'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Solemn Vow

Eagle cleared his throat as he shuffled the sheet of paper that would have some notes that he had made earlier on to address the community. Anastasia was beside him as she gets herself ready to amplify and project Eagle's voice over to the full attendance of today's sermon.

"Good morrow His and Her Majesty, along with His and Her Royal Highnesses, the community of Gracehaven and also to our 129 young couples that had gathered right before us in Macleod Coliseum."

"Frankly speaking, this is my first time addressing such a large crowd and also for a special occasion. I hope in one year's time and more years to follow, everyone would remember that this day, 28th August, is the day that these 129 couples before us would be getting married in this one in a lifetime wedding service."

Eagle's voice rang clear and loud across the Coliseum and everyone could hear it very well. He emphasised the date so that in the future to come, they would remember it and be wishing these couples on their anniversary date.

Unlike some normal weddings, people would be gathered around, done and wine and then forget about the date and the anniversaries of these future newlyweds.

It is considered as a norm for those who never had any acquaintance to these future newlyweds and therefore, Eagle made it as a point to drill the date into their heads.

"We would like to thank the Royal family for letting us have this once on a lifetime wedding service held in the Coliseum but most importantly the chance for these future newlyweds to start their own families and also for new families to follow suit as well."

Everyone was simply overjoyed as they knew two families would now become one and be related to one another. This was something that was beyond their wildest imagination and be made possible as the citizens were freedmen and not unlike their cousins and relatives that remained as serfs or peasants in other towns.

Someone started to cheer and brought their hands together and the actions were infectious as it soon brought over waves of cheers among the nearly 3,000 strong audiences.

After the cheers and clappings had finally died down, Eagle continued his service. He looked at his sides and glanced at me while I flashed him a thumbs up to resume.

"Without further ado, since lunchtime is also nearing, could all the 129 couples before us please stand up. When I said 'I, you say your names and when I say you, you say your spouse names', alright? When I start the service, everyone repeat and follow in one unison voice."

The 129 future newlyweds stood on their feet and we could hear rustling sounds of dresses and new clothes as the future newlyweds held each other hands anxiously and looked into each other eyes.

They knew that the moment was near and this would mark the biggest event that would go down in the annals of ours.

With God Almighty before us,

I...

Take you...

To be my wife or husband,

To have and to hold,

From this day onward,

For better, for worse,

For richer, for poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and to cherish,

Till death do us part,

According to God's holy law,

And this is my solemn vow."

(Amen)

As expected when Eagle started the wedding vow, whom many of the future newlyweds had never heard before except for their parents began to echo what the High Priest before them word by word.

It sounded clear and loud right after they had spoken their names and their spouse's names as it does not to be amplified as it became one voice and it was thunderous. It even shocked the little twins but they were not scared but happy as well and bounding in our laps.

After the newlyweds had mentioned the whole wedding vows, Eagle continued by saying, "We now pronounce you, man and wife. You may kiss the bride and groom...!" when the audience heard the closing of the wedding vows, loud cheers erupted in the bleachers like as if they had witnessed their favourite football team had just scored an unbelievable goal from 60 yards away...!

There were no gifts and also no wedding bands to exchange hands or fingers. The newlyweds were so happy that the young men were chest-bumping while the girls were high fiving each other. It looked kind of comical but you get the whole general idea.

After the short congratulatory motions within the newlyweds, they came over in one single file and shook hands with the High Priest and then saluted and bowed deeply to us. I cleared my throat and signalled to Anastasia as we announced, "Let's get down to business and let's spread the goodness around, shall we?"

My voice was projected over and everyone cheered as the ones who would be setting up the whole boodle fight would be newlyweds and guided by some of the Shadow unit members who were also delighted at the preparation of the boddle fight that was about to begin.

Since the militia was on duty and not allowed to leave their post, several members of the Shadow unit stood by with piles of banana leaves that would be used to wrap the food and be shared with 4 people per serving. It would be fully decked with rice and lots of dishes as well.

The newlyweds, assisted by the kitchen helpers and the Shadow unit members began to line up the whole banana leaves and ensure that there was no gap in between. Then a Shadow unit carried the cauldron of steamed rice and began to arrange it in a neat line in the middle of the banana leaves, right at the ribs of the leaf and began to spread the steamed rice evenly.

There were a lot of cauldrons containing steamed rice and it was distributed to all the tables and it was a contrast of green and white in the centre of the dining table. Some of the kitchen helpers and the newlyweds began to scoop the dishes and place them at the edges of the mounds of rice.

It was quite a happening scene as newlyweds, kitchen helpers and Shadow unit members began to pile rice and dishes and from a distance, it looked rather appetising and enticing...!

The attendees slowly stepped down from the bleachers and began to help out with the food distribution and before long, all the 100 over tables with the banana leaves in the centre had been filled with steamed rice and a wide glorious spread of dishes, courtesy of the citizens as well as Heather too.

We too stepped down and Heather had Jay-R in her arms while I was holding on to Amy and both of the twins were excited to mingle with the community as their eyes feasted on the spread before them.

I watched the twins as they held their fists inside their mouth as drool began to trickle at the sides of their mouth. There was all kind of dishes of various flavours, colours and variety such as game meat, fish, poultry and also vegetables.

There were simple foods such as yard long beans and boiled sweet corn that had been quartered cooked in Hawthorn juice to give it a tangy, sweet taste. There was also stir-fried pumpkin with yard long beans and okra to give colour to the dishes as well.

Some families had cooked egg omelette with shrimps, red and green peppers, shallots and celery. Even though it was a simple dish, but we all could see the quantity that had been provided for every table.

It was a joint effort for some recently inducted families and since they had been here for some time, they had used nearly half of their earnings for this feast.

There was chicken that was fried, steamed and even made into a kind of soup with potatoes and mirliton, with shallots and garlic they were served into small bowls and could be shared with 4 people.

The Shadow unit members then packed the remaining rice into the prepared banana leaves before they added some dishes into it. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience as everyone took part in arranging the first boodle fight ever.

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