Warning: mild sexual references

That summer and autumn there were surely enough celebrations at Camden Palace as to please even the most sociable, beginning with two betrothal parties – the king's coming before the prince's, of course.

Pip had to join the Temple of the Moon before he could become a member of the Royal House of Luna. There were four weeks of daily instruction with a priestess, and then he was fully initiated into the rites of the temple. The ceremony took place deep in the Sacred Forest beyond the city walls, on the night of the Summer Solstice.

Pip couldn't help a little flutter of nerves as he waited to learn his Temple Name, kneeling in a grove with his head bowed under the light of the full moon. The High Priestess closed her eyes in prayer, then opened them to stare into his soul.

"Your true name is... Raven!" she pronounced reverently. "Like the raven, you have wisdom, and can communicate with all beings, even those who have passed into the afterlife. Your courage shall guide the kingdom in a dark hour while a lost soul wanders, and as long as you remain at Camden Palace, the castle and its city will never fall."

Pip couldn't help giving a little grin at hearing his true name, even though the prophecy of the High Priestess gave him pause for deep thought. Pip smiled every time he introduced himself for the entire moon cycle, and did so numerous times at his initiation party a week later. Everyone told him the name suited him perfectly, and Bernard gave him a silver necklace with a raven pendant as an initiation gift.

In July, King Peter wed Princess Dorothea of Bjarma in the Wintertide Temple near the castle with all due pomp and circumstance, shortly followed by Dorothea's coronation as Queen Consort. King Peter then took his new bride on a honeymoon to Norway, so she could escape from the heat of a Lindensea summer, which was already making her wilt. Queen Dorothea took her lady-in-waiting with her, naturally, just as King Peter took his valet, secretary, and other personal staff.

As soon as the king and queen returned in October, it was time for Bernard and Pip to be married in the Temple of Luna on Oldbourne Hill. They wore snow-white robes with wreaths of white roses in their unbound hair, a silver crescent moon painted on each of their foreheads.

It was a solemn occasion when Prince Bernard Peter Wulfstan Gerald of the House of Luna-Encantador promised to love and honour his beloved, Philip Martin Lenoir, who had been bestowed the title Duke of Ravenswood in honour of his royal marriage. But that was nothing to the breathtaking moment when the roof of the temple's great dome was rolled back to reveal the night sky, and then Raven was wed to Rue under the moon and stars, in a holy union blessed by the High Priestess of Luna herself.

The High Priestess told the congregation that the Astrologer Royal had chosen the most auspicious hour for the prince and duke to marry, and pointed out that the twin stars, The Watchman and the Maiden, were just rising when the couple exchanged vows and rings, an omen of uncommon good fortune. 

Pip would have paid more attention to her, but he was too busy being kissed by Bernard, and at these times could think of nothing else. And Bernard didn't listen a bit.

********************

"So you see, Pip, I really did sort everything out for you," Zarvic said at the grand reception afterwards. "I mean, when I started out as your godfather, you worked in a kitchen. Now you're a duke, married to a prince. You can't ask better than that."

He knocked back his wine in one gulp, and signalled to a footman to bring more.

"I know. Thank you for being the best magician godfather ever," Pip said. He was drinking elderflower lemonade and patting Bam's smooth black head.

"That's me, the best in the bizz, baby," Zarvic said expansively. "This is amazing wine, yeah? Where do you get it?"

"Um, I don't know. The butler handles that side of things," Pip said. "I think it might be imported from the Persian Empire."

"I don't like wine," Bam barked. "I like chicken. I can smell chicken here. Can I have some chicken? Please, please, please?"

He scratched at Pip's leg, and Pip quickly gave him some cold chicken breast to stop him whining. The footmen were already giving him disapproving looks.

"I can't thank you enough," Pip said to Zarvic. "I would have been lost without you."

