15. Johree
JOHREE
“I don’t care. I’m not doing that. I get that this is,” he wiggled two fingers of each hand in the air, quote, ‘a momentous state occasion of vast diplomatic importance for the entire galaxy’, unquote.
It’s also our wedding, and since this is the only one I’m ever going to get, I want it to be how I want it.
And that’s not flying off yet again someplace else, and having an over the top wedding. ”
“But, Your Grace,” my father’s chief advisor, Bokynor, gasped from the view screen. “It’s Dragonii tradition for the new prince or princess to end the ceremony with their coronation.”
Jesse crossed his arms stubbornly, his eyes hard and mouth grim. “So there’s not one but two fancy pants ceremonies I gotta go through? I didn’t even go to my own college graduation as it was too much fuss for me to want to go through!”
“The king passes the crown to the prince or princess to place upon their new mate’s head; that’s all.”
“Prince Johree, please reason with your mate! Some traditions can be overlooked, but this one is sacred! After the vid announcement of your being matched came out, the only thing on any Dragonii’s lips or social media presence has been how excited they all are for the wedding!”
“Why can’t we do it here?” Jesse begged.
“You have no room grand enough to host such an event! Nor places for the guests to stay!” Bokynor screeched.
“Excuse me,” Bob interrupted politely. “But I believe Jesse’s request has merit, as does Advisor Bokynor’s comment regarding the need of the masses to bask in the comfort of tradition, especially given this is the first royal Dragonii mating outside of the species.”
“So what do you suggest?” Bokynor snipped.
“Simple,” Bob responded. “This mating has occurred because of the treaty with Earth and the lure of New Haven. Prince Johree is governor here as well. So, what I propose is a little use of modern technology and using nods to old Earth traditions as well as Dragonii. Have a wedding arch built and flowers brought in. Have the wedding outside, so the view through the arch from the audience’s side is the beautiful vista of the prairie, with one of the existing farm’s buildings in the distance.
Prince Johree should wear traditional Dragonii wedding attire, while Jesse can wear something traditional to Earth. ”
“I’ll happily wear a suit. One of those schmancy ones - what do they call them, like a tux only fancier?”
“A morning suit?”
Jesse snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that. Royals on Earth wear those when getting married. And um, a sash with their medals. I don’t have any medals, but how about we embroider the sash with a representation of stuff to do with me being from Earth.
And, uh, we could both wear a medallion or something that represents New Haven. ”
“But the protocol for the coronation would require the king, prince consort, and the rest of the royal family to fly out here, and there is nowhere suitable for them to stay! You cannot expect them to all remain in orbit aboard the naval vessel bringing them.”
“Remember I mentioned modern technology?” Bob snarked.
“This is where that comes in. Rather than upend everyone’s schedule for days just to get here, then another day for the ceremony, and more days returning them all home, I suggest instead that the king be filmed wearing his robes of state, appearing to hand the crown to someone off screen.
Then, the day of the wedding, stitch it into the official wedding coverage so Prince Johree is then shown holding the crown, which he places upon Jesse's head.”
“I like that idea,” Pata said, Father nodding in agreement.
“We can come for a state visit once your home is built, and have a family get together without all the fuss then. I’m sure you’ll have some lovely new buildings for us to see and someplace or other important that your father can cut a ribbon to open. ”
Jesse’s guffaw caught us all off guard. “For real? Y’all make royals do shit like that too?”
I glanced at him in amusement. “Indeed. Normally, this will fall to one of us, but during a state visit, it’s then their duty.
” I rubbed the scales along my arm thoughtfully.
“We can build the courthouse next. The sheriff’s office and jail were just completed, as we only needed a maximum of three cells at this time and even that seems a bit excessive.
We’ve only ever had two drunks at a time to handle. ”
“It’ll get crowded if anyone starts a brawl,” Jesse replied drily.
“What sort of flowers do we need to have onsite and how many?” Bokynor asked, mollified now that my fathers had thrown support for Bob’s idea.
“It’s usually roses for weddings,” Jesse said. “Red ones are for true love.”
“Then they need to be red roses!” Bokynor decided.
Jesse threw an amused glance my way, but didn’t disagree, letting Bokynor have this victory.
“I’ll consult several wedding arch building plans and forward them to the construction crew,” Bob said.
“Well, if you’ll be importing the flowers, why not simply import an arch and stuff from a wedding store on Earth as well?” Jesse asked.
“Cracking idea!” Bob crowed. “The flowers can travel in stasis and remain in it until we need them. Now, let’s talk about cake!”
Jesse made a small whimpering noise.
“C’mon, dude, cutting the cake is a big thing with Earth weddings! Just tell me what flavor cake is your fave, and I’ll handle the rest.”
“Red Velvet, with cream cheese frosting,” came the reply. “I don’t like any kind of frosting except that kind or buttercream.”
“See, not so hard! I’ll order a simple, yet elegant, three tier cake to be brought here in stasis too, and I’ll create your suit myself using a replicator so we’ll know that it fits perfectly.”
Bokynor grinned, and it was the sort that said whatever he was about to say, Jesse was absolutely going to hate it.
“With the royal court attending virtually, this opens the guest list up wonderfully. We’ll be able to get all the important dignitaries from Earth to attend who’d be invited to a human royal wedding!”
Jesse’s eyes widened in horror. “Human dignitaries? Like who?”
“The leader of your country, for example, and I believe there are several royal families in several countries yours are very friendly with.”
“Oh, holy jeebus. I…I…”
He looked ready to bolt.
“We’ll leave that to you, Bokynor, but as viewing guests only. No private one to one chats,” I told him sternly. “And now I do believe we have figured out the particulars, all except the date. We can decide once we find out how long it will take to source the flowers, cake, and arch.”
“Indeed,” Bokynor bowed and backed away from the screen, knowing a dismissal when he heard one.
“Congratulations on your mating,” Father said.
“It won’t always be this stressful,” Pata added. “I rather envy you out there without all the trappings of Court and the advisors and Grand Council to deal with on a daily basis.”
“Love you and speak to you again soon,” Father said, and Pata smiled gently as he nodded to add his sentiment along.
“I love you too,” I said and was rewarded with even larger smiles right before Father ended his side of the transmission.
“I think I need to go lay down,” Jesse said before rushing from the room.
“Hey, Prince Johree?” Bob called out before I could follow him to make sure he was alright. “Why did the government worker bring a map to work?”
I blinked. “A worker brought a map? Who?”
“No, no, it’s a joke. You’re supposed to guess the answer.”
“No idea,” I said, going to find Jesse. His bedroom was closed.
“So he could find his way around all the red tape!”
“That was a terrible joke!” I heard Jesse shout with a cackle.
I smiled. He was okay, simply overwhelmed.
“Okay, then how about this one…”