And there is the castle, and there is the -
"Skyvault," sighs Bella, diving into her hat for her specs.
"The wedding's not until the fifteenth of Umber," says Bella.
"It's still - sudden."
"Does it help that she rescued me from a giant river-snake?" asks Bella, frowning.
"...Not as much as you might think."
"Bells, it's nothing against you or Her Highness, but such a short time..."
Bella shakes her head and waves the mirror image away. Charlie disappears and it reflects only herself and Sherlock.
Bella wraps her arms around her fiancée. "I was expecting both of them to have reactions about halfway between those," she mutters. "Worried-but-happy. Not one just happy and one just worried."
"He'll get over it. Especially if Ranata visits and then talks to him. She'll like you. And Tony too. I'm debating whether to announce that part of the plan ahead of time."
Snuggles? "Are you okay?"
Nuzzle. "Umber is a ways away. It's only Brown now. He'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea, and we'll have plenty of time to confirm that it's a good idea."
"Now," says Bella, "fun as it is being carried everywhere, I'm going to atrophy if it goes on much longer and I'm going to crack my head open one of these days if I try doing without, so I need to go find one of the servants you mentioned and see about moccasin material."
Sherlock's not there to ask about timing, so Bella wanders into the castle, exploring the layout and keeping her eyes peeled for Her Majesty to ask about politics lessons and sword-looking-at permissions.
"Your Majesty?" inquires Bella, quite ready to be sent away if the queen is busy with important queening.
"Sherlock first," Bella says. "In the event - I think it's an unlikely one, but not an impossible one - that I can't help out with producing you a royal grandchild, they think Tony will have an easier time finding a more traditional sort of spouse."
"But since I probably can work out a spell for it - it may already have been invented, although I'd need to do a bit of a research project to find it - and since I'm going to marry Sherlock anyway, I was wondering if it would be a good idea for me to take some sort of politics lessons? The topic interests me but I haven't done a lot of investigation into it as I never expected to have a chance to apply it."
"Is there something like that available already, or that can be easily set up, or should I just investigate your library and talk to key staff members...?"