Because she was a grown woman, she didn't need to follow her mother's advice to the letter. She could choose what she wanted to implement and what she didn't.
"I wanted to give him something special. Something that held meaning for both of us. I copied out the 'Garden of Becoming'poem and put it in the old wooden box you gave me, the one that used to be Grandma's. I tied it with a blue ribbon and sent it to him. But now I'm worried that it just made him feel bad because he didn't get me a gift."
Behind them, Drova snorted. "Are you kidding me? He's going to faint with happiness."
"I don't want him to faint. I just want him to be happy about my gift."
"It shall be done. If he's not happy, I'll compel him to be. Stop worrying."
Arezoo laughed, and it loosened the tightness in her chest, and for the first time since she'd put on the wedding dress, she felt like she could breathe.
The cart rounded the curve in the path that passed the row of houses leading to the green. Couples on the way to the party waved as it crawled by, and Arezoo waved back. Her bridesmaids waved as well, even Drova, but she did it just to encourage Cyra to wave.
Arezoo watched them go and smiled.
The pace was ridiculous, but she was being carried through her village on a flowered cart toward the man she loved, surrounded by the women who loved her, and she found that she didn't mind the absurdity.
"Maman," she said softly. "I wish Grandmother could see this."
"I know." Her mother sniffled and pulled out a handkerchief from her clutch. "She would have been so proud of you."
Arezoo nodded, and her throat tightened.
"You have a big family now," her mother said. "A whole clan. And you have us, your aunts and cousins, and new friends, and a man who loves you the way a man should love a woman. You have everything she hoped her daughters and granddaughters would have."
Don't cry, Arezoo commanded the tears to retreat. Angelica would never forgive her if she ruined her masterpiece.
As the cart rounded the last bend, the village green opened up before them, and Arezoo's breath caught.
She had walked across it numerous times on her way to the café or the store. She knew every inch of it. But she had never seen it like this, not even during her cocktail party.
Rows of white chairs had been arranged in a wide arc facing the elevated stage at the far end. Garlands of flowers ran along the aisles. The path leading from the edge of the green to the stage had been lined with small wooden platforms, smooth boards laid end to end across the grass to make a walkway that wouldn't catch the heel of a shoe or the hem of a dress. And on the dais at the far end, in her white robe edged with gold, glowing softly even in the daylight, stood Annani.
Below the dais, in a loose semicircle facing the aisle, were the groomsmen.
And in front of them, in his black tuxedo with his shoulders back and his face turned toward the aisle, was Ruvon.
He was too far away for Arezoo to read his expression, but she didn't need to. She knew him. She knew the way he stood when he was waiting for her. She knew the way his hands were folded in front of him. She knew that the moment he saw her, his whole face would brighten.
Anandur slowed the cart to a stop at the edge of the green.
He came around the side and offered her his hand.
"My lady."
She took his hand and stood up, the layers of her skirt unfolding around her. As she stepped down from the cart, her foot caught the edge of the tulle, and she felt herself tilt forward.
Anandur's hand tightened on hers, and his other hand came up to her elbow, steady as a wall.
"Got you."
"Sorry."
"Long dress, narrow step."
Her heart was pounding now, hard enough that she could feel it in her throat. The bridesmaids descended from the cart behind her and arranged themselves the way they had practiced, in the order they had agreed on, with Drova second-to-last because Drova had refused to be either first or last on the grounds that both positions involved being looked at the longest.
Soraya stepped down from the cart and came around to Arezoo's side. She took Arezoo's elbow firmly, the way she had a thousand times when Arezoo was small and crossing a busy street, and she looked up at her.
