Day Three of the Wedding

The shuttle from Halapatov has arrived. Jayken clasps my hand as he tells me and I smile weakly at him and squeeze his hand right back. He knows that inviting Riowyn’s family is a big deal for both me and Abi. I should find her, we were originally greeting people together until Zara dragged me off on a wild goose chase. Now that I’m back the hill is beyond crowded.

I start to work my way around it towards the new arrivals, still adjusting to the odd weight of my outfit, hiking the skirts up so I don’t trip over. People blur past me and I’m not really taking everything in and then I hear,

“Sophie, darling!!” in an excited tone, and I look up and there stands Rojjel’s husband Jamie, newly arrived from Halapatov, dressed extremely fancy, hand outstretched.

I gravitate towards him, reaching my own hand out and he grabs it smoothly and kisses it. I grin, and now I can see Rojjel behind him. I’m half expecting him to roll his eyes at his husband’s behaviour but to my surprise he reaches for my hand and kisses it too. He holds onto the hand for a moment, inspecting my prosthetic, which is one close to my skin tone and decorated in Rachel’s henna still. He drops my hand and takes in the rest of me and raises his eyebrows.

“Sophie, you look… magnificent.”

Really? I think, looking down at myself. I mostly feel clumsy. “Thank you.” I say.

There’s that sincere affection in Rojjel’s expression that I’m still not used to seeing, even after all these years. I’m so happy to see him again, and Jamie too. I realise they’re in matching suits, with swirling patterns on the jackets, ruffles, fancy jewellery, all very familiar. Oh! It’s what they wore when they got married. That’s so sweet.

“So where is the lucky lady?” Jamie asks and I shrug.

“Somewhere here.” I say and Rojjel tuts. I stick my tongue out at him.

“What about Beth? Are they around?” Rojjel asks, and I turn my head as if to look, feeling a twinge as I remember that they might not be. I try to remember which outfit they had picked out for today, and match it with the Beth I saw last week, but it’s too many outfits, too many events, too many people.

“Hopefully.” I say, a bit too honestly.

Rojjel studies my face. I must look anxious or stressed or maybe just weird. "Anything we can help with, now we're here?"

I shake my head. "I'm alright. I think we're on top of everything."

Jamie chimes in, "Why don't I go acquire you a drink?"

I am starting to protest when the world upends around us, a shockwave travelling across the hill. I can hear things breaking and everything is a whirl as people fall to the ground. I am completely disorientated for a second and then Rojjel and I lock eyes. We both know there's only one thing that could've happened.

"Abigail." We say in sync and then we both tear off running through the crowd, towards the epicenter of the shockwave, and all I can do is hope hopelessly that she is okay.