Time absolutely flew by in the months leading up to our wedding. After we had decided on most of the plan and settled all of the vendors, three months had passed by in a blink as we just lived our lives.
We weren’t unusually busy or anything; time just simply went on and our days were pleasantly running into one another with little change. And it was lovely.
Until two weeks before the wedding when Avuri’s parents arrived.
We had completely cleaned four of the other houses for her family to stay in, as they had requested. While Avuri wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of letting them do what they wanted, I wanted to make a good impression on my soon-to-be in-laws. Especially considering they owned half of the biggest city in the Floral Hills.
Thankfully, we were up to seven total of the detached houses, so letting Avuri’s family have four of them was really not a problem. That left two of them for my siblings, while Vale had one to himself. Talya was living in the main house with us, so she wouldn’t need one.
With twelve people on the way, we had decided it would be best to meet them down in Flowing Dragon City. It wouldn’t be safe for untrained Cultivators to make the trek up the Peaks without aid, so escorting them up somehow would be the best move.
I was also concerned with her family making the trip from the Floral Hills, but Avuri assured me that they had no shortage of money and would be perfectly capable of hiring the most talented guards for the trip. There was also perhaps less danger for them since we had dealt with the demonic Cultivators that had run the area, at least nominally. We’d have to watch for that power vacuum to be filled, just in case.
In any case, we had rented a large cart that we could pull with the passengers inside it. A fair bit of the trip would be done on foot, but the cart would allow us to pick up speed more toward the top, especially with the ability to swap out the wheels for skis when we reached the snowy top.
When Avuri’s family arrived at the City, we were contacted through a signal Array. It was a simple thing, just able to light up or turn off as dictated by whoever was on the other end. We knew that her family was planning to stay at The Coiled Serpent, the most expensive hotel in the City, so we left the other end of the signal Array with them.
We left the girls with Vale and Talya and rushed out as soon as we received the signal. Avuri was already clearly worried we’d get berated for ‘being late’, so it took us very little time to descend the mountain as we rushed.
When we finally arrived at The Coiled Serpent, a slightly older looking woman greeted us with a sour look on her face. And as Avuri had expected, the first thing she said was, “You’re late.”
If you had put Avuri and her mother next to one another and asked me what their relationship was, mother and daughter was not what would have come to mind first. The first, most striking difference was general coloring. Avuri’s white hair and her mother’s dark hair couldn’t have been more different. Their expressions were polar opposites as well; Avuri’s usually warm and serene expressions were nowhere to be seen on her mother’s face. Instead, the woman looked severe and generally unhappy.
It wasn’t uncommon for a Cultivator’s Qi affinity and the like to change their appearance over time. And it was even likely that Avuri’s hair was originally dark like her mother’s, but changed after spending so much time Cultivating water and ice Qi. But their faces were so inherently different that it was almost shocking.
“Hello, mother.” Avuri said coolly. “You all made it through the trip in one piece I assume? Despite no one else being down here.”
“Indeed.” Her mother confirmed. “They’re all in their rooms for the moment. Doing what I couldn't say, except for your father who was doing some bookkeeping while he had time.” She sighed. “We’ve both been so buried under paperwork recently, it just never stops.”
Something in her tone told me that a ‘so you’d better be happy we’re even here’ went unsaid, but was present all the same.
“Ah, sister! How wonderful to see you again!” A voice came from the stairs on the far side of the room. A young man trotted down the stairs, who did bear a resemblance to Avuri. He was still dark haired like his mother, but his face looked more like Avuri’s welcoming one - if only not for the sneer on his face that he was clearly trying - and failing - to keep hidden.
“Leon.” Avuri said flatly. “I must admit, I was surprised that you wanted to come. I thought for sure you’d rather stay behind and work on the business.”
“How could I miss my dear sister’s wedding? It’s not like you’ll ever have another, right? I should be here for it!” He declared, throwing his arms wide dramatically. “Besides, I set the business up before I left with instructions for the entire time I’ll be gone. They had better be fine without me.”
“How fortunate of them, to have such a thoughtful leader that plans so far ahead.” Avuri returned. “Nothing will go wrong in your absence if they follow your instructions to the letter, I’m sure.”
“Indeed, Leon has been instrumental in leading the business since you left, you know.” Her mother added. “He has been following our footsteps very well, and has learned everything we taught him easily.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“That’s good to hear. He’s always been great at following your directions.” Avuri said.
I struggled to hold back a laugh at that. The barbs traded so far were relatively well disguised, but Avuri’s sounded about as direct as they come despite being disguised as a compliment. And seeing Leon’s anger peak through his otherwise solid sneer of disdain just confirmed my suspicions about the dig.
Then Leon’s eyes shifted to me, standing a step behind and to the side of Avuri. He looked me up and down once and I felt a chill crawl up my spine.
“Aren’t you going to introduce your companion, Ivory?” Leon said, his sneer back in place. This time even his voice carried a dismissive tone. He clearly didn’t seem to think much of me, which was fine; the feeling was mutual. But his use of Avuri’s old name made her flinch, and that immediately set me on edge.
Avuri appeared to recenter herself surprisingly quickly, but I could tell it was more like a mask sliding into place rather than her actually gathering herself.
