The next morning was chaotic. People were bustling about the hotel and grounds, primping and priming for the upcoming wedding. Valkyrie had a hard time getting around without the fear of being run down. It gave her butterflies that all these people were working so hard for her expense, for her big day. It also gave her butterflies at the thought of her getting married. She wandered about the mansion, looking for someone familiar, making sure to stay out of people's way. It wasn't long until she bumped into Mr. Bacon in the foyer.
"Oh hello there Ms. Ca-Edgerly!" he fumbled. Skulduggery must have told him the deal with the names.
"Hello Mr. Bacon," Valkyrie greeted, "Thank you so much for all of this." Mr. Bacon smiled.
"No problem at all my dear! After all, you and your partner saved my business and I am ever thankful for it." Valkyrie smiled this time.
"Well we're glad that we could help you Mr. Bacon. I could honestly say we wouldn't be doing all this today if it wasn't for that."
"Well I'm glad I helped push you two along. I must say, you two make quite the pair. He sure is lucky to have such a beautiful young woman at his at his side."
"Aren't I just?"
Valkyrie blushed deep red as Skulduggery wrapped an arm around her waist from behind and kissed her cheek.
"Yeah, your lucky you have me to put up with you," Valkyrie muttered. Mr. Bacon chuckled. Skulduggery smiled.
"Your right I am," he said softly. He kissed her cheek again then headed toward the dining room. "If you two will excuse me, I have some supervising to skip out on elsewhere." He left swiftly. Valkyrie turned back to Mr. Bacon.
"I should probably follow him to make sure he's not slacking off somewhere." She waved goodbye, then headed out the same way Skulduggery did.
She walked out onto the porch and looked out over the lawn, taking in a deep breath of fresh morning air. She looked out to the old apple orchard, the tops of the trees barely visible. She then caught something moving out of the corner of her eye.
She looked out at the property line and saw someone standing there, leaning against a tree. Valkyrie squinted to try and see the person better, but as soon as she focused on them, they disappeared behind a tree. She blinked her eyes in disbelief.
'Who was that?' she thought, 'It kind of looked like-'
"There's the blushing bride to be!"
Before Valkyrie could turn around to see who interrupted her thoughts, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her tightly, nearly squeezing the breath out of her. When they finally let her go, she turned around to see the tousled blond haired, sword fighter in all her leather glory.
"Tanith!" Valkyrie yelled, hugging her friend tightly, "I'm so happy to see you!"
"Same here Val! I've missed my little sis." Valkyrie let go of Tanith and saw Ghastly and Fletcher standing behind her. She hugged both of them, and then turned back to her best friend.
"So when did you guys arrive?" she asked.
"A couple minutes ago," Tanith answered, "We wanted to see you first before we did anything."
