- Chapter Twenty-four -
**LENMANA'S POV**
The Wedding
Today is the wedding.
I’m getting married today to someone I hate. I’m getting married to someone who’s not Lenno. And I am the one who chose this. I hate myself.
But what other choices did I have?
Orenda comes in with a dress on her arm. I’m sitting at home, more like I’m about to attend a Celebration, not my wedding. I didn’t even brush my hair, or wash my face.
She approaches and sits on the floor next to me, and all I’m doing is staring at something very interesting in the nothingness in front of me. She lays the dress on my lap, “this will look beautiful on you,” she says. I don’t even glance down to have a look at the gown. I don’t even nod. “Lenmana?” she asks. I don’t reply.
This has to be a nightmare; this can’t be real.
Someone draws the curtains open, and the sun comes in, I squint at the sudden light. Kaya enters and approaches me, whispering in my ear, she says, “Akando is standing outside and Hakan isn’t allowing him to come in.” One sentence.
One sentence was all I need to break through the walls my brain has surrounded me with. I take a tight grip of the beige dress and toss it all the way across the hut, stand up with so much force I’m surprised the ground hasn’t collapsed underneath me, and rush through the door and out.
Akando looks strangely and surprisingly cold and careless, “your precious husband doesn’t allow me to see you,” he says. His words feel like icebergs floating in my stomach. My husband?
I ignore the pain rising in my chest with Akando’s distant looks at me, and force my voice to come out, “Who are you to avoid anyone from seeing me?” I ask Hakan. Yeah that’s exactly the smartest question to ask, Lenmana. He sure wouldn’t have an answer to this. I mentally curse my stupidity.
“Your husband.”
“Not yet,” I say, trying to keep quiet, but then I fail, “and even if so, you are not allowed to order me or avoid me from doing anything, or even ask me a question!” I scream. “I hate you and you must know this! You must never ever tell me what to do, Hakan!” I take a step closer to him, “And trust me, Hakan, you don’t want to see me when I’m mad. You don’t want that. And you won’t like it.” I poke his throat with my index finger and turn on my heels, grabbing Akando’s arm.
“What did you want?” I ask him when we’re far enough from them.
“I want you to know that I’ll never leave you,” he says, “not even when you marry that. . . thing.” He sighs in defeat, “I will always be the one to protect you, Len. No matter what.”
I cry.
So many tears were already waiting for any emotions and now they get all they want. I cry and I don’t even bother to try to stop. “I love you so much, Akando,” I say, “you are the only friend I’ve ever known. Thank you.”
He runs a hand over my hair and then embraces me in a tight hug, one of those he’s stopped giving me since we were kids. And I cry even harder. After holding me for sometime, he lets me go, brushes hair from my face and cups my face with his palm, “You should comb that,” he smiles, glancing at my hair.
I laugh. I genuinely do.
Seriously, Akando, I love you so much.
“I will always be there to break that creature’s face if he ever annoys you,” he says.
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Devour | on hold
Teen FictionShe's like a note played from a flute, quite sad, very determined. Like the gushing wind, blowing over the river waters mercilessly. Like an arrow, if persuaded by a sly breeze, could fly off hitting the wrong target. She likes the idea of not being...
