When we reached the main cafeteria hall, Kora led me in, where a large group of people were sitting. Among the familiar faces were Ivan, holding Rachel’s hand, Nakita, Elliot, Artemius, and Vivian. I was a bit surprised to see Artemius and Vivian, but I decided not to draw attention to myself by expressing it to them.

Unfortunately for me, Kora decided to bring attention to us almost immediately.

“We’re here!” She called as she practically dragged me over.

“Hey, what took you guys so long!” Ivan called, wrapping his arm around the blushing Rachel.

“Well! I had to do surgery! It practically required a crowbar and a scalpel to tear Leon and Yoozooki apart. Guess what I caught them doing?” Kora drawled in glee.

“Kora, no-” I began to beg before being cut off.

“What was it?” Elliot asked curiously, his face suddenly taking a keen interest, along with Nakita’s own olive green eyes boring into me as I felt my face turn crimson.

“They were kissing! With like tongue and everything!” She squealed in delight and I couldn’t stop the hand that came up to smack against my forehead if I wanted to.

“Wh-what!?” Rachel stood up and clapped excitedly. Seriously, was my love life that interesting? I felt ire rise within me, mostly at Kora for causing such a big scene about something that was none of their business.

“What?” One of the girls I didn’t know by name in the group groaned audibly. “Damn. I guess the rumors are true…”

“What rumors?” I demanded, my face heating up.

“That you and Leon are together, of course. It’s all over the city. He’s the most eligible bachelor, you know. Misty’s going to be so pissed. She’s practically got a shrine dedicated to him. As her best friend, it’s going to be a pain for me to console her. Hi, I’m Lily by the way.” Lily had beautiful silver hair with indigo eyes that had a silver rim around them. Her hair was shoulder-length and fell straight and strict around the frame of her thin face.

I nodded my head at her, feeling conflicted between possession, embarrassment, and guilt. “Don’t look so apologetic. You guys are perfect. You guys are like the celebrities of the Warrior City. Don’t think you don’t have fans either!” Lily said, smiling at me, and I felt embarrassment creeping in again.

“What? Fans?” I asked, feeling my face burning as I looked at the pretty girl talking in front of me.

“Oh yes! Some of the civilians took a poll and said the most beautiful Spirit Warrior is none other than you! Didn’t you know about this?” She looked at me with expectant eyes, but all I could offer her was an embarrassed denial. I didn’t consider myself particularly beautiful, but then again I had absolutely no taste in judging others by their appearance. Nakita nudged me with her elbow, grinning like a devil.

“About time girl. Was wondering when you were going to give in to your heart's desire.” Nakita said, actually looking pleased. I couldn’t take it anymore. I cleared my throat and pointedly looked at Rachel.

“So, you’re getting married?” I asked, feeling that Kora had unintentionally stolen their thunder with my personal life.

“Yes,” Ivan responded, pulling Rachel down on his lap and kissing her cheek. She smiled happily and nodded in agreement.

“Ah, we’ve known for a long time that we are going to get married. We have been waiting since before you got here. For the right time.” I blinked in surprise at my friend’s response. I’d been here in limbo for eight months so far, and they’d been waiting since before my arrival.

“You’ve been engaged for almost a year?” I asked, astonished and Ivan laughed.

“For over forty years, actually.” He corrected me, and I felt my mouth fall open in shock. What was the point of waiting for so long? How long had the two been together? Everyone laughed at my expression of shock and Rachel smiled at me gently.

“We just weren’t in a hurry. Time flows differently here, and we don’t age like we would in the world of the living. We have a very long life ahead of us, and we wanted it to be the right time.”

“So now, amongst death and chaos and fear, we figured there was no better way to celebrate. Warrior’s don’t get married often so when they do even the regular civilians celebrate. There’s a greater chance that offspring will be reproduced, which can awaken the weapons inside us. Warriors are rare and highly revered among those here in Limbo,” Ivan added, with a satisfied look.

