Despite the cool marble floor and magnificent beauty of the imperial palace, Ren kept her eyes down and focused on the designs in the floor. The top edges of her slippers barely peeked out from underneath her hem with every careful step she took.

Behind her, the slight shuffle of her maids filled the strangely empty silence. When Isao had parted from her, turning to head down his own hall, the new couple had peeled away from each other without a word. Ren had wondered if she should have said something, then realized she didn't have the strength to try.

Halfway to her room, she noticed a vase on a pedestal. Intricate glass beads covered its outside in a swirling design of color meant to mimic the stars in the night sky. Ren paused, staring at it and feeling as small as one of the glass beads.

Small. Stuck in her place. Here because of the interplay of greater forces.

Ren blinked, the heaviness in her chest threatening to consume her.

Had it actually happened? Had she willingly married someone whom she didn't care for? Was her life knit with a total stranger? And, what would he say if he knew she had feelings for another?

Before these morose thoughts could consume her, a figure emerged from the shadows off to the right. Ren’s maids sucked in sharp breaths, then let them out.

Ren straightened, her eyes assessing the approaching figure until she spied a familiar head of short-cropped red hair in the flickering of the torchlights.

“Ren. Darling sister.”

Yuna lifted a hand, pressing it to Ren’s cheek and giving her a warm smile. Her fingertips caressed Ren’s skin softly.

“You look so sad, Ren. And this is your wedding day.”

Ren swallowed the lump in her throat. “I am happy to assist my clan.”

“Isao seems to be a good man. He will, no doubt, be a strong leader for the Empire. What more could you ask for?”

Ren nodded in assent, but said nothing more. She cast her eyes back to the ground, unable to meeting Yuna’s burning, cerulean gaze.

Yuna put her hand under Ren’s chin, nudging it higher. “Will you be so sad forever? Surely, your future cannot be as bleak as this.”

“Not forever. No.”

“Chin up, sister. There is much to celebrate.”

The words, spoken in an even, alluring cadence, settled the worst of Ren’s nerves, although her heart still ached. There was so much Yuna didn’t – couldn’t – know.

The bleak world that awaited her. A lonely one, filled with nights shared with a man whom she didn’t love. She would be forced to dream of the one she did for the rest of her life.

Eventually, her love’s memory would fade. Tear and shred as easily as the skin of an onion.

“Yes. There is much to celebrate,” Ren intoned, deliberately shedding such thoughts.

Yuna’s lips curved into a tilted smile. “That’s better, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve had a long day, and much has happened. Get some rest, and you’ll feel much better afterward. Everything always looks better in the morning, doesn’t it?”

Ren managed a small smile, exhaling a deep, heavy breath. Yuna was right. Everything looked darker through the lens of exhaustion.

“Yes, Yuna. You’re quite right.”

Yuna’s eyes lit up with a smile. “Yes. Yes, I usually am. Sleep well, sister.” She

ran her thumb across the apple of Ren’s cheek, then glided off into the shadows without a sound.

Ren watched her go until she disappeared into the darkness, seemingly at one with the night.

Upon Yuna’s departure, Ren’s maids seemed to come back to life .

“Come,” one urged, directing the bride down her hall. “We are almost there.”

* * *

In the privacy of her bedroom, Ren disrobed, letting the heavy dress drop to the floor. She was grateful to be ride of the long swaths of crimson silk.

After Ren briefly soaked in a quick, cool bath filled with rose petals, she got out. Her maids draped a loose robe around her, pulled her hair into a comfortable braid, and set out a fresh glass of water by her bed.

Darkness gathered again in Ren’s heart as she climbed into bed. It grew into an infinitely painful lump the size of which the universe could never measure.

With a wave, Ren dismissed her maids. They filed out the door, where they would wait in the hall for the rest of the night. Ren fell back on the downy mattress and grabbed the edges of her blankets. They were made from the soft fur of a silver mountain bear. Ren pulled them tight around her. Ensconced in their weight, she tucked her head into her chest and cried.

“My heart will always be yours,” she whispered.

Tears fell off her cheek, dropping onto the furs with a heavy plop.

Ren pulled a blanket over her face, crying into it until sleep claimed her.