Roland did not know how long he had been running. Ezra was able to speak as he ran, much more easily than Roland. It must be a product of training since youth to be able to endure a grueling pace without running out of breath. He had explained what he knew of wedding ceremonies, and was fairly confident he would be an adequate witness to complete the formalities.
The two had formed a rather natural camaraderie, as Roland's status as a prince commanded Ezra's respect, but his humility and deference bred good will. They had lapsed into a companionable but tense silence as they continued toward their goal of the town nearest to Klain.
Though the distant sounds of battle were slowly fading behind them, Roland still felt every echo as a jab in his soul. The longer he took, the more people who could be dying. It was an incredible amount of pressure, and he could only run so fast.
Finally, by starlight, he began to make out the silhouettes of houses and shops. Running in the dark here was much faster than in the Darkness, but he still couldn't afford to trip on anything unseen. He kept his pace steady.
"Help!" a feminine voice rang out in the distance. Roland could see a fire ahead, just closer than the town. He strained his ears and heard the growls and snarls of wolves. Why were they here, of all places?
Roland had his spear across his back and the curved sword at his side. It was tricky to draw the spear as he ran, but he managed it, and Ezra followed his example. The younger man's face was confused but seemingly willing to continue following his prince's lead.
As Roland rushed toward the fire, something flew past his face and landed somewhere behind him. He had no time to glance back to see what it was as two wolves rushed directly at him. He skidded to a stop and braced for attack, holding his spear in both hands. He lifted the tip to impale the first vicious creature as it snarled.
It slowed to a walk and gave him a wide berth, circling around him, as did the other with it. They turned their backs and ran toward the object on the ground.
Without waiting to watch anything further, though his curiosity was intense, Roland turned and rushed to the campfire where Finn stood with an old man, a burning stick in one hand as she looked out at the wolves that had just come away.
"Are you hurt??" Roland grasped her shoulders and looked her up and down. She sighed and tossed her burning stick back into the fire. He didn't see any injuries, but her full skirt might be hiding a bite as it did before.
He made a fist to keep himself from pulling at it to check. That would be highly improper, especially with the two other men looking on. Still, the memory of the fever that had almost taken her life haunted him. He turned her around entirely and scanned her for any trace of blood or bruise.
"I'm fine!" She pulled away from his intense examination. "Doesn't Rhone ever feed those poor creatures?" She pointed to where the two wolves now fought over the scrap of dried meat she'd thrown to distract them. She was thankful there weren't more wolves together right now.
"That's not my department," Roland quirked a smile in spite of himself. What a crazy woman he was about to marry... which he should do as quickly as possible. "This is Ezra. He's going to help us get married."
"I found our missing Provider," Finn gestured to the man with her, "Or, really, he found me."
"Sir, I'm so glad you made it," Roland said sincerely, reaching forward to grasp Lysander's forearm in greeting. He hadn't counted the man's chances of survival as being particularly high when he had freed him.
"I have you to thank. All of this... everything. What can I do to atone for my sins?" He asked wretchedly.
"Let's think about that later. Right now I have to get married," Roland grinned at the Provider's utter bewilderment. "Ezra, shall we begin?"
The younger man was confused, but nodded, glancing at the fire where the pan lay. He sniffed the air. "Is the food... prepared?"
"The food!" Finn pulled her hand away from Roland's grasp and rushed to the fire. With a small cry of dismay, she used her skirt as a defense against the heat of the pan's handle and pulled it back from the flames. The wolves had distracted her, and she hoped the meal hadn't burned beyond recognition.
Her nose wrinkled slightly as she sniffed the pan. A grand wedding feast, it was not, but no one said the food had to be good to be binding. It wouldn't make them sick, but it certainly wouldn't be appetizing in the least. She transferred it back to the serving dish and presented it to Roland with a grimace. This wasn't the kind of food she wanted to cook him as a first meal.
He was staring at her with a look of panic.
"I'm sorry. Come on, it won't be that bad and you'll only have to eat a little--" She began.
"Your hair!" He interrupted, causing one of her hands to fly up to her head. "You don't have a head covering for the wedding!"
Finn gasped. She should have asked Titania for women's clothing before being taken off into the woods, but it honestly hadn't occurred to her. There were only a few elements to a Rhone wedding, and she'd forgotten what had to qualify as a primary part!
"What's the problem?" Ezra asked, having been distracted by his continued examination of the mostly-burned food. What a peculiar way to start a marriage. But then, this woman was clearly from Klain, so maybe their customs included barely-edible victuals. Ezra made a mental note to make sure he chose a nice Rhone girl who cooked well when it came to be his time to marry.
"Ezra, may I borrow your head covering? I'll get you a new one... at some point. Probably." Roland cringed at the words even as he said them. He couldn't guarantee any of that.
The young man swept it off his head and handed it to his prince. "Whatever you need, Your Highness. My instructions were to do as you asked, no matter how odd the request seemed... and the requests so far have been only modestly unusual, I suppose." Officiating a wedding instead of participating in a battle was safer, but strange.
Roland sighed. That was a relief. He quickly arranged the fabric on Finn's head, covering her face with the cloth. With only her beautiful eyes visible, she looked mysterious and alluring. He gulped. The enormity of the fact that within minutes this woman would be his wife settled in his mind and hit him full in the chest.
Despite the world falling to pieces around them, this moment could still be theirs. Roland would treasure it for the rest of his days. He lifted her hand to his lips for a quick kiss, and then covered his own face.
"Ezra, could you please walk us through the wedding ceremony? Neither of us have attended one before."
"I assume you provided her with the ingredients to this, erm, food?" At their nods, he continued, "Now you must remove each other's face coverings and feed each other bites of the food which you have gathered, and she has prepared."
Lysander, not quite knowing what to do with himself, settled back down on the ground against the large rock to spectate respectfully. He'd been to many weddings in his life, but nothing like this.
Roland reached up to Finn's face and pulled down the fabric hiding her nose and lips. Shyly, she reached up and did the same. Taking a spoon he carefully blew on a bite of food to cool it before feeding it to her.
She tried hard not to make a sour face during her own wedding ceremony, but it was difficult. She managed to swallow the bite with some struggle, and wished the ceremony involved giving each other water to drink as well, to wash it down. At least he'd chosen one of the less-burned pieces to feed her. She smiled gratefully at him, and he winked at her in return, causing her to blush.
He handed her the spoon and Finn selected a bite for him, trying to get one of the smaller, more edible bits. Blowing on it gently to cool it, she lifted it for him to eat with an apologetic expression. He kept a perfectly straight face as he chewed and swallowed, holding her eye contact as she grimaced slightly in embarrassment at feeding him such a mess.
"I had no idea I was marrying such a talented chef," He said without even a hint of sarcasm, earning a bewildered look from Ezra and a knowing chuckle from Lysander.