“So a wedding between two warriors will be an extremely good distraction from all of the fear and sadness that has been going on.” I finished, the realization falling over me. The right time for them to get married was to spread hope in a time of darkness? My heart ached a little at how pure and unselfish it was of the two of them to choose their biggest moment to be a moment for others, more for themselves.

“The reason I called all of you here is because we need your help. We realize this is very sudden, so we are going to need a lot of help in preparing for the ceremony in five days,” Rachel cringed a little as she shared the deadline.

“Oh, only five days?” Nakita said surprised. “That is not as sudden as I thought it would be.” She added, rolling her eyes and Ivan grinned apologetically. 

“We are accounting for time that we might be sent out on missions, or everyone else. We cannot stop working just to plan the wedding. We have a city to protect.” Ivan said sheepishly. Rachel nodded in agreement and smiled.

“We have already cleared the date with CiCi. So that is taken care of.” The soon-to-be bride said happily.

“I will round up Misty and the crew. We will take care of the menu and cake. We have a lot of people in the city now, someone is bound to be a baker!” Lily said happily.

“I’ll handle the music.” Elliot volunteered.

“Yoozooki and I can do the decorating!” Kora volunteered us and several others agreed to help us. I nodded. Decorating sounded simple enough, and even though weddings weren’t something I attended often, I could probably handle decorating.

“I will get security taken care of. We don’t want to be caught off guard during the celebration.” Artemius spoke up in a gruff voice while Vivian nodded and smiled.

Rachel turned to Nakita shyly, her gaze suddenly shifting down.

“Will you marry us?” She asked and Nakita blinked in surprise.

“Yes.” Ivan confirmed, wrapping his arm around Rachel, smiling. “Of everyone we know, you have the most traditional sincerity. We would love for you to unify us.” He spoke up gently, and Nakita smiled. Her smile was gentle and genuine; it was almost scary to see from the solemn and stern woman.

“Well, I best prepare then.” She said, standing with a renewed sense of importance. Despite the unfamiliar setting, and everything that had happened today, I felt at peace. It calmed the turbulence in my heart.

Friends. Almost like family. These people took care of one another, no matter how difficult it might have been. I was being watched over, and loved by many people. And two of them would soon experience the happiest day of their lives. I looked at Kora and took her hand.

“Let’s do our best for them,” I said sincerely. It was Kora’s turn to look surprised at my sudden display of affection, but after a moment, she nodded happily. She was beaming at me and she gripped my hand as she did so.

“Oh, honey! You know my motto! Go big or go home!” 

The next few days, I spent a mixture of time helping Kora gather materials for the decorations and training to try and release Estrakulius’ second stage of my own power. The people of the city were more than willing to help. They provided beautiful pale blue and white tablecloths with intricate designs, floral centerpieces, and ribbons that matched to hang along the walls and chairs. In the center of Warrior City, there was a huge cathedral. It had no specific religious purpose but was symbolic nonetheless. A gathering for people to find solace and peace and ponder whatever it was they believed lay beyond our world in Limbo.

It had large, ornate marble on the inside with black and gold coloring. It was spacious, lined with candles, and smelled vaguely of incense. The scent was embedded into the pews, filling the area from years of people lighting it in the quiet solace of the large building. 		Atop the building, large bells sat, able to be pulled by hand to echo their melodious timbre over the city. It was perfect. I found myself feeling attracted to this building from the moment I stepped into it.

The morning of the wedding, Kora and I were putting the last touches on the arbor. Using real flowers and pink ribbons, we entwined the colorful decorations into the long stems and weaved them into a beautiful, large arch just before the wedding to prevent wilting. Rachel was already in the oratory, getting helped into her wedding dress as we finished up.

“You done with that wedding arbor, Yoozooki?” Kora’s accented voice floated to me at the top of a chair.

“It appears that way,” I answered her, tucking the last flower into place on the top of the arbor before stepping off the chair I’d been using. Kora stepped back and beamed happily at the pretty arched decoration before turning to Lily, who had come with several other women to help us with the finishing touches.

