A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Part 2, Chapter 1 - The Wedding

The wedding was held three days after the funeral, causing Melinda to swiftly swap from blacks to whites. It was a jarring shift even in the mind of her, the person who made the decision, but she knew very well that there was no other choice. The day was bright and brimming with life, especially when it came to the plants, and the rapidly changing weather made her wince, but at least it wasn't so gloomy anymore, and since Autumn was beginning soon, she hoped it would remain that way for at least a little while more. But it didn't matter. She was merely focusing on trivial stuff in a desperate need for normalcy in her life, which she couldn't do now. The wedding was to begin in a couple of hours, so she needed to focus and-

The doorbell rang.

Melinda opened the door with much excitement, not knowing whom to expect. When it was revealed to be Agatha, along with both of her parents, she was immediately overcome with joy. The moment was infinitely lovely. The sky was a perfectly bright blue, the golden rays of the sun gently illuminated her skin, the birds outside sang in utter harmony, and the various pretty flowers were the loveliest of all. She would have been completely content if the moment lasted forever.

"My daughter is getting married at last!" cried Imelda, pulling her into a tight embrace. "She will finally know the joys of being a wife, and not only wife, but also Queen... My daughter is going to be Queen, and I can hardly believe it! I feel like I am going to faint from the excitement."

John laughed dryly. "Please don't. We'll never attend the wedding that way. Of course, there are many reasons to be excited, and I myself am rather excited as well, but it doesn't have to be exaggerated. Besides, the wedding preparations must start soon if we want to get anything done."

"Leave it to you to never show excitement about anything," Imelda said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I sure do see your excitement about your daughter becoming wife and Queen and you sure aren't lying to me right now. It's like you're allergic to emotions or something."

"No, I'm allergic to being overdramatic, just like you're being now," he said, shrugging limply. "I do see your point, but there's no time for these jokes. We have to show Melinda her wedding dress."

Melinda raised an eyebrow. "My wedding dress? I've already been to a small local sewing business that made one for me, and I thought I told you all about it."

"It doesn't matter," Agatha said, walking over to her with a black package that Melinda hadn't paid much attention to previously. "This is a gift from the royal seamstress, and I'm sure you'll love it."

"Thank you," Melinda said, bursting into tears of utter joy. "Thank you all. I'm so glad to have you all in my life, especially on this beautiful day. I need to get ready now."

She left her parents outside while entering the bathroom with Agatha, the process of putting the dress and the veil on lasting a bit longer than she'd expected. The dress reached all the way to her feet and had many layers, therefore she and Agatha had to push and pull a little to do so, but they were done after a couple of minutes. There was an old mirror above the sink that was still quite shiny, which Melinda ran to the moment the process was done, more than eager to see what she looked like.

"You look wonderful!" Agatha exclaimed enthusiastically the moment she came over to see her, and a second later, Melinda finally removed the lace from her face, looked at the surface of the mirror and saw her appearance.

The meticulously crafted dress would make almost any woman look special, what with its long lace sleeves with embroidered rose patterns; neat but not overexaggerated neckline that perfectly emphasised Melinda's broad shoulders and her collarbone, which was separated from the rest of the dress by a lace design identical to the one displayed by the sleeves; and layers of linen cloth that made up the rest of the dress that resembled the layers of a cake that were intertwined with dozens of plastic white roses, but she didn't need such an intricate dress to add to her overwhelming beauty.