-Laelia-
It felt almost like mockery as I stood close to the altar, watching Ashes and Halia being joined together. Halia was all smiles, while Ashes looked incredibly unhappy. It was clear he wasn’t thrilled about this.
“Let this union be sealed with a kiss,” the priest finally said, breaking me from my trance.
It was a quick kiss, much like mine and Ashes’s had been. Everyone clapped. Ashes’s family, except his two older brothers, looked happy. Halia’s family smiled at her, and even her father seemed pleased, despite not having envisioned his daughter as Ashes’s second wife.
Catla was there too, standing beside Halia’s brother, smiling and showing her pregnancy—though she wasn’t showing much yet, at least from what I could see. Mayla and Sivanna stood by the queen’s side, and while
