Sword and Snow

As it turned out, the walk down the aisle was exceedingly short. It felt like it took all of five seconds for Avuri and I to walk into the courtyard and down the aisle toward the altar that had been set up for us.

My attention had been basically locked in on just a few people. Myself, mostly, making sure I didn’t trip. Which wasn’t too difficult in the Qipao, as the long slit in the skirt made it fairly easy to move in. Avuri, of course, who I was desperately trying not to just stare at.

While I wasn’t looking at him or watching him, Vale guided me by the arm, gently guiding me down the aisle.

Talya was standing just before the altar, waiting for us patiently, with the red cord in hand. The smile on her face was remarkably serene given the chaos that I’m sure she was helping to control just an hour prior.

And finally, Cierra and Stena stood just beside Talya, clearly vibrating with energy and excitement. I wasn’t sure they really understood exactly what was happening beyond the basics, but they were happy anyway; and their bright smiles were infectious.

And then we were standing before Talya. Vale gently took our nearest hands and placed them together; then with a nod, he smiled at each of us, and turned to walk back to his seat.

Now hand in hand, Avuri and I took one more step toward Talya. She smiled at us and took out combined hands. She placed one end of the red cord in my hand, and I took hold of it as was expected. As she began to wrap the cord around our combined hands several times, Avuri and I turned to actually face one another.

I was instantly caught up in the atmosphere and nearly drowned in her eyes. It took just about everything I had to not stare blankly and be all but dead to the world. It looked like she was struggling to do the same, staring back just as intently. I was pretty sure that I could even see her getting misty eyed, which wasn’t a good sign because if she started to cry I would most certainly be right behind her.

Then I felt the cord around our hands tighten a bit, and it pulled me back to the present. I glanced over at Talya, who had tugged on the cord, but she was looking pointedly at Avuri. Avuri met her eyes and then almost jumped when she realized she needed to grasp the other end of the cord, which Talya had been pushing against her hand.

“Oh. Sorry.” She muttered, then wrapped her fingers around it. Even under the layer of makeup, I could see a bit of blush coloring her cheeks, and there was some scattered chuckling throughout the crowd - likely those Cultivators with good enough hearing to make out her apology.

“It’s fine. Just breathe.” Talya intoned quietly, as she patted the back of Avuri’s hand. Then her voice rose and she looked up to face the crowd. “Besides, it’s done!” She declared happily.

She once more met our eyes, this time asking a silent question. We both nodded. “Right then. Turn around and meet your guests, friends, and family as Emery and Avuri Wiria. Congratulations, you two.” She said, projecting her voice grandly.

There was some cheering and applause as we turned to face the small crowd. Because our hands were bound together, we had to awkwardly spin around as a unit, which coaxed a bit of laughter. But once we were facing everyone and looking out at the great many smiles among our friends and family, we both grinned from ear to ear and offered them all a deep bow for the first time as a married couple.

The celebration was in full swing shockingly fast after that. Avuri and I were guided by Talya to the table at the top of the altar, where we would be sitting for the vast majority of the day. Cierra and Stena joined us, sitting on each side of us, looking like proper little princesses.

Cierra was wearing a dress reminiscent of Avuri’s but with a pink and white color scheme. She looked adorable and noble all at once. Despite her age, she was contending well with the long flowing sleeves and skirt, which was impressive. At least to me, who still couldn’t manage well with that style of clothing. She wore her long, straight hair flowing straight down her back, which altogether made her look very lady-like.

Stena, on the other hand, wore a simpler dress that looked more like a fighter’s robes. It was chosen most because, ultimately, Stena was still young. She was bound to play and get dirty, so we wanted to put her in something simpler. But that didn’t make her any less adorable in her dark red sleeveless top and skirts with purple accents. Someone had put her hair up into twin tails and curled them as well, which looked cute.

While the four of us were essentially stuck on the altar, everyone else was making great use of the courtyard. It had been decorated perfectly as we had wanted, with an obvious nature theme with a surprising amount of purple.

The flowers we had chosen - peonies, lotus, and orchids - were everywhere. We had obviously known that they would be on the tables in the woven basket centerpieces, but we clearly underestimated how much Vyne was willing to do.

The courtyard was essentially in the middle of a hedge maze. And Vyne had altered the hedges themselves to have blooming flowers of the same variety throughout. Which meant even the functional wall of the courtyard was decorated to match our choices.

Beyond even that, while we had expected simple wooden furniture, Vyne had gone above and beyond. All of the tables, chairs, and other furniture scattered about the courtyard was a lovely shade of purple as well. Apparently, the wood was called purple heart, and Vyne was more than happy to decorate with it. He had done absolutely artisanal work everywhere you looked, with the furniture not being simple at all, but rather designed with beautiful shapes and knots.