“Well, everyone’s bouquets are finally done. I’ve got them in the oratory already.”

“Oh, thanks, Lily!” Kora said happily, clapping.

“This wedding has turned out quite successful with only four days of planning.” I mused. The food had been prepared. The reception would be held in the nave of the cathedral while the ceremony itself would be in front of the pulpit. Lily grinned and shrugged.

“That’s the power of women, mate. We’re bloody efficient especially when we’re in a team. You two ought to get dressed if you’re done with that.” She reminded us and Kora nodded, pulling the chair I’d been using back into its place before we all went back to the oratory to put on our dresses.

Everyone’s dress was different; the colors were all the same: Pale pink and white. My dress resembled a kimono, designed for me after a description of it. Kora was wearing a long pink dress that required metal rings to keep it flared. The top of it was cinched by a white corset. Lily was also a bridesmaid, and she was wearing a simple summer gown, pale pink with white accents. Nakita was the exception. She was wearing her usual black. It was a nice dress that was drawn tightly across her muscular body. She was poring over a few papers in her hand studiously, looking surprisingly nervous.

Rachel was helped into the most beautiful gown I’d ever seen. The torso was form-fitting, a corset that came up to cotton sleeves that left her shoulders exposed while running all the way down to her hands, a loop that her middle finger slid into created a triangular lacey shape on the back of her hand and held it in place at her wrist. It sparkled with gems, and at her waist, it flared out into a loose gown that rippled like snowy silk around her as she walked. Her beautiful mahogany hair was carefully piled up on the back of her head, braided and curled just right so that she looked like a fairy princess. A train was pinned to the back of her dress, long and heavy, yet sheer so that it trailed behind her as she moved steadily forward.

I never realized just how much I liked dresses until I saw that dress, and Nakita and Kora looked at me with astonished eyes as I fawned over Rachel.

“You look like a dream come to life,” I told my friend, glaring at the two women who were feigning shock, Nakita reaching over to touch my forehead as Kora pretended to swoon. “Shut up, you two,” I mumbled as Rachel laughed, her cheeks turning pink with pleasure at the scene around her.

“My, my! She does have a fashion sense! Only took a weddin’ to bring it out of her. Does Yoozoo secretly have the weddin’ bug?” Kora teased me, and I aimed one of my sandaled feet towards her own. She danced out of the way, laughing, and I glared at her.

“No! I have never seen a dress this beautiful, is all. Well, dresses were not common where I’m from; they were mostly kimonos.” I explained in a heated voice while Rachel examined herself in a long mirror.

“She dishes out a compliment. She’s honest with her feelings of admiration. Yuzuki, heart of stone, getting all soft over love. Dat Leon must be somethin’ else. The stallion dat tamed a dragon!” Nakita joined in, causing me to throw my hands up in frustration, while everyone in the room laughed.

“What is it with you people and giving me a hard time?” I asked with genuine resentment, and Rachel turned, taking my arm in one of hers.

“You’re an easy target. When you get used to showing emotion more freely you won’t be so fun for them to pick on. Thank you, Yuzuki, a compliment from you is a big honor.” Rachel soothed me in her gentle, almost sisterly tone, and I sighed. Was it really such a big deal?

“It’s just good to see you acting like yourself again,” Kora said lightly. Nakita nodded in agreement while Rachel let go of my arm and looked down at the ground silently. “We were really worried about you, Yoozooki.” Kora’s drawling words were soft and I looked up at them quietly, my eyes searching their faces. Even Rachel’s eyes held a cloud of sadness in them, and this was supposed to be her happiest day.

I sighed softly, guilt washing over me. They all annoyed me to no end, but still, I found I cared for them all deep in my heart. I hadn’t meant to make anyone worry. I was determined to keep myself away from others and bury all thoughts of my grief into my anger and determination to move forward to end this war.

