I had never learned to dance over the course of any of my lives, but I was far too drunk on love and wine to care. The band shifted from soft background music to lively, upbeat dancing tunes, and Lia and I whirled around the room with reckless abandon, laughing all the while. When we were red-faced and panting at the end of the song, Marten split us apart to pair off with his daughter, and Hana snatched me away for a dance of our own. Although the room seemed to spin before my eyes, I continued to fully indulge in the revelry, pausing only to imbibe fresh wine delivered by our servers. Elise and I danced together next, drinking and twirling side to side as Lia danced with her mother. Marin gave me a respectful nod but made no move to partner with me, instead choosing to dance with Lia. Likewise, Bella refrained from dancing at all until the final song of the night when Elise led her by the hand to the floor, where the two shared a tender moment together.
It was well into the morning by the time we left the restaurant. Elise and Bella stayed behind to oversee the redecoration of the dining room, leaving the remaining five of us to pile into the back of a Three Barrels wagon to make the trip back to the Corells’. Lia’s parents, who had become my parents as well, fell asleep almost immediately, resting with their heads leaned together. Marin followed suit soon after, snoring loudly as her head tipped back against the cloth covering of the wagon. While I knew I was well and truly drunk, the lingering adrenaline from the day’s events kept me awake. Lia gently rested her head on my shoulder, likewise too wired to succumb to her exhaustion, and the two of us sat together peacefully as the wagon rattled its way across the moonlit countryside.
When the journey was complete, we helped to usher our sleep-deprived parents to their door and said a final, teary goodbye. The silence that fell over the forest clearing when their front door closed felt strange in my ears. I scratched the back of my head and looked down at Lia. “So…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.
Lia nodded slowly as she stared off into the woods in the direction of our house. “So…” she echoed.
“I guess we just...go home now?” I asked, offering out my hand.
She shifted the ornamental ivory box from one hand to the other and accepted the gesture, winding her fingers between mine. She began to walk forward without a word, and I followed her towards the dark of the forest. I pulled her to a stop as we reached the treeline. “Hold on,” I said, stepping forward. With a quick flourish, I bent down and scooped her up into my arms in a bridal carry. She looked up at me with a surprised smile on her face as we settled into a comfortable position. “We wouldn’t want your dress to get dirty, right?” I laughed.
As I stepped into the forest, I channeled a healthy pulse of mana through my body to increase my strength and balance, ensuring I wouldn’t drop my precious cargo. Wind whipped over my flowing rainbow cloak as I leapt forward, lithely sprinting down our well-worn dirt path. Lia gasped in delight at the sudden movement and clung tighter to my neck. I felt her warmth begin to radiate through my chest, and I savored the sensation with a renewed sense of love. My wife, I thought with a smile as I watched her excited expression.
I came to a graceful stop as I burst into the clearing and set her lightly on her feet. “After you,” I said with an exaggerated bow. She gave me an equally deep bow in return, then ran off towards the house without warning. The skirt of her dress fluttered behind her as she ran, radiating a different range of beautiful colors under the silvery moon above. I chased her across the yard and hopped up into the house behind her. An unfamiliar scent lingered in my nose as I walked through the dining room, and I laughed as I came to the amusing realization that it was the scent of our own house: raw emberwood, rain, and a light note of mint, now foreign to me after so long away.
Lia and I both sighed in relief as we kicked off our dress shoes. I loosened my ascot and unfastened the cloak from my neck while she waited patiently beside me. When I had folded the cloak on the dining table, she spun around and motioned to the middle of her back. “Could you untie me?” She pulled aside her braid as I approached, and I found a single knotted cord of fabric that ran back and forth across her back, holding the dress together tightly. I tugged on the low knot and heard a loud snap as the corset violently unstuck from her skin. She let out a loud groan of satisfaction as she slumped forward and rubbed her chest. “Ooooh, thank you. I didn’t realize until now how little I’ve been breathing today.”
We walked out to the living room, each of us massaging our respective sores. I paused in the entryway to roll out my shoulders and neck, which I had unconsciously tensed for the entire day. Lia walked ahead to the table
