Chapter 7 part 1:

The Wedding

Because of their escapades, Emmeline became unwell and had to be restricted to her bed for a few days, which made it easy for Silas and the villagers to plan the special event without a problem. Three of the soldiers’ wives used their old wedding dresses to prepare a special dress that was tailored to fit Emmeline. They used her past dresses as reference for sizing and began to prepare without delaying another moment. 

Silas and the twins wandered the forest and found beautiful white flowers, similar to white lilies. They collected the flowers into decorated clay pots and planted them into the rich soil, keeping them fresh and alive with magic. His mother smiled as they brought the pots and flowers in the house secretly, laughing all the way. 

Finally, the other soldiers helped Silas with his suit. His father was not a soldier, so he was unable to wear his, but Silas’s mother had joked he could wear her wedding suit (since she wore her battle armor when she got married), but Silas had to refuse, as he could not imagine wearing his mother’s armor when he was not even close to being the warrior his mother was. Instead, he was able to borrow Jacob’s father’s wedding suit, as they were the same size. 

Jacob wasn’t married yet, so he was slightly depressed that he was being left behind by the youngest soldier in the group. He was relentlessly teased, even by his own family. 

The last day before the wedding, Silas joined Emmeline in her room and they ate a simple dinner together, chatting happily about nonsensical things. Emmeline’s mother watched from the doorframe, smiling solemnly at the pair.

After the meal was finished, Silas stood to take the plates away, but Emmeline’s mother came into the room and took the plates. She turned her back to her daughter and smiled at Silas, giving him the signal. He laughed to himself and smiled, nodding his head. 

Once her mother had left, Silas reached into his satchel on the chair and carefully carried out an intricate flower crown. With the help of his mother, Silas collected a variety of colorful flowers to arrange into the crown. Using the method that Emmeline had taught him, he made the crown and attached his mother’s veil onto the back.

As he lifted the crown out of the satchel, Emmeline put her hands to her lips and gasped, her eyes full of tears.

“Emmeline, will you take me as your partner?” He said this carefully, lowering himself onto one knee next to Emmeline’s bed. 

Emmeline could not stop the tears. “Of course…!” Silas stood up and placed the crown delicately on the crown of her head. She reached out and weakly hugged him, wrapping each other in a warm embrace. Silas held her lovingly.

The discussions for the wedding were made, and soon the day of the wedding came. The entire town was bustling. Groups were sent to prepare the wedding site, while others were assigned to prepare decorations. It had been a long time since the town had been this happy.

Emmeline was fawned over by the young village girls, many too young to be married yet. Some of the marriage-aged girls were jealous of Emmeline, wishing they had been able to catch Silas’s heart. Unfortunately, they knew that nothing would come between the two young lovers. They had bonded since childhood, how could they surpass such a strong bond? 

Following elven tradition, Silas woke early in the morning before sunrise and bathed in the cold river water before coming back home through the woods to get dressed, surrounded by his friends and family. His mother was the most proud, helping him push back his long bangs to the side to give the young elf a more mature look.

“I am so proud of you, honey. I want you to love her and be happy.” Though his mother was usually very stoic, her face had a rare smile. His younger siblings soon began to cry, thinking that they would be sending off their only brother to never be seen again. 

Of course, they comforted the two and quickly sent Silas off to retrieve his partner before the sun rose completely. 

Silas arrived while the sky was still pink and orange, and the dew was still wet on the forest floor. He could almost feel the chill in the cold morning, summer air. He rubbed the thick material on the sides of his arms and approached Emmeline’s door quietly. 

He raised his fist and paused, giving himself a moment to take a deep breath. Silas wanted to appreciate every moment of the day, yet he was only given a moment, because the door to Emmeline’s home quickly opened, and a short, veiled figure was led to the door frame by Emmeline’s mother.

“Silas,” Emmeline’s mother said warmly, lightly holding on to the sides of her daughter's arms. “Are you nervous?”

Silas couldn’t hide the faint trembling in his hands. Awkwardly, he nodded in response, shooting a crooked smile at her. “Yes.”

Emmeline stayed quiet, but he could feel she smiled at him.

Emmeline’s mother grabbed Silas’s left hand and placed her daughter’s right hand into his gloved palm. “You two cannot be late. We’ll be joining you two shortly.”

The bride and the groom had to walk hand in hand to the wedding location, which was customarily a mile away. Due to the veil covering Emmeline’s face, she was unable to see ahead of her, not even her own feet, so Silas softly grasped her hand and led her through the familiar path. 

The two could not exchange words, but Silas seemed too focused ahead of him to see the deep blush covering Emmeline’s face that burned almost strong enough to show through her veil.  He was still far too absentminded from his nerves running wild. 

Once the two had reached the clearing they had played at as children, they stopped in front of a wooden gate, covered in white, blooming flowers. The flowers collected in the pots were placed around the venue and dispersed around the area in a tasteful manner. The villagers had come ahead of them and stood past the gate, surrounding the tall, towering oak tree in the middle of the clearing. Fireflies danced around it soundlessly. 

Silas squeezed Emmeline’s hand, to make sure what he was seeing was real. Emmeline smiled and gently squeezed back. 

