In Which There Is a Wedding or Two

Justina was so relieved to not be a prisoner anymore she insisted on coming with Xanaria and Lupe when they went to return the horses they'd stolen. They all decided that it would be least awkward if they returned them in the middle of the night the way they had been taken. They tied them to the railing on the Inn's front porch and rode off on the spare horses they'd brought. No explanations and no uncomfortable conversations. The trip delayed Lupe's start on her new job a little but she and Xanaria just weren't willing to put off returning the horses.

When their journey was almost done, and they were riding back through the town below the Keep, Justina first noticed the stares and whispers. She felt a cold weight in her gut. The farther they went and the longer the stares lingered the more uncomfortable Justina felt. They were almost through when someone darted up and grabbed her stirrup. Justina recoiled, ready for the worst.

"Um…" Justina said when the woman just stared at her with a pinched expression and big eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Please, m'am." The woman whispered. "My daughter. She's pregnant, and she's been pregnant too long. She can't get out of bed. Please help her, I'm afraid."

Justina paled. "I'm not a doctor. I'm not even a mother. I don't know how to help."

The woman blinked at her. "Please! Would you make her a charm? Just to bring the babies out and keep her alive through it?"

"I don't… I don't have magic…"

"Please! I'll do anything, I'll be your servant for the rest of my life! I'll bring you whatever you need for your spells! I'll do anything!"

"No. Oh god, no. I dont- I can't- I-"

"Please!"

"Have you tried spicy food?" Justina wracked her brain trying to remember anything her friends with children might have said or that she'd seen in a Mama Doctor Jones video from back when life was normal. "Or yoga? Although I suppose if she can't get out of bed… I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know anything about babies and I'm not a witch, I'm really not!"

That was when Lupe came back and detached the woman, who was now crying, and Xanaria grabbed Justina's reins and towed her out of town and up the hill to the Keep.

After that Justina was half afraid to leave the Keep. The townswomen's daughter had survived and she told everyone "The Baron's Witch" had saved her. The rumors absolutely exploded. For every person who made a warding gesture as she passed there was another who would beg her for help and magic she could not give them. She tried to direct them as best she could to healers and the weekly hearing Lupe had taken to holding in a wide open space just outside of town. But sometimes that wasn't enough and they didn't understand. It broke her heart.

The Baron sent out the proclamation of law Lupe had asked for, delayed only by Xanaria's request that she be able to send a letter to her parents first to let them know she was alive. At first no one seemed to take the proclamation seriously.

"I think we'll need to have a public wedding." Lupe told Xanaria with a sigh one day. "Something no one can ignore."

"But… won't that be dangerous?"

"Yes. Which is why we need to be the first to publicly do it. We have protections most folks won't."

"But we're so much more visible. It won't just be the local bully boys with it out for us, it will be everyone within the Barony."

"Not everyone. Only the assholes. They might be louder but there aren't as many of them as you might think. And I have all my people here now. With uniforms and everything. They'll keep us safe if they need to. We can go all out. Be the change we want to see."

"I'm not sure our wedding can change the world."

"Well, no. But it would be a start. As long as we make it something that cannot be ignored."

"But-"

"Xanaria, love," Lupe caught her hand and kissed it. "I'm not going to force you to do this. I just want you to think about it. I feel like it's my responsibility as a leader, but if you don't want to then we won't, okay? Think about it for a couple days then get back to me."

"...Okay."

Xanaria was chewing on the idea like a bitter seed when the doors to her room burst open and her mother stood in the doorway. She froze, staring at Xanaria, one hand on her mouth and the other over her heart.

"Sleeping goddess! Mom?"

"I came as soon as I got your letter. We all wanted to come but you know how the farm is. Your dad will visit as soon as I get back, then your brother." She held out her arms and Xanria crossed the room stepping into her embrace. "Or you could come back with me and save everyone the trip. Oh, Ri! I thought you were gone…"

Xanaria couldn't swallow her tears hugging her mother.

"I missed you."

"You could have written."

"I couldn't. I wish…" She choked.

She felt her mother nod over her shoulder. "I understand."

"Mom," Xanaria pulled out of the hug wiping tears from her cheeks. "Me and Lupe are going to be getting married."

