“Christopher?”
“Get out!” he commanded.
“Not without you!”
“Go!” he shouted as he started walking back into the inferno.
She hesitated.
“Go. I’ll be right behind you.”
Veronica nodded then turned and ran, knowing that her life was over.
Chapter One
Three years later
“I can’t believe the Archbishop is going to officiate your wedding!” Rose gushed, but it was easy to hear the strain in her voice.
“He is,” Veronica agreed, still sitting on her bed in their shared bedroom. Four beds lined the wall, though only three of them were used now. Amelia’s bed sat empty since she had passed away two summers ago.
Veronica wondered what her younger sister would have thought about today. About who she was marrying...
Stop! This is not the time to think about her. Nor should I complain about my life. Not when Amelia will never get to live hers.
Pale morning sunlight pushed its way through the white curtains fluttering over the window.
“It’s such an honor! The Archbishop only does a few weddings a year, you know,” Rose said.
“I know. Father is rather excited about it.”
“You should be too.”
“I am,” she forced herself to say. “Of course I am. How could I not be honored or excited? It’s my wedding day after all.”
Rose gave an equally tense smile.
“If you are excited, then you should start getting dressed,” Milly, her youngest sister, said from where she sat playing with the hairpins on the vanity. She was still so young, only ten, and unaware of just what was going on with this union. “We need to leave for the church in less than an hour, but if you are ready sooner then maybe we can go earlier. I bet Lord Gallmore would like that.”
The mention of his name made the air in the room go still.
Rose stepped in, defusing the situation. “Even if mother and father say we can go over early, we shouldn’t.”
“But why not?”
“We have guests coming to the wedding, they wouldn’t know about the schedule change so they would end up missing the wedding. It would be rude to them.”
She pouted, “But everyone is so excited.”
“They are, and that’s why we need to make sure everyone can see it.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Just try and be patient.”
Milly turned back to Veronica, “but we can still start helping you get dressed, right?”
“Well...” she trailed off.
