Wedding Goers Dance Among Us

The aisle appeared to be floating, being beset with the white petals of roses, their fragrance mingling with the smell of sunlight, grass and lilies. The pews of the greenhouse converted chapel were full of guests for the occasion, coming from many different countries… and from different worlds.

Sief inhaled deeply, the colours and sounds blurring around her; silk dresses of different cuts and lace, denim and suede leather coats; green, yellow, blue, pink, white, black, red, silver. She opened her eyes again. Someone patted her arm.

“A little like an American Embassy isn’t it?” MJ jested, pulling at her red-black silk and gauze dress’s gold filigree.

“Not how I’d put it...” Sief mused as the priest read out the vows to the couple. Sief smoothed her dress; tangerine rose silk that felt as light as a leaf from floating gauze, emblazoned with white, yellow and pink embroidered silk flowers and elbow length bell-sleeves. She stretched her neck into the sunlight and inhaled the scents again. “Strange to think that of all these people brought together to celebrate the same people, we will never meet the majority them again.”

“True. But we know plenty of people already and I for one don’t intend to meet and talk to everyone in this room… and neither do you by the looks of it.” MJ glanced at her friend. Sief cracked a small smile at her.

“I do find the amount of people here slightly overwhelming. My heightened senses aren’t help much either.”

The crowds started to move and clap as the couple at the alter kissed and turned to the crowd, starting the procession down the aisle.

“It feels weird having one of my best friends marrying my brother,” MJ mused. “Feel almost cheated.” Sief laughed at this, the sound pealing and mingling into the crowd’s happy chatter like birdsong. They reached the back of the greenhouse-chapel where it opened out into the noon sunlight. The procession stopped and turned for a flower-shower.

“Oop, this is when I go throw flowers on the newly wed with the little flower-boys and girls!!” MJ threw her bouquet of flowers at the couple alongside the children, the blooms sailing through the air… and hitting her brother in the head. Startled, he looked over at her and gave an exasperated expression. The bride smiled lovingly at him.

“Score!” Klara giggled, sun shining through the glass onto everything and everyone, her dress glittering with petals. The crowd moved out onto the lawn; the vows had been spoken… now the party commenced.

S

Sief stood in the shade of a tree, watching the smiling, laughing people. She stood near the “family table and gathering” as MJ had brought her as her chosen guest. Actually, quite a number of Sief and MJ’s friends and classmates were there too though they had disappeared off to converse with famous mages and teachers at exotic schools for gifted… along with the wedding families which were VERY large… and sometimes annoying.

A tall dark-haired man came over to Sief with two champagne glasses. Oh no, please no, Sief thought to herself, please don’t be coming over to me. He did. Sief clutched the glass in her hand. She had the ability to sometimes be overtly shy… especially at large gatherings such as this one. With a certain person attending. A certain person related and/or associated to the -rather dashing- -slightly unusual- man next to her. He seemed slightly awkward too come to think of it.

“Don’t particularly like weddings to be honest,” he said, taking a sip from his glass. “Even my sister’s. Weddings or anything of the sort tend to have the ability to draw all unwanted relatives from their dark, damp little corners out into the open to terrorise the likes of me and my siblings… or, most of my siblings.” She cocked her head slightly, her eyebrow raising at this strange and unexpected announcement.

“I suppose that’s the point with weddings,” Sief replied, ”to make people the like of us feel awkward… knowing to well there aren’t any escape hatches!”

He nodded approvingly.

“That is a very good explanation…” he looked down at her. “Do you like these gatherings?”

“I wouldn’t mind it so much if certain people weren’t here.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Am I on that list?”

“No! Well, not yet anyway!” She laughed. The sound of breaking glass interrupted the conversations on the lawn. The tall man sighed.

“Excuse me madame, I have a dog I need to go retrieve before he breaks anymore champagne glasses.”

“What sort of a dog?” she enquired.

“It is a Charles spaniel of this moment,” he replied. He looked back at her.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss…?”

“My name is Sief.” He bowed to her as he walked away. Rather gentlemanly… yet still undeniably queer, she thought. He didn’t even give me his name.

She walked over to the table MJ was leaning against.

“You’ve been busy,” she mused. Sief frowned.

“Busy?” She picked up a stick of grapes from a bowl.

“I’ve counted at least twelve separate people (mainly men) and parties of people you’ve talked to,” she stated smugly. “Some I was with you for but… couldn’t help but notice you’ve caught a LOT of people’s attention…” Sief threw her grape at MJ.

“Oh stop it you! I swear I’m going to throw an entire bowl of punch at you, then chase after you with more grape missiles regardless of the people who’ll witness it!” She refilled her glass and but it to her lips.

“To be honest, I think that would just encourage them fellas’…” MJ muttered.