Her mother reached out to cup her face in both hands. "It's about time, love."

When Xanaria got back from visiting her family she sought Lupe out first thing.

"We can have a public wedding if you can convince me that the precautions being taken are enough to keep you safe from a mob with pitchforks and torches, okay?"

"Pitchforks and torches?"

"It could happen."

"I doubt it, but you know what? You can be involved in the security plans and veto anything that doesn't feel safe. Alright?"

"Okay."

"Great! I'll just-"

"I'm not done. I have a couple more conditions."

"Alright, let's hear them."

"We need to get married beforehand in a small ceremony. Just the two of us and Justina for a witness. I'm sure Blessed Lyrian will do it and her daughter can be our other witness. Unless you have anyone you need to be there?"

"I mean, I'd like my parents at my wedding, but they just got home. And if there's going to be a big ceremony for the second wedding I'd rather just make them travel once. Justina and Lisa will be perfect. Anything else?"

"Yes, but you're not going to like it."

"What?"

"Baron Grayson needs to be your best man."

"No. Absolutely not."

"You said we need to have a public wedding, something that can't be ignored. If the Baron is a key figure, that's a public support big enough no one can ignore it."

"Yes but-"

"And you'll be a lot safer standing next to him. The guards will be much more motivated to protect him than to protect you."

"But I don't want that man anywhere near my wedding!"

"I know. That's why we'll have our real one earlier." Xanaria grinned a wicked grin. "And if you don't want to then we won't, okay? Think about it for a couple days then get back to me."

Lupe scowled at her. But eventually agreed.

The morning of Xanaria and Lupe's wedding dawned in a thick sea fog at Blessed Lyrian's home. Justina helped Xanaria with her hair and veil. Her dress was simple, but elegant and white.

"I have something for you." Justina told her with a smile. "A surprise."

Xanaria giggled. "It's a little last-minute, don't you think?"

"Maybe. But I could never resist a tasteful bit of drama."

Justina brought out a necklace. The pendant was a pale rough pebble wrapped in silver wire and hung on a fine silver chain. Xanaria blinked then took it, looking closer. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but the pebble seemed to glow just a little.

"Is this... Is this one of Skippers?"

"Yes. I was hoping we could see them in person yesterday but, well…" They had walked the path several times since they arrived at Blessed Lyrian's and no door had opened to let them in. "I thought maybe this could help feel like they were here in spirit. Or... I don't know. Something."

Xanaria hugged Justina, tears in her eyes. "Thank you. This is perfect."

Justina helped her with the clasp and Xanaria touched it with a small sigh, "I wish Skipper could really be here."

"I know, me too. But enough of this! Your bride is waiting."

Outside the fog still eddied between the trees and beams of light through the branches turned bars of mist golden. Lupe was waiting by the door wearing the green and blue dress Xanaria had made her. When the door opened and she saw Xanaria, Lupe's face lit up like the sun. Hand in hand they walked down the steps with Justina and Lisa following close behind. They came before Lyrian where she stood in front of her flower garden. Lyrian prompted them through their vows before the Sleeping Goddess and they each drank from a large seashell. When Lyrian told them they were married they kissed and a gentle breeze eddied through the fog and stirred Xanaria's veil. Justina didn't even try to pretend she wasn't crying as she beamed at her friends. Lisa scattered beach pebbles and shells around everyone's feet.

Then they went back inside, ate good food, and waved Xanaria and Lupe off to their campsite. Tents, food, drink and firewood had all been set up the day before so the newlyweds could spend the next couple days alone with as little effort as possible.

It was perfect. Justina wished the two could have had time for a proper honeymoon but as it was she was just glad they'd been married here first.

A couple weeks before the town wedding there was a riot. A group of men from all over the Barony charged the keep. It was not lost on Justina that the leaders had been some of the worst of the old guard. Men Lupe had fired. Lupe's people and the Baron's loyal guards subdued them and took them away. Justina was afraid to ask what happened to them, but they didn't come back. Afterward there was an outpouring of support in letters and visits. But mostly people treated the upcoming ceremony with either awkward uncertainty or amusement. It was exhausting, and Justina wasn't even one of the women it was aimed at.

Even the fliers they put up to announce the wedding kept accumulating graffiti and had to be replaced every couple of days.

