The next morning was surprisingly quiet. I’d gotten so used to things being busy and frantic, but with everything taken care of, I almost felt like we were in the calm before the storm. I woke up slowly, smiling down at Callie’s peaceful face. I tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, my smile widening as she grumbled and slapped at my hand.
Her brow furrowed slightly, but she didn’t wake up. I leaned down and kissed her forehead gently before sliding out of bed and walking to the doors of our balcony.
The air outside was crisp and refreshing, still with that morning chill, and the silence around me was heavy on air. Oddly, I didn’t feel the need to break it. More often than not, the silences I dealt with on mornings like this felt oppressive, but this one was different. Harmonious, almost.
Above us, I watched the aurora dance in the sky, visible even more vividly in the early morning, before the sun had risen. I was completely immersed in the sight, and almost missed the movements behind me, but it became clear who was moving when a familiar arm wrapped around my waist as Callie tucked herself under my arm.
“Sorry if I woke you.” I said shortly. It felt almost sad to shatter that peaceful silence.
She just shrugged. “Hard to sleep.” She said idly, staring up at the aurora. “Just one more day. It’ll be weird sleeping alone tonight.”
“Your rule.” I said with a wry grin. “I’d be happy to scrap it.
Snorting, she shook her head. “Not mine. My mom’s. She’s superstitious about the weirdest things. But it makes her feel involved when I listen to her, and that’s important. Speaking of important, I need you to do the once over of the venue. Make sure everything is up to snuff. I have to get my dress fitting double checked.”
“You haven’t changed even slightly over the past couple months.” I pointed out. “You haven’t even gained muscle because we weren’t working out on the trip.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “When will you learn to let me have my quirks? Measure twice, wear once. That’s a known thing in fashion. Bethy told me that.”
“Then she lied to your face.” I laughed. “That’s a known thing in CARPENTRY. It’s measure twice, cut once, and that saying is about literal wood beams.” She looked unimpressed, so I rolled my eyes and gave her a quick peck. “Oh fine. Yes dear. I’ll check on the venue.”
Beaming at me, she gave me a tight squeeze. “Shane…I just wanted to thank you. I know this has been a pain. I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. It just feels like…I have to get this perfect. This is the first time the world will be seeing us together as a married couple. I want everyone to know that we’re a team, that we support each other and have each other’s back.”
I could feel what she wasn’t saying. “Is this still an insecurity thing?” I reached down to put my finger under her chin, raising her head to look me in the eyes. “You, Calliope Reynolds, are amazing. I was in awe of you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I’m lucky to have found you, and anyone who thinks you’re not good enough, or are using me, or whatever crazy ridiculous thing you’ve convinced yourself people will think, is an idiot, and I will strike them violently about the head and body with my magic stick.”
That threw her off enough that she burst out laughing. She was used to my support and adoration, and she just thought I was biased, but the unexpected joke had jarred her out of her funk. She laid her head against my side and closed her eyes, smiling peacefully. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I said without hesitation. “And I always will. Now, if the wedding being perfect means that much to you I’ll make it happen, so I have a venue to vet. Sadly, that means I can’t make you homemade cinnamon buns for breakfast like I’d planned.” Her jaw dropped in outrage as I dipped back, avoiding her grab for my shirt. “I’m sure future you appreciates your sacrifice thanks bye!”
I laughed maniacally as I bolted out of the rooms, ignored her joking cries of faux anguish at the thought of missing a home cooked breakfast.
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About halfway down the hall, I ran into Benny, who was coming out of his own room. “Whoa there.” He said with a laugh. “Where are you going in your civvies?” He gestured to my sweats and t-shirt. I’d slipped on my mask but hadn’t bothered with my armor for the same reasons I hadn’t needed it the other day.
“Benny!” I said happily. “Congratulations, you’re being conscripted.”
He grimaced. “Am I joining the army again? Because that was way less fun than you made it sound.
“You’re so whiny.” I said teasingly. “You made me join the army Shane. This tournament is hard Shane. I can’t survive swimming in that volcano Shane, I’ll die. You have absolutely no sense of adventure, you know that?”
He shot me a deadpan look. “Where is the adventure in having to help set up your wedding? You’re just using me for free labor.”
I threw and arm over his shoulder. “This is all about mindset. You don’t ‘have to’ help me set it up. You ‘get to’ help me set it up. Or else. Just look for the silver lining. These are useful and important skills you can use to plan your own wedding someday.”
“Except I’m not a Wyndham, so I won’t need to make such a big fuss.” He groused.
I just snorted. “Your girlfriend is elvish nobility. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
He frowned deeply. “I really wish that didn’t make sense. Damn you.”
