Page 133 of Pretense

Finally, the musicians began playing, the Escarlish orchestra near the front of the guests on this side of the border somehow managing to blend perfectly with the elven flutes and strings on the far side.

With a nod and grin at Edmund, Averett took his place at the front, Paige at his side, and led the way down the aisle between the Escarlish guests. Julien came next with his troll bride-to-be on his arm.

Essie followed, holding the hand of a nephew on either side. Bertie and Finn looked especially dapper in the black suits and white shirts that they had, amazingly, not smudged with dirt yet. The nanny was already waiting in the front row to take charge of them if they grew restless during the ceremony.

Edmund held his breath, watching in case Essie looked in need of help. But she seemed fine and, if she walked a little slower, that could be blamed just as much on keeping pace with the little boys as on being eight-months pregnant.

When he was sure Essie wouldn’t need him to rush to her aid, Edmund turned to his mother. As she had spent most of the morning with Jalissa, he hadn’t had a chance to talk with her yet.

Not that there was a need for words right now. He hugged her. And if he got a little lump in the back of his throat at her slightly teary hug and smile, well, it was his wedding. No one would blame him.

Then, she took his arm, and he walked up the cobbled, gentle slope of the bridge, past rows upon rows of guests, until he finally halted just shy of the center.

At the very middle of the bridge, a four-foot-wide section of the stone span was missing, though all the under girders, columns sunk into the river far below, and the wooden trestles overhead were all in place. Two large stone blocks, one on either side, waited to be used to finish the bridge.

Across the gap, Weylind and Rheva stood at the head of Jalissa’s family, Rharreth and Melantha directly behind them. Edmund couldn’t see Jalissa, screened as she was by her family. Behind them, rows upon rows of elven guests, with a knot of troll guests sitting together, filled the bridge.

Averett pulled Paige to one side, so that he could face the guests on both sides of the bridge as he spoke in a loud, carrying voice. “We are gathered here today to witness two unions. The marriage of my brother and King Weylind’s sister, and the completion of this bridge that will join the shores of Escarland and Tarenhiel for generations to come.”

When Averett paused, Weylind repeated the speech in elvish, then added, “From today forward, our three kingdoms will be linked by the bridges, both literal and figurative, that bind us together.”

After Averett had repeated Weylind’s words in Escarlish, Rharreth stepped forward, speaking first in the troll dialect that the elves would understand, then in Escarlish. “In the hope of many years of peace to come, I build this bridge.”

He knelt and pressed his hand to the stone on his side. Weylind and Farrendel knelt too, hints of their magic curling around their fingers.

On the Escarlish side, Julien’s betrothed knelt and rested her hand on the stone. She and Rharreth shared a nod. Then, their magic flowed into the bridge, cold and hard. Rharreth’s side glowed white while her magic was a soft gray as she encouraged the stone block to flow into the gap, merging with the stone already laid down.

Weylind’s magic coursed from him, and the elven train rails grew from the Tarenhieli side to join the roots already laid into the Escarlish side of the bridge, embedded securely into the flowing, forming rock.

Just before the bridge fully finished, Averett and Julien stepped forward, carrying the large, bronze dedication plaque between them. They set the plaque into the mushy, magic-filled stone at the very peak of the stone span, the metal settling as if into mortar instead of stone.

At the moment when everyone’s magic was at its height, Farrendel’s bolts of blue, raw magic flooded over the space. A few of the guests in the first few rows yelped and lifted their feet, as if afraid they would be burned.

But Farrendel had a tight control of his magic, his jaw set in determination. Even standing at the very edge of the gap with Farrendel’s magic licking at his boots, Edmund didn’t feel any pain nor were his boots damaged.

With a brilliant flash of magic and a boom that shuddered through the bridge beneath their feet, Farrendel slammed his magic into the stone, infusing the stone with the strength and protection of his power, just as he had along all of Tarenhiel’s and Escarland’s borders over the past few months.

A silence fell all along the bridge, as if both sets of guests were in shock. Then, most of the Escarlish guests jumped to their feet and clapped. A few even cheered.

As if taking that as their cue, the trolls stood and stomped and gave their deep-throated war cry cheers.

Not to be outdone, the elves finally cheered in their polite, subdued manner.

In the hubbub, Averett, Weylind, and Rharreth stood at the very center of the bridge and shook hands with each other. Then, all of them found their seats, including Farrendel who crossed to the Escarlish side to sit next to Essie.

And, finally, as Weylind took his place to the side of the bridge next to the Escarlish officiant and Leyleira halted next to him, holding the eshinelt in its silver bowl, Edmund finally saw Jalissa.

She wore a stunning white dress that flowed around her in an elven style, her shoulders left bare. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her back, the sides pulled away from her face in a pattern of interlocking braids. Yet nestled in the Tarenhieli hairstyle, was his great-grandmother’s tiara, held in place with living flowers.

Rheva and Melantha took up the ends of Jalissa’s train, and they sang the traditional elven wedding song as Jalissa slowly walked the last few yards toward him.

He strode to her, and they met in the center of the bridge, standing on top of the plaque his brothers had just laid. He held out his hands, and she slid hers into his. Together, they turned and faced her brother and the Escarlish officiant.

Weylind and the officiant smoothly went back and forth as they each completed the steps of both the elven and human wedding ceremonies.

Edmund slipped the ring on Jalissa’s finger, one that matched the tiara she currently wore. The two of them exchanged the Escarlish wedding vows.

Then, Leyleira handed the eshinelt to Edmund. He held it out to Jalissa, and she dipped her finger into the paint.

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