This brought me to my guilt-ridden thoughts of how this wedding was a waste of time when we could be out there, fighting on the front lines. But I could see now how much everyone needed this break. A wedding was a happy ordeal, from what I understood, and I forced a smile on my face as I bowed my head to my friend in the room.

“I apologize for worrying you all. I promise that was not my intention.”

“Oh, we know. We also know you’re kind of inexperienced at expressin’ yourself, so we didn’t mind being pushed away too much. But we’re all kind of hoping that from now on you’ll rely on us more to help you out with things that make you sad, okay?” Kora pitched, and I smiled softly.

“I promise to work on it if you promise to stop bringing up sad things today, on the day our best friend is dooming herself to a life of servitude to a gross man,” I said, purposely making my voice stern. “We have a wedding to perform, ladies. Why are we standing around idly?” I said, clapping my hands. A grin broke out on Nakita’s face as she turned and began to leave.

“I tell da people dat da bride is ready for her debut.” She called over her shoulder, and suddenly Rachel was clinging to mine and Kora’s arms.

“Oh…wait.”  She called weakly to Nakita, who did not stop. She looked up at Kora and me, and I was a bit shocked and confused to see terror clouding her eyes. “I’m…getting married!” She exclaimed in an amazed voice as if she were surprised. Kora laughed, but I tilted my head, looking between them.

“You act as if you just realized that. You’ve been planning this wedding the entire time. You accepted the proposal forty years ago!” I said hesitantly. “What is going on with her Kora? Is she okay?” I said, worry creeping into my stomach, and Kora began to laugh harder, as Rachel glared at me.

“I’m nervous!” She said in a strong voice, and I shook my head. That didn’t make sense. She hadn’t been nervous at all until this very second. She’d seemed virtually stress-free during the planning of the ceremony.

“Why? Don’t worry, we won’t let you trip over your dress on the way down the aisle if that’s what’s bugging you. It seems a bit hard to move in…” I answered reassuringly, patting her hand gently while Kora howled with laughter.

“Oh lordy! Just focus on Yoozooki’s cluelessness and you won’t be nervous anymore.” She said, giggling, causing me to blink in more confusion. Rachel was now also chuckling, giving me a worried look.

“Now I’m just worried about you again. We need to write you a handbook on the regularities of being a woman.” She said, and I felt my mouth fall open.

“So you’re not worried about falling? Then why are you nervous?” I asked, sincerely confused. Kora snorted with held-back laughter as Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“You really don’t have a clue about feelings. Though I am relieved to hear you’re not going to let me fall. That would be quite embarrassing. Come on, let’s get into position for the walk. I have a man to force into being my husband!” She declared nervously.

It turns out, Leon was one of Ivan’s best men, and we were paired together to walk. In front of us, Kora, who was the maid of honor, walked arm in arm with Elliot, and surprisingly, Artemius was walking behind us with Vivian. When we took our positions, the music began to play. A violin of harmonious, happy notes filled the air as Rachel appeared, and everyone stood, eyes glued to the beautiful creature that walked gracefully down the aisle towards Ivan, who looked dumbstruck at the sight of his bride.

As the ceremony went on, I paid attention, peeking around Kora to watch the exchanging of vows that brought tears to everyone’s eyes except a few of the men and me. The promise of spending eternity together, by one's side through darkness and illness, the swearing of eternal love that they made to each other was beautiful. But I was beginning to understand why Rachel had been feeling faint, and Ivan’s hands were shaking as he slid a golden ring onto her slender hands. An oath of eternity was a very heavy promise to make.

After the ceremony, there was a feast, full of music, laughter, and dancing. And what seemed like an eternity of endless talking. Just before the dancing began, those closest to the bride and groom gave speeches. Ivan and Rachel made theirs together first, ad-libbing off of one another, in an unscripted, embarrassed heap of happy laughs and love. Ivan’s arm was around her the entire time, keeping her close to his broad chest, and even I couldn’t help the warmth of joy that spread through me for them. Then it was Kora’s turn to speak, and she stood up, positively beaming. A bit of dread wafted through me. Was it a good idea to put that girl in the spotlight?

