After a long, silent moment, she swallowed and placed a finger against her grandmother’s brooch. She sniffed, then tilted her head way back and inhaled deeply in an attempt to keep tears from falling. After a second, she laughed again and lowered her head.
“I wish she were here,” she murmured, and no one had to ask who she meant. “She would have loved him so much.” There was another sniff, and she turned around, swiping at her eyes. “She would have loved all of you, too. I think … I think she was a little concerned that I never made very many friends.” She swept her arms in no particular direction. “And now look. I have so many friends, I need a cargo ship to keep you all in.”
Winter stood and wrapped her arms around Scarlet’s waist. “She’s in the stars,” she whispered. “Jacin and I saw her when we were in the sky, and she was smiling down at you, and so very, very proud.”
Scarlet shook her head even as she sank into the embrace. “I thought you weren’t crazy anymore.”
Winter grinned. “I never made any promises,” she said, lifting her chin high. “And I believe it, besides. She is watching you, Scar, and she is proud.”
With a nod, Scarlet rubbed at her eyes one more time. “This is good,” she said. “It’s better to get all of this out of the way so I’m not a mess during the actual wedding, right?”
Cinder looked down, but she could still sense the awkward glances shared between Cress and Iko before Cress cleared her throat and asked, “What about the something blue? You didn’t tell us what that was going to be.”
“Oh, that.” Scarlet extricated herself from Winter’s arms. “I couldn’t really think of anything, so I thought I’d skip that part. It’s just a silly tradition, anyway.”
Winter jolted, her eyes gleaming. “It’s not silly at all, and I know just the thing. Do you have any blue thread?”
Scarlet peered at her uncertainly. “There’s a sewing kit in the top drawer over there.”
Winter hurried to the dresser, found the kit, and within moments had threaded a needle with cobalt blue thread. “Sit down again.”
“Now what are you doing?” Scarlet asked with some trepidation as Winter folded up the hem of her dress, revealing the silky lining underneath.
“Don’t worry. I taught myself how to embroider years ago.” She lowered her head to concentrate, her thick spiral curls curtaining her face.
Scarlet sighed, but didn’t argue. “How long is this going to take? Maybe someone should go tell Wolf to water the flower beds before it gets much later?”
“I’ll go,” said Cress. She was out of the room in a blink, shutting the door softly behind her.
Apparently tired of avoiding wrinkles in the dress, Scarlet sighed and lay back on the bed, letting Winter do whatever she was doing to the lining. Cinder tried to peer over Winter’s shoulder, but her hair blocked the needlework, so she gave up and joined Iko on the bed, leaning against the headboard.
She pulled up the commlink screen on her retina display and jotted off a quick message.
ANYTHING WE’RE FORGETTING?
Iko glanced at her. They rarely communicated using their internal computer interfaces anymore—using portscreens instead made them both feel more human—but being cyborg and android still had their conveniences.
CRESS IS SUPPOSED TO BE HANDLING THE MUSIC, came Iko’s reply. I JUST SENT HER A COMM REMINDING HER.
Cinder nodded and folded her arms over her knees. “Are you nervous?” she asked.
Scarlet turned her head. She was probably destroying that braid, but no one said anything. “No,” she said. “At least, not about getting married. I’m a little nervous at the idea that this has become an international spectacle and there are people who don’t know me or Wolf who are going to take it on themselves to judge our wedding, but … no. I’m not nervous about getting married, or being married. It’s Wolf. It feels … right.” Her eyes turned hazy as she stared at some insignificant spot on the wall over Cinder’s head. “There was never a time when it didn’t feel right.”
Cinder swallowed and couldn’t help thinking of Kai. Had there ever been a time when it didn’t feel right?
There had been difficult times, certainly.
When she’d first started to fall for him but had been too scared to tell him she was cyborg.
When he’d learned that she was Lunar, and thought she’d brainwashed him into having feelings for her.
When she’d kidnapped him, undermining his attempts to end a war and obtain the letumosis antidote.
And, oh, that one time when he’d married her tyrannical aunt.
She couldn’t very well say that their relationship had ever been easy, but then, neither had Wolf and Scarlet’s.
But had it always been right?
Her pulse hummed at the question.
It must have been, she thought, even way back when everything was so wrong. She couldn’t have fought so hard for him otherwise.