Free Whisper and Rise by Jamie Day Page B

mother.
    Thunder rocked the store again, this time shaking the shelves. Several small boxes fell onto the floor. I jumped and crouched low in an aisle; it was the only place to hide. My fingers and arms trembled.
    “Momma!”
    “There, there, it’s all right.” Sianna consoled her children in the corner, stroking Connor’s hair while squeezing Sadi.
    As Jake joined them, I moved closer to Nia. I wasn’t afraid of the storm; I had seen plenty of them, some even worse than the one currently throwing a tantrum overhead. But this was a strange place and I had no confidence in the protection offered by the walls around us.
    No one spoke while the deafening violence continued into the night; conversation would have been futile in light of the fracas the storm was raising. We sat in silence, keeping company with our own thoughts. The children’s eventual nods to slumber indicated the evening was lasting longer than anyone had planned. Eventually, Jake and Sianna took their sleeping children upstairs, and Colin and Madeline buried themselves in a pile of blankets that they had brought from Aisling. Faded shadows moved and jostled from the lone remaining lantern on the counter before it, too, lost its grip on the day.
    Owen wrapped himself with a long coat and lay in an aisle. His rhythmic snorts soon announced his sleep, leaving Nia and I to whisper alone.
    “Are you nervous for tomorrow?” I shaped my pillow into a clump so I could lean on it.
    Nia shook her head, laid a knitted blanket next to me, and buried her face. Then she peered from underneath. “Yes.”
    Even in the dark, I could see the green of her eyes; they revealed her honesty. “There will be no more adventures for us,” I told her. “Now you’ll be the responsible one, the married one.”
    Nia shuddered and twisted her face. “Perhaps,” she said. “But I’ll still look forward to seeing you. Nia and Rhia—we’ll be friends forever.”
    I took a deep breath and smiled. “Yes, we will.”
    I wanted to talk more, to gossip with my friend, but Nia’s eyes were shadowed with fatigue. The day must have been long for her and tomorrow would be full of excitement. I wished her goodnight, kissed her on the forehead and rolled into my covers to sleep.
     
    ~ O ~
     
    The next morning, I tried to ignore the portent of the mist-covered windows. A rainy wedding day was never a good sign; that’s what I had always believed. Nia must have forgotten, or did a good job of deceiving us. She woke before everyone, humming and singing the entire morning. Her rapturous smile kept anyone from denying that it could be a fantastically beautiful wedding.
    We ate a quick breakfast—more dried biscuits with gravy—and dressed for a wedding. My lavender skirt appeared pale and worn compared to the elegance that Nia displayed. Her gown glittered, even in the dim light, with forest green sleeves and dazzling green beads stitched into the seams to match her eyes. Her shoes sparkled every time Nia spun in a circle, which she seemed to do all morning. When Nia would sit long enough, Madeline weaved braids and ribbons into her hair. She, too, looked plain in her brown dress and simple boots.
    “This isn’t a celebration of the Fae,” she said, explaining why she didn’t wear the ceremonial gold and white I had expected. “This is Nia’s day in DarMattey.”
    Nia continued her overdose of charm, which threatened to become annoying, but I smiled back and wished her good fortune as I brushed the tangles from my hair. Then Nia’s family piled into the back of Jake’s wagon and I prepared Maeia for our ride.
    The clouds hung low and heavy, hinting that they might burst at any moment, but that wasn’t my worry. The muddy road was thick and high on the horses’ ankles. It grabbed at the wheels of Jake’s wagon and made the journey slow. I followed well behind, unsure of the route, and unwilling to accept the flying bits of mud thrown my way from the wagon wheels. I waved at