“Oh, yes, of course.” She said, then stepped a little to the side and motioned toward me with a hand. “This is Emery Vale, my fiancé.” Then she motioned to her mother and brother. “And this is Solana and Leon Mephra, my mother and brother.
Despite the less than approving looks both her mother and brother were giving me, I stepped up and gave them a proper bow. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Emery.”
“Well, don’t you look quaint?” Avuri’s mother said, sounding nothing but sickly sweet. “Doesn’t she, dear?” She prompted Leon.
“Indeed she does, mother.” He agreed. “Perfect for our martial-arts-minded Ivory.” Avuri didn’t react the second time, her placid mask firmly in place.
I looked down at my clothing, which indeed was that of a Cultivator. We had rushed out of the house to meet them after all, and I hadn’t had time to change. “Yes, apologies for my clothing.” I said, trying my best to sound genial. “I didn’t have time to change when we got the signal that you had arrived. Didn’t want to add any time to the several hour hike to get down here, after all.”
Both Mephras paled a little at that. “Several hour hike?” Solana asked, concerned.
“Oh, yes. We live up in the Peaks. Didn’t Avuri tell you?” I even sounded overly sweet to my own ears, and had to make an effort to dial it back. “I hope you all packed good shoes. You’re all at least in the Earth Realm, right?”
“Yes?” Leon asked, confused.
I clapped once, acting excited. “Great! We probably have a four hour hike or so then! Assuming everyone is in shape and able to keep up.”
Everyone else blanched at that, even Avuri. I imagine she thought I was being too straightforward with my snark. “Four hours?” Avuri’s mother asked. “Did you get here quicker than that?”
“Of course we did.” I said happily, with a huge smile on my face. “Avuri and I are Sky Realm. The trip is easy for us.”
Avuri’s family did a double take. “Sky Realm?” Leon sputtered. “You didn’t mention that in your letters, Ivory.”
“Of course not.” She said flatly. “It’s truly of no consequence. But Emery and I both broke into the Sky Realm in the summer last year.” She slipped her mask just a little and turned to me with a small smile. “Right before we adopted our second girl.”
“Oh, you have children already?” Leon said pointedly, as if it was something to be ashamed of. On the other hand, her mother’s calm mask looked like it was starting to collect cracks. I wasn’t sure whether it was shock or anger starting to break through, though.
“We do.” Avuri said, proudly. I was happy that this was one thing that she wasn’t even attempting to downplay. “Two girls. Cierra is six, and Stena is three. They’re adorable and sweet little girls.”
“That’s nice, dear.” Solana said. “I’m looking forward to meeting them.”
“They’re waiting up at the house.” I said. “You’ll see them when we get there. My sister and father are there as well.”
“That’s nice, the whole family lives together.” Leon said.
“Not even half.” I corrected him. “I have four other siblings scattered all over the place. They’ll be here eventually too. Though I’m not entirely sure when…” I trailed off.
“Oh? Not on good terms?” Leon poked.
“We are, but I haven’t seen them in some time. They’re all very busy with various Cultivator work and the like. No one settled near home.” I shrugged. “It’ll be nice to see them all again.”
“Oh, I see you’re already here.”
Heads turned to the stairs as Avuri’s father, Dain, approached. He was followed by everyone else in the party, it seemed. The expressions on their faces ran the gamut from generally displeased to happy.
Avuri stepped in front of me once more to introduce me. “Hello father. Everyone. This is my fiancé, Emery Vale.” She said, and swept a hand toward me. “Emery, this is my father, Dain. And behind him is Basil, his wife Amalia, and their kids Glenn and Mica. To their right is Lark and Severa, and their son Cove. Lastly, that is Aster and his fiancé Mint.
I gave the group a proper bow. “It’s nice to meet you all. I’ll do my best to remember names, but forgive me if I don’t pick them all up immediately?” I said as sweetly as I could manage. “I assume everyone has storage rings, so with everyone here, are we ready to get moving?”
Avuri looked around the group. “Is everyone ready? We’ve got a long walk ahead of us, so it’s best we go soon to make sure we don’t lose the daylight. The last thing we need is to be stuck on the Peak in the dark.”
“Stuck in the - How long are you planning to have us walk for, exactly?” Severa asked sourly.
“Given your Cultivation levels, about four hours.” I answered smoothly, before Avuri could. “It’s not too bad a hike.” I promised.
Before any more dissent could be voiced I turned to Avuri. “Oh, right, Avuri. Would you like to deliver the Elders’ message before we go, or shall I?”
As much as I would love to deliver the message myself, I wanted to let Avuri get the chance to tell her family it herself. When she turned to face me, where her family couldn’t see her face, she had the most beautiful smile on her face I had seen all day.
Then she turned back to them. “Oh, Emery is right, we almost forgot. Lyn Solei, one of the Elders of the City - as well as our caterer - had a message for all of you. She also said that the other Elders echoed this sentiment and that you should take heed accordingly.”
When her family’s expressions turned serious, she continued, “Keep everything you see on the Peaks a secret, or you put your lives at risk.”
When her family’s expressions turned pensive, she hit them with a quote straight from Lyn herself, which Emery was pretty sure was given to Avuri for express use as ammunition like this. Her family would certainly take such a declaration seriously.
“And that includes my girls’ home.”