In the weeks leading up to Nuka's wedding, Kanna fought even more with her family. Her father demanded she attend the ceremony without Pakku or his mother– the only people that Kanna actually wanted to invite. Her mother insisted that she had brought this upon herself by accepting a betrothal from Pakku without their permission. Kanna reminded them that they had told her she could marry anyone she wanted.

And through it all Nuka watched and held her peace. She listened patiently to Kanna's complaints and Father's rants and Mother's pleas, but she refused to take a side in the argument. "I don't care who wins," she said whenever pressed on the subject, "so long as you all behave yourselves at my wedding."

The night before the wedding, Kanna got in a screaming match with her parents that ended with a bruise blossoming across her face. "There's no way to hide it," Mother said. "We'll have to tell everyone that Kanna is sick and can't attend."

"It's bad luck not to have the bride's sister present," Father grumbled.

"I'd rather have bad luck than a sullen Kanna at my wedding," Nuka said. "Please let Kanna stay home, Father."