Bird Wings

Chapter 1

The village in the woods was all but smothered by unusually tall trees. Their enormous trunks grew way up above rustic houses and covered their roofs with a canopy of green, too high to climb. The foliage was so thick around the houses that the looming cliffs of the nearby mountain were hidden from view in many places, despite being only a short walk away.

The sun could still make its way through the leaves in places, and today it shone down in wide beams on the streets and houses below. One of them in particular was less in the shade than others, as if singled out on a stage. This home had a small crowd gathered by the front door, milling around and overflowing out into the street. Exclusively men and children, they moved aimlessly - waiting for something. They were dressed in their best, most colourful clothing. Every one of them was freshly washed and combed; ready for an event. From above they looked like a patchwork quilt of vivid reds, blues, and yellows.

Inside the house was another rainbow, and the overpowering smell of flowers. Women and girls livened every corner, smoothing their skirts, tying laces, braiding flower crowns. They talked and laughed with babies on their hips, calling to each other from one room to the next. The noise filled every space, but concentrated in the big bedchamber at the back of the house. Most of them had squeezed themselves into this room, and the doorway was never clear for long from comings and goings; none of them wanted to be far from Wren.

Wren stood near the back of the room by her mother's bed, in front of the long mirror her grandfather had gone up the river to buy fifty years before. She was trying to block out as much of the activity as possible. Everyone gathered in and around the house were her relatives, and today was her wedding day.

"You look exactly as you should," said her mother approvingly. She had been combing a thin scented oil into Wren's long hair to keep it away from her face, but now she stood back and looked at her daughter's reflection in the mirror.

Wren agreed, this was just the way brides were supposed to look. It brought terrible luck for a woman to enter her marriage with any shadow of artifice or pretence, so brides always dressed as plainly as possible (just to be safe). Wren was wearing an undyed woollen dress, cut in the simplest lines, with no waistband and tight sleeves. It covered most of her body, despite the hot summer day, and yet refused to hide a single detail. With her feet bare and her hair oiled and hanging behind her shoulders, she really did look exactly how a bride should - every flaw on display. It was done as tradition, but people joked that it was the groom's "last chance", the last opportunity to change his mind before he must accept every part of his bride forever.

She watched through the mirror as her cousins passed around some small jars of pigments and creams, and helped each other dab them on their cheeks, eyelids, and lips.

"What if someone went and got Cobin right now for a few minutes, and if he says I'm not too ugly to marry I can change into my party dress and get married like that?" She suggested.

Everyone within hearing laughed. Her aunt Rose thought it was so funny she came up behind her to place her big hands on her shoulders and give her an affectionate (but too rough) shake.

"You're always trying to negotiate!" She said, too loudly. "But don't think we'll go easy on you - if we had to look awful on our wedding days, then so do you!"

Wren tried to remove herself from her aunt's uncomfortable grip as the other women laughed and chimed in their agreement, theatrically hiding their cosmetics behind their backs.

"You don't have anything to worry about with Cobin, sweetheart." Wren's older sister Dreea said from somewhere behind her "He's absolutely smitten with you"