The day I got married, it was raining. The city had not seen such a downpour in the past seventy years. A few neighbourhoods drowned in the clogged water. The social media, all the news agencies, and all the FM channels were broadcasting the state.
My groom was dressed in a business suit. He had been summoned from a business meeting in Russia a couple of hours ago. He stood with a stoic face. He almost looked like a statue with his striking beauty and sharp bone structures. He did not look at my face for once. The entire time the priestess performed our wedding ceremony, he looked either forward or at the official papers on a table before him.
The priestess chanted the sacred words in a language I didn't know. After reciting the words, she raised her eyes to observe us. The woman was the only individual with a presence that felt centuries old. My dad had arranged the wedding in his hotel, and everything else was top-notch and contemporary. The priestess wore a floral printed dress that covered her small and pudgy frame completely. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, and over that, she had worn a headgear made of wildflowers and feathers. It was the traditional priestess outfit.
"Thea Anjana Shergil, the man who stands before you is David Sinclair, the seventh son of the Sinclair family. He has asked for your hand in holy matrimony. He has given his blood and sweat to prove his heart, he has recited the holy promise to protect you, cherish you, and stand beside you forever. Do you accept his proposal?"
I glanced quickly around myself. I had not noticed the rituals he had performed before me, but when I observed closely, I found a white cloth on a plate made of clay. The cloth contained his blood and sweat. Traditionally, grooms cut their right hand and gave a drop of blood; I could not remember whether David had done so. When I looked at him, I found him staring at me blankly.
The wedding ritual was created keeping the freedom of the witches in mind. No with was ever to be forcefully married off to a man she disliked or denied her advances to. No witch was ever supposed to be left vulnerable and alone in front of a strange man. No witch was ever to be deliberately made weak. However, we all knew how superficial the rituals were. As the priestess read the words, her face turned hard and cold like a stone. She gave a harsh look to my grandmother, but it was only for an instant.
"Yes, I do." The thread was still around my wrists, which made sure that I obeyed my grandmother, our beloved Nani. it also meant that I was bound.
"Would you agree to accept this man as your guardian, your protector and your husband?"
The words initiated a wave of whispers. These were not the words written in the books. The words that the priestess was supposed to say were nowhere close to this. Did somebody change the words according to the arrangement of this wedding? The priestess took a small pause, then spoke the words everyone was waiting for.
"Do you accept him as the half to make you whole?"
As if I were truly given an option. I nodded and looked down. The white veil had covered my face so perfectly, that I doubted whether anyone could see my tears.
"Say the words. Do you accept David Sinclair as your husband?"
"I do," I said in a broken voice. Constant crying for more than three hours had made my voice hoarse, and eyes bloodshot. Not that anybody cared, though.
"I do," I repeated. I said the words one last time. Until te words were said thrice, the wedding was not completed. The wedding was also not completed until every elder of the family blessed the new couple, but that part was skipped. Mr and Mrs Sinclair were in Rome for a meeting, which was obviously more important than their youngest son's wedding.
They could not be blamed though. David was called right after they caught me and brought me back home. Within six hours all the preparations were done. My dad was talented that way. He could pull things like this quite smoothly, and he didn't even use magic for every event. This, for one, was arranged manually, with the help of humans working under my dad.
The priestess also did not ask whether anybody had any objection.
A pen with a sacred thread tied at the top of it, was given to me first, and then to David. We both signed the papers. And just like that, I was married to a man named David Sinclair, whom I had never talked to.