“Heeey, ya’ll.” She started off, sickeningly happy and I fought the urge to groan and disappear into the floor. Already, I felt bad for Rachel and Ivan. “So! This is a big day, huh? Two goody-two-shoes getting hitched. Tyin’ the knot. Oh, man. So I know I said this to you when I first browbeat the fact that you two were secretly dating. I found out before Elliot did, y’all! But Ivan, if you break my girl’s heart, you’re in big trouble, ya hear? Not that I am worried about it, you’ve been her loyal puppy for the last… oh gosh, how long has it been?” She said, turning to the brunette man who was grinning, his hands raised in surrender as Rachel laughed. “No. Seriously. I will hurt you. Mkay Suga?” she said, raising a fist in mock anger, and even I grinned this time as everyone laughed, watching the animated girl speak.

“So as I said, it’s a big day. Two of my best friends are getting married after what seems like centuries of beating around the bush about it, and I have literally been planning this speech for like, years, people. But now that I’m up here and speaking, everything I rehearsed or added into this speech seems so meaningless…” Kora’s voice suddenly got a bit more serious and she laughed shakily. I realized her eyes were watery. She was going to cry, and as Kora herself often said: Oh lordy.

“You know, I feel like we have taken a lot of things for granted lately. All of us. Friendship, love, and even our life. For some of you, this is an afterlife, but for the rest of us, this is actual life for now until we move on and don’t remember a damn thing about it after we get to where we’re gettin’ to. Not too long ago, we lost an important person to us. She was young, and she was still learning, but she’d been a bright light in this city whenever she came to visit, ever since she barely could get ‘er feet straight up on the ground. And I watched as a horrible gray cloud of grief came over my friends, new and old alike, and I was helpless to help them. Especially with my own sadness, ya know? Life is so fleeting; I would have never imagined a world without our little friend Alice before now. Ivan and Rachel, this wedding is just what we needed. You two have reminded us that there is joy still left here. Even in the midst of a scary war between us and a giant supervillain Tisin. There is time for love, laughter, and joy. Time to come together and just be. That's what we are protecting; it isn’t just a city and a bunch of souls. It’s the precious things that happen when the souls come together. The beauty and purity of people who love and care for each other. Together, no matter what we face, we shall persevere. I have watched you both blossom into people who deserve each other, and you love each other unselfishly. And I have seen you both grow so strong, together. I love you both dearly. So thank you. Thank you for being in love. And thank you for being our picture of hope for the future today.”

Kora’s voice broke consistently throughout her speech, and I felt my throat close up and fire burn the back of my eyes as I gripped the table. I’d resolved to bear it, hearing her speak about Alice, even through the pauses in her speech to gain her composure. “And may you two be joined for at least as long as it took you guys to get off your butts and get hitched!” She ended it with a light note, but things were a bit heavier in the room. The girl next to me, Lily, reached over and took my hand gently, threading her fingers with mine and I looked up at her with surprise, realizing there were tears streaming down my face. I vaguely wondered when I’d gotten so soft. Still, I squeezed the girl’s hand gently in thanks as Elliot stood up, clearing his throat.

“Thank you, Kora. I’d like to start off by saying that I agree, one-thousand percent with Kora. About everything. Especially the part where you guys took way, way, way too long to get this done. Look at me, I’m getting old here!” He joked and everyone laughed. I noticed a lot of eye-rolling.

“My best friend. And my sister. All married and stuff. So, as Kora said, she found out first. Do you all wanna know how I found out?” He asked, spreading his arms and nodding and Ivan audibly groaned, literally sliding down in his seat and covering his face with one hand. “Yeah, I think you all should know. It’s kind of funny… now. Okay, so I found out: I come home after a patrol, all tired and stuff. Bagged me a few low-grade Tisin that day. Ya know, everyday stuff. So, I walk into our little barracks room, and what do I see? My sister straddling Ivan, their tongues so far down each other’s throats my first thought was, ‘Are they trying to strangle each other with their mouths?’” A roar of laughter ripped through the room and I felt myself grinning, looking slyly at Rachel and Ivan through the corner of my eye. They were both beet red and holding each other’s hands. Elliot wasn’t done, however, and he held up his hands.

