My hair was pinned up in a loose chignon with only the starlight lock hanging loose down my bodice. Around my neck, I wore a single, teardrop diamond the length of my pointer finger. Yes; that big. The chain was so thin that it was barely a glimmer on my neck; making it appear as if the diamond were supported by my cleavage alone. I have no idea how the chain held up the weight of that rock, and I was hoping it didn't snap halfway through the ceremony.
The twins grabbed their bouquets and preceded me into the hallway. I lifted my massive arrangement of lavender roses, peonies, and wisteria and carefully followed them. My heels were thankfully low; a twenties style of shoe with diamond buckles. I didn't say anything to Re about it, but all of the diamonds reminded me a little of the one wedding I had escaped from; that to his grandson, Anubis.
Anubis would be in attendance today. How awkward was that? Actually, now that I think about it; not so much. Anubis had come a long ways from the days of forcing me into sexual slavery. He was a new man, and I was happy for him. I was also freshly healed of the damage he'd done. And, oh my gods, why was I thinking about all of this? This was my wedding day; I should be focusing on my groom.
And on walking.
I nearly tripped at the top of the stairs, but, thankfully, no one saw it. The guests were in the ballroom, and the twins were ahead of me. I took another deep breath—my veil fluttering outward—and grabbed the thick stone railing to steady myself.
Have you ever walked down a long set of stairs with a train? I was even more relieved that there was no one behind me once I started navigating those stairs. Although, if I had someone behind me, they could have held the end of that heavy expanse of fabric and prevented the lace from pooling around me and threatening to trip me on my way down.
“Um.” I cleared my throat when I made it to the bottom.
The twins turned around, saw the mess that my train had become, and hurried back to me as they giggled like girls.
“Gravity works,” Bastet said gaily.
“I'm just glad that it didn't work in front of the entire God Realm,” I said.
Okay, so it wasn't the entire God Realm attending, but between Re and I, we knew a lot of people. And then there had been the draw of the location. I'd heard that Re had to enlist several of the gods who lived in Aaru to ferry in our guests. Literally; they had to be brought in by boat. The only people who hadn't been invited were my human family and friends. But they understood; there were certain parts of the God Realm that I never wanted them to see and to get to Osiris' amazing territory, you had to pass through some of those parts.
The point was; the ballroom was nearly overflowing with guests. The Egyptian Gods alone nearly took up all of the space on Re's side of the aisle. His pantheon is enormous; it could give the Greek a run for its money. Then there were the numerous friends I'd made in my years as Godhunter. It was shocking to see them all together; to know that I had started off killing their kind but somewhere along the way, I had learned that they were just like humans. There were good and bad gods, stupid and brilliantly intelligent, enormous and delicate. The Gods were as varied as the humans.
I still found it amazing that I'd made so many god friends. Aidan had joked that I always had an enemy after me, and I did, but I also had loyal friends. There were gods in attendance who I knew I could call upon in a moment's notice, and they'd come running. The Native Americans for one. I saw the Thunderbirds sitting on my side of the aisle; sleek feather cloaks around their shoulders. The Greeks were also there, and I saw some unexpected faces among them; Hermes sat with his son, and Hygeia was with her sisters. Then there were some Hindu gods, a couple of Hawaiian gods—Pele and Kanaloa, and a few Norse gods—including Freya and Rind. Rind was seated by her son (and mine) Vali.
The Japanese Gods also made a showing. Amaterasu had brought her granddaughter-in-law Sakuya (but not her son or grandson), Shinno, and Hachiman. They looked incredible in their silk kimonos and elaborate hair styles. Next to them were the Froekn, several angels, and a whole lot of demons. Smack dab in the middle of demonville sat the Vodou Gods; they'd worn proper clothing and everything. The Celts had even come; Elatha looking over his shoulder to give me an appreciative grin and a naughty wink. Last, but not least, was my Intare; every lion in the Pride was there looking fantastic.
Oh! And Salem came too. Luke and Holly had ridden him in with their demons; negating the need for a boat ride. Salem couldn't fit through the doors to get into the ballroom, but someone had opened a window for him, and he was able to angle his head inside. I was grateful that Luke had brought him; it wouldn't have
