Chapter 28: Wedding bells

They made it to the office at the back of the temple, and the aged secretary eyed them suspiciously.

"Yes? What is it that you want?" She asked, and Filarion stepped forward.

"I would like to get married. Can we finish with the payment quickly, so it can happen today?" Filarion rummaged in his bottomless bag, and took out a small extended pouch. "What was the fee for a wedding? One hundred gold coins?"

"One thousand," the secretary told him. Filarion blanched.

"For real?" He asked, and then stared at her unblinkingly.

"New rules. The temple needs repairs, so we rose the fee," she said, and then began to prepare the documents needed. Recognizing in their fine clothes that they could pay.

"I can cover it," Johnny said, as he too began to rummage in his bottomless bag. "Don't you worry about it."

"No, you can't. You are the bride," Filarion spoke, as he placed the entire pouch on the desk. "Here is the money. I normally don't carry more than two thousand, so you will have to count them."

"I am the bride?" Johnny blanched. How come he, the more muscular of the two of them. The tank. Was the bride? In what world was it logical? "You are the bride, little leaf."

Filarion scrunched up his delicate nose up at his fiancé.

"No Elathana male has ever been considered a bride," Filarion said, and then nudged the pouch towards the secretary. "I won't be the first."

"You have to make amends to me, so, you are the bride," Johnny argued, not needing to tell Filarion for what the elf had to make amends for.

"You are the one in white," Filarion argued. The chestnut-haired tank looked down at his clothes. When the maids in the Elathana estate had given them to him after his shower with Filarion, he had thought nothing of it.

"You planned this?" Johnny asked, eyes narrowed. Filarion shook his head.

"I would have waited for you until the end of the world, but I would have never forced the issue of marriage. We are not what we used to be," there was bitterness in Filarion's voice. Perhaps they would never be as blissfully in love as they had been, before Johnny found out Filarion's dirty secret.  "Just let me pay."

"No," Johnny finally pulled out his own coin pouch, and placed it loudly on the desk. "You are the bride, little leaf. It is against tradition for the bride to pay."

"Oh, come on!" Zaine yelled, as he pointed at the two coin pouches. "Ma'am, just take half the money from one pouch, and the other half from the other. And those two can both be the bride."

Filarion turned around, and took Zaine's ear between his fingers. Then, he mercilessly tugged.

"Show some loyalty, son," Filarion hissed, but Zaine was unrepentant.

"Technically, you are both in white," Zaine nodded towards Filarion's clothes. While Johnny's were white with blue details, Filarion's were white with golden details.

"Are you really going to argue before the altar? Come on, be responsible parents and make some compromises," Gregory said, and nudged Nathaniel.

"Yes! What if we end up arguing before the altar when the time comes? Following your example and all?" The healer asked, and Filarion sighed. He turned to Johnny.

"I can agree to split the cost, but to nothing else," the elf murmured, and the tank nodded.

"What would it be, then? Do I count five hundred coins from each of these pouches?" The secretary's eyebrows were furrowed, as if she couldn't get rid of them soon enough.

"Sure, we will split the cost," Johnny agreed. One stack of papers to sign later, and they were sent with their licenses to the front of the temple to get married.

The priest eyed first Filarion, which made him have a sour expression on his face, and then Johnny, which ended up with his nose scrunched up.

"Why is that I marry criminals more often than not?" The priest murmured to himself, and then cleared his throat. "We have gathered here today..."

The priest droned on, as the three teens stayed behind their new parents and looked around. The temple didn't look like it needed repairs. In fact, it looked like it had just undergone them.

The golden rimmed paintings of different gods and the marble statues glistened in the candlelight. This was somewhat wrong. Impersonal. Fake.

When the priest finally handed Filarion the glass of wine, from which the two had to drink, the teens held their breath. Johnny and Filarion gripped the glass at the same time. Then, Johnny nudged it towards Filarion. There was a teasing twinkle in his eyes, as he did so.

Filarion took one look at the kids behind him, who were nodding energetically. After which he huffed, and took a sip from the glass. Johnny drank soon after, and the two were pronounced married.

The bells were ringing now. Their chime would tell the entire village that someone had just gotten married. The priest just turned around without a word, and slunk back from where he had come from.

Johnny then surprised them all, by picking up Filarion bridal style, and beginning to walk towards the door.

"I am not the bride," Filarion protested, but he was blushing.

"You can't pick me up. You are too fragile, little leaf. Just grin and be happy about today," Johnny told him, as he crossed the doorway, and made it outside.

For a time, he didn't want to place the elf on the ground. The soft warmth that came from Filarion calmed his nerves, and made him forget that they had ever been in a spat.

Yet, Filarion began to wiggle in his arms, and Johnny had to place him down. The three kids came rushing out, and Nathaniel stepped forward.

"Now that it is official, I think that you need a proper wedding. Supervised by someone who cares," the healer said, and his brothers nodded sagely.

"You didn't like the temple?" Filarion asked him, and Nathaniel nodded.

"It was too fake for words," the boy said, and shuddered. "Come on. We know just the place!"