Wedding of the Dead

Chapter 17: The Wedding That Could Never Be

Celeste looked upon the family portrait in the entrance hall, the cover recently removed by the staff upon the short return of their lord.

The painting displayed the last three members of the Sergius family household - Lucas and his parents. His father sat in a chair in the center of the painting, his wife stood behind the chair while Lucas stood next to them, a much more alive and younger version of himself than what Celeste had seen so far. Lucas was nearly the spitting image of his father - save for the curled mustache that rested on his upper lip and the golden brown locks that made up the hair on his head, pulled back by a light colored ribbon that matched his jacket and vest. Lucas had inherited his dark colored orbs and hair from his mother, a confident woman who's features were streaked with wrinkles from laughter and kind smiles.

"It cost a small fortune for the family to have that painted," Emil approached Celeste, the bride turning to him before returning to focus on the portrait before them, "It took a devil of a time to get everything just right - the poor lord having to stop the session every so often due to his work interrupting him."

Celeste snickered, "But, they were happy at the very least, yes?"

"Of course," Emil smiled, turning to look behind them, "and I think, going forward, everything is going to reconnect and Sergius Hall will thrive again."

Celeste looked at the scene behind her.

Verity and Septimus were talking amiably with Flora and Belvedere, who had just returned to the land of the living after depositing Bellona's dying body off in the land of the dead. Apparently, Belvedere was the doctor who had helped Bellona give birth to Septimus - the woman eventually shot Belvedere square in the forehead to keep him from talking about her plans for her husband at the time when he discovered about the first murder attempt on the poor man's life. Flora had also been Spetimus' first intended, the two had formed a friendship with each other before Bellona stole that from him as well with a poison in her tea cup the night before the wedding. Septimus had looked so remorseful to the two of them, even though he knew nothing about their demise - but Flora and Belvedere did not blame him for their deaths.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Emil reached into his coat, pulling out a small box, "Miss Flora made mention you were missing a key piece for a wedding, 'Something Old.'"

"And a sixpence in my shoe," Celeste answered.

Emil waved his hand in dismissal, holding out the box to Celeste, "Take this. This once belonged to Lady Sergius before she died. The previous Lord kept it close to him after that, giving it to me when he passed. He asked that I give this to the woman Lucas was to marry - however, I could never give it to Miss Isabelle. I'm glad I waited... because I knew, somehow, that he was to marry again - even after he died, I still held onto that hope."

Celeste took the box, opening it up to reveal a beautiful silver necklace. The pendant was small, a single sapphire surrounded by small diamonds in the shape of a teardrop. Celeste looked up as Emil took the box back and pulled the necklace from the box before slowly turning around and allowing Lucas' confidant to latch the piece of jewelry to her neck.

"Just as expected," Emil smiled, "It fits you perfectly."

"It's beautiful," Emil and Celeste turned as Flora and Belvedere approached, the undead tailor looking upon the necklace, "However, better make sure that Lucas doesn't find out about that little intimate moment you had with the woman who harbors his affections - he might not hold back."

"I have nothing to fear when it comes to his lordship," Emil answered with a shrug, "After all, if it hadn't been for me to urge Miss Celeste to go for a walk yesterday, we'd be facing very different circumstances."