He had also apparently talked to Lyn to plan this all, because the tableware had also all been made of the same purple wood.

And Lyn had been just as lavish in her treatment of the day. The expected buffet tables and layout was here, complete with the huge dumpling tower as a centerpiece on each table. The extras we had ordered were also scattered among the tables, and both the Icebeak and Emberling steaks were incredibly popular items. I saw Lyn’s people restocking those trays almost twice as often as the others.

But even beyond that, Lyn and her team had brought in an entire bar’s worth of drinks, as well as a full selection of deserts and then one further table of just miscellaneous treats. I was hoping that she wasn’t planning on just charging us extra later for the additional items, but judging by the calm smile and waves she kept sending our way, I felt like it was really just extra.

Scattered among the crowd were a few familiar faces, but mostly acquaintances. Avuri’s family members were out there, clearly scattered about trying to find people that were ‘worth’ talking to. But she had also invited a few members of the Frozen Mountain Sect that she had been close to, as well as a few other people she had met in the Floral Hills.

For my guests, it was basically just my family members. Outside of my family, I had led a pretty solitary life, often on the move. Friends just weren't something I had a lot of.That was okay for me, though. A few closer relationships were all I really needed.

And then the rest of the guest list had been made up of people from Flowing Dragon City. All of the Elders were in attendance, of course. But so were a number of store owners and people we had done business with over the last year. The vast majority of them knew us by name, but a few had been requested by the Elders for various reasons.

Lyn and Cyril in particular had asked us to invite a few of the wealthier families in the city to try to jumpstart their catering business again.

In retrospect, that was probably why they had brought out all the extras - they had people to impress.

Once the party was solidly underway, we finally started the long and fairly tedious process of greeting everyone in attendance. Which actually meant that we continued to sit in our seats at the raised table while people came over to greet us. Traditionally, this was usually done in rough order of importance, which meant people were likely waiting for either our families to greet us if they wanted to, or the city Elders.

Vale and my siblings were the first to come talk to us. They brought us some food, thankfully, and went through the expected well wishes and customs. After they had done what was traditional, they let loose a little bit more. Which mostly amounted to Rylie and Demi heckling us to kiss - which we did, several times - while Ieji and Kota looked on, clearly disappointed in the girls’ antics.

Talya offered to take Cierra and Stena down from their perches for a while to let them walk around and enjoy the party a bit. They immediately both turned to us begging and pleading to be allowed to run off with Talya for now. We let them go with a laugh, but told them to be sure to come back. And be careful and not get lost, given we were quite literally in a maze.

They agreed and were whisked away by their aunt, and I could only hope she would keep them out of too much trouble.

Once my family had said their greetings, Avuri’s family approached. They were led by Dain and Solana, followed by Severa and Lark, with the others falling in step behind. Her cousins seemed to hang in the back of the group, wanting to say their piece separately.

The entire entourage was on edge, and tension filled the air. My family, except for Talya and the kids, had opted to hover nearby just in case. When Dain finally stepped forward, he bowed politely and simply went about the expected customs. As the others followed suit and took their turns, I could see Avuri’s face slowly turn blank.

They were certainly going through the motions of the typical well wishes, but it was so fake and mechanical that I almost would have rathered they just not talk to us. And, worse, I could tell that the clearly forced display was taking its toll on Avuri. She was completely stone faced, devoid of showing any emotion by the time Aster and Mint had said their greetings. Even Leon had been shockingly devoid of anything, even anger.

Thankfully, immediately following Mint, Glenn, Cove, and Mica stepped up. Mica lead the way for them, and was vibrant and happy as she seemed to deliberately go through the exact default motions - the same as the rest of the Mephra clan had - but had added so much emotion and joy to the whole thing that it had basically single handedly turned Avuri’s mood around.

In fact, her formal bow at the end had so much heart put into it, that when she flung her upper body forward, she almost tumbled with it, barely managing to keep her feet. Evidently, people had been watching the whole ordeal, because laughter shook through the crowd.

Mica shot back upright, her face red with embarrassment, as she forcefully shoved Cove forward as she stepped back out of the limelight.

From there, Cove and Glenn offered their heartfelt well wishes, and even said that they hoped they would get to see us again one day. The undertone was cut with sadness, knowing that they would have to likely escape the family somehow for that to happen, but the wish was sincere. And Avuri accepted and returned those feelings with a huge smile.

And finally, once her cousins stepped away, Avuri and I were left facing all five of the Elders, who had approached to give their greetings as one.