.

She was dressed in an elaborate silk dress in Tyrian purple with gold embellishment. The jewelry that crested her dress was in mint green gemstones, which matched her eyes perfectly. For this special occassion, Honoria had washed the dye from her hair and was currently back to her natural brunette state.

Though Berengar generally preferred blondes and redheads to brunettes, he made an exception for Honoria as she looked divine in her natural state. As such, he sat upon horseback with a proud stare where he immediately began to complement his bride as he gazed upon her exceptional figure.

"Honoria, my dear, your beauty is matched only by that of the ancient Goddess Venus."

In response to this, Honoria began to blush as she tried to hide her excited smile, despite complimenting her in a way only a pagan would. She was happy to hear her groom was enticed by her appearance.

Following this, Berengar reached out his hand and pulled the Princess up onto his horse behind him, where she latched her arms around his waist and nustled her head into his back. The couple began to stride forth throughout the city's streets as the common people of Byzantium gathered on the sides, tossing flower petals into the air to celebrate the marriage of their Princess.

As the convoy continued to press through the streets, Berengar smiled and waved alongside Honoria to the gathered masses, further imprinting an honorable impression on the people who had gathered. If they knew that their precious Princess was no longer a virgin and the debauchery that she had gotten up to with her fiance, they would probably be cursing her at this moment.

Of course, they had no way of knowing such a thing; as such, they shouted their cheers and celebrations for the monumental occassion. Before long Berengar, and Honoria ended up in front of the Hagia Sophia, where they dismounted from their horses. Emperor Vetranis led Honoria to its gates, whereas Eckhard followed by Berengar's side as he strode forth with authority and dignity.

After approaching the gates of the Grand Cathedral, the Patriarch of Constantinople was there to greet the young couple and lead the procession. As such, he began by speaking in Latin as he blessed the rings provided for the ceremony.

After reciting the blessings, and a few bible passages, the Patriarch held the rings in his hands while pressing Berengar and Honoria's heads against each other three times. After he had finished this aspect of the tradition, he began to place the rings on the bride and groom's right hands before swapping them a total of three times. This tradition supposedly signified that one's weakness would be compensated by the strengths of the other.

After blessing the rings, the Patriarch led Berengar, Honoria, and the guests inside the Hagia Sophia; as Berengar gazed upon the magnificent Cathedral in its original state, he could not help but gasp at the beauty of it. Though he had created his own Grand Cathedral to rival any in the world, the sight of such a majestic and historically significant part of Christendom was indeed an inspiration to behold.

Eventually, Berengar and Honoria were led to the altar, where two candles were lit and handed to the young couple. As such, the bride and groom grasped ahold of the candles with their left hand. As they stood there holding their candles with their left hands, the Patriarch joined their right hands together in unison, where the young couple would continue to hold hands until the wedding was over.

Seeing that the couple had done as instructed, Eckhard brought forth two crowns made of wreaths; these wreaths were joined together by a white ribbon, where they were placed upon Berengar and Honoria's heads by the Patriarch himself. After doing this, he began to swap the crowns thrice, much like he had done the rings a few moments prior.

Having done this, the Patriarch began to quote scripture once more, though Berengar did not pay attention to any of it. Instead, he fondly gazed upon his beautiful bride with a smile on his lips as the ceremony continued. Eventually, after finishing his long-winded sermon, the priest brought forth a single cup filled with grape juice.

Because the Patriarch was made aware of Honoria's condition, he secretly swapped the traditional wine with a non-alcoholic beverage. He then proceeded to feed it to Berengar first and immediately after to Honoria, where they each took three sips from the chalice.

After drinking from the cup, the Patriarch led Berengar and Honoria around the altar three times on which a bible and cross rested upon. After completing this, the Patriarch first addressed Berengar with a parting blessing.

"Be thou magnified O Bridegroom, as Abraham, and blessed as Isaac and multiply as Jacob. Walk in peace and work in righteousness, as the commandments of God."

Berengar nodded when he turned this, and after doing so, the Patriarch shifted his attention to Honoria, where he spoke a different blessing.

"And thou O Bride, be though magnified as Sarah, glad as Rebecca and multiply like unto Rachel, rejoicing in thine own husband, fulfilling the conditions of the law, for so it is well pleasing unto God."

After saying all of this, a smile broke out on the Patriarch's face where he said the ancient Greek words

"Na zisete."

Upon saying this, the ceremony was over, and Berengar had officially married his third bride, the beautiful Princess of the Byzantine Empire. Having completed this portion of the wedding, Berengar and Honoria walked out to the greetings of each guest before circling back to the palace, where the reception was to be held.

Having returned to the Byzantine Imperial Palace, Berengar and Honoria sat at the table where the feast was held. While enjoying his time with Honoria, he gazed over towards his other two wives, who had less than excited expressions. Adela was pouting, and Linde was staring daggers at Honoria.

He could not understand the way these women thought, they fought during the day as if they were mortal rivals, but at night they were so quick to gather together to please him. One thing was certain within Berengar's mind, no matter how displeased they were with the wedding, neither of them would act up.

There were two reasons for this conclusion, the first being that they were shown the same degree of respect at their weddings by Honoria. The second was that Berengar would severely discipline them if they so much as began to make a scene.  As such, the evening was relatively uneventful in the form of unnecessary drama.

Berengar drank from his wine glass as he gazed over at his new father-in-law. He had many things to discuss with the Byzantine Emperor about the future of their two realms. As such he put on a cheery expression as he addressed Vetranis.

"Emperor Vetranis, I would like to have a word with you."

Upon hearing this, Vetranis, who was already two and a half bottles deep into his wine, shook his head with a smile on his face as he tried to correct Berengar.

"Please, now that you have married my daughter, you are my son by law; call me father!"

Berengar glanced over at his own father, who was present at the ceremony, to see if that was even remotely acceptable. Oddly enough, Sieghard had a massive grin on his face. Never in his life did he believe his firstborn son would accomplish so much, and in the end, marry the Princess of the greatest power within the Mediterranean.

While Sieghard was happy, Gisela was giving Berengar the same glare she had given him when he married Linde; though she was wearing a pretty smile, there was nothing but malice contained behind it. She could not believe that her son was such a hedonistic playboy.

Berengar ignored his mother's vicious stare, and instead focused upon his father's expression. Upon seeing that his father was okay with Emperor Vetranis's suggestion, Berengar sighed before addressing his father-in-law in such a manner.

"Father, I was going to discuss something important with you, but it would appear that you have had too much to drink. We can continue this conversation tomorrow. I am sure you will be interested in my proposal."

Vetranis merely nodded his head in silence as he listened to Berengar's words; he was indeed far too intoxicated to possibly be able to have a conversation about something as essential as agricultural reform. As such, Berengar returned his attention to Honoria, who had the prettiest smile upon her immaculate lips. It was finally her turn to marry Berengar, and she enjoyed every second of it.

After a while, the ceremony ended, and Berengar returned to Honoria's bed-chambers alongside his wife. Where they proceeded to consummate their marriage; Berengar and Honoria spent much of the night making love. It was not until well past midnight that the couple passed out from exhaustion.

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