BURN

I thee wed

Agatha is grateful for the low light in the banquet hall for several reasons.

One is that, of the many people turned towards her from the lower tables below their raised one, most probably can't see her as clearly as they'd like. Second, she's tired, and the adrenaline rush of the ceremony is starting to catch up with her-- hopefully the dark will conceal how weary she looks.

Thirdly, she has to listen to Vanessa's speech before she can have dessert, and she's fairly sure she's doing a bad job of looking happy about it.

So she's hunched in her chair next to Tedros, staring at her plate and trying not to make eye contact with anyone. She's been obliged to hold Tedros's hand, and she tries to focus on how damn cold his fingers are, rather than her mother making a stupid, twittering speech beside her. She's examining the weird blue tinge to Tedros's nails, but it's hard not to hear, since Vanessa keeps looking at her for a reaction. Grinding her teeth, she tunes back in;

"--it has been an honour and a privilege to watch Agatha grow up, and I'm so proud of the woman she's become today. It feels like only yesterday when I was carrying her home after she fell in a stream, or teaching her where Camelot was on the map..."

Agatha jerks as she recognises the anecdotes.

People laugh and aww politely, but she doesn't even bother to try.

She's too busy balling her free hand into her skirt to conceal how they've started to glow.

How dare she--

She glances over to where Callis is sitting, just visible behind Vanessa, picking at the cracks in the table silently. She looks drained.

Well, Agatha can be furious for the both of them. She knows Callis had been forced to report to Vanessa every day whilst she was raising Agatha, but she'd had no idea that Vanessa had even listened, let alone would remember specifics to steal in her wedding speech...

Searching desperately for a distraction, she looks around--

Tedros is sitting next to her, staring up at Vanessa with such blatant disdain it's almost breathtaking. Agatha stares at him for a minute, startled. She doesn't exactly want to tell him to stop, but she does think he's going to raise some awkward questions if he continues to look like that...

She pinches his hand, and his gaze shoots back to her, softening immediately. Frowning, Agatha mutters to him;

"Stop glaring at her. People will ask questions."

Tedros's eyebrows come down.

"But--"

Then applause has erupted around them and Vanessa is sitting back down, smiling brightly.

Agatha turns to her, and Vanessa looks back at her--

And Agatha knows that she'd heard every word of what Agatha said to Callis this morning.

For a second, they both freeze; Agatha glaring, Vanessa's expression closing off...

Then they both turn away.

"None of that was true, was it." mutters Tedros, from next to her.

"Oh, it was true. She just didn't do any of it, Callis did." snaps Agatha, loud enough for Vanessa to hear, snatching a drink offered to her and spilling some on the table. "Can we have dessert now?"

"Yeah, it's coming--" Tedros peers around her, to look at Vanessa, and Agatha pushes him back.

"Stop, leave it alone."