Page 53 of Summer

“Like the future Marchioness Vestinhoth,” Sessaly says with a grin.

I return her grin and slip her hand into mine. “I am so glad we are to be sisters,” I tell her softly.

Sessaly and Aaoric wed a week after the death of the duke and duchess. It was a huge scandal – a duke marrying a servant was unheard of. Aaoric’s parents were still fresh in the ground when they wed in the small church near the country estate.

Like all scandals, this one died down after a few weeks. The duke was married, and if the rumors were to be believed, an heir on the way. Plus, the locals liked this duke far better than the previous one.

Sessaly squeezes my hand and turns to the door. “Ready?” she asks. I nod and let her lead me out of the room and down the stairs to the drawing room.

The crowd is modest – mostly servants, plus Rikkie, Wrunga, Poliope and their husbands. All three were married now and called on Gennelle and me often. It was rocky at first – I was purchased for Aaoric and by all accounts deeply in love with him. The scandal of his marriage to a servant instead of me overshadowed anything Gennelle and I could have done.

Still, the ladies were slow to come around. At first, I think it was out of morbid curiosity. Then they remembered why they liked Gennelle despite her distance the last few years.

I gazed over the cozy drawing room and our groups of friends, unable to help the smile that spread over my face. My smile only widened when I caught sight of Gennelle at the end of the drawing room.

She was beautiful as always – her wild red hair braided down her back. Her dress was unconventional – she traded the traditional white for a deep green dress that was almost black. It accentuated her bright yellow eyes and dark red skin. Ever since Aaoric named her official head of the household, she’d settled into herself. This was the Gennelle I knew behind closed doors – quick to smile, funny, clever, and unique.

She catches my gaze, and I see her hunger as she looks me over. This dress isn’t long for my body; best enjoy it while it is.

I cross the distance of the drawing room to join her, slipping my hands into hers. She squeezes my fingers, turning to the gentleman who’s to marry us. Like most aliens he does not care that we are both females. Even Poliope, Wrunga, and Rikkie shrug at the realization, as if they’d always known.

“We are gathered here today to witness the joining of Marchioness Gennelle Vestinhoth and Summer White,” he says. He prattles on, and I struggle to pay attention, but I’m lost in Gennelle. Her eyes are so intense on me, and I’m reminded of the first time I saw her. She stared at me, and I felt like she knew me, deep and intimately.

Something about this was inevitable, was right.

“Do you, Summer White, take the Marchioness Gennelle Vestinhoth to be your lawfully wedded wife?” He cuts through my thoughts.

“I do,” I say, loud enough for the entire room to hear.

“And do you, Marchioness Gennelle Vestinhoth, take Summer White to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do,” she says, her voice quiet but strong.

“Then I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Cheers erupt around us as I pull her close, our lips pressing in an attempt at a chaste kiss. But she wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me flush with her, her tongue flickering along my bottom lip. I laugh and nip her bottom lip, much to the chagrin of the minister.

We turn to regard our friends, who let out another whoop of joy at our union. They throw flowers as we pass them. Some fall in my hair, others decorate the floor in front of us.

At the threshold, Gennelle spins me to her, her face bright and beaming. “I love you,” she says, lifting a hand to remove a flower from my hair.

“And I love you,” I return, kissing her hand.

“Come – let’s start the rest of our life.”