The beautifully organised chaos that was the Crowning of the May Queen and her Green Man was over by the time Bill St.James led his giggling little posse of women through the fairy-lit forest to the bustling Glen. Jodie had insisted that they wait a full half hour after their son had taken Evan down the roads toward the city and the Glen itself, determined to be able to see every last facet of the man's face when he finally clapped eyes on his bride.

All in white, Marin should have seemed out of place amid the music and the bustle, the crowd of people celebrating the beginning of spring and the warm seasons to come. Wildflowers had been wound carefully into her hair, decorating the simple coronet of braids that held the tumble of her copper curls from obscuring her face. No bouquet for this bride, yet everything else was in place, from the simple lace that modestly protected her throat and arms, to the blue garters hidden beneath her skirt, to the silver sixpence nestled in the toe of her borrowed left boot. Lit up with anticipation and nervous excitement, she peered through the crowd, relying on Bill to locate Evan before her nerve broke entirely.

Evan was more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs as he awaited the arrival of his bride-to-be. Dressed in a simple black suit and a wide-brimmed hat, he looked like a throwback from the Old West, perfectly groomed and yet with a wild side to him that, like the Wild West, couldn't be tamed. He kept nervously fingering the ring box in his pocket, pacing the ground as he anxiously awaited the wedding party. Not even Daniel's good natured companionship could calm his jangled nerves.

The crowd made him nervous, not to mention the fires, and he was happy to remain at a safe distance. Every now and then, he'd stop pacing and glanced over at the crowd in anticipation, thinking he spied her, only to realize it was someone else. He had only been waiting thirty minutes for her to arrive, but it seemed like hours. "What's taking so long?" he asked no one in particular, eyes searching the crowd. "Don't think something happened to them, do you?"

It was just as well that Daniel had inherited his father's temperament, or Evan's increasing nerves might have started to damage his calm. As it was, he'd spent quite an enjoyable half hour watching the groom getting more and more wound up, absolutely confident in himself that his mother was mixing it.

"You really think Ma'd let anything happen to them?" he asked Evan with a grin. "Gotta remember, she's been pushin' for a perfect evenin'." Taking pity, however, he strained his eyes in the direction of the city and let out a whoop as he spied his father. "Lookee there, Mr Lassiter!"

"Where?" Evan asked, turning his head in the same direction Daniel was looking and craning his neck to see over the crowd and through the crowd, though they were quite a distance away. Possessed with keen eyesight, he quickly searched the crowd once again, finally picking out a familiar head of red curls amidst the constantly shifting crowd of faces and colorful outfits, and he felt his stomach lurch as he realized she was really going to go through with it, she was really going to marry him. "Oh, God, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"There's a nice welcome for your bride," Daniel commented mildly, wrapping his hand around Evan's elbow just in case the gunslinger's nerve broke completely. "Courage, man, not long to go now."

For a moment, the shifting crowd obscured the little group entirely from view, and suddenly there was Bill and Jodie, with Carla bringing up the rear - and in their midst, a nervous, smiling Marin who looked almost as nervous as Evan felt. Relief flared in her familiar blue eyes as they came up to him, her hands smoothing over her hips as she found herself standing before the man she had every intention of marrying. He looked so handsome, the epitome of everything she had ever imagined or dreamed of, that she felt her heart skip abruptly, her mouth suddenly dry as she gazed up at him.

"Well," Jodie announced from behind her before Bill could prevent it, "here we are!"

Strange how a man who was normally calm, cool, and collected even in the most dire situations felt like a spring too tightly wound when faced with a simple matter of getting married. Evan watched, entranced, as though under a spell, as she and the others approached. His eyes were only for her, fixed on her, as if no one and nothing else existed. She was more beautiful than ever and seemed to grow more beautiful with each passing day.

She was his Marin, the gentle, lovely flower he had so suddenly and unexpectedly fallen in love with. His heart was brimming with love and adoration, so lovely, so perfect, not just body but in soul, and he knew without a doubt, she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

He held out a hand to her, offering not only his hand, but his whole self, his whole life to her in that one simple gesture. Gray-green eyes were soft and warm with deepest affection, his expression earnest and obviously enamored. "Mare..." Her name came softly to his lips, like a prayer or a plea, summoning her to him, to forever belong to him. "You look..." His eyes moved over her as she came close. "Beautiful." There was no other word to describe her. She simply took his breath away.

Trembling fingers smoothed over his palm as Marin put herself in Evan's hands, a beautiful blush painting her pale cheeks rosy in the flickering firelight. If he gazed down at her with such earnest amor, her returned gaze was no less adoring, promising more than she could possibly offer up in words. "And you look very handsome," she whispered back to him, unable to resist the urge to lift her hand to stroke her fingers against his cheek. She had missed having him closeby today; even knowing that he was only a few rooms from her hadn't been enough to keep her from aching in his absence. "Are you ready?"

"Oh!" Marin's pale cheeks lit up with an embarrassed flush at Collie's murmur, a soft giggle escaping her lips before she got a hold on herself once again. "Uh ....I'm Marin Louise Richards."

"Oh..." He mumbled. Though not much of a blusher, he was turning a nice shade of pink, clearing his throat nervously before answering the woman's question. He hadn't shared his full name in a very long time. "Evan Ambrose Lassiter....ma'am," he added the last almost as an afterthought.

The long red curls swayed slightly as she nodded. "So....here we go." Colleen took a deep breath and rested her hands over their joined ones.

"These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love you and cherish each other through the years for a lifetime of happiness.

"These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future.

"These are the hands that will love you passionately, and, with the slightest touch, comfort you like no other. "These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes - tears of sorrow, and tears of joy.

"These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief engulfs your heart.

"These are the hands that will give you strength and support when you can't do it alone. "These are the hands that, when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

"May these hands be blessed this day. May they always hold each other. May they have the strength to hang on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. May they remain tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. May they build a relationship founded in love, and rich in caring. May these hands be healer, protector, shelter, and guide for each other."

Colleen held up the rings, "Wedding rings are an outward sign of the commitment you make this day to each other. May they always serve to remind you of the love you share for each other." The box was held out toward the bride and groom in turn. "Please take the ring you will be giving."

As Collie spoke, Marin's fingers had slid between Evan's, her thumb stroking tenderly over his knuckle even as she leaned trustingly into his side, a small flame-bright phantom in white at the side of her tall, dark-clad gunslinger. The woman's voice was soothing to her sense of nerves, easing her away from edgy excitement to tender understanding. As the box was held out, she reached with trembling fingers to take the wedding band first worn by her great-great-great grandfather, looping it about her own thumb for the time being.

Evan listened intently to the words that would bind them together, the words stirring what he already felt for her in his heart, feelings that would only grow stronger with time. He waited until Marin had the ring that had been engraved with an E before reaching for the smaller of the two, which bore the letter M. Evan turned to face his bride, his heart racing with excited anticipation, a mixture of joy and nervousness, gray-green eyes meeting hers, shining with love and adoration.

"Marin, place the ring on Evan's finger and repeat after me ..."

Tearing her eyes from Evan's, Marin bit her lip lightly as she glanced to Collie, gently uncurling her lover's fingers until she could begin to slide the simple band over his knuckle.

"I, Marin Louise Richards, take you, Evan Ambrose Lassiter, to be my wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

Blue eyes lifted finally to Evan's once more as the ring slipped home, an ancient enchantment adjusting the gold to fit as though it had been made for him.