“So my mouth drops open and they finally notice me and they scramble to opposite sides of the lounge chair, faces red and embarrassed and trying to look innocent. So my second thought was, ‘Seriously? They’re trying to pull that?’” He put a hand to his forehead in mock exasperation and again laughter floated through the room. “So they’re looking at me, looking like dogs that got caught chewing on the slippers and for a few seconds I’m just able to think, ‘My sister. And my best friend. My sister and my best friend.’ So the silence was so heavy that I realized I had about five seconds to open my mouth and say something and I was letting them down. I had no clue if my brain was accepting this or not, I just knew it was going to be interesting. So I open my mouth, my brain completely frozen and I hear myself say, ‘So Dr. Rachel, what kind of healing procedure was that?’”

Laughter once again ripped loudly through the room and I felt myself chuckling along with it. Elliot grinned as he turned to his sister and his best friend. “So as noted, it took them a million years to get married so I’ve had a lot of time to get over the shock of my best friend and my sister as a thing. And after a while the apprehension of being in a really awkward place if they broke up or something disappeared. I couldn’t be happier. Not a lot of guys get to say their best friend is their brother.” He said cheerfully and I saw the smile spread from Ivan’s face ear to ear. “All I ask is please don’t take as long to make me an uncle. I’m putting in my baby order now. I want a nephew who looks like me and is pretty much as awesome as I am, because you don’t compare, sorry bro and sis.” He plopped down in his seat and raised his glass while everyone laughed again heartily.

After Kora and Elliot made their speeches, to my surprise, CiCi stood up. I hadn’t really expected her to come to the wedding, but I stood corrected now as I stared rudely at her. Her long, fire-red hair cascaded down her shoulders, stopping at the middle of her back; her emerald eyes made brighter due to an even deeper emerald dress. It fit her slender, tall body skin-tight until it flared out at the knees. The mermaid-cut dress defined her sculpted frame, and as she tapped her glass, it did nothing to hide the warrior's muscle beneath her. She was beautiful and dressed so elegantly that I almost didn’t recognize her when all eyes turned to her. Even as decorated as she was, she still looked very much like she could find something to slit your throat and do it within seconds.

That is what deadly beauty is. I remember thinking to myself as I watched her. And in that moment, I had never felt so intimidated in my life by anyone else. She smiled as she looked at Rachel and Ivan and nodded as silence filled the hall once more. Judging by the expression on many people's faces, I wasn’t the only one stunned by this ‘beautiful’ CiCi.

“I have been here for many, many years. I founded this city with the help of Malakii and Claus and helped those discover their potential within themselves. So needless to say, I love every single one of my warriors. Some of you I consider my brothers and sisters in arms. Many of you are young enough for me to consider my children. I look at these two children now, and I smile in pride. Here within my walls, I have access to the most powerful weapon, the most useful tool, and the most beautiful dance there is within the universes. And that is love. Most forget that love is all of these things because it’s not physical. It’s not an aspect that can be touched. The only thing love can be is felt. However, love is the most powerful weapon and tool in all of the universes. One cannot have loyalty without love. One cannot have faith in another without love. We cannot have trust in each other without love. Love is pure and it is the ultimate combination of all of the complicated and wonderful feelings we feel for each other. Love is loyalty, dedication, faith, hope, trust, and respect all lumped together in a strong rush of desire and need for each other. And love is what gives us the strength to stand or fight for another when we need it. And so my children and warriors, it is the most powerful tool.

“Here I watch this unity with pride, joy, and love of my own. It gives me faith as we go to war that we shall win. For our enemies do not have what we have. And I think that is all the cutting edge we need. Fight for our children, for each other. With love for all that we protect, with love for our home and neighbors. For those present…and for those past…” At her final words, I saw her eyes flick to me for just a split second, and I lowered my head, closing my eyes and battling off the images of the little girl I had failed to protect. A little girl I had indeed loved very much.

“And here I say, let there be many long years ahead of you, my fierce warriors, to cherish the Amaranth that you two see within one another. And as Elliott said, I hope to see the blossoming of new Amaranths from this union. ” She reached down and raised a glass, which I was surprised to see wine in, and I found myself following suit. Like a robot without brakes, I raised my glass and stood. Soon, after some shuffling, everyone in the hall was raising their glasses, standing, and grinning.

“A toast to your individual love and the love that is felt by all in this room. May it strike fear into those who oppose us.” CiCi said, with a hint of drama in her voice, and a resounding, “Here! Here!” echoed through the room. We all drank, and CiCi sat down, apparently pleased with what she had to say. Rachel had tears in her eyes, and Ivan was grinning happily.

Most wouldn’t have been particularly pleased with a battle speech as their congratulations, but they were. I understood why they were, and I too was pleased with CiCi’s words. It must be a warrior thing.

Now that the toasting was done, dancing was soon to follow, and I was relieved that no one had called on me to speak.

I watched the festivities from a corner of the room before Leon came up and slid his arm around my waist. I looked up at him, still unused to the free contact that he gave. In my culture growing up, contact was not something that occurred often, not even between spouses.

“You seemed a little lost during the ceremony.” He said cheerfully and I shrugged, setting my drink down as I shifted in his embrace to be a bit more comfortable, leaning against his body. Just because I wasn’t used to it, didn’t mean I didn’t like it. People must not have loved each other in my country, because I was slowly finding my favorite thing in the world was the touch of Leon’s skin against mine.

“It was the first time I’ve been to a wedding like that. Where I come from, weddings are just business transactions or the seal on an alliance between two clans. I’ve never been to or heard of a wedding planned out of love. And the only wedding I’ve ever attended I was there to assassinate someone. It went wrong, and I had to kill the whole wedding party. It was not a happy day for them, like today is for Ivan and Rachel.”

“Some of the weddings from my day and age were like that too, I think, as far as I can remember. But my people are romantics, love and respect were important to us.” He offered a smile. “Our marriages, even if they were arranged, were very affectionate. The men provided for the women and tenderly cared for them, and the women nurtured us, kept us strong and healthy.”

I tilted my head at the sheer difference our cultures had in almost every aspect, before frowning. 

“I only know that women are inferior in our heritage. A family that bears no sons is frowned upon. And women in most families are subservient to their husbands.” I informed him and Leon wrinkled his nose.

“How barbaric.” He said, and I laughed, shrugging a bit.

“I was raised to be a killer, in a barbaric heritage. I would never have been married off anyway. Only the men get that privilege in our family unless another clan paid a heavy price for me. Dowries are usually meant to be paid by the woman’s family but my father worked things a little differently. The only reason another clan would want me is because of my strong genetics and background in assassination. If someone was willing to pay the price we were worth for my sister and I, we wouldn’t be given a choice in the matter. Otherwise, only my brother would have gotten the right to marry, and he was unlimited in who he could have. Since our family had such close ties to the Empress, nobles were begging to sell their daughters to my brother. However, my brother didn’t have a taste for women. Which is something that was never shared with anyone but myself and my sister.” I told him, feeling a bit surprised that it was so easy to explain these things to him.

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Memoirs Of The In-Between Table Of Contents

Memoirs Of the In-Between Chapter 13

Even during turmoil, love will always find a way.

When we reached the main cafeteria hall, Kora led me in, where a large group of people were sitting. Among the familiar faces were Ivan, holding Rachel’s hand, Nakita, Elliot, Artemius, and Vivian. I was a bit surprised to see Artemius and Vivian, but I decided not to draw attention to myself by expressing it to them.



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Memoirs Of the In-Between Chapter 13

Even during turmoil, love will always find a way.

About the Creator

Hope Martin

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