The day of the ceremony dawned bright, warm, and perfect in every way. The square was full of white flowers. The wedding dresses were way fancier than Lupe or Xanaria were happy about. They had been able to convince the seamstress to make some compromises for functionality after the riot, but not many.

Justina tried to be cheerful for Xanaria's sake, but Xanaria didn't smile at all in the days leading up to the public wedding. She kept touching Skipper's stone. She hadn't taken it off since Justina had given it to her. Justina wasn't allowed to help with hair or clothing this time. But she stayed by Xanaria's side all through pre-wedding prep. Just before they reached the door that would let them out into the town square Xanaria stopped. She squeezed Justina's hand and took a few deep breaths before opening the door with shaking hands and stepping out into view of the crowd.

The square was filled with people who'd come to see the wedding. Family were in the front row, then friends, and then the public. Lupe had her people scattered among the strangers, just in case. For the most part everyone seemed happy to be here, even the people Justina didn't recognize. Just like you should be at a wedding. She followed a step behind Xanaria as she walked to the dias in the center front of the square. The Baron did the same for Lupe as she approached from the other side. The brides climbed the dias at the same time, and no one had to walk through a crowd. That had been Lupe's idea.

Blessed Lyrian had traveled in to officiate again because the priest in town had refused. Privately Justina thought it was better this way. She and the Baron took their places on either side of the couple and smiled out at the crowd. Blessed Lyrian had a much longer and more formal ceremony planned this time and Justina found herself getting distracted by every unexpected movement in the crowd. It kept being nothing unusual but Justina's tension still ratcheted up each time. Once her concern was justified. There was a small quiet scuffle near the back. One of Lupe's people, a man called Shawn Justina thought, escorted a stranger out of the square with his arms twisted behind his back. It was over in seconds and no one seemed to have noticed besides Justina and the people right next to where the man was subdued. So Justina said nothing and just tried to keep smiling as she scanned the crowd.

Eventually the ceremony was over. Hand in hand Lupe and Xanaria walked off the dias and back up to the keep. The stairs to the dias were whisked away and a runner cloth was laid across the front turning it into a long counter. Food and drink were brought out and the square went from wedding venue to reception. Everyone loves an excuse to celebrate and Justina left them to it escaping the crowds and the perfect sunshine to hide until her nerves settled.

For a couple months after the wedding there were fewer petitioners on the days Lupe held the open court. But that didn't last. She was too good at what she did.

Without wedding planning to distract Justina, and the requests for her magical aid coming in almost daily, Justina mostly hid in her room. Whenever it became too much she asked Xanaria if she could take a week and return to Blessed Lyrian's. She spent hours walking back and forth through the space where Skipper's door had spat her out. Every time she was a little more convinced that Skipper was gone for good but at the same time her determination to keep trying, for the rest of her life if need be, just hardened.

She found herself asking to go to Blessed Lyrian's more and more.

One day when Justina had been gone for longer than usual Xanaria heard a knock on her office door. She looked up as Justina opened it still in her travel clothes and looking serious.

"Xanaria?"

"Justina! You're back!"

"I am, but… I wanted to talk to you about something."

Drown it, I knew something was wrong. I've been thriving here, but I hate seeing Justina shrink in on herself when she's at the keep.

Xanaria tried to keep her voice light as she asked, "What about?"

"Blessed Lyrian offered to let me stay with her permanently in exchange for helping out around the place. I'd be able to monitor Skipper's door better and with winter coming I won't have to travel back and forth in the cold."

"I'll miss you."

"I'd miss you too but-"

"I think you should do it."

"-I could still come visit and… wait really?"

"Yes, of course! You aren't happy here. And I want you to be happy."

"Thank you."

"And nothing's stopping me from visiting you there. It might be good to have an excuse for a vacation every once in a while."

Justina fit right into life at Lyrian's home. The sense of relief she got from not having to go back to the keep swamped her. She got the impression Blessed Lyrian was hoping to make her a novice alongside her daughter, mistaking her frequent travels to the Goddesses beach as something religious. Justina found it easier to let her believe that. She helped with the religious side of things as much as with the chores and everyday she walked down to the beach and returned disappointed.