The Heart's Ashes (59 page)

Emily nodded
and tied the crimson velour sash around the high waist—just under
my ribs, pinching the delicate lace of the skirt to tidy the folds.
It moved, flowing softly like silk sheets on a breeze. “Hold out
your arms.”

I took a
zombie pose, removing my bangle first so Emily could loop the
elastic of the sleeve over my index finger—forming a peak across
the back of my hand.

“
Now, sit.” She pushed my shoulders; I plonked onto the stool,
cupping my bangle over the lace sleeve. “I need to take the rest of
these braids out.”

“
Gently, this time.”

“
I make no promises.” I could hear a smile in her
tone.

With a deep
breath through my nose, I closed my eyes and inhaled the ease of
the day. No fuss—that was the condition of this wedding. No giant
cake, no reception—well, I didn’t win that one, but cocktails and
hors d’oeuvre’s don’t count as a reception—no wedding cars, but,
lots of red roses.

“
Honestly, Ara—” Emily tugged and pulled at the last of the
plaits, “—I wish you had’ve let me tie this up.” She stood back and
leaned forward, quickly fluffing the front of my hair. “But then
again—maybe not.”

“
Is it good?” I asked nervously.

“
See for yourself.” She spun the tall mirror around, and as I
stood, I stared at the unnaturally beautiful girl in the
reflection. “Now, I left the top braids in, and look—” Emily
pointed to the crown of plaits atop my skull where little fake ruby
stones coloured each cross-section. “Pretty, right? Since you’re
not wearing a veil this time, I get to use bling.”

“
Em, it looks...” I touched the tips of my curls and smiled at
how pretty they looked, cascading over the low back of the dress.
“I look good enough to marry David.”

“
Hm.” She pressed her finger to her chin. “No, all you need is
bonnet, and you could be marrying Mr. Darcy.”

“
Well, I have my own Mr. Darcy now, Em.” I smiled, flattening
the front of my dress. “And this time, I’m
not
letting him go.”

“
Here.” She passed my bouquet; completely red roses, with a
white ribbon binding them together

“
Thanks.”

“
You’re gonna be fine, Ara. You look perfect.”

“
So do you, Em. I like red on you.”

She smiled
down at her knee-length dress, her face awash with wistfulness,
then shrugged off whatever thought she had, returning to the now
with a smile. “Are you wearing this?”

“
It’s appropriate, I think.” I took my locket from her
fingertips, dropping it back into place.

“
Yeah, it is, I suppose. What about this, I’ve never seen this
before?” Her eyes stopped on my silver bangle.

“
It’s new—sort of. It was David’s mother’s.”

“
He gave you his mother’s bangle?” her voice
peaked.

“
Yeah, why? What’s wrong with that?”

“
Nothing.” She swallowed, the corners of her lips twitching as
she quickly looked away.

“
Em? Are you okay?”

“
It’s just—” She exhaled. “You know how I feel about
David.”

“
Do I?” The shock of her sudden outburst remained, forcing my
brows into an arch.

“
Yes,” she rebuked. “He’s always been a good friend to me. I—”
she straightened the ribbon on my bouquet, “—I just never imagined
I’d be at his wedding, standing
next
to his bride.”

I grinned. “Oh. You fantasised about
being
his bride?”

Emily laughed
softly. “We all did—every girl at school.”

Yeah, especially you.
“Do you love
him, Em?” I asked carefully. Tension squeezed my lungs like a bolt
being tightened.

Emily took a
short, ragged breath through her nose. “No. Not like that—but
he’s…he’s special to me.”

Hm, special, huh?
“I’ll be good to
him, Em.” I tilted my head to the side. “You know that,
right?”

“
I do know. Besides—” she wiped a tear from her cheek, “I’ve
got an eternity to make sure of it.”

“
Well, not yet. We still have to convince David’s friend to
change me.”