Sief threw her grapes at her. MJ ran off like a lemming, giggling all the way, Sief chasing after her with another stick of grapes and glass of punch as her weapons. They ran past the bride and groom who had been talking with Klara’s brother Francis. Francis looked up, an amused smile slowly forming on his face as the ladies ran past him in beautiful silk dresses, one firing food at the other. “Seems your sister ain’t much of the quiet type,” he commented. His new brother-in-law sighed at Francis’s childish glee at witnessing the chase take fold.

“Francis, go break that up before they hurt themselves, or one of our guests!” Francis sighed doomily.

“Fine.” He chased after them… followed by his little sister bride.

“Klara!” her groom exclaimed.

“Don’t be a spoilsport you nickum-poop!” she replied. “Matrimony has turned you into my frumpy uncle!”

Sief ran and ran after her friend, laughing all the way. About time people started having fun, she reasoned to herself, knowing she’d feel like an absolute idiot afterwards. As she ran round the hedge, she was greeted by two young boys who were having a game of tag.

“Wow!” she danced around them so as not to collide. She stood for a second to catch up with her heart, turned around to run after MJ… and ran into a tall, solid man. The contents of her punch soaked the victim as she fell to the ground. She kneeled there with her skirts around her almost elegantly, frozen in place, as if she stayed there long enough, it wouldn’t have happened. She slowly looked up at the punch-soaked man.

Francis came round the corner and skidded to a stop along with his starlit sister and brother-in-law.

“Oh boy.”

The man above Sief had slick black hair greying at the sides and slight sideburns to his pointed and wrinkled face. But his eyes, his eyes were what made Sief stare. They were his eyes. And the-man-under-the-tree’s eyes. And Francis’s eyes.

Niccolò Machiavelli glared down at her, purple punch dripping off his nose, shirt stained.

“Uncle, I apologise sincerely for this accident. Please forgive…” Machiavelli glared at Francis.

“Is it your place to make excuses for the insolence of this girl? No, it is not. So shut up now before it becomes your problem and I shut you up myself.” Sief swallowed.

“I’m very sorry sir. I would never have intended this to happen… but if I might add sir that it in fact was not entirely my fault. If you had seen I was only evading the children…”

“HOW DARE YOU!” He yelled at her. “You solve impertinence with MORE impertinence! Suggesting I in fact am the one to blame for your stupidity!”

“No, I…”

“SILENCE! You will speak when spoken to from now on in my presence. How dare you disrespect me with your lack of spine and stupidness you little snitch!”

“Uncle! She is MY guest and I will not have you abuse her for an incident that was entirely accidental and seems to be indeed not entirely her fault,” Klara lashed. Machiavelli went even more purple in the face. With a glare that seemed to last an eternity, he stomped off into the family mansion.

Sief got to her feet shakily. Klara patted her shoulder and went off with her husband.

“You ok?” Francis asked concerned. She nodded. MJ, having reappeared at the sound of the Italian’s shouts, put an arm around her friend’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry Sief. I should have smacked him down with a high-kick or something…” Sief laughed at that. “Let’s plan a grape attack on him in the future, hey?”

Sief walked arm-in-arm with her friend. She felt shaken and humiliated. She watched the laughing guests and running children to distract her mind. As she watched, a sudden figure and his companion caught her attention. She stifled a gasp at the sight of the two tall men and quickened her pace.

“Hey! What’s the rush?” MJ yelped. Sief adjusted her grip on her friend’s arm and basically dragged her along through the garden and human obstacles.

“Nothing at all.”

“Don’t seem like nothing.”

Sief glanced at the men through the corner of her eye. They’d seen her. She weaved her way through hedges and rosebushes, hoping that if the men followed them that they wouldn’t know which way they’d gone. The girls came back out onto the lawn through a gap in the hedge.

“Well, hope your pleased with yourself,” MJ grumbled. “I nearly killed myself on that branch back there and have gained a rather painful stich.”

“I hope we lost them.”

“Who?”

Sief looked at her slowly. MJ finally understood.

“He’s here? Magnus and…”

“Yup.”

“The suspicious one and the suspicious one who goes in and out of being suspicious?”

“Yup.”

MJ swallowed. A smile slowly formed on her face. Sief hit her.

“What’s wrong with you? This isn’t funny! He does bad things wherever he goes! We’ve had to deal with his trouble making an uncountable amount of times! I have a scar…”

“Ya, but he’s not likely to kill you…”

“Oh, how’s that?”

“Cause him and the other one either respect you or like you!”

Sief hit her again before stomping off to where Francis stood.

“She at it again?” he asked. Sief nodded.

“You can keep her if you want. She is an awesome person… at times, but I swear, she is SO infuriating!” Francis nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like Charles.” Sief looked up at him as MJ joined them, a toying smile on her face still.

“Your family member’s dog?” he frowned. “I suppose he is…”

“Haven’t seen him since before the ‘punch’ debacle…” Sief commented looking around.

“Who?”

“Your relative. He didn’t give me his name… tall dark-haired man, rather odd guy…” her eyes widened in alarm. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude…”

Francis cackled.

“No! Please, that was very funny! I now know which family member you mean…”

Music interrupted them.

“Ah! The dancing’s started,” he announced putting down his glass. He turned to MJ.

“Mind?”

MJ shrugged.

“I can’t promise that I won’t step on you.” She leaned in to Sief’s ear as they walked away.

“Avoid the demented chipmunk at all costs!”

“Which one,” Sief snorted, eyeing people warily.

She sipped from a glass as the couples twirled around each-other. She’d already danced with three separate gentlemen and had promptly declined two more, hiding from three altogether. She had found it highly amusing… now it was just annoying. So, now she was happy watching her friends breaking out moves on the dancefloor.

She turned to sit underneath a tree to escape the sun and found to her alarm that Francis’s brother was heading in her direction. She ducked underneath a tablecloth and started to crawl her way along the line of tables. No way was she dancing with that jerk. She dashed out from under the last table and through three older guest’s legs and made a run for it round the hedges. Sief looked back to find the brother looking round in confusion. Not for long, she thought. I need to find a place to hide. She looked around the hedges and shrubbery to no avail. She took in deep breaths to calm herself down. She looked up. The mansion! She ran up the steps and through the open doors.

The greeting hall was decorated with lily bouquets in vases. The room was mostly in shadow and cool where the sunlight didn’t shine. Sief walked into the rooms shadow, catching her breath.

“Well that was surprising.” Sief whirled around to see Francis’s other brother standing in an off-hall doorway next to a table of fruit and wine.

“Nearly made me drown myself in champagne!” he looked sidelong at her. “Something tells me you’re not here for the wine?”

Sief snorted.

“If only that were so! I’m afraid I’m rather trying to hide from someone.”

“Looks more like running and a lot less like hiding if you ask me.” He looked quizzically at her.

“Who at thou Juliet?”

“Your brother.”

“Ahh, the Tybalt of the evening…”

“Sir! I am not here for Shakespeare!”

“Alright, don’t get all twisted! Come on, let’s go hide.”

“Um, I need to hide, you don’t have too. All you have to do is point him in the opposite direction.”

“Yes, I could do that. Except for the fact I don’t particularly want to see my brother either.”

Sief gaped at him. He walked briskly into the centre of the greeting hall.

“It’s rude to stare darling.”

He looked outside cautiously.

“Eh, he is coming this way! Quick up the stairs!” He grabbed her hand and started running two steps at a time. Sief hiked her skirts up and did her best to keep up. They ran down a hall, up more steps and then turned right down another hall. They slowed down, the man humming as he reached for a handle. The door stayed shut.

“Blast it! Not again!” Footsteps in the hall.

“Go, go go!” He started cussing as they ran down the hall, Sief starting to giggle at the absurd and desperate escape attempt. They went down a flight of stairs ran down the end of yet another hall and pushed into a room just off a banister circling round a main stairwell down to two other levels.

“This place is huge!” she whispered, looking round the room they’d entered. It looked very much deserted with wallpaper peeling off the walls, stained and greyed windows from the dusty surfaces.

“Well you should be used to it what with that school and all.” He saw the confusion on her face. “My brother-in-law told me about it.”

They listened for a while to see if the brother had found them. Silence.

“What happened to your dog Charles?” Sief enquired. The man frowned. His mouth opened into an O with understanding.

“Oh yes, well, about that, that was actually a joke. He’s my cousin.”

“Huh. Guess I look rather stupid now.” She said. “Doesn’t help me calling you Tree-Man.”

“Oh. Did I really forget to tell you my name? Well that’s embarrassing.” He offered her his hand.

“I’m Alec.” She shook it.

“Nice to run away from your brother with you Alec.”

“Usually you say, ‘nice to meet you’ but ya, that works too.” He cracked the door open and peeked out. “All clear.”

They leaned on the railing and looked down to see if the brother had gone down that way. Instead, they got a face full of Charles.

“Playing run-away-from-a-relative? Without me?”

“Trust you to show up after the storm!”

“Near storm,” Sief amended. “Nice to meet you Charles. I’m Sief” He grinned at her.

“Hello madame Sief. Want to dance?”

“Get lost pip-squeak!” Alec said. He turned to Sief. “You’d be better off dancing with my brother. Or the Italian Uncle!” She flinched.

“I think I’ve had plenty to do with your “Italian Uncle,” thank you.” He nodded.

“Fair enough.” They started back down the stairs.