Krys checked into thebridal suite and saw the ladies ready for their walk down the aisle.Isocar and Imara were in silver dresses with black and red trim.Hannah was spectacular in white satin that hugged her torso, had a slit up her left thigh, and set off her dark skin and red hair.Her hair was half up and half down, cascading over her shoulder.Sapphires and rubies were in her necklace and earrings.Hannah’s mother put the matching headpiece in place.Mrs.Lee smiled.“No veils.He could see through it anyway.”
Krys smiled.“Is everybody ready?”
Hannah turned and smiled.“I think so.Holy shit!Did Reynal propose?”
Krys looked at the ring that wouldn’t come off.“It’s either that or he is weighing me down.”
There was a bright squeal, and Hannah lunged forward to hug her.She laughed and hugged the bride back.
Imara smiled.“Seems there is a rush to matrimony.I will have to keep a charm of disinterest on Argus.”
Krys snorted.“Good luck with that.I think the guys were just having a problem finding a neutral venue.The mansion fits the bill.”
Hannah leaned back and nodded.“I think you have a point.Neekil wants to try for a kid, and that is contingent upon this human ritual.”
Mrs.Lee grinned.
Krys leaned back.“I think that has more to do with that other ritual you two engage in.”
Hannah laughed.
Dia smiled.“Right.Now, I am going to get set up, and then I will be down there when you make the final dash to prison...I mean freedom.Videographer is in place.My second shooter has been doing the guys.”
Isocar chuckled.
Dia sighed.“I didn’t mean it like that.”
Imara snorted.“And yet, we are laughing anyway.”
Hannah smiled.
Dia got her bag and left, grinning and shaking her head.
Krys nodded.“We will give her two minutes, and then I will come up, and it will be show time.Have some fruit with honey, and hang tight.”
Krys left and moved swiftly down the stairs.Everyone was in place, the dark elf elder was standing under the vine arch, and Neekil was waiting with Emmers and Kairek standing next to him.
Iris and Amy were seated on the groom’s side of the space.
Azreen and Vaia were on the bride’s side, and with everyone seated, Krys said, “We are about to begin.”
Excitement ran through everyone seated as the sunset painted the sky pink.
Krys headed up the steps, and she took Mrs.Lee down the steps a few steps ahead of the bridal party.Krys murmured into her headset as Hannah’s mother was escorted to her seat by Emmers.
Krys walked to the mansion and nodded to the dark elf harpist.He began a cascade that the bridesmaids walked down the aisle to, and then Hannah took her triumphant walk to a complex and stirring harp composition that energized the entire assembled group.
Krys checked the cameras in the kitchen, and everything was ready for cocktail hour.
The ceremony began, and the elder made a few jokes about there being far too many clothes for a dark elf union.
Neekil’s parents and his brothers’ fathers all laughed, as did the other fifty dark elves on his side.
When the time for the vows was to be spoken, Neekil spoke eloquently in his native dialect while the dark elves teared up.There was silence for a moment, and a woman on the bride’s side said, “In every imagining of his life, he had never crafted the image of a woman whose heart and soul were fire, whose body was sculpted just for him, and who carries heavy weapons to every occasion.My heart, my soul, my dream, my wife.”
Hannah was smiling and tearing up, but she shifted her bouquet and hoisted a hammer skyward.Lightning crackled.
Everyone laughed.