“
While outrunning a mob of bad guys,” she added. “Did he tell
you she was called out to New England?”

“
Who?”

“
His contact. She won’t be there when you guys arrive. She was
called over here for some major case of torture.”

“
Ooh, that’s just so freaky. And no, David didn’t tell me
that.”

“
Oh. Maybe you weren’t meant to know.” She bit her
lip.

“
It’s okay. He won’t be mad you told me. I mean, what I know
and don’t know is the least of his problems, right?”

She smiled up
at me in the mirror. “David will look after you, Ara. He won’t let
them catch you.”

“
I know. Doesn’t mean I’m not terrified.”

“
Only because you don’t really know what he’s capable of, do
you?” She folded her arms softly across her waist, tucking her
bouquet under her arm. “I hunt with him. I’ve
seen
what he can do. You shouldn’t
be afraid.”

“
I’m sure that puts
your
mind at ease. But he keeps himself a secret from
me—doesn’t really show me the vampire.”

“
Just like Mike doesn’t show me the guy he is with
you.”

“
He will.” I nodded. “Just give him time.”

“
Time is all we have,” she said and hugged me. “Come on, we
have to go. It’s nearly midday.”

“
Okay.”

“
Are you ready?”

“
Too ready, Emily.”

She left the
room to gather the rest of the guests and send them out to the oak
tree where David and I first held hands, and I took a moment to
look around.

Things are
different this time; I don’t feel empty, lost and alone. I don’t
need to think about the sadness of childhood passing, or the
longing to move on. I’m happy. Complete.

In the hinge
of the old mirror, as I turned to take one last glance at the
bride, I noticed a single red rose. “David?” I spun around,
searching the room for the cheeky vampire. “You better not have
looked at my dress!” I called to him anyway, sure he was around
here somewhere.

The rose
smelled of sweet, approaching summer, watery and cool. I plucked it
from the frame, smiling.

My life begins
today.

Meet me at the doorway to our forever
, David’s voice hummed in my mind; I placed his rose in the
bouquet and left the room—without looking back.

The billowy
curtains, slightly transparent, gave way to the serene setting
beyond the back porch. Dad greeted me by the formal dining table,
offering his arm as I lifted my shoulders and dropped them again
with a sigh.

Although I may
be a little nervous, my long-time friend—the old oak tree—expressed
its cheerfulness today; tickling the gentle breeze with its
flourishing leaves, full and green, despite the newness of the
season.

I stood on my
toes a little and peered into the yard; the small gathering of
friends and family hovered closely around David and Mike, leaving
only the tops of their heads visible.

“
Shall we?” Dad smiled down at me, the crinkly lines around
his eyes remaining even when the smile concealed
anxiety.

“
Yes. We shall.”

The French
glass doors folded out, opening to the path before us. Emily, with
her feet full of hesitation, walked onto the back porch. As she
reached the steps, Alana and Ryan played the first notes of The
Knight of the Rose, and my mind flashed back to that last day of
forever in my bedroom where David first gave me the silver
locket.

I drew a
heart-steadying breath, but the clunking beat in the centre my
chest continued to vibrate through my ribs—not from nerves or
apprehension, but from how badly it needed to be beside David
again.

We stepped
through the door and the golden light warmed my arms through the
lacy sleeves. As people looked back up from Emily to me, a quite
gasp undulated over the crowd of awestruck faces.

“
She looks just like her mother.” One whisper stood out among
the rest; I looked at Vicki, who covered her mouth, smiling
apologetically.

The sentries
before the doorway to forever parted, revealing David in all his
iridescent glory; as our eyes met, the debonair James Bond image
disappeared from sight and the immaculate sparkle of his emerald
green eyes stood out from the last of the winter, becoming jewels
against the background of the perfect blue sky.

My cheeks
flushed with heat when David’s brow folded over his adoring gaze,
and he clutched a fist to his chest, shaking his head.

