“She’s breathtaking,” Veronica whispered.
By her side was her son, Mordred, who through the help of magic or his own effort had a perfectly combed head of hair. He grinned nearly as wide as his mother. He led her to the arches, where he placed his mother’s hands into Seven’s. That was when the Scarecrow approached the couple. He greeted everyone with a broad smile on his burlap face. “Thank you for coming to this most wonderful of events. As the former emperor of Oz, I have the privilege and honor to officiate this ceremony.”
The Scarecrow invited the crowd to join him in a prayer for the happy couple. Then Seven and Morgan spoke of their brief but intense love and how fate had finally brought them together. Morgan cried as she promised her life to Seven. Mr. Seven did the same, and when the Scarecrow pronounced them man and wife, Morgan planted the biggest kiss on the little man that Sabrina had ever seen.
Confetti showered down on the newlyweds and music floated over the crowd. There was much cheering and shaking of hands and kissing of the bride.
“You’re a lucky man,” Gepetto said to the groom.
“I’m the lucky one,” Morgan cried, swooping the little man into her arms for another kiss.
And then Charming called for everyone’s attention. He had a glass of champagne in his hand and Sabrina watched as several trays of the bubbly stuff magically floated through the crowd. “Just one more interruption, folks. This morning Mr. Seven came to me and asked me to be the best man at this wedding. For some strange reason he thought a wedding could be planned in one day.”
Everyone smiled knowingly.
“He also believed, for some reason, that I enjoy being in front of a crowd.”
Everyone roared with laughter.
“Well, let me tell you, this party has been incredibly troublesome. After all, we’re only trying to build a castle, raise an army, and prepare for a war. Mr. Seven and his bride have been a terrible inconvenience.”
Suddenly, the laughter was gone. Sabrina was incredulous. Charming had a history of being selfish, but was he really going to grouse during a wedding?
“But that is love, isn’t it?” he continued. “It’s terribly inconvenient. It sweeps you up and steals your attention and slows down your work. Our labors fall behind, our friends report us missing, and everything comes to a screeching halt! Everything, that is, except what truly matters in this life—true love. We’ve all been there. We know the feelings. So when we see it in a friend, a dear, dear friend, we throw down our work and we celebrate. We rejoice. We raise a glass. Because when we recognize it in the hearts of friends, it reminds us of how important it is in our own. Mr. Seven, you are and always have been my companion and friend. You have made me a better man, and almost on a daily basis you have reminded me that I too need to celebrate the love in my life.”
Everyone turned to Snow. Her face was rosy red and she was grinning wide.
Charming held up his glass. “So, my friends, in this lovely courtyard, let us raise a glass and celebrate the maddening, all-consuming, time-killing, terribly inconvenient magic called love.”
The crowd raised their glasses and drank, then burst into rousing applause.
Together, the crowd cleared the chairs away and there was dancing and singing and food. Where the feast came from, Sabrina could hardly guess, but somehow these runaways and refugees had prepared a spread for a hundred people. In the midst of the party Mr. Hamelin found himself a guitar, and his son, Wendell, blew on his harmonica. Sabrina watched Charming whisper something into Snow’s ear that made her giggle. She paid for the laugh with a kiss. Henry and Veronica waltzed around the courtyard, holding sleeping Basil between them. Even Red dragged Mr. Canis onto the dance floor for a spin.
Sabrina couldn’t help but get swept up in it all. The dread of the last few months and the threat of tomorrow were pushed into a corner of her mind. As she watched the revelers, it dawned on her that the wedding was more than a party for two people coming together as one, but rather, a celebration of life and its possibilities, even in the midst of madness.
“I guess we’re supposed to dance,” Puck said, suddenly appearing beside her.
“Do you know how to dance?”
Puck rolled his eyes. “I’m royalty. That’s all we ever do.”