Slaves of the Night

Chapter 29

Kaisa

The morning of my wedding is overly busy. People rush in and out getting me ready. Fussing with my hair. Fixing my dress. Eero has much the same I'm sure. Essie and Rax for their part wander in between, delivering messages they made up and getting in people's way. It's fine though, the commotion distracts me from the very real possibilities of a variety of things going horrible. Not that I emotionally care about the day, but getting kidnapped should be a bi-monthly experience at most.

The dress my mother sent with me is a lovely white-- just off white into the blue spectrum with snowflakes stitched into the silky fabric, the most at my waist and then drifting down to the wide skirt. My headscarf is the same, except it has a veil piece incorporated with it and the veil itself is a pretty pale blue, both have snow flakes sewn into them. No two alike. It smells sweetly of home, so much so that I hate wearing it. Suddenly, I have the great urge to box it up forever just to keep the smell of home close to me. Then Essie and Rax stroll in for the eightieth time to make sure I haven't been kidnapped. Rax with his hand over his eyes politely, and Essie kicking Rax who was limping with the wrong leg according to her. This tripped him. It was as funny then as the first ten times it happened. I am home.

I don't know the ladies who are being my bridesmaids, and they don't know I speak their language. In solidarity to Maku, I don't enlighten them. It was our little joke. I don't think that was a trick. He was laughing at that, having fun. It isn't his fault he didn't think he could have fun as himself. Not really. I've had my fair share of people telling me I can't be who I am. Not my parents, not my mother, or I wouldn't know who I am. But it's happened enough for me to have an idea how he feels.

The service is to be held in the chapel. I forgot we had a chapel. Anyway, it's off the Forbbiden Rooms, and apparently Rax didn't label it on his map because he doesn't think it's important. I rolled my eyes at him multiple times before ten women evicted him for the eighty-ninth time.

Despite the long morning, I'm not at all tired when we walk down to the chapel. Hundreds of people are here. I recognize some from our ill-fated bonfire night.

I'm expecting everything to go well by the time it absolutely doesn't. Eero looks as ready to be done as I do, he's up at the end of the aisle with the religious man (should I have paid more attention to what all these people are called? Yes. Was I busy being kidnapped and trying to solve a murder? No, I should have learned all of this months ago. Anyway, I didn't.) Eero smiles at me a little and half winks as if to say, 'let's get this over with then we can all hide in the kennels and pet the dogs and figure out how to stop Essie and Rax from starting the underground dueling league they keep talking about'. That's a legitimate discussion we need to have. And in lieu of our rooms, I do like hanging about the kennels petting the dogs while Eero tells me the names of them that I'm not going to remember and Essie and Rax talk about weapons they have want to have or want to fight each other with.

I smile back behind the veil, well aware he can't see it. It's fairly easy to see through up by my eyes, but it's got more snowflakes as it goes down so I doubt if he can see me.

Anyway, I see through the veil just fine, but it still takes me a full moment to realize the lady in white is standing in the middle of the aisle staring around at us with her white gaping eyes, face melting away like snow brought in on boots.

Liala and Leena are the first to scream and Eero scoops them up instantly, backing away. I feel Rax's hand on my arm as he moves to move past me to end her. Hurt her.

"Wait---just wait," I say, holding him back too.

The woman in white turns to stare at me.

"You're here for me, aren't you?" I ask her, stepping forward. Rax lets me but he moves with me. Essie is at my other side.