As we neared
the end of our walk, the presence of others moulded into focus;
Mike, smiling warmly, next to David, his hands clutched in front of
him, and Emily, coming to a stop opposite the boys, turning to
watch me as Dad steered my hand across the closing eternity and
placed it in David’s. A flicker of energy surged between my fiancé
and I as his cold touch met mine. This is it—this is right—the way
things were always supposed to be.

David looked
down at our hands and smiled, though a shimmer of tears around his
lashes caught the sun.

The image of
the dream I had so long ago was no longer in black and white;
today, shone in full colour, with me a part of it—not just watching
from a place where dreams are far away and wishes seem
impossible.

My fingers
tightened around David’s as we turned to face the celebrant.

Finally, I’m
moving forward, no longer just moving on.

“
Friends, family, we are gathered here today to witness these
two young people bind themselves together for the rest of their
lives.”
—A period of time no mortal
smiling back at us can possibly comprehend—
“These are the ties that bind us,” the celebrant said, “A
union of love for all time. Death will not part them, pain and
sorrow will not break them. Like diamonds, their love will be
forever.”

David’s eyes
smiled then, his lips making a gentle curve as the secret smile
that belonged to the boy across the road suddenly became the hidden
thoughts of the man I was giving my life to. He focused on my
completely red bouquet, then looked up at the celebrant, the smile
growing.

“
Do we have the rings?” the celebrant whispered to
Mike.

Emily took my
bouquet so I could place both hands in David’s as we turned to face
each other. The green in his intense, focused eyes, glittered
around his wide black pupils.

Without
blinking, without twitching his brow, his lips remained in the
smile, almost illustrating amusement; he rested the small silver
band at the tip of my finger. “Your hands are shaking.”

“
Shut up,” I whispered almost mutely as the celebrant began
again.

“
Do you, Amara-Rose Thompson, take this man to be your lawful
wedded husband—to love and honour, in sickness and in health, for
richer or for poorer, for all eternity?”

“
I do,” I said as David slid the ring over my knuckle,
practically chuckling the whole time.

I laughed too,
instantly pinching the soft metal in my fingertips. Mike stepped
forward and handed David’s ring to me; it felt kinda heavy for a
piece of jewellery, yet so smooth to the touch—like David in some
ways.

“
And, do you, David Thomas Knight, take this woman to be your
lawful wedded wife—to love and honour, in sickness and in health,
for richer or for poorer, for all eternity?”

“
I do.” David looked up from the ring, into my eyes, his
melodious, smooth and weightless voice breaking as it rang out for
the last time as just the boy I love; the next words I hear from
him would be as my husband.

“
Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce
you...husband and wife.” The celebrant looked at us and smiled,
nodding his head once. “You may kiss the bride.”

David stepped
into me and caught my chin between his thumb and index finger. “You
have just made me the happiest man alive.”

The golden sun
disappeared as I closed my eyes and stood on my toes, my lips
reaching for his, meeting in the sweetest, softest kiss he’d ever
given—the first kiss, our first act as husband and wife, and by
far, the greatest of all my life.

We breathed
each other deeply, eyes closed, thoughts lost to the world of our
own. He is mine. I am his. Nothing will ever change that now.

David drew one
long breath through his nose and whispered as he drew away; “I love
you.”

“
For forever?” I asked.

“
Soon.” He nodded.

“
Ladies and gentlemen,” the celebrant said, “I present to you,
Mr. and Mrs. Knight.”

The whole yard
erupted and confetti came flying at us from every angle. People
hugged each other, smiling widely, while beside me, Emily moved in
and wrapped me in her arms. I looked over to see Mike and David
hugging too. “Congratulations, mate,” Mike said.

“
Thanks, bro.” David pulled away, looked at me looking at
Mike, and took a step back, ushering me to my best friend. I flung
myself into Mike’s arms, and he held me so tight, releasing his
hand for only a second as Emily fell into the hug.