"Yeah, absolutely screwed," Zarvic agreed, starting another glass. "Genie knew what she was doing when she picked me as your godfather, alright. Oh yeah, that reminds me." He started rifling through his cloak pockets while still drinking.

"Ssh, yes, more chicken," Pip hissed to Bam. "But eat it quietly."

"Yeah, nearly forgot. Genie left me it to give you," Zarvic said, trying another pocket. "Forget me bleeding head if I didn't have it screwed on. It's here somewhere."

"Granny Bennett left me something?"

"Ah, there it is," Zarvic said, reaching under his pointed magician's cap and bringing out a gold locket. "She thought you might like this, as a keepsake, like."

He handed the locket over, and Pip traced the delicate filigree on it with one finger before he slid his nail under the catch. When he opened it, he gave a little intake of breath, for inside was a miniature of his mother, just as he remembered her when he was a small boy. He greedily took in every detail of the painting - her golden curls framing her lovely face, her large blue eyes, her rather long, aristocratic nose, her full smiling mouth, her pointed little chin.

"Where did Granny get this?" Pip demanded.

"That'd be telling," said Zarvic, winking and tapping the side of his nose. "Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies, know what I mean?"

"Well, thank you," said Pip, slipping the locket around his neck. "It means a lot to me. I'll never forget all your help."

"You've left the Temple of Magic, so now I can't help you no more, yeah?" Zarvic said.

"You mean I'll never see you again?" Pip asked in distress.

"Well, I have to travel through time and space a fair bit," Zarvic said casually. "You know, I got things on, don't I?"

"Of course we'll see you again," Bam said. "You're our friend, Pip." He licked Pip's hand.

"Please come and see me, whenever you can," Pip said.

"Might not be for a while," Zarvic said in a considering tone. "But I promise that when the kingdom is really in trouble, I'll come to you. Just like that."

He tried to click his fingers, but he'd drunk too much wine, and they only rubbed together soundlessly.

"What kind of trouble?" Pip asked worriedly.

"My lips is sealed," Zarvic said, running a finger across his mouth. "Not allowed to tell people the future, you see. It's whatsermacallit. Forbidden. Otherwise, you know. Bad stuff, woo woo."

"Just a hint?" pleaded Pip.

Zarvic suddenly stood up very straight, and his dark eyes seemed to be staring deep into the abyss. 

"That which began in war will end when peace arrives," he intoned mystically. Then he shot Pip a grin. "There you go. You got that one for free."

Before Pip could react, Zarvic and Bam disappeared mysteriously in a cloud of smoke, leaving Pip very puzzled. He felt much better when Bernard came to his side and put his arm around him.

King Peter congratulated them, but said Dorothea was feeling most unwell, and the ceremony had been hard on her, what with all the standing up, and incense. If they didn't mind, he and Sybil were going to take her to bed and give her a cup of ginger tea, to see if that helped.

**********************

Bernard and Pip left on their honeymoon the next day, spending a week in Paris so Pip could buy lots of clothes, then staying in a castle overlooking the Cantabrian Sea. It had been lent to them by Bernard's second cousin Alfonso and his husband Ramiro, the Kings of Leon.

Pip and Bernard had weeks of blue skies and sunshine, and made the fortunate discovery that they got on each other's nerves just enough to make life interesting, which is a very good thing to find out on your honeymoon. Because unless you have quarrels, how can you kiss and make up? And every night they uncovered fresh revelations about each other, which boded well for their future together.

In moments of deepest intimacy, they tended to call each other by their true names, and if you had lingered near the open window of the north tower of the Leonese castle, you might have heard: "Oh, my sweet Raven" and "Yes, yes ... please, Rue ... now ... oh yes." Because duke and prince were for the public, and Pip and Bernard for private life, but Raven and Rue were just for themselves.

