5"I now pronounce you husband and wife."
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. I looked at my sisters in the audience, grinning happily. Helena and Juliana high-fived each other, and the rest of my siblings looked equally happy. Rose was even jumping up and down, clapping ecstatically.
I noticed Mirabelle was standing a bit too close to the Earl of Bhara for decorum, but he didn't really seem to mind. And Catharine and Lord Greene kept stealing looks at each other over the few rows of chairs that separated them. I raised an eyebrow at Ellyn, who had also noticed. She just rolled her eyes and kept clapping.
Across from my sisters, my parents beamed happily at Michael and me. Almost all the stress that last year's famine had brought upon my father seemed to have lifted, and he looked ages younger than I had seen him look in a while. Mother was dabbing at her moist eyes with a lacy handkerchief, but still smiling brightly through her tears.
A few rows back, I could see the old cart-woman, a bit stooped over, her graying hair glinting silver in the sunlight. She was wearing a sky blue dress my sisters and I had picked out for her, nothing to fancy, but a modest and refreshing change from the dirty clothes she used to wear. The blue matched her piercing eyes, and she smiled at me as Michael and I walked back up the aisle to the carriage waiting for us outside.
"Shall we be off, then?" he asked me once we were inside and the driver had closed the door. We had planned our honeymoon for the Cliffs of Vye, and I couldn't wait. I simply kissed him in reply. He signaled to the driver, and we were off.
And we lived happily ever after.
I know, I know, worst ending to a story ever. But it's over! yay. So go review now. I know people are reading this story. Review anonymously, if you're shy. And I will try my best to make you virtual cupcakes that will probably turn out a little undercooked on one side and burnt on the other.
(:3=