“It’s ok bud.” I said consolingly. “That’s a problem for future Benny. Present Benny is going to be so damned busy he won’t be able to worry about it.” I paused, looking up at the driver of the shuttle I’d just walked us up to. “Harmony Hall please.”
Benny blinked, looking around in shock. “Shit, you distracted me. Come on, I can’t even get breakfast?”
“You can eat when you’re dead.” I said mercilessly. “Or when my work is done, either is fine.”
He glared at me sulkily. “Despot. Fine. But only because tomorrow is the big day and Callie has been going out of her mind with the planning. We should take some of the work load off her mind so she can enjoy things more.”
“Agreed.” I said with a sigh. “That’s mostly why we’re doing this. She needs a chance to relax a bit before the wedding so she won’t be all burnt out.”
We chatted for the rest of the ride, and despite our back and forth, I could tell my best friend didn’t mind getting sucked into things. I considered bringing up Celine again, but I knew Callie and I had taken this step earlier than most recursion aside. I wasn’t going to poke him about something that might make him genuinely uncomfortable, at least not too much.
I was pretty sure my talk with Zeke and the wedding itself had put me in a weird headspace about the whole thing.
Finally, we arrived at the venue, and I thanked the driver (not the same guy who had weirded me out the day before) and hopped out, excited to take in the place where I’d be getting married.
Sure enough, when we disembarked, I was awestruck. We’d rented a sort of garden spring gazebo in the center of Wintervale. While most of the place was green and relatively warm, the spring had collected all that frost and cold and condensed it into a single area. A small black pond sat in the center of the garden, with the gazebo behind it.
An ice bridge led over the pond, formed of black frost. The gazebo was clean and peaceful looking, if small, and the garden around the pond was a cascade of gorgeous flowers, growing up and around rows of intricately carved seats. I could see engravings of animals and beautiful scenes carved into the dark wood.
I’d expected the orange and black plants to be ugly, but to my surprise the vibrant starbursts of color among the deep black plants homogenized with the black ice and the pond, and the orange fairy lights hanging from the gazebo tied the whole thing together shockingly well. Even the grass was black. I could see some of the flowers Jessie had mentioned, but instead of arrangements it looked like they’d planted them and let them grow over the seating.
“Damn.” Said Benny in an impressed tone. “This looks better than expected. I was kind of on the fence about the color scheme, but it looks good.”
I smiled wryly. “Same here. It’s weird, I think she decided to do orange partly because of the house back in Rajak. Like a nod to where we came from. But it seemed like such a terrible choice to me. I kind of get it now.”
“You say that.” He smirked. “But you don’t have to wear a completely orange dress. Celine was NOT pleased, though she obviously didn’t make too big a fuss. I think once she sees all this she won’t be as unhappy. Lucky we only need orange ties.”
Laughing, I resumed my circuit, taking in the details and double checking everything Callie wanted to make sure of. The gift bags, custom invitations included, were set out, the plating was done on the big fancy tables behind the gazebo (though none of the food was out yet obviously) , and there was a stage set up for the band (because DJs were tacky apparently).
All in all, everything was where it was supposed to be. Oddly, the more I confirmed, the more uneasy I got. My sense of peace from the morning was slowly eroding, and I wasn’t sure why. I used my Eye of Revelation on everything, making sure there was no poison or traps or hidden weapons caches, I checked all the staff I saw and didn’t notice an issue, I just couldn’t figure out what was bothering me.
Eventually I just shoved it down. I was here for Callie, and if something went wrong I’d handle it, but for now, I was going to make sure this went as perfectly as possible. I owed her that much, and so much more. She deserved to have this day go just as perfectly as she wanted, even if the insecurity was a little silly. I grimaced as that pushed me back into the worry spiral, putting me back at square one.
“Hey.” Said Benny casually. “You still have wishes for today right?” I glanced at him, and he grinned. “I know you’re distracted, but we might as well get them out of the way.” He reached into a pocket and flipped me a D-rank chit. “Credit for your thoughts?”
I rolled my eyes, but I was glad he was here. He always knew how to distract me. Plus,seventy Fantasy would put me over ten thousand, and milestones like that felt important.
Benny wished for seventy Might (putting HIM over ten thousand) and traded for the Fantasy I needed as we got back into the shuttle. We’d confirmed everything and now had the rest of the day to kill. I wasn’t sure if it would be over in a flash or drag on forever, given how nervous I was.
As we took off, I looked back down at the gazebo, trying to pinpoint what was bothering me. Try as I might though, nothing was coming clear. Reaching out for Callie, I sent her a supportive burst of love through the bond, getting one back, and that helped me calm down. The last errand was out of the way. Tomorrow was my wedding. It was almost here.