The two continued to walk hand in hand down the aisle of flower petals until they reached the base of the tree that the two had picked together. The villagers smiled at them and cheered, just as excited as the young couple. When the two had reached the base of the tree, Silas turned to face Emmeline, and reached out to grasp the lace tip of her veil. 

“Are you ready?” He asked anxiously, smiling crookedly once again. 

Emmeline nodded her head and closed her eyes, allowing Silas to pull back the veil.

Silas slowly lifted the veil and looked at Emmeline’s face, his cheeks flushed slightly pink. Her lips were tinted a sweet light rose, and her cheeks were dyed pale pink. Her eyelashes were long and soft, making her appear as if she were part of a painting. Even her long, curly light brown hair had been somewhat controlled into shining, curled locks.

Silas could not take his eyes off of her.

Emmeline opened her eyes and noticed Silas’s stunned expression. Her pale cheeks burned even hotter.

Two of the elven elders approached the two and helped them begin the formal marriage ceremony. Silas and Emmeline stood forward, facing the tree, and began to recite their vows in the elven tongue. Silas and Emmeline mentioned their childhood memories together. Emmeline’s words were filled with love and warmth, but Silas’s seemed more reminiscent, almost like a father looking back at his child’s growth.

Silas was an awkward romantic, and this caught a few chuckles from the crowd, while his mother garnished a sour expression on her face. She sighed to herself, holding the twins’ hands. My son has a good heart, but he is so clueless… His mother was left to wonder who taught him to be so awkward in the area of romance. 

As the ceremony continued, the magic in the air increased. As the sun continued to rise, and as the sky became a shade of light blue, the fireflies flew away, and now orbs of magic floated around the tree, surrounding Emmeline and Silas in their warm, soft light.

Finally, it had reached the point where they would be finalizing their vow. Emmeline and Silas reached forward, with Silas placing his left hand and Emmeline placing her right hand on the tree. Their pinkies were almost touching, and Silas could feel the warmth from Emmeline’s fingers. Once the elders checked the couple’s hands, they began to use their magic. The tree began to move slightly, and finally a small, thin piece of tree bark wrapped around the base of their pinkies and circled around it, making two small, wooden rings. 

Once the ring had attached, the elders stopped using their magic, and the tree went back to normal, leaving the couple with two new wedding bands. “Until death or mutual separation, will the magic of the tree keep these rings on your fingers. Even if unfaithful, the magic used here will protect this communion as its own.” The elders explained, raising their hands slightly.

Emmeline and Silas faced each other, grasped each other's hands, and placed the ring on their pinky fingers. Once the rings had been placed, the rings began to tighten themselves, coiling around their pinkies until they fit comfortably. The wood was soft, but durable, and it would not break off until the communion was broken.

Now that the rings had been placed on their fingers, it was time for the bride and groom to seal their vow with a kiss.

“You may now kiss your partner.” The elder smiled at this, as did the elves around him.

Emmeline blushed shyly, looking up at Silas. He looked at her and smiled warmly, causing her to flush even more. The pair held hands, their rings clanking together as their pinkies brushed against each other. Silas couldn’t help but think how beautiful Emmeline looked, while Emmeline thought of how her final wish was finally being granted. She would be able to spend the rest of her life with the person she loved. She quickly prayed that with whatever time she had left, she would be able to make Silas as happy as he made her daily.

Silas smiled, holding the sides of Emmeline’s face in his warm hands. Emmeline looked up and gazed into his misty eyes and closed her own, smiling.

Silas lowered his head slowly, his face soft and sweet. He tilted her head up gently, looking at her face with a hint of reminiscence. Without hesitating, he bent forward and kissed Emmeline’s soft forehead, still holding the sides of her cheeks with his hands.

His mother sighed as the other attendees looked surprised. It seemed like he was almost too embarrassed to kiss her on the lips in front of the village. The older villagers all chuckled to themselves, while Silas’s mother shook her head.

Then Emmeline quickly leaned in on her tip toes and kissed Silas on the lips, catching him and everyone else by surprise. The crowd cheered as Silas squeezed his eyes shut and kissed Emmeline back, unsure of what he was doing, but encouraged nonetheless by the crowd’s cheers.

Emmeline’s blushing face never changed. She hugged Silas tightly, and then the two held hands and walked down the aisle of flowers. Even louder cheers could be heard, and the sun had finally risen, shining a gentle, warm light on the new couple as they walked towards the village, where they would celebrate the wedding in a day-long celebration. In order to protect the village, the elders had made a magic shield, to hide the light and sounds from the outside world.

Normally, the newlyweds would spend the night together in their new shared home, but due to Emmeline’s illness and Silas’s soldier status, this would not be the case. Instead, Silas and Emmeline worked out a different arrangement: the two would live separately, and when Silas was home, he would spend most of the time with her.

Emmeline was pleased with the arrangement, however, she wished there was more time for the two to have some alone time. She was frustrated with the villagers constantly doting on her and treating her like a child, especially now that she was married. She hoped things would change even a little bit.

All day long the couple stayed tied close to each other as they drank wine and danced. Emmeline made sure to pace herself though, because she did not want to tire herself out on their incredibly special day. And as the night started to enter the sky, Emmeline grabbed Silas and pulled him to the side where some brush covered a shallow trail.