Rae swallowed hard, looking herself up and down in the full length mirror. Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt sick, but it was the most wonderful kind, nervous and excited, simultaneously telling yourself 'I can't believe this is happening,' and 'I can't do this.'
A young girl – Iris – one of Tracy's sisters stood behind her, adjusting the corset of the dress for her. It was beautiful, form fitting with the fabric bunching around her calves to splay in rivers of silk on the floor, the train dragging behind her. She ruffled the material with her hands, bringing it to its fullest, pausing as she tied the ribbon around Rae's waist. "Nervous?" she asked, lightly, laying a hand on her hip to smooth out the silk.
Rae could only nod, her voice caught in her throat and her breath shaky. Diana came up in front of her, tucking away a stray lock of hair and pinning it with a flower. Her hair was done up in tight rings, each pinned to the crown of her head with a white flower. "Don't be." She said gently, smiling as she lifted Rae's chin, spreading a fine powder on her neck. "Everything's going to be fine, you watch. You look beautiful."
She muttered a thank you and glanced over at the bouquet of flowers lying on the chair. The thought of what those flowers were for made her heart flutter and she became light headed. She reached a hand out and Diana steadied her. "Iris, loosen the corset; she's having enough trouble catching her breath as it is!"
The bindings came away with ease and were redone to accommodate her sudden need for space. She was able to breath more easily and bend slightly over, at least.
"There's nothing to worry about," Iris reassured her as she sat, "How many times did we go through this? Everything was perfect then, everything will be perfect now."
"But, what if the magic-"
"The magic is fine." Diana cut in "Every ceremony in FairyLand uses the same magic. No matter who you are, fairy, human, gorgon, the magic will work."
Rae pressed her lips together, blood red and rather startling in contrast to the pallor color of her powdered skin, and nodded. They were right, she told herself. Everything would be fine.
Iris painted her face, taking the fine tip brush and dipping it into the oils, drawing symbols on her eyes and tickling her when she painted on her cheeks, down the bridge of her nose and on her lips. Later these painted areas would be visible, but for the moment she had to resist the urge to wipe at her tingling face. She covered her hands with fine lace gloves that extended up the length of her arm and ceased at the elbow – they were the same material as what was on the corset and what fringed the train behind her. The dress was sleeveless, showing off her collar bone and the vine-like design of the necklace she wore.
Diana finished painting her face, now swirled with patterns and symbols, as Iris took the crown off of the placeholder. It was a ring with a translucent veil attached to it, woven into the layers of silver, the seams hidden by flowers not unlike the ones she wore in her hair.
Rae's hands trembled as she lowered the veil over her face. Since she was a little girl, she'd dreamed of being a bride, of walking down the aisle on her father's arm to meet the man she loved.
Today, she wasn't a bride.
She was a Queen.
Of course, she wasn't actually ruling over a kingdom, nor did she suddenly find that she descended from a line of royalty, of any sort. It was simply the term traditionally used. A long time ago, she'd been told, a fairy bride and groom would preside over the others as a true King and Queen for three days prior and three days after the wedding.
The planning of the wedding had been a handful. It wasn't much of an area of expertise on either family's side to combine Human and Fairy marriage traditions. Each ceremony was so intricate that to take too much away from it would more than easily invalidate the marriage.
The event wasn't held in a church or a chapel – most places such as those were far too uncomfortable with the unusual rituals taking place in the marriage to offer them a place to conduct the ceremony.
But they'd found a wedding hall on the Human Plane, one that wasn't of any particular faith, that was more than comfortable with any plans that they had to execute within its walls.
Rae allowed the girls one last pass – oh, how excited they were to be doing this! – and took up the bouquet. Tracy's sisters each took up a small basket and led her out the door to the event foyer. Her heart was hammering in her chest as her father stepped up, linking their arms together. She swallowed hard and nodded to his question. Everyone wanted to know if she was okay.
She was getting married, of course she wasn't okay. This was terrifying and wonderful and it made her so happy she just wanted to burst, but she couldn't because she was getting married. She laughed weakly – there wasn't enough air in her lungs to support anything that didn't sound choked – as the doors opened.
That was when things changed.
Mere seconds ago, she'd been terrified out of her mind, ready to bolt one way or the other, to or from the hall where their families were gathered.
Diana and Iris went ahead, tossing purple crocus petals to the floor.
Her father was the first to move, urging her forward. She stepped awkwardly, finding the appropriate rhythm and keeping in pace with her father, but never taking her eyes away from the altar. There was no minister, as per usual wedding. There was simply him and her, the way they wanted it to be, and two golden cups sitting in the podium behind them.
He stood there in a striking silver threaded suit, coat tails falling behind him, looking as nervous as she did, but when they spied each other, there was suddenly nothing – no worries, no nervousness – nothing but an overwhelming joy. Rae smiled, fighting the urge to cry as tears threatened to slip down her cheeks, ruining all the careful work that Diana had done with the oils, which had begun to grow warm on her face. The moment she stepped up to the altar and the ceremony started, the markings began to glow, faintly at first, before escalating to create a striking silver pattern than decorated her face, neck and chest.
Tracy smiled down at her, hands twitching for hers, though he kept them at his sides. "Look at you," he breathed. "A proper Queen."
She let out another choked laugh. "Tracy," she looked up at him, eyes brimming. "I take you to be my lawfully wedded King. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all of your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life." She held her right hand out, palm up, for him to take.
He own hand didn't move yet, as he leaned over slightly. "Rae, I take you to be my lawfully wedded Queen. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all of your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life." He took her hand in his right.
It was a brilliant light that shone from their hands, clasped in one another, as they reached over with their other, each taking a goblet from the podium. They linked their arms together and brought their cups to their lips, drinking deeply the red wine. The symbols on Rae's face burned terribly, and she was sure his did as well, though his were painted on his chest and shoulders, under the wedding clothes. They drank until the pain subsided, goblets empty, and they disentangled themselves, setting the cups back in their original place.
Next came the younger fairy, Tracy's niece who could barely walk, toddling over to the couple in a delicate powder pink dress. She held up a small satin pillow to them and they bent over, taking the rings from their nest.
He took her hand first, bowing his head to hers and slipping the sleek silver band – more brilliant than any silver she'd seen – over her finger. "With this ring, I thee wed," he said softly.
When he released her, she immediately took up his hand, performing the same motions and slipping the ring onto his finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."
She could see the sheen of the metal ripple slightly, as if a light had passed over them. He seemed to notice it too, taking it as a cue to wrap his arms around her, drawing her to him as he bent his head and kissed her.
She reached up and threw her arms around his neck, twining her fingers in his hair before he scooped her up, turning towards the crowd. She craned her neck, bowing her head towards him. "I love you," she said, the tears finally slipping down her cheeks. .
He kissed her again, fleeting because of the awkward position. "I love you too, my Queen."