Bernard still didn't have a valet, but now Pip took care of his hair and clothes, and somehow Bernard didn't mind so much when it was Pip running his bath and brushing his hair and rubbing lotion into his skin. He had a way of doing it very tactfully which told Bernard that Pip would have actually made a very good valet. Mr Lundy took care of Bernard's washing and ironing, and cleaned his shoes, and wasn't the type to break down and cry if Bernard got in a mood with him.

Pip often saw Bernard, in a pensive moment, take out an old leatherbound notebook and scribble a few lines. When he asked what it was, Bernard would look vague, and say, "Oh, memoranda and such," which Pip took to mean instructions to be passed on to others. Bernard had brought his equerry, Nigel, and the poor man was spending most of Bernard's honeymoon writing hundreds of thank you letters for all the wedding presents, and buying postcards and things in the nearest village.

One day, while Bernard was taking a short nap in the sun, Pip glanced in the notebook and read:

Your skin like rich cream, your eyes deep and blue as the sea
I want to drown in them, I want to sink and swim and swallow
The salt of you, the sweetness, to explore all your bays and cays,
Your secret underwater caves where mermaidens sing to starfish
Beneath the waves, the shining archipelago of the days and days
We have before us, your kiss on my lips the answer to a wish ...

Pip was astounded to discover that Bernard had been writing poetry about him, and knew that he had found a poet even greater than Mr Robert Black, because he had suddenly learnt that poems about love were far preferable to ones about misery.

When Bernard woke up, he was surprised to find Pip sitting next to him clutching his notebook, his face alight with happiness.

"Oh Bernard," Pip cried, "I knew I had married a handsome prince, but I never knew I had married a handsome poet!"

**********************

Pip felt almost disappointed, when during their morning stroll along the ramparts one day, Bernard said, "Well, we'd better think about leaving soon, or we won't be home in time for Yuletide."

"I suppose we'll be living at Camden Palace with your father and Dorothea," said Pip. "But it's pretty big, so ..."

Bernard gave him a startled look. "Eh? No, didn't I ever explain to you, Pip? As Crown Prince, I have my own palace. I was only staying with Father while mine was being done up."

"Really?" said Pip, brightening up. "Where is it?"

"It's on the western edge of Camden, in the suburbs," Bernard said. "It's a big white palace on the river, with funny little towers like pepper pots, and it's got ten acres of gardens, and a deer park for hun- Um, I mean a park where you can make friends with deer, and stables and lakes and woods and all the usual things. Its name is The Evenstar Palace."

"That sounds wonderful, Bernard," said Pip, looking dreamily out over the sea.

"This might seem a bit excessive, Pip, but you'll need your own personal bodyguard when we get home," Bernard said apologetically. "You can choose whomever you like from the palace guard."

"I know exactly who I want," Pip said unexpectedly. "And I'd trust him with my life, Bernard."

**********************

Iggy Zidane was working at The White Horse Inn, as he did every night, throwing people out when they got a bit too rowdy. Now twenty, he was even taller than Bernard, and much broader, with arms and torso rippling with muscle.

He'd been suspicious when he'd been approached by a messenger in palace livery, and felt that their smooth manners and fancy way of speaking was intended to make  a mockery of him. And when they told him to report to The Evenstar Palace at nine o'clock the next morning, he told them straight he was in no mood for pranks, and they could push off or get their head punched in, their choice.

However, the messenger must have been persuasive enough (gold coins persuade most people), and a doubtful Iggy did come to the palace the next day. Here it was explained that the Duke of Ravenswood, who had known Iggy as a boy, would be most gratified if he would consent to serve as the duke's personal bodyguard.

"Don't know no duke," Iggy said stolidly.

At that moment an elegant dark-haired young man dressed in deep blue velvet ran down the marble stairs towards him.

"Iggy! It's me, Pip!" the young man exclaimed. "Don't you know me?"

He took Iggy's hand, and smiled up at him.

Iggy looked around the palace with wondering eyes, and said, "Blimey, Ai reckon you really is proper posh after all, Pointy Face."