The airshuttle doors opened with a low hiss to a grand space of greenery—a paradise floor filled with tens of thousands of flowers planted just for her wedding day. The flowers laid out in various patterns outlined the throng of people lining up the paved aisle she would walk down in just a few moments.
The officiant and her coming husband were too far away to be nothing more than a vague human shape. Her heart beat quickly and she blinked, trying to see as much as possible through the sheer black veil on her face. Fitting for a funeral for some, but a gothic fashion choice for the vampire bride-to-be.
An arm came into view from her side, a woman in a jonquil yellow dress and long white hair. Nelly accepted the offered arm, clinging to it with her laced gloves, equally as black as the veil. Arm in arm, they began walking down the aisle as the quartet started their acoustic rendition of a rock ballad.
"Remember dear, I am not the one giving you away, you are gaining him," the woman said, smiling ever so lightly.
"Of course, mother," Nelly said and smiled widely at her mother by blood given. Mother, also known as Empress Dana Arbore, rarely smiled—expressions akin to ever-frost. Mother's light smile would have been the widest and most beaming smile another person had ever given. There wasn't much of a better wedding gift than a happy mother.
They walked on in time with the tune, occasionally nodding somewhere in the crowd when they saw an important face. Most of the crowd wore similar jonquil yellow insignias, showing their allegiance to the Arbore Empire. Like some of the flowers, some wore steel blue in honor of the husband-to-be's family color.
The massive amount of onlookers, in addition to the excitedly nervous knot in her chest, wore down the control she had over her vampiric powers. Try as she might, Nelly couldn't hold back hiss, baring her teeth at the audience. She was glad about the veil, hiding the hiss from most people.
"Don't rush Nelly, you can have a taste of him later tonight," Dana quipped and Nelly swore she could hear laughter, but couldn't detect any motion on mother's face.
"Did you just laugh with vampiric power so others wouldn't hear it?" Nelly said and squeezed her arm closer. What mother replied passed over her head as she saw another familiar face in the audience.
Lalage had made it. Nelly didn't know what she felt at that moment; there were too many grand feelings moving around to point out any specific ones. Lalage's expression wasn't great, souring the grand feelings ever so slightly. They hadn't seen each other in four years, separated after Nelly began dating Gideon Walsh. Love had come in between their friendship.
Nelly told herself she was glad Lalage had shown up on her wedding day, ready to honor her with at least some grace. They had been best friends forever up until that point, but forever is only worth so much if it can be erased by a single night.
It wasn't worth dwelling on a relationship gone sour when a relationship gone gold to be had. Just as that thought entered her head, Gideon became more than just a blot in the distance. He was wearing a white suit, in contrast to Nelly's all-black dress, and was adorned by a few elements in steel blue.
There was something nigh untouchable about the sculpted handsome features Gideon carried with such grace. Nelly never understood the hatred people had for the sculpted, gene-manipulated children of today. The new world truly had forgotten the way the old masters sculpted stone, rendering hard marble into forms so soft it stole your breath. And Gideon, he truly stole Nelly's breath away.
In what felt like just a few heartbeats, Nelly walked the rest of the way. She couldn't remember letting go of her mother's hand. There were only blue eyes to drown inside. A charming smile from Gideon nigh melted her on the spot—the promise not to cry now broken.
She only remembered the feelings as warm tears fell on her cheeks, the subsequent "I do's," and the new world that opened up as Gideon lifted her veil. Wet lips met each other, their wedding kiss salty but a pathway to a sweet life.
***
"If your hand isn't sore tomorrow from me holding yours, you can divorce me on the spot," Gideon said between a few congratulating guests. Nelly was glad her eyes were out of tears, as anything remotely sweet Gideon mentioned had her moved.
"Don't worry husband, if for some reason it isn't sore, I will smash it with a door," Nelly said with a smile, hiding it behind her free hand.
"I better make sure it is actually sore then, wouldn't want my wife to hurt herself," Gideon said, with grave seriousness. He increased the force to express his devotion to the cause and yanked her gently. Nelly landed in an embrace and a passionate, yet short kiss. It took all her willpower not to sink her teeth into his lips.
"I love you," Nelly said, and she would have kissed him for his similar reply but was interrupted by an approaching guest. Lalage was smiling and opened her hands, requesting a hug. In her emotional high, Nelly didn't think twice and leaped up to embrace her old friend. "Lelly, you came. I am so glad you found it in your heart to..." Nelly's words got lost as the icy tone of Lalage entered her ear.
"You don't deserve this," Lalage whispered. Nelly tried to push Lalage away, but something was wrong. Lalage's strength was nothing compared to Nelly's, but the vampiric power in her words was enough to melt any resistance Nelly had. "By the blood oath given to me, I demand you stab Gideon with the cake knife." Lalage finished her whispers and let Nelly go.
"Why…" Nelly let out words with no strength behind them to reach anyone. Lalage backed away, still smiling ear to ear.
"Congratulations on your marriage!" Lalage said and disappeared into the crowd, her ashen brown locks the last thing Nelly saw of her.
The tears were supposed to have run out. The power of a blood oath was unbreakable, an unyielding contract. She knew she had been a fool when she gave one to Lalage. Her mother, by blood given, had always warned her about it.
Scenes of Lalage and Nelly laughing and playing together in the slums of the lower floors played through her mind. How Lalage had cried, thinking they couldn't be friends anymore. For after all how could the crown princess be equals with a slum dweller. The crying hadn't stopped until Nelly swore a blood oath so that Nelly didn't have all the power in the relationship.
While the ceremony passed in the blink of an eye, this was an eternal few minutes. The cake didn't wait; Lalage had timed it perfectly. The crowd was cheering as the massive cake was wheeled in. It was built to look like the megabuilding Block 21X, the domain of the Arbore Empire, the house Nelly was sworn to inherit. The 30 million subjects that were destined to be led by her, all living inside of it.
Gideon's hand wrapped around Nelly's waist. He mistook the tears for happy ones and gave her a kiss on the cheek, wiping a few of the tears away. His eyes sparkled eagerly as they sought Nelly's, she couldn't answer the look in his eyes—for how could she yearn for what was to come. The flashes eternalizing this moment reflected off the cake knife's blade as if it were the focal point of the entire universe.
Placing his hand over hers, he guided them to the knife. She, in turn, guided it towards his stomach. No willpower was enough this time. The sharp edge pierced his still pristine white cloth. The tip buckled at the subdermal armor, but Nelly's superhuman strength made short work of it.
She was supposed to remember the salty kiss, not the sound of the blade entering him. Not the groan that left his lips, not the betrayed look in his eyes. Not the sweet smell of blood that stained his shirt crimson.
Tens of hands grabbed Nelly and Gideon as the security teams of both families sprung into action to protect their respective heirs.