Blue was walking in front of Lise, holding a small flower bucket in one hand and throwing flower petals along the way at a slow pace, while Mr. Gregory Allington, Lise's father, was lightly holding her daughter's elbow, so she wouldn't trip over her own long white gown.
Meanwhile, among the crowd of guests, Lise could see the familiar faces of her step sister and step mother. It gave her a little bit of strength to take another step.
Trisha was wearing a gray dress, the same color as what her mother was wearing. Both of them looked beautiful, but Lise could see concern in Trisha's eyes.
Lise was holding a small bouquet of flowers with one hand, while her other hand was clutching her father's arm.
"Don't be nervous," her father told her softly, but Lise couldn't feel the gentleness of a father, since he was the one who had sold her to that monster, who was now waiting for her at the end of this path.
All the guests on their left and right side, were staring at Lise intensely, since it would be their first time to see the fortunate woman, who was able to marry a McKeltar. So intense, that it almost made Lise feel hard to breathe.
Thousands of faces that Lise didn't know were staring at her with judgment in their eyes, as they thought they were much better to be the bride today for Gael McKeltar. She was internally struggling, since she didn't know what kind of expression she should show to them.
Lise would gladly hand over her wedding ring to them if they stepped forward and asked her for it. She pressed her lips tightly. She wanted this to end so badly, as the bottle of poison in her flower bouquet felt so heavy.
Yes, she didn't have time to meet him before this, thus she chose to take this to the altar with her.
Lise had made up her mind, or maybe she didn't need to, since she knew what she was going to do the first time that woman said she could escape Gael's clutches.
At this point, Lise thought how desperately she wished that Gael canceled the wedding or let her go, so she wouldn't commit this sin.
No matter how beautiful one put it, she was going to kill the father of the child that she was carrying. She needed something to help her calm her havoc wrecking- nerves, when this thought came upfront.
Meanwhile Blue was a little bit nervous just at the thought of messing up and ruining the tranquil atmosphere, the atmosphere had the most settling reverent air to it, and she couldn't help marveling at how serene the ceremony was taking place.
Right now, the only thing that she could hear aside from the soft music that played along during the walk, was the rustling from her white silken robe and the sound of everyone's breathing quietly.
"Smile," Gregory whispered softly to his daughter when he saw her expression.
Lise curled the corners of her lips into a smile, she hoped it looked like she was smiling. She blinked her eyes to train her focus on the long path ahead of her with Gael at the end of it.
The walk required her to raise her chin and straighten her back, she was supposed to look happy at this moment, since she had beaten dozens of young women, who wanted her position right now, but the only thing Lise wanted was to lie down and curl her body under the blanket, shying away from these intense stares, or hiding herself in a secluded place. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Lise took a shaky breath when they finally arrived in front of Gael and her father handed her over to the man.
"Mine," Gael whispered softly into Lise's ear when he took her hand and guided her to climb the three steps of the altar, so they could say their oaths in front of the thousands of people that were present there.
======================
Anthony could see his niece, walking down the path in front of the bride.
Her white hair was stunning and she looked exactly like her father, though she had her mother's eyes, but he wouldn't be mistaken that she was his niece.
His men were ready outside of this building if their help was needed in order to take her away from these creatures.
But even now, he couldn't figure out why his niece ended up with those McKeltars? And even became very close to Chaos.
Anthony would find the answer once he had a talk with her.
The ceremony seemed to be taking forever before all of those rituals ended and the guests clapped their hands for the newly wedded couple.
But, once Anthony saw his niece move away from the McKeltar, looking for food, instead of taking a few pictures with the groom and bride, he went closer to her and stood beside the little girl.
Blue was about to scoop a bowl full of ice cream when she sensed him and her head whipped upward to find the man that she knew.
"Uncle Anthony," she said in bewilderment to see her uncle there. How could he be here?
"I am glad you still remember me, Zuri." He was smiling, thinking it would be easier than he thought.
Meanwhile, Blue was stunned.
Zuri.
Right, that was her name, her actual name, Zuri Logos.
But, it had been years since the last time someone had called her by that name, thus it sounded a little bit foreign to her ears.
"We need to go from here, Zuri, I will explain to you on our way to the pack," Anthony said firmly, his smile disappearing from his lips when he took Blue's hand to take her away from this place.
And before Blue could register what that meant, she found herself being dragged away from the party hall.