impossibly longer and more defined. She stained my lips a deep red before finally setting her tools down and looking at me. Declaring me ready to be wed.
I breathe out slowly, the air running quickly over my lips. I fidget with the thin strip of tulle at my waist but my hand is slapped away at my side. A stinging pain bursts over my knuckles as I glare up at my friend beside me.
“Calm down already, you’re making me nervous. I’m not a nervous person, Fallon. It’s not a good look for me,” Luca says smiling warmly at me.
“What will we do once we’re out there?” I ask, my eyes scanning the hundreds of people sitting on the other side of the curtain.
“Well, she’ll say a few words, joining the two of you as man and woman. We’ll do the ceremonial Bonding then you’ll...” She tilts her head back and forth before shrugging.
I glance quickly her way. She ignores my look and stares straight ahead.
“No, I don’t know. What? What will we do, Luca?”
She’s quiet still. Her lips thinning. She says nothing.
“What?” I ask loudly, almost shrieking.
A few people turn in their seats toward the sound of the frantic human screaming over the beautiful strumming music.
“You’ll jump!” she finally yells.
“Jump? We’re going to jump?” She nods her head at me in confirmation. “We’re going to jump… off the cliff? Into the ocean?”
Again, she nods slowly as fear crashes over me. Memories of how hard it was for me to swim in the still unmoving water of the cave rush back to me.
“Luca, I can’t swim. Why didn’t you tell me this? Why would cliff jumping be a part of this? Can we just skip it? I can’t drown on my unity day! You spent an hour on my hair just so I could drown on my unity day?” I ask manically.
“It’s a wedding, Fallon, not a union.”
“Whatever,” I shriek back at her, stomping my bare foot against the dirt.
My eyes are wide and my breathing is fast but unproductive. The pounding of my heart is so loud I no longer hear the music. Is the music still playing?
Through the curtain I see Asher’s silhouette walk toward us, closer to where I stand, having an anxiety attack over something that shouldn’t even be an issue on my unity day.
Luca whips the curtain back, exposing her head but nothing else.
“We’re fine. Everything is fine. It’ll just be another moment. Thank you all for your patience,” she says smiling prettily, Asher stops in his tracks, hesitantly. “I said we’re fine,” she growls at him, baring her teeth menacingly.
His hands fly up in a defensive stance before backing away to stand at the edge of the cliff again.
“I didn’t want to make you nervous. Jumping is the closing of the ceremony. It’s an old ritual done in our culture for centuries. The couple jumps as an offering to the ocean, and if they are not a true match, a perfect match, the water fae will correct the error and whisk away the untrue heart.”
“What? I’m not only jumping into the ocean off of a cliff,” I say slowly, “but then I have to hope water fae don’t drag me under as I doggie paddle my way back to land? Does Asher know about this, about the… the water fae?”
She nods impatiently, peeking back around the curtain at the audience.
Luca drops the drape back down and spins on her heels to look at me, fury and determination in her eyes.
“Do you love Asher?” she asks loudly.
I do. I haven’t said it yet, to anyone, not even him. But I do.
I nod my head slowly, forcing air into my lungs, fighting the tight bodice for air.
“Then trust him. Believe that when you leap, he won’t let you fall, and he would never let anyone take you away from him. Because he won’t, Fallon.”
I take another shaky breath and nod stiffly at her. She’s right. Of course, she’s right. I’m being dramatic. I’ll be fine. It’s fine.
“Are you ready?” she asks, her hand already clutching the curtain.
I tilt my head up, smoothing my dress and wiping the sweat from my shaking hands against the nice fabric, forcing my nerves away.
I nod at her again, my head bobs with vigor.
She smirks at me and laces her fingers through mine. Her hand is cool and steady against mine.
The music hums through the air again. It’s possible that it never stopped but I really have no idea.
Luca slowly pulls back