For Vittoria, the wedding ceremony is an explosion of light, colour, laughter, and wine. She hardly has a chance to catch her breath between the seemingly endless greetings, well-wishers, shouts of congratulations and toasts to her good health. She is hauled from one conversation to the next, able only to utter a few words of thanks before she finds herself among another, equally merry, group of wedding guests. When she is at last permitted to stop and take a seat beside Asgeir, her husband-to-be, it is the first time she has set eyes upon him the entire afternoon. "Hello, my love," he whispers, his lips brushing lightly against her cheek. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, taking a moment to calm her anxious mind. She turns to face him and smiles tenderly, all her worries melting away. He leans in to kiss her, but she pulls back, arching an eyebrow. "Not yet!" she laughs, playfully swatting his arm away. "You must wait your turn."
As she utters the last word of her vows, a thunderous cheer erupts from the crowd, drowning out the priestesses' declaration of their marital bond. Asgeir lifts his new wife into his arms and kisses her passionately, prompting another cheer, much louder than the last. When they part, Vittoria smiles up at him and mouths "I love you". Asgeir plants another kiss on her lips before placing her back on the ground. He holds up their joined hands for all to see and proclaims, "May our marriage bring unity to both our peoples!"
There is a deafening roar as one of the gargoyles is dislodged from the upper battlements, crashing down upon the unsuspecting newlyweds, like judgement from above. The terrible sound of Vittoria's scream is cut off as the gargoyle descends upon her, breaking the joining of their hands, sending Asgeir tumbling down the steps of the podium. The following moments are a blur of screams, cries for mercy, and frantic shouts as the guards chase after a black figure sighted upon the battlements. Asgeir lifts his wife's crumpled body from the rubble, cradling her to his chest, sobbing uncontrollably, and rocking back and forth upon the balls of his feet. "My love, come back to me..." he utters, over and over again.
