Soft laughter drifted from the first few rows where people were close enough to hear the exchange. The sound eased some of the tension that had gathered in my chest, and I felt my shoulders relax slightly.
The officiant watched us with patient amusement, clearly willing to allow the moment to unfold naturally before guiding the ceremony forward again.
I opened my mouth to respond.
And that was when something shifted.
At first I couldn’t have said exactly what it was. The square remained quiet, the crowd attentive, the musicians still waiting near the fountain. Nothing obvious had changed.
But instinct stirred anyway.
A subtle disturbance moved somewhere beyond the front rows of chairs, a small shift in the crowd near the southern side of the plaza. People there were beginning to turn
