Wedding Bells

[Zhenya]

Auri listened with wide-eyed attentiveness, and her eyes only widened further when Emily offered the rose from her bouquet as a gift. The little girl clutched it to her chest like she had just been given the moon and stars from the sky, and whatever Emily’s explanation for her princess-like dress, it was clear Auri had come to her own decisions. She offered an awed thank you without her mother’s prompting, while Zhenya watched on in amusement.

As Emily’s new husband joined them, Zhenya greeted him warmly and gave her congratulations to the pair. The two were clearly very much in love.

“You have a Dominion in your midst,” she observed curiously, having noted the most memorable guests. Undoubtedly that would inspire plenty of gossip. He was even in uniform. Zhenya made it her business to know about a new authority in the city given her line of work was security. Likewise she knew Jared was Legion Premiere, whose ties with the Custody had become much greater since the troubles in Africa. “He looks a little lost, no?”

Afterwards she squeezed Emily’s hand again, and promised to see her again at the reception.