A few minutes later, Petrucia walked in and guided Nala outside to the Pavilion, where she was to stand across from Felix and the Duke. "Do. Not. Move," Petrucia commanded. Nala nodded and stood where she was. She stared holes into Felix's eyes, but he acted as though she weren't there. Instead, he looked at girls sitting in the crowd, waggling his eyebrows, flashing his smile, and winking. He was like a cock in a coop full of hens. The girls responded by waving, blushing, and blowing kisses.

After a while, Nala rolled her eyes and went on to look at the Duke, the stranger who would soon be taking her father's place. He had silvery skin like most of the Kerr, but it was blotchy, bumpy, and covered in craters. His hair was a dull gray, instead of the clean white or vibrant gray that most Kerr had. He had an awful-looking layer of stubble on his chin and neck, and his eyes seemed to be buried under pockets of mouth was pressed tight, and the "laugh lines" on him made him look like an ape the way they cut deep into his face. Nala seriously doubted that he had laughed that much and instead nicknamed them "frown lines," because of the constant frown he seemed to bear.

The moment Nala saw him, she knew for a fact that the queen did not marry him for pleasure or because he was handsome. He clearly could not satisfy anyone in either of the categories.

Information traveled Nala's way pretty quickly in the villa. The Duke was rich and known far and wide for his strategic and military skills. He was a harsh, cold man- like a working machine created only to lead and to work. How he'd managed to produce a handsome, annoying, and light-hearted rascal like Felix was a mystery. Some people thought that Felix was adopted, or was a bastard- unrelated to the Duke entirely.

However, Felix still resembled his father in small ways. They both had the tight lips and body-build. There was some indescribable bond between them that made it quite clear they were father and son... despite the lack of fraternal interaction.

Once Nala was done inspecting the new family members, she searched the crowd for familiar faces. There were none. All of the guests at the wedding were friends of the Duke- rich aristocrats who Nala had never met or even heard of. They all looked grumpy, bored, and stingy. She moved on to the line of maids and looked for Carliah, but then she remembered that Carliah was mad at her, and she looked down to stare at the Ice Lilies in her hands. The Ice Lilies were the only flowers in Blanche Kerr that had any color to them. The rest were white or gray. It was all so very dull and drab. The lilies were a deep blue, and they were the traditional flowers used in Royal Kerr weddings. Snow lilies, which were the same flower only white, were used in common weddings.

The march of the bride began playing, but it slowly transitioned into the Blanche Kerr anthem. When the anthem started, the queen began walking down the isle. She was wearing a beautiful snow-white gown. There were reflective crystals embedded in it so that it resembled icicles. Her pure white hair was up in a unique style. A large, translucent gem held her hair in a circle in the back, and two locks of hair hung by the sides of her pale face. She looked beautiful and sad.

When the queen stepped onto the pavilion and stood before her soon to be husband, neither of them smiled. They both stared at each other with looks that meant business.

The entire wedding didn't feel like a wedding, and Nala liked it that way. She compared the event to a ridiculous play, as almost every person in the audience was wearing some silly dress or had a crazy accessory, and everyone was a bad actor.

The vows that Kerr took at weddings were said in poem. Each Kerr had to write their own poem for the wedding expressing their love and how much they look forward to their life together. The only vows that were set in stone were the confirmation lines, which basically just asked if they were positive they wanted to tie the knot. The Duke's poem did not sound like anything that would come out of his mouth. It was too sweet and gushy. Nala concluded that he must have hired somebody to write the vows for him- which, although frowned upon, was not uncommon.

The queen's vows sounded beautiful, but the way she said them made her sound sad. Nala would later be told by Carliah that the queen's vows then were just an edited version of the vows she took with the king.

Once the vows were through, and they both confirmed they would marry, they kissed each other very lightly on the lips. The stingy and grumpy crowd rose from their seats enthusiastically and cheered, for the dull part of the wedding was over at last! Now it would be time to move onto the festivities, where there would be plenty of wine, ale, and food.

The seats slowly emptied as the guests trickled into the ballroom for the reception. Nala, Felix, the Duke, and the queen all sat at one table. None of them spoke, and only Felix ate. The Duke might have been king, but Nala knew that she would never call him that. The title of king belonged to her father. The Duke would always be... the Duke.

A rather large man with more fat on him than muscle stumbled over to their table. He, along with all the others, had looked plain miserable during the ceremonial part of the wedding. But now he was drunk and quite happy. He leaned over the Duke's chair lazily and gestured towards the general direction of the queen.

"Let's see the pretty couple have a nice big smooch on their lips," he said groggily, puckering his lips to demonstrate. Nala sat up straight in her seat and glared at the man, but he didn't seem to notice. "That kiss after the vows weren't nothing!" the man continued. Nala was preparing to jump across the table and slap her hand on the man's mouth before he could say anymore stupid things. The Duke nodded and let out a laugh.

"You're quite right, Linder! There wasn't enough fiery passion," he said, playing along. The queen just looked at the both of them helplessly.

She clearly did not like the idea at all. Nala then turned her gaze onto her mother, daring her to speak out, reject, to say something- anything!But the queen looked down at her lap and did nothing. "Come closer, wife," the Duke said with a commanding tone of voice. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her closer to him. She wouldn't look at him even then. She just continued staring down at her lap. The Duke grabbed her chin and made her look up at him. Nala couldn't believe what she was seeing as the Duke laid a slobbery kiss on the queen's lips.

The plump man laughed heartily. "That's what I'm talking about!" he shouted gleefully. He then patted the Duke on the back and stumbled away towards another table. The Duke pushed the queen back into place and stood up.

"I'm going to go mingle," he announced to the table. No one acknowledged him.

Tired of watching her mother stare into space and hearing Felix gorge down unprecedented amounts of food, Nala stood up and walked back to the deserted pavilion. It was there that she watched the party from a distance, unable to feel any of its spirit inside of her. She turned around to look at the strawberry fields instead, where she thought about the event with Felix in her dressing room. She still wasn't sure what had come over her- if it was just all in her imagination or if it had been real.

In such a short amount of time, her life had been turned upside down, and she knew for a fact that there was no going back.