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“Oh, he was just asking if you wanted him to walk you down the aisle,”MotherFrancessaid quickly. “Heheard that you didn’t have a father or an uncle to do it, so he volunteered—wasn’t that sweet of him?Ialways say that he’s not just theThielgoodfamily’s lawyer—he’s actuallypartof the family.”
“Oh, he…he did?”Celiawanted to feel relieved.Itwas a plausible explanation—certainly more plausible than the idea that theKindredGoddessherself had paid her a visit and showed her the nefarious schemes of her husband andMother-in-Lawto be in the mirror.
Imust have imagined the whole thing,she thought.I’mso tired and stressed.Probablythe hormones from the pregnancy are making me hallucinate!
Thatmustbe the explanation, she told herself.Nothingelse made sense.
“Sodo you?Wanthim to walk you down the aisle?”MotherFrancesraised her eyebrows. “Afterall, it’s rather sad, you walkingyourselfdown the aisle with no one to give you away.”
Celialifted her chin.Thiswas an argument they’d had before and she wasn’t prepared to change her answer.
“Thankyou so much,MotherFrancesand please thankBircherfor me too, butI’llbe fine walking myself down the aisle.”
“Allright, well…suit yourself, dear.”MotherFrancessighed and then perked up. “Ohmy—do you hear that?” she whispered, squeezingCelia’sarm in excitement. “It’sthe first strains of theWeddingMarch.Comeon—it’s time to go!”
Andshe hustledCeliaout the door, towards the entrance of the chapel.
53
CELIA
Thechapel had been decorated within an inch of its life in elegant silver garlands and white satin ribbons.Therewere four silver and whiteChristmastrees in the four corners of the church as well, all of them with long, glittering fake icicles hanging from them and silver angels at their tops.
Itdefinitely wasn’t the wayCeliawould have decorated if she’d been able to do it herself—it was ostentatious and showy and hadMotherFrances’staste written all over it.Still, she supposed she was lucky to be having a wedding at all, considering everything she’d gone through and everything she’d done in the past few days—or the past month if you counted the weeks she’d lost in the wormhole.
Itwas a long, elaborate ceremony with a lot of kneeling and vowing and standing and praying and she went through the whole thing on autopilot.Allthe time, she kept thinking of the awful things theGoddesshad showed her in the mirror…and then trying to assure herself that it had all been a hallucination…just a fever dream brought on by stress and pregnancy hormones and not enough sleep…
Andthen somehow they were coming to the end of the ceremony.Peterwas standing beside her in his tux, looking charming and polished and the pews were filled on both sides with theThielgoodfriends and relations sinceCeliahad no one but a few friends to come to her big day.Thepriest had on a long, flowing robe and he raised his hands and said,
“Ifany man here knows any reason why these two shall not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“Itoldhim to leave that part out!”Peterhissed, looking peeved. “It’sreally so unnecessary!It—”
“Wedo!” a voice shouted from the back of the church.
Celiaturned, feeling like she was in a dream.Runningdown the aisle wereHoldandFierce.Therewas a desperate look on their faces as they rushed past the pews filled with shocked and disapproving wedding guests.
“Wehave a reason whyCeliashouldn’t get married!”Fiercegrowled as they finally reached her. “Becausewe’re fucking in love with her!Andwe think—wehope—Celialoves us too.”
54
CELIA
“Whatare you twodoinghere?”Celiastared at them in amazement.She’dbeen so sure they wouldn’t follow her—that her note had driven them away.She’dmade it as cool and impersonal as she could, not wanting to leave them any hope at all.Yethere the two of them were, interrupting the wedding, and she didn’t know what to say.
“Yes, whatarethey doing here?Mummy—these two oafs are ruining my wedding!”Peterexclaimed.
“Hangon, darling—Mummy’scoming!”MotherFranceshurried up to whereHoldandFiercewere standing.
Thetwins had changed back into theirKindreduniforms with tall black boots and tight black trousers and the long-sleeved emerald green shirts that looked so good on both of them.Celiacouldn’t help comparing the two tall, muscular warriors withPeter—her fiancé looked wimpy and weak in comparison.
“We’rehere because we love you,”Holdsaid to her, ignoring bothPeterand his mother.
“Andto say we’re sorry,”Fierceadded. “Iknow what an assI’vebeen,lelka.Idrove you away andI’mfucking sorry for it.”
“Stopthis nonsense and leave at once!”Peter’smother exclaimed, beforeCeliacould answer either one of them.Shewas looking at the large, elaborate clock hanging high on the wall at the back of the chapel. “It’snearly one o’clock!” she exclaimed. “Wemustfinish the ceremony!”
Herwords sent a wave of distrust throughCeliaas she remembered once again everything she’d seen in the mirror.
