Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
After all that “I’ll kill you if you step out of line” business anyway.
The girls go down the aisle ahead of us, and then it’s our turn.
The music swells, and a grin of anticipation splits my face, then I walk with Silvan’s dad to the mouth of the aisle.
I feel like a princess—on the arm of a scary king, on the way to my happily ever after with my own dark prince.
Silvan’s gaze hits mine and his chest puffs up. I can see his pleasure at the mere sight of me, and it fills me up with sheer joy.
So this is love.
I don’t feel any of the hundreds of eyes I know are trained on me. There’s no swell of self-consciousness or anxiety like I expected.
When he looks at me like that, it’s just me and Silvan, and that’s not scary.
I was unnerved anticipating it, though, and I’m overcome with emotion as I join Silvan on the altar. My hands tremble when he takes mine, but his hands are firm and steady.
Everyone takes their seat, and the pastor starts speaking, but it’s all white noise until we get to our vows.
“And do you Sophie take Silvan to be your husband, to live together in holy matrimony, to love him, to honor him, to comfort and cherish him all the days of your life?”
I smile at Silvan, and he gives my hands a little squeeze. “I do.”
I feel like I mean it more than most brides do.
Like I have to.
I want to, as well, but I’m under no illusions that I ever really had a choice. My desiring this outcome is just a stroke of good fortune and clever planning on Silvan’s part.
Meeting Silvan was a little like surviving a natural disaster, but coming out with a better life because of it. He wasn’t in my plan and there was little warning he would strike and wipe out life as I knew it, but because he did, I have a life I never even knew to dream of.
And now, we’re going to